When a Christmas carol is also a folk ballad you know it's not going to be the usual angels/shepherds/kings extravaganza. This one doesn't disappoint, with a lovely garden, a jealous Joseph and a fruit-related miracle.

But, as ever, all is not as it seems. Continuing the theme of weird Christianity from last month's episode, we get to explore medieval mystery plays and alternative gospels, and in 5th Century Syria we discover a scholarly and forthright Mary who doesn't need an angel to fight her battles for her.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Music
Verse from Jean Richie’s recording of The Cherry Tree Carol, Kentucky 

The Cherry Tree Carol, collected by Maud Karpeles and Patrick Shuldham-Shaw from John Partridge of Cinderford, Gloucestershire (Verse 1) 

Verse from a Jean Richie version, Kentucky, recorded by Joan Baez 

Instrumental: Version arranged by D Gilbert and W Sandys (19th Century) 

Benedicamus Domino (Plainsong, anon) 

The Cherry Tree Carol, version sung by Shirley Collins, 1959 

Orthodox Chant and Ney (flute) from FreeSounds 

References

Royston, Pamela L (1982) "The Cherry-Tree Carol": Its sources and analogues https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/1762/15(1)%201-16.pdf?sequence=1 

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/post-biblical-period/the-origins-of-the-cherry-tree-carol/ 

https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-banns-proclamation 

https://www.academia.edu/29076122/The_Origins_of_The_Cherry_Tree_Carol_How_a_Christmas_carol_links_the_modern_Middle_East_and_medieval_England 

https://dokumen.pub/mary-and-joseph-and-other-dialogue-poems-on-mary-9781593338398-2011007425-1593338392.html 

https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/thecherrytreecarol.html 

https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/cherry_tree_carol-notes.htm 

https://balladindex.org/Ballads/C054.html

This unusual song was a feature of the 60s and 70s folk revival - a real show stopper and something of a curiosity. But underneath it lies a thousand years of European folklore, and a further thousand years of vivid theology.

So, my friends, we're going on a metaphysical journey to the underworld. Have you been charitable in your life? Did you give a cow to the poor, or 'hosen and shoon' to a beggar? Did you judge rightly? Have you been moving your neighbours' boundary stones? Better take stock, because the journey is long and dangerous.

We're going over the thorny moor and the high Gjallarbrui; we're glimpsing heaven and hell and as for the final judgement, we've got a ringside seat. There are angels and ghosts and, surprisingly, gossip.

This is a song that has to be experienced rather than studied, so follow me. We're going to have a weird time.

Music

L’Homme Arme, 15th Century song by Johannes Regis

Sainte Nicholas, 12th Century song by Godric of Finchale

Marglit og Targjei Risvollo, traditional Norwegian song

Draumkvedet, traditional Norwegian ballad

Chiamando, un’astorella, 14th Century Italian song

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is based on the Cherubic Hymn in the Orthodox Christian tradition and dates back to least 275 AD. The English translation from Greek was made by Gerard Moultie and set to a traditional French tune, Picardy.

The Lyke Wake Dirge (traditional version)

The Lyke Wake Dirge, tune by Harold Boulton, arranged by Malcolm Lawson

The Lyke Wake Dirge, set to the 14th Century song Ad Mortem Festinamus

References

Mainly Norfolk: The Lyke Wake Dirge (Roud 8194; TYG 85) (mainlynorfolk.info)

Draumkvedet in translation: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/draumkvedet-dream-poem.html

Harald Foss - Draumkvedet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k7ne8YMIIs

Gardiner, E. (2021). Visions of Heaven and Hell: A Monastic Literature. The Downside Review, 139(1), 24-43. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0012580621997061#body-ref-fn107-0012580621997061 

Isaacson, Lanae H. “‘Draumkvædet:’ The Structural Study of an Oral Variant.” Jahrbuch Für Volksliedforschung, vol. 25, 1980, pp. 51–66. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/849056. Accessed 31 Oct. 2023

Carlsen, C (2012) Old Norse Visions of the Afterlife (PhD Thesis, University of Oxford) https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9b3b8518-912e-4425-8748-dea135e695d0/download_file?file_format=application%2Fpdf&safe_filename=THESIS02&type_of_work=Thesis

John Aubrey’s Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme https://archive.org/details/remainesgentili01aubrgoog

Dante’s Divine Comedy: https://www.owleyes.org/text/dantes-inferno/read/canto-13 

The Lyke-Wake Dirge: the revival of an Elizabethan song of the afterlife

https://earlymusicmuse.com/lyke-wake-dirge/

Hurdy Gurdy sample, battle sounds, stormy ambience and various owls from FreeSound

The sheep are all sheared and we’re dancing and drinking in the warm June sun. We’re transported back to simpler and more innocent times with more than a whiff of nostalgia for the loss of our connection to the land. 

And yet nothing is ever quite as straightforward as it seems, and this song is no exception. While delving into its theatrical past I once again get into that most thorny of issues – what is a folk song, and what should we do with them today?

But mostly I have lots of fun singing about sheep.

Music

Instrumental version was collected by John Broadwood in c.1843

The original stage version, The Sheepsheering Song: https://www.vwml.org/search?view=search&q=rn812

Sheep-shearing song, collected by the Hammond brothers: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4434118 

Cecil Sharp – Folk Songs from Somerset: https://archive.org/details/FolkSongsFromSomerset/page/n3/mode/2up (my version takes a few liberties)

The Horses Go Fast: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4434118?read-now=1&seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents 

References

Mainly Norfolk on The Sheep Shearing Song: https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/songs/thesheepshearingsong.html 

Eric Saylor: Folksong revival in the early 20th Century https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-music/articles/folksong-revival-in-the-early-20th-century 

https://www.efdss.org/learning/resources/beginners-guides/35-english-folk-collectors/2446-efdss-cecil-sharp 

Shudofsky, M. M. (1943). Charles Johnson and Eighteenth-Century Drama. ELH, 10(2), 131–158. https://doi.org/10.2307/2871662

 John Francmanis (2002) National Music to National Redeemer: The Consolidation of a 'Folk-Song' Construct in Edwardian England. Popular Music 21 (1) 1-25

As always, I’m grateful to the contributions of those who have posted on Mudcat over the years.