Chapter 7

9. ‘That is al so soth, Stevyn, al so soth i-wys, As this capoun crowe schal that lyth here in myn dysh.’

10. That word was not so sone seyd, that word in that halle, The capoun crew _Cristus natus est!_ among the lordes alle.

11. ‘Rysyt up, myn turmentowres, be to and al be on, And ledit Stevyn out of this town and stonit him with ston.’

12. Tokyn he Stevene, and stonyd hym in the way; And therfore is his evyn on Crystes owyn day.

[Annotations: 5.1: What aileth thee? 5.3, etc.: ‘Lakkyt the,’ Dost thou lack. 7.1: ‘wod,’ mad. 7.2: ‘brede,’ rouse, _i.e._ become angry (?). 11.1, etc.: ‘Rysyt,’ ‘ledit,’ ‘stonit’: these are all imperatives. 11.2: ‘be to,’ etc., by twos and all one by one (?). Cp. _Fair Margaret and Sweet William_, 10.2 (First Series, p. 65).]

THE CHERRY-TREE CAROL

+The Text.+--As this carol consists of two parts, the first containing the actual story of the cherry-tree, and the second consisting of the angel’s song to Joseph, I have taken the first part (stt. 1-12 inclusive) from the version of Sandys (_Christmas Carols_), and the second (stt. 13-17) from W. H. Husk’s _Songs of the Nativity_.

+The Story+ of the cherry-tree is derived from the Pseudo-Matthew’s gospel, and is also to be found in the fifteenth of the Coventry Mysteries. In other languages the fruit chosen is naturally adapted to the country: thus in Provençal it is an apple; elsewhere (as in the original), dates from the palm-tree; and again, a fig-tree.

The second part is often printed as a separate carol, and might well stand alone. Readers of _Westward Ho!_ will remember how Amyas Leigh trolls it forth on Christmas Day. Traditional versions are still to be heard in Somerset and Devon.

THE CHERRY-TREE CAROL

1. Joseph was an old man, And an old man was he, When he wedded Mary, In the land of Galilee.

2. Joseph and Mary walked Through an orchard good, Where was cherries and berries, So red as any blood.

3. Joseph and Mary walked Through an orchard green, Where was berries and cherries, As thick as might be seen.

4. O then bespoke Mary, So meek and so mild: ‘Pluck me one cherry, Joseph, For I am with child.’

5. O then bespoke Joseph, With words most unkind: ‘Let him pluck thee a cherry That got thee with child.’

6. O then bespoke the babe, Within his mother’s womb: ‘Bow down then the tallest tree, For my mother to have some.’

7. Then bowed down the highest tree Unto his mother’s hand; Then she cried, ‘See, Joseph, I have cherries at command.’

8. O then bespake Joseph: ‘I have done Mary wrong; But cheer up, my dearest, And be not cast down.’

9. Then Mary plucked a cherry As red as the blood; Then Mary went home With her heavy load.

10. Then Mary took her babe, And sat him on her knee, Saying, ‘My dear son, tell me What this world will be.’

11. ‘O I shall be as dead, mother, As the stones in the wall; O the stones in the streets, mother, Shall mourn for me all.

12. ‘Upon Easter-day, mother, My uprising shall be; O the sun and the moon, mother, Shall both rise with me.’

* * *

13. As Joseph was a walking, He heard an angel sing: ‘This night shall be born Our heavenly king.

14. ‘He neither shall be born In housen nor in hall, Nor in the place of Paradise, But in an ox’s stall.

15. ‘He neither shall be clothed In purple nor in pall, But all in fair linen, As wear babies all.

16. ‘He neither shall be rocked In silver nor in gold, But in a wooden cradle, That rocks on the mould.

17. ‘He neither shall be christened In white wine nor red, But with fair spring water, With which we were christened.’

