No. 55: The Carnal and the Crane
[There are no known traditional US or Canadian versions of this ballad.]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Text A. (Changes for Ab-c found in End-Notes)
5. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: The Carnal and the Crane
A. Roud 306: The Carnal and the Crane (28 Listings)
B. A Rewritten Version of the Carnal and the Crane (Child 55)
2. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A with additional notes)]
3. Sheet Music: The Carnal and the Crane (Bronson's texts and some music examples)
Child's Narrative
A. 'The Carnal and the Crane.'
a. Sandys, Christmas Carols, p. 152, Christmastide, p. 246, from a broadside.
b. Husk, Songs of the Nativity, p. 97, apparently from a Worcester broadside.
c. Birmingham chap-book, of about 1843, in B. Harris Cowper's Apocryphal Gospels, p. XLI.
Mr. Husk, who had access to a remarkably good collection of carols, afterwards unfortunately dispersed, had met with no copy of 'The Carnal and the Crane' of earlier date than the middle of the last century. Internal evidence points us much further back. The carol had obviously been transmitted from mouth to mouth before it was fixed in its present incoherent and corrupted form by print.[1]
The well-informed Crane instructs his catechumen, the Crow, in several matters pertaining to the birth and earliest days of Jesus: the Immaculate Conception; the Nativity; the conference of Herod with the Wise Men, including the miracle of the roasted cock; the Flight into Egypt, with the Adoration of the Beasts and the Instantaneous Harvest; the Massacre of the Innocents. Of the apocryphal incidents, the miracle of the cock, sts 10, 11, has been spoken of under No 22. The adoration of the beasts, sts 15, 16, is derived from the Historia de Nativitate Mariæ, etc. (Pseudo-Matthæi Evangelium), c. 19, Thilo, p. 394, Tischendorf, p. 81, and is of course frequent in legendaries of the infancy of the Saviour,[2] but is not remarkable enough to be popular in carols. The miraculous harvest, by which the Holy Family evade Herod's pursuit, is, on the contrary, a favorite subject with popular poetry, as also, like the bowing of the palm-tree, with pictorial art. I do not know where and when this pretty and clever legend was invented. In the Greek Gospel of Thomas, ch. 12, Jesus sows one grain of wheat, in the Latin Gospel of Thomas, ch. 10, and ch. 34 of the Pseudo-Mattthew, a very little, and reaps an immense crop at harvest time; Tischendorf, pp 143 f, 165 f, 97: but this passage would hardly even suggest the miracle in question.[3] In a Swedish carol, 'Staffans-Visan,' reprinted from a recent broadside, in Dansk Kirketidende, 1861, cols 35, 36, by Professor George Stephens, and afterwards by Grundtvig, Danmarks Folkeviser, III, 882, the legend of the Cock and that of the Sower are combined, as here. The legend of the Sower is followed by that of the Palm-tree, and others, in La Fuito en Egypto, Arbaud, Chants p. de la Provence, II, 235. Another Provençal version of the Sower is given by Briz, IV, 70; a Catalan at pp 65 and 68, 'Lo rey Herodes;' ten Catalan versions by Milá, 'Herodes,' Romancerillo, pp 6-9, No 10. To these add: 'La Fuite en Égypte,' Poésies p. de la France, Manuscript, I, fol. 226, 'Le roi Hérode,' VI, 192; 'De Vlucht naar Egypten,' Lootens et Feys, p. 32, No 20, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Horæ Belgicæ, Part Ten, p. 22, No 4; 'Die Flucht Maria's,' Haupt und Schmaler, Volkslieder der Wenden, I, 275, No 283; Bezsonof, Kalyeki Perekhozhie, II, 116, No 319. The legend of the Sower occurs also in Le Geu des Trois Roys, Jubinal, Mystères inédits du 15e Siècle, II, 117-131.
It is ordinarily Mary, and not Jesus, who operates the miracle; in the French mystery it is perhaps Joseph.[4] In the Provençal and Catalan ballads the Virgin commonly hides behind a sheaf or a stack, and does not pass on.[5]
Footnotes:
1. Carnal, cornicula, corneille, might be thought to have been long obsolete from the word not occurring in ordinary dictionaries, if in any: but it is hazardous to build conclusions on the omissions of dictionaries.
