Cherry Tree Carol- Fields (KY) pre1937 Campbell
[From The Journal of American Folklore; Volumes 50-51 - Page 15; 1937. Marie Campbell (1907- ) was a schoolteacher and folklorist who, between 1926 and 1934, lived, worked and traveled in the eastern Kentucky mountains. She began collecting Kentucky folklore in the summer of 1926 while working at the mountain settlement school on Caney Creek near current day Pippa Passes in Knott County, KY. In demand as a teacher from "the level country" she soon moved to the Letcher County community of Gander (now Carcassonne) where she stayed until 1934. By then, radio and University of Kentucky outposts were threatening the storytelling tradition among the mountain people.[Bio for The Christmas Play]
She wrote The Christmas Play, in 1930 which included The Cherry Tree Carol so it's likely these 3 versions came from that time period. In Tales from the Cloud Walking Country, Aunt Lisbeth Fields is described as "an elderly lady conversant in much nature-lore, midwifery, and a teller of tales specializing in stories of golden things. . ."
R. Matteson 2014]
A. The Cherry Tree Carol- Aunt Lizbeth Fields sang this version both on Christmas Eve and for recording later.
Joseph was an old man,
An old man was he,
When he married Mary,
The queen of Galilee.
Joseph and Mary walked,
Through a garden gay,
Where the cherries grew
Upon every tree
And they heard while walking
Angel voices sing,
"Lo, this night shall be born
Our Lord and Heavenly King."