THE CARNAL AND THE CRANE

+The Text+ is taken from Sandys’ _Christmas Carols_, where it is printed from a broadside. The only alterations, in which I have followed Professor Child, are the obvious correction of ‘east’ for ‘west’ (8.1), and the insertion of one word in 16.2, where Child says ‘perhaps a preposition has been dropped.’

+The Story+ is compounded of popular legends connected with the life and miracles of Christ. For the miracle of the cock, see _Saint Stephen and King Herod_. The adoration of the beasts is derived from the _Historia de Nativitate Mariæ_, and is repeated in many legends of the infancy of Christ, but is not sufficiently remarkable in itself to be popular in carols. The origin of the miracle of the harvest is unknown, though in a Breton ballad it forms one of the class known as the miracles of the Virgin (cp. _Brown Robyn’s Confession_). Swedish, Provençal, Catalan, Wendish, and Belgian folk-tales record similar legends.

It is much to be regretted that this ballad, which from internal evidence (_e.g._ the use of the word ‘renne,’ 1.2) is to be attributed to an early age, should have become so incoherent and corrupted by oral tradition. No manuscript or printed copy is known earlier than about 1750, when it occurs in broadside form. The very word ‘Carnal’ has lapsed from the dictionaries, though somewhere it may survive in speech. Stanza 17 is obviously out of place; one may suspect gaps on either side, for surely more beasts than the ‘lovely lion’ were enumerated, and a new section begins at stanza 18.

THE CARNAL AND THE CRANE

1. As I pass’d 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 Conceiv’d 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 e’er 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 feather’d 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 travell’d 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 [to] Jesus’ grace did spring, And of the wild beasts in the field The Lion shall be king.

17. We’ll choose our virtuous princes Of birth and high degree, In every sundry nation, Where’er 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 didst 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,’ said the captain, ‘Your labour and mine’s in vain; It’s full three quarters of a year Since he his seed hath 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.

[Annotations: 1.2: ‘reign’ = renne, the old form of run. 1.4: ‘Carnal,’ jackdaw (? der. _cornicula_, _corneille_). 10.4: ‘fences,’ times. 21.4: _i.e._ though all (mankind) be undeserving.]

DIVES AND LAZARUS

+The Text+ is given from Joshua Sylvester’s _A Garland of Christmas Carols_, where it is printed from an old Birmingham broadside.

+The Story+ is one which naturally attracted the attention of the popular ballad-maker, and parallel ballads exist in fairly wide European distribution.

Like the _Carnal and the Crane_, the form in which this ballad is now known is no witness of its antiquity. A ‘ballet of the Ryche man and poor Lazarus’ was licensed to be printed in 1558; ‘a ballett, Dyves and Lazarus,’ in 1570-1.

In Fletcher’s _Monsieur Thomas_ (1639), a fiddler says he can sing the merry ballad of _Diverus and Lazarus_. A correspondent in _Notes and Queries_ (ser. IV. iii. 76) says he had heard only Diverus, never Dives, and contributes from memory a version as sung by carol-singers at Christmas in Worcestershire, in which the parallelism of the stanzas is pushed so far that, in the lines corresponding to 13.3 and 13.4 in the present version, we have the delightfully popular idea--

‘There is a place prepared in hell, For to sit upon a serpent’s knee.’

Husk (_Songs of the Nativity_) also gives this version, from an eighteenth-century Worcestershire broadside. I have no doubt but that this feature is traditional from the unknown sixteenth-century ballad.

DIVES AND LAZARUS

1. As it fell out upon a day, Rich Dives he made a feast, And he invited all his friends, And gentry of the best.

2. Then Lazarus laid him down and down, And down at Dives’ door: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives, Bestow upon the poor.’

3. ‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, That lies begging at my door; No meat nor drink will I give thee, Nor bestow upon the poor.’

4. Then Lazarus laid him down and down, And down at Dives’ wall: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives, Or with hunger starve I shall.’

5. ‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, That lies begging at my wall; No meat nor drink will I give thee, But with hunger starve you shall.’

