Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 13 · Old English Folk Carols · Page 27 in print
The Cherry Tree Carol
Cecil Sharp noted eight versions of The Cherry Tree Carol; for one of them, Mrs. Anne Roberts of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire sang him all but the first stanza.
Jump to a word
The words
Apple Tree
The tree in the Catalan and Provençal forms of the story.
Catalan
Language of a version in which the tree is an apple.
Chapbook
The Birmingham chap-book of about 1843 that printed the carol.
Cherry
The fruit tree that bows to Mary in the English carol.
Easter Day
The day named in the carol’s last verse.
Egypt
Destination of the flight during which the palm bows down.
Fair Linen
The cloth in which the angel says the child will be dressed.
Fig Tree
The tree in an Eifel form of the story.
Galilee
The land where Joseph wedded Mary in the first verse.
Orchard
The orchard full of cherries and berries in the carol text.
Palm Tree
The tree that bows to Mary in the older Pseudo-Matthew story.
Pseudo-Matthew
Early gospel story in which a palm tree bows to Mary.
Winchcombe
Gloucestershire town where Sharp heard Mrs Roberts sing the carol.
Wooden Cradle
The cradle in which the angel says the child will be rocked.
Worcester
City of a broadside from which Husk took his text.
Sources
- Francis James Child (ed.), The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, vol. II (Houghton, Mifflin, 1885–86; Dover reprint); Project Gutenberg eBook #47692Project Gutenberg
- H. R. Bramley and John Stainer (eds), Christmas Carols New and Old (London: Novello, Ewer and Co., undated scan); Internet Archive, Princeton Theological Seminary copyInternet Archive
- Cecil J. Sharp, English Folk-Carols (London: Novello; Taunton: Barnicott and Pearce, 1911); Internet Archive scanInternet Archive