The Cherry-Tree Carol- Wheeler (KY) 1931 Henry
[From: Still More Ballads and Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands by Mellinger E. Henry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 45, No. 175 (Jan. - Mar., 1932), pp. 1-176. This version has elements of what I call the third part of the Cherry Tree trilogy- the angels.
R. Matteson 2014]
THE CHERRY TREE CAROL
Child, No. 54
Obtained from Miss Mary Wheeler, 504 Kentucky Avenue, Paducah, Kentucky, January 14, 1931.
For American texts see Barry-Eckstorm-Smyth, p. 446; Campbell and Sharp, No. I3; Davis, No. I3; McGill, p. 60; Pound, No. 19 (McGill's text); Scarborough, pp. 6o-6i; Journal, XXIX, 293 and 294; XXX, 297; The Virginia Folk-Lore Society Bulletin, Nos. 4, 5.
1. Joseph was an old man,
An old man was he,
When he married Mary,
The Queen of Gallilee.
2. Joseph and Mary walked
Through a garden gay,
Where the cherries grew
Upon every tree.
3. And they heard while walking,
Angel voices sing,
"Lo, this night shall be born
Our Lord and Heavenly King.
4. "He neither shall be born
In a house nor a hall,
Nor in Paradise,
But within a stall."