CHERRY TREE CAROL
A Christmas song, The Cherry Tree Carol was sung in some form as part of the Feast of Corpus Christi in the early 15th century. It is numbered 54 in Francis Child's famous collection and is probably comprised of several similar songs.
The lyrics are based on a story contained within the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Matthew. In the story, Mary and Joseph are fleeing their homeland and beneath a date palm tree, hoping for sustenance. Joseph becomes distressed when he cannot reach the fruit to help nourish his young family.
In the song, the unmarried Mary and Joseph are passing through a cherry orchard when she informs him of her pregnancy while asking him to pick some cherries for her. Enraged and spiteful, Joseph tells her to have the baby's father feed her the cherries.
In many versions of the song, the fetal Jesus commands the trees to bow to Mary, who ends up picking cherries from the ground herself while Joseph kicks at the dust. In some versions he ends up bowing too.
PREVIOUS // NEXT
Sources:
The Other Bible, Willis Barnstone, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 2005
English and Scottish Popular Ballads: "The Cherry Tree Carol", Francis James Child, Dover Publications, New York, 1965
The lyrics are based on a story contained within the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Matthew. In the story, Mary and Joseph are fleeing their homeland and beneath a date palm tree, hoping for sustenance. Joseph becomes distressed when he cannot reach the fruit to help nourish his young family.
In the song, the unmarried Mary and Joseph are passing through a cherry orchard when she informs him of her pregnancy while asking him to pick some cherries for her. Enraged and spiteful, Joseph tells her to have the baby's father feed her the cherries.
In many versions of the song, the fetal Jesus commands the trees to bow to Mary, who ends up picking cherries from the ground herself while Joseph kicks at the dust. In some versions he ends up bowing too.
PREVIOUS // NEXT
Sources:
The Other Bible, Willis Barnstone, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 2005
English and Scottish Popular Ballads: "The Cherry Tree Carol", Francis James Child, Dover Publications, New York, 1965