6. Then Lazarus laid him down and down, And down at Dives’ gate: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives, For Jesus Christ his sake.’

7. ‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, That lies begging at my gate; No meat nor drink will I give thee, For Jesus Christ his sake.’

8. Then Dives sent out his merry men, To whip poor Lazarus away; They had no power to strike a stroke, But flung their whips away.

9. Then Dives sent out his hungry dogs. To bite him as he lay; They had no power to bite at all, But licked his sores away.

10. As it fell out upon a day, Poor Lazarus sickened and died; There came two angels out of heaven. His soul therein to guide.

11. ‘Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus, And go along with me; For you’ve a place prepared in heaven, To sit on an angel’s knee.’

12. As it fell out upon a day, Rich Dives sickened and died; There came two serpents out of hell, His soul therein to guide.

13. ‘Rise up, rise up, brother Dives, And go with us to see A dismal place prepared in hell, From which thou canst not flee.’

14. Then Dives looked up with his eyes. And saw poor Lazarus blest: ‘Give me one drop of water, brother Lazarus, To quench my flaming thirst.

15. ‘Oh! had I as many years to abide, As there are blades of grass, Then there would be an end, but now Hell’s pains will ne’er be past.

16. ‘Oh! was I now but alive again, The space of an half hour: Oh! that I’d made my peace secure, Then the devil should have no power.’

BROWN ROBYN’S CONFESSION

+The Text+ is the only one known, that printed by Buchan, _Ballads of the North of Scotland_, and copied into Motherwell’s MS.

+The Story+, relating as it does a miracle of the Virgin, is, perhaps, the only one we possess of a class which, in other lands, is so extensive. A similar Scandinavian ballad has a tragical termination, except in one version.

The casting of lots to discover the Jonah of a ship is a feature common to many literatures.

BROWN ROBYN’S CONFESSION

1. It fell upon a Wodensday Brown Robyn’s men went to sea, But they saw neither moon nor sun, Nor starlight wi’ their ee.

2. ‘We’ll cast kevels us amang, See wha the unhappy man may be;’ The kevel fell on Brown Robyn, The master-man was he.

3. ‘It is nae wonder,’ said Brown Robyn, ‘Altho I dinna thrive, For wi’ my mither I had twa bairns, And wi’ my sister five.

4. ‘But tie me to a plank o’ wude And throw me in the sea; And if I sink; ye may bid me sink, But if I swim, just lat me bee.’

5. They’ve tyed him to a plank o’ wude, And thrown him in the sea; He didna sink, tho’ they bade him sink; He swim’d, and they bade lat him bee.

6. He hadna been into the sea An hour but barely three, Till by it came Our Blessed Lady, Her dear young son her wi’.

7. ‘Will ye gang to your men again, Or will ye gang wi’ me? Will ye gang to the high heavens, Wi’ my dear son and me?’

8. ‘I winna gang to my men again, For they would be feared at mee; But I woud gang to the high heavens, Wi’ thy dear son and thee.’

9. ‘It’s for nae honour ye did to me, Brown Robyn, It’s for nae guid ye did to mee; But a’ is for your fair confession You’ve made upon the sea.’

[Annotation: 2.1: ‘kevels,’ lots.]

JUDAS

+The Text+ is given from a thirteenth-century MS. in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 14, 39): it is thus the earliest text of any ballad that we possess. In the MS. it is written in long lines, four (or six, as in 4, 12, and 14) to the stanza.

As the language in which it is written is not easily intelligible, I have added a paraphrase on the opposite pages.

[Transcriber’s Note: The modern paraphrase is shown here stanza by stanza, with a deeper indent than the primary text.]

+The Story+ is of great interest, as it adds to the various legends of Judas a ‘swikele’ sister. The treachery of Judas has long been popularly explained (from the Gospel of St. John, xii. 3-6) as follows:-- Judas, being accustomed as bearer of the bag to take a tithe of all moneys passing through his hands, considered that he had lost thirty pence on the ointment that might have been sold for three hundred pence, and so took his revenge.