2. As, Horstmann, Altenglische Legenden, 1875, p. 4, 1878, pp 101, 112; Cursor Mundi, 11,629 ff, Morris, II, 660; Fornsvenskt Legendarium, p. 71; Feifalik, Kindheit Jesu, p. 103; Schade, Liber de Infantia, etc., p. 38, and note 226; etc.
3. In Cursor Mundi, v. 12,323 ff, II, 707, the sowing is according to the Apocrypha. In Luzel's Breton Ballads, I, 80/81, the Virgin, to keep a poor widow from killing one of her children to feed two others, makes corn sown at Christmas in early morning ripen before day.
4. Joseph stops a moment to speak to the sower, asks the direct road to Egypt, and begs that if any inquiry is made he will say that nobody has passed that way. The sower is not punctilious, and answers, Je le feray très volontiers, que je voy bien qu'estez prodoms. The Swede is scrupulous. When the Virgin says, If anybody asks after us, say that you have seen nobody, he replies, I have promised my God never to tell a lie, "thinking she was only a lady." In the Wendish ballad the Virgin's demand is simply, If the Jews pass, conceal me not, reveal me not.
5. In one Provençal version, Arbaud, II. 245 f, Joseph and Mary ask a man at work in the fields to save them from Herod, and he tells them to hide under mint. The mint depresses its leaves so as to afford no concealment. For this the mint is cursed; though it flower, it shall not seed. The good man then tells them to hide under sage; the sage stretches itself out to cover them. The mint betrays the Virgin in many of the Catalan ballads: She is under the stack! The salvia answers in Milá, C, 'ment la menta y mentira.' In D parsley is the good plant: the mint is cursed with barrenness as before. In Milá, J, the partridge (one symbol of the devil) sings: Catxacotatxá! Soto la garbera la Mare de Deu está! for which its head is cursed, never to be eaten. So Briz, IV, 69.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
Mr. Husk, who had access to a remarkably good collection of carols, had met with no copy of 'The Carnal and the Crane' of earlier date than the middle of the eighteenth century. Internal evidence points us much further back. The carol had obviously been transmitted from mouth to mouth before it was fixed in its present incoherent and corrupted form by print. The well-informed Crane instructs his catechumen, the Crow, in several matters pertaining to the birth and earliest days of Jesus: the Nativity, the conference of Herod with the Wise Men. including the miracle of the roasted cock; the Flight into Egypt, with the Adoration of the Beasts and the Instantaneous Harvest; the Massacre of the Innocents. Of the apocryphal incidents, the miracle of the cock has been spoken of under 'Stephen and Herod' (No. 22). The adoration of the beasts is derived from the Historia de Nativitate Mariae, etc. (Pseudo-Matthaei Evangelium), and is of course frequent in legendaries of the infancy of the Saviour, but is not remarkable enough to be popular in carols. The miraculous harvest by which the Holy Family evaded Herod's pursuit, is, on the contrary, a favorite subject with popular poetry, as also, like the bowing of the palm-tree, with pictorial art.
Child's Ballad Text A
'The Carnal and the Crane'- Version A a; Child 55
a. Sandys, Christmas Carols, p. 152, Christmastide, p. 246, from a broadside.
b. Husk, Songs of the Nativity, p. 97, apparently from a Worcester broadside.
c. Birmingham cbap-book, of about 1843, in B. Harris Cowper's Apocryphal Gospels, p. xli.
1 As I passed by a river side,
And there as I did reign,
In argument I chanced to hear
A Carnal and a Crane.
2 The Carnal said unto the Crane,
If all the world should turn,
Before we had the Father,
But now we have the Son!
3 'From whence does the Son come,
From where and from what place?'
He said, In a manger,
Between an ox and ass.
4 'I pray thee,' said the Carnal,
'Tell me before thou go,
Was not the mother of Jesus
Conceivd by the Holy Ghost?'
