Cherry, Holly and Ivy- Landers (Cornish) 1924 [first collected in 1916, learned earlier]
Cornish Carols
by J. E. Thomas, T. Miners, Lucy E. Broadwood, A. G. Gilchrist, Frank Howes
Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 8, No. 33 (Dec., 1929), pp. 111-124
Jo- seph and Ma - ry
In the gar - den did walk,
Where were cher - ries and ber- ries
And all kinds of fruit,
Then up be - spoke Ma - ry
So meek and so mild,
Pluck me some cher- ries, Jo - seph,
For I am with child.
Then sing O, the hol - ly, hol ly 0,
And sing 0, the hol - ly,
But of all the trees that's in the wood,
It is the hol - ly.
A full version of the words is given in Journal, Vol. v, No. 20, P. 321. The tune resembles " Sweet Europe," Folk Songs from Somerset, No. 46.- J. E. T.
III
Cf. the Irish tune, " The Old Head of Denis," used by T. Moore for his lyric, " There is not in the wide world." For notes on the air see The Minstrelsy of Ireland edited, with notes, by A. Moffat. A simple Highland form of the " Farewell to Lochaber" tune is allied.-L. E. B.
This "Old Head of Denis" tune, apparently Irish in origin, seems to have become well known amongst English folk-singers. Besides the "Sweet Europe " or "Poor Stranger" song, there are other variants, of which two, which I noted in Sussex, may
be compared with the Cornish carol, showing how the tune has been adapted to different metres. The first was sung to " Pretty Susan, the Pride of Kildare" (see Journal, Vol. vi, p. i2). The other, a " Green Bushes" tune, is here printed.
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From: Carols from Cornwall
by Harry E. Piggott, Lucy E. Broadwood, A. G. Gilchrist
Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 5, No. 20 (Nov., 1916), pp. 316-323
This carol is well known in the Camborne district of Cornwall, the tune to which it is generally sung being that noted by Mr. Sharp and given in Journal, Vol. v, No. i8, p. ii. Mr. Tom Miners of Penponds, Camborne, has noted (January, I9I6) the following version of the words from a Mr. Landry of Callington, who learnt it from a man whom he met at Bodmin some years ago.- H. E. P.
1 Joseph and Mary
In the garden did walk,
Where there was cherries and berries
And all kinds of fruit.
2 Then up bespoke Mary,
So meek and so mild,
"Pluck me some cherries, Joseph,
For I am with child."
3 Then up bespoke Joseph,
With words so unkind,
" Let them pick thee cherries, Mary,
That brought thee with child."
4 Then whispered Jesus,
So meek in the womb,
" Bow down, gentle cherry bush,
That my mother may have some."
Chorus: And (Then) I sing O the holy, holy O [1]
And sing O the holly, E
And of all the trees that are in the wood
It is the holly.
5 The holly bears a prickle
So sharp as a thorn,
And before the next morning
Our Sweet Saviour was born.
Chorus: Then sing 0 the holy, holy 0
And sing 0 the holly, E etc.
6 The holly bears a blossom,
So white as the snow,
And Mary bore our Saviour,
Who died for us all.
7 The holly (? Ivy) [2] bears a berry
So black as the coal, [? a pall]
And Mary bore our Saviour,
Who died for us all.
8 The Holly bears a berry
So red as the blood,
And Mary bore our sweet Saviour
To do sinners good.
9 We shall all be as dead
As a stone in the lane,
And in the next world
We shall all live again.
Chorus: And sing 0 the holy, holy O
And sing O the holly, etc.
Mr. Miners adds "The first time Landry sang "holy, holy o" or " 'oly, 'oly o." Afterwards he sang "'oly, 'oly e." I cannot say whether this is a reference to the Great O's sung at Christmas, but it seems very likely. The version altogether is quite new to me. It is a blend of the "Cherry Tree" and "Holly-and-Ivy" carols with a verse from one of the old carols in praise of Ivy, slightly altered." With regard to the last verse, Child quotes a version from Sandys' Carols, in the last two verses of which Christ is made to say:
"0, I shall be as dead, mother,
As the stones in the wall;
O the stones in the street, mother,
Shall mourn for me all.
Upon Easter-day, mother,
My uprising shall be;
O the sun and the moon, mother,
Shall both rise with me."
-H. E. P.
This is an interesting version, though I do not see any particular reason why the Holly O" refrain should not be just what it appears. There are many "Sing holly" and " Sing ivy" refrains. In the lines " The holly bears a berry So black as the coal," "coal "seems to have been a corruption of the "gall" of other versions, from which mistake the rest would easily follow. The lines should run:
"The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall,"
The holly seems to have been used in early times not only medicinally but, like gallnuts, for making ink, for an early Irish scribe speaks of his "blue-black ink" made from the "green-skinned holly." The last verse of Mr. Landry's text, in which a return is made to the " Cherry Tree Carol " proper, is given thus, in a Birmingham chapbook version (circa I843), quoted in Harris Cowper's Apocryphal Gospels:
"This world shall be like the stones in the street,
For the sun and the moon shall bow down at my feet." [3]
The holly refrain would fit quite well one of the Welsh "Holly" tunes in the Journal of the Welsh Folk-Song Society.- A. G. G.
This version seems unique, so far as printed texts go.
Child's collection has none with "holly and ivy" elements. [4]
-L. E. B.
1. See the note that follows this carol.
2. Landry sings "Holly," but it was evidently originally "Ivy."- T. M.
3. Cf. Mr. Sharp's Camborne " Cherry Tree Carol " text, Journal No. 18, p. I2.
4. The legend is introduced in "The Birth of Christ," one of the Coventry Mysteries edited by Halliwell for the Shakespeare Society (1841).-L. E. B.