A Wendish ballad makes him lose the thirty pieces of silver, intrusted to him for buying bread, in gambling with certain Jews, who, when he had lost everything, suggested that he should sell his Master. Afterwards, in remorse, he rushes away to hang himself. The fir-tree is soft wood and will not bear him. The aspen is hard wood, and will bear him; so he hangs himself on the aspen. Since when, the aspen always trembles in fear of the Judgement day.

JUDAS

PARAPHRASE

1. Hit wes upon a Scere-thorsday that ure loverd aros; Ful milde were the wordes he spec to Iudas.

1. It was upon a Scere-Thursday That our Lord arose; Full mild were the words He spake to Judas.

2. ‘Iudas, thou most to Iurselem, oure mete for to bugge; Thritti platen of selver thou bere up othi rugge.

2. ‘Judas, thou must to Jerusalem, Our meat for to buy; Thirty plates of silver Bear thou upon thy back.

3. ‘Thou comest fer ithe brode stret, fer ithe brode strete, Summe of thine tunesmen ther thou meist i-mete.’

3. ‘Come thou far in the broad street, Far in the broad street, Some of thy townsmen Where thou might’st meet.’

4. Imette wid is soster, the swikele wimon: ‘Iudas, thou were wrthe me stende the wid ston, For the false prophete that tou bilevest upon.’

4. Being met with his sister, The treacherous woman: ‘Judas, thou wert worthy One should have stoned thee with stone. For the false prophet That thou believest upon.’

5. ‘Be stille, leve soster, thin herte the to-breke! Wiste min loverd Crist, ful wel he wolde be wreke.’

5. ‘Be still, dear sister, May thine heart burst thee in twain! Did my Lord Christ know, Full well would he be avenged.’

6. ‘Iudas, go thou on the roc, heie up on the ston; Lei thin heved i my barm, slep thou the anon.’

6. ‘Judas, go thou on the rock, High up on the stone; Lay thine head in my bosom, Sleep thou anon.’

7. Sone so Iudas of slepe was awake, Thritti platen of selver from hym weren itake.

7. So soon as Judas From sleep was awake, Thirty plates of silver From him were taken.

8. He drou hym selve bi the cop that al it lavede ablode: The Iewes out of Iurselem awenden he were wode.

8. He drew himself by the head So that it all ran with blood, The Jews out of Jerusalem Thought he was mad.

9. Foret hym com the riche Ieu that heiste Pilatus: ‘Wolte sulle thi loverd that hette Iesus?’

9. Forth to him came the rich Jew, That hight Pilatus; ‘Wilt thou sell thy Lord, That hight Jesus?’

10. ‘I nul sulle my loverd for nones cunnes eiste, Bote hit be for the thritti platen that he me bi taiste.’

10. ‘I will not sell my Lord For no kind of goods, Except it be for the thirty plates That he entrusted to me.’

11. ‘Wolte sulle thi lord Crist for enes cunnes golde?’ ‘Nay, bote hit be for the platen that he habben wolde.’

11. ‘Wilt thou sell thy Lord Christ For any kind of gold?’ ‘Nay, except it be for the plates That he wished to have.’

12. In him com ur lord gon as is postles seten at mete: ‘Wou sitte ye, postles, ant wi nule ye ete? Ic am iboust ant isold today for oure mete.’

12. In came our Lord walking As his apostles sat at meat: ‘How sit ye, apostles, And why will ye not eat? I am bought and sold To-day for our meat.’

13. Up stod him Iudas: ‘Lord, am I that [frek]? I nas never othe stude ther me the evel spec.’

13. Up stood Judas: ‘Lord, am I that man? I was never in the place Where I spake evil of thee.’

14. Up him stod Peter, ant spec wid al is miste: ‘Thau Pilatus him come wid ten hundred cnistes, Yet Ic wolde, loverd, for thi love fiste.’

