"The Cherry-Tree Carol" is a ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 with the rare distinction of being both a Christmas carol

Christmas carol

A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...

 and one of the Child Ballads

Child Ballads

The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...

 (no. 54). The song itself is very old, reportedly being sung, in some form, at the Feast of Corpus Christi in the early 15th century. The versions eventually collected by Francis James Child

Francis James Child

Francis James Child was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of folk songs known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry...

 are thought to be a combination of up to three separate carols that merged together through the centuries.

Synopsis

The ballad relates an apocryphal story of the Virgin Mary, presumably while traveling to Bethlehem with Joseph for the census. In the most popular version, the two stop in a cherry orchard, and Mary asks her husband to pick cherries for her, citing her child. Joseph spitefully tells Mary to let the child's father pick her cherries.

At this point in most versions, the infant Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

, from the womb, speaks to the tree and commands it to lower a branch down to Mary, which it does. Joseph, witnessing this miracle, immediately repents his harsh words. The more contemporary versions sometimes end here, while others often include an angel

Angel

Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...

 appearing to Joseph and telling him of the circumstances of Jesus's birth. Other versions then jump ahead several years, where the next verse picks up with Jesus on his mother's lap, telling her of his eventual death and resurrection.

Sources

The story is derived from the apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew

Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew

The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is a part of the New Testament apocrypha, and sometimes goes by the name of The Infancy Gospel of Matthew, but the actual name of the text in antiquity was The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior...

, which combines many earlier apocryphal Nativity traditions; however, in Pseudo-Matthew, the event takes place during the flight into Egypt

Flight into Egypt

The flight into Egypt is a biblical event described in the Gospel of Matthew , in which Joseph fled to Egypt with his wife Mary and infant son Jesus after a visit by Magi because they learn that King Herod intends to kill the infants of that area...

, and the fruit tree is a palm tree (presumably a date palm

Date Palm

The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...

) and not a cherry tree. In the apocryphal Gospel, Jesus has already been born and so Joseph's truculence is unrelated to any dismay over Mary's pregnancy, but has to do with an inability to reach the fruits of the palm and a concern over the family's lack of water.

Recordings

The song has been recorded by Shirley Collins & Davy Graham (also by herself and with The Young Tradition

The Young Tradition

The Young Tradition were a British folk group of the 1960s, formed by Peter Bellamy, Royston Wood and Heather Wood. They recorded three albums of mainly traditional British folk music, sung in arrangements for their three unaccompanied voices.-Biography:...

), Marty Haugen

Marty Haugen

Marty Haugen, , is an American composer of liturgical music.-Biography:Marty Haugen was raised in the American Lutheran Church in Minnesota, and also writes contemporary hymns and liturgies for the Lutheran church despite being a member the United Church of Christ...

, Anonymous 4

Anonymous 4

Anonymous 4 is a female a cappella quartet, based in New York City. Their main performance genre is medieval music, although they have also premiered works by living composers such as John Tavener and Steve Reich...

, Joan Baez

Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....

, Martyn Bates (of Eyeless in Gaza

Eyeless in Gaza (band)

Eyeless In Gaza are a Post-punk musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in...

) and Max Eastley, Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne

Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...

, Baltimore Consort, Angelo Branduardi

Angelo Branduardi

Angelo Branduardi , is an Italian folk singer and composer who scored relevant success in Italy and European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.- Biography :...

 (Italian version titled "Il ciliegio"), the Clancy Brothers

The Clancy Brothers

The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...

 (as "When Joseph Was an Old Man"), Judy Collins

Judy Collins

Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...

, José Feliciano

José Feliciano

José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...

, Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...

, Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....

 (as B-side of the single "Mary had a Baby/Cherry Tree Carol"), the King's College Choir

Choir of King's College, Cambridge

The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great British choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded King's College, Cambridge in 1441, to provide daily singing in his Chapel, which remains the main task of the...

, Cindy Kallet

Cindy Kallet

Cindy Kallet is an American folk singer/songwriter from New England. She currently performs solo, with Grey Larsen, and as part of the trio of Kallet, Epstein & Cicone...

, Magpie Lane

Magpie Lane

Magpie Lane is an English folk group, based in Oxford, England.The musicians of Magpie Lane first came together in the winter of 1992–93 to record The Oxford Ramble, a collection of songs and tunes from, or about, Oxfordshire. Although originally conceived as a one-off recording project, the band...

, Colin Meloy

Colin Meloy

Colin Patrick Henry Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for the Portland, Oregon, folk-rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica, percussion and interpretive hand gestures.-Early life...

, the Chad Mitchell Trio

Chad Mitchell Trio

The Chad Mitchell Trio were a North American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed folk songs, some of which were traditionally passed down and some of their own compositions. Unlike many fellow folk music groups, none of the trio played instruments...

, Nowell Sing We Clear

Nowell Sing We Clear

Nowell Sing We Clear is a four member musical group that performs an annual yuletide concert series. They have also released a series of related albums.The concerts consist of yuletide stories and music, and often include a Mummers Play.-Members:...

, Pentangle

Pentangle (band)

Pentangle are a British folk rock band with some folk jazz influences. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version has been active since the early 1980s...

, Peter Paul and Mary, Jean Ritchie

Jean Ritchie

Jean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...

, Casey Stratton

Casey Stratton

Casey Stratton is a male Pop/Rock singer/songwriter/musician.-Background:Casey Stratton was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1976. He has lived in Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois and New York City, New York...

, Bob Rowe

Bob Rowe

Robert J. “Bob” Rowe is a noted musical performer and recording artist. He is also well known as a crusader for residents of long term care facilities....

, John Rutter

John Rutter

John Milford Rutter CBE is a British composer, conductor, editor, arranger and