5 She was the purest virgin,
And the cleanest from sin;
She was the handmaid of our Lord
And mother of our king.
6 'Where is the golden cradle
That Christ was rocked in?
Where are the silken sheets
That Jesus was wrapt in?'
7 A manger was the cradle
That Christ was rocked in:
The provender the asses left
So sweetly he slept on.
8 There was a star in the east land,
So bright it did appear,
Into King Herod's chamber,
And where King Herod were.
9 The Wise Men soon espied it,
And told the king on high
A princely babe was born that night
No king could eer destroy.
10 'If this be true,' King Herod said,
'As thou tellest unto me,
This roasted cock that lies in the dish
Shall crow full fences three.'
11 The cock soon freshly featherd was,
By the work of God's own hand,
And then three fences crowed he,
In the dish where he did stand.
12 'Rise up, rise up, you merry men all,
See that you ready be;
All children under two years old
Now slain they all shall be.'
13 Then Jesus, ah, and Joseph,
And Mary, that was so pure,
They travelld into Egypt,
As you shall find it sure.
14 And when they came to Egypt's land,
Amongst those fierce wild beasts,
Mary, she being weary,
Must needs sit down to rest.
15 'Come sit thee down,' says Jesus,
'Come sit thee down by me,
And thou shalt see how these wild beasts
Do come and worship me.'
16 First came the lovely lion,
Which Jesus's grace did bring,
And of the wild beasts in the field
The lion shall be king.
17 We'll choose our virtuous princess
Of birth and high degree,
In every sundry nation,
Whereer we come and see.
18 Then Jesus, ah, and Joseph,
And Mary, that was unknown,
They travelled by a husbandman,
Just while his seed was sown.
19 'God speed thee, man,' said Jesus,
'Go fetch thy ox and wain,
And carry home thy corn again
Which thou this day hast sown.'
20 The husbandman fell on his knees,
Even upon his face:
'Long time hast thou been looked for,
But now thou art come at last.
21 'And I myself do now believe
Thy name is Jesus called;
Redeemer of mankind thou art,
Though undeserving all.'
22 'The truth, man, thou hast spoken,
Of it thou mayst be sure,
For I must lose my precious blood
For thee and thousands more.
23 'If any one should come this way,
And enquire for me alone,
Tell them that Jesus passed by
As thou thy seed did sow.'
24 After that there came King Herod,
With his train so furiously,
Enquiring of the husbandman
Whether Jesus passed by.
25 'Why, the truth it must be spoke,
And the truth it must be known;
For Jesus passed by this way
When my seed was sown.
26 'But now I have it reapen,
And some laid on my wain,
Ready to fetch and carry
Into my barn again.'
27 'Turn back,' says the captain,
'Your labor and mine's in vain;
It's full three quarters of a year
Since he his seed has sown.'
28 So Herod was deceived,
By the work of God's own hand,
And further he proceeded
Into the Holy Land.
29 There's thousands of children young
Which for his sake did die;
Do not forbid those little ones,
And do not them deny.
30 The truth now I have spoken,
And the truth now I have shown;
Even the Blessed Virgin
She's now brought forth a son.
End-Notes
a. 81. West land.
162. spring; perhaps a preposition has been dropped.
b. 12. did rein.
22. Sure all the world will turn.
31. Whence does the Son come from.
33. Out of the land of Egypt.
42. goest.
52. all sin.
53. of the.
74. slept in.
81. East land.
94. No prince should.
102. tellest me.
124. Now slaughtered shall be.
131. aye and.
133. Egypt land.
134. find most.
141. Egypt.
142. Among some.
143. Mary grown quite.
153. see that these.
154. Will come.
162. did bring.
164. be king.
171. every nation of the world.
181. aye and.
181. passed by.
184. As he his seed had.
194. hath sown.
203,4. And made a lowly reverence
To Jesus Christ His grace.
21. Long time thou hast been looked for,
But now thou art come at last;
And I myself do now believe
Thy name is Jesus called.
223. must shed.
234. seed had sown.