14. Up stood Peter, And spoke with all his might: ‘Though Pilate should come With ten hundred knights, Yet I would, Lord, For thy love fight.’

15. ‘Still thou be, Peter; well I the icnowe; Thou wolt fur sake me thrien ar the coc him crowe.’

15. ‘Still be thou, Peter; Well I thee know; Thou wilt forsake me thrice Ere the cock crow.’

[Annotations: 1.1: ‘Scere-thorsday,’ the Thursday before Easter. 2.3 (paraphrase): ‘plates,’ pieces. 6.3: ‘barm,’ lap, bosom: cp. the romance of _King Horn_ (_E.E.T.S._, 1866), ll. 705-6, ‘He fond Horn in arme On Rymenhilde barme.’ 8.1: ‘drou,’ past tense of _draw_. 8.1 (paraphrase): _i.e._ he tore his hair. 12.1: ‘gon’ is infinitive; ‘cam gon’ = he came on foot, or perhaps at a foot-pace. This curious construction is only used with verbs of motion. Cp. the Homeric βῆ δ᾽ ἴμεναι. 13.2: ‘frek,’ man: Skeat’s suggestion. 13.3: ‘nas’ = ne was.]

THE MAID AND THE PALMER

+The Text+ is from the Percy Folio MS. The only other known text is a fragment from Sir Walter Scott’s recollection, printed in C. K. Sharpe’s _Ballad Book_.

+The Story+ is well known in the folklore of Europe, and is especially common in the Scandinavian languages. As a rule, however, all these ballads blend the story of the woman of Samaria with the traditions concerning Mary Magdalen that were extant in mediæval times.

From the present ballad it could hardly be gathered (except, perhaps, from stanza 11) that the old palmer represents Christ. This point is at once obvious in the Scandinavian and other ballads.

The extraordinary burden in the English ballad is one of the most elaborate in existence, and is quite as inexplicable as any.

The expression ‘to lead an ape in hell’ (14.2) occurs constantly in Elizabethan and later literature, always in connection with women who die, or expect to die, unmarried. Dyce says the expression ‘never has been (and _never will be_) satisfactorily explained’; but it was suggested by Steevens that women who had no mate on earth should adopt in hell an ape as a substitute.

THE MAID AND THE PALMER

1. The maid shee went to the well to washe, _Lillumwham, Lillumwham_ The mayd shee went to the well to washe, _Whatt then, what then?_ The maid shee went to the well to washe, Dew ffell of her lilly white fleshe. _Grandam boy, grandam boy, heye!_ _Leg a derry Leg a merry mett mer whoope whir_ _Drivance, Larumben, Grandam boy, heye!_

2. White shee washed & white shee ronge, White shee hang’d o’ the hazle wand.

3. There came an old palmer by the way, Sais, ‘God speed thee well, thou faire maid.

4. ‘Hast either cupp or can, To give an old palmer drinke therin?’

5. Sayes, ‘I have neither cupp nor cann, To give an old palmer drinke therin.’

6. ‘But an thy lemman came from Roome, Cuppes & cannes thou wold ffind soone.’

7. Shee sware by God & good St. John, Lemman had shee never none.

8. Saies, ‘Peace, ffaire mayd, you are fforsworne; Nine children you have borne.

9. ‘Three were buryed under thy bed’s head; Other three under thy brewing leade;

10. ‘Other three on yon play greene; Count, maide, & there be nine.’

11. ‘But I hope you are the good old man That all the world beleeves upon.

12. ‘Old palmer, I pray thee, Pennaunce that thou wilt give to me.’

13. ‘Penance I can give thee none, But seven yeere to be a stepping-stone.

14. ‘Other seaven a clapper in a bell; Other seven to lead an ape in hell.

15. ‘When thou hast thy penance done, Then thou’st come a mayden home.’