242. train most.
251. spoken.
254. As I my seed had sown.
261. And now.
263. The other you see is fit to carry.
264. barns.
271. said the Captain of the guard.
291. There were.
292. Who for.
293. these little.
303. Thus the.
304. Brought forth our Lord the Son.
c. 1-7. not given.
8. There was a star in the west land,
Which shed a cheerful ray
Into King Herod's chamber,
And where King Herod lay.
124. Now shall destroyed be.
21, 22. not given.
254. When I my seed had sown.
29, 30. not given.
Additions and Corrections
P. 7. Printed in Bullen's Carols and Poems, 1886, p. 49, with Sandys's text, a.
Legend of the Sower. I omitted to mention 'La Fuito en Egypto,' in Arbaud, I, 33 ff. The legend of the sower is the subject of a carol in the Bible des Noëls, printed at Caen: Beaurepaire in Le Héricher, Litterature pop. de Normandie, p. 81 f. Also, of a Dutch carol, J.A. and L.J. Alberdingk-Thijm, Oude en nieuwere Kerstliederen, p. 138, No 70.
Victor Smith gives two copies in Noëls du Velay et du Forez, Romania, VIII, 420 f. R. Köhler. In the second the quail plays the part of the partridge, the swallow befriends the Virgin. V. Smith refers also to Eugene Muller, Chansons de mon Village, journal Le Mémorial de la Loire du 23 septembre, 1867.
Dr. R. Köhler has furnished me with these additional references.
A French Life of the Virgin, cited from a Manuscript of the thirteenth century, by Reinsch, Pseudo-Evangelien, pp. 60-64.
Ferdinand Wolf, Jahrbuch für romanische und englische Literatur, III, 73, cites from Didron, Annales Archéologiques, XVI, 315, 1856, a mystery of The Flight into Egypt, which has the legend of the Sower, in Noëls dramatiques des Flamands de France, publiés par l'abbé Carnel. This mystery was apparently written in the eighteenth century, for representation by a charity-school.
The legend is popularly preserved in Ireland, and a species of beetle is the Virgin's enemy, in place of the partridge or quail (p. 8, note †): E. Adams in Transactions of the London Philological Society, cited by Holland, Faune populaire de la France, III, 326. The same story in Notes and Queries, Fourth Series, X, 183.
The miraculous harvest is the subject of a Catalan popular tale, 'La Menta y 'l Gaitx,' Maspons y Labrós, Lo Rondallayre, II, 28. A hawk seconds the mint in calling out, Under the sheaf! Again, simply, without the trait of the malicious plant or bird, in Leite de Vasconcellos, Tradições pop. de Portugal, p. 106. (Juniper, according to Italian tradition, saves the Virgin during her flight, when broom and chick-pea are on the point of revealing her whereabouts by their noise: De Gubernatis, Mythologie des Planter, II, 153.)
The legend has been transferred by tradition to St. Radegund, Acta Sanctorum Augusti, III, 66; to St. Macrina, pursued by Gargantua, Sébillot, Gargantua dans les Traditions populaires, p. 173; and even to Luther, von Schulenburg, Wendische Volkssagen, p. 47. It is cited from the 145th book of the works of Bernard de Bluet d'Arberes, by P.L. Jacob, Dissertations Bibliographiques, p. 195.
P. 7 f., 510 a. Legend of the Sower. Catalan (with the partridge), Miscelánea Folk-Lórica, 1887, p. 115, No 6.
Moravian, Sušil, p. 19, No 16; Little-Russian, Golovatsky, II, 9, No 13. (W.W.)
P. 7, 509 b, III, 507 b. The Sower. Add: Legeay, Noëls Anciens, Premiere Série, 1875, 'Saint Joseph avec Marie,' No 34, p. 68; Daymard, Vieux Chants p. rec. en Quercy, 'La Fuite en Egypte,' p. 333; Soleville, Ch. p. du Bas-Quercy, 'Lou Bouiaje,' p. 126; La Tradition, IV, 139.
P. 7. The Sower: La Tradition, VII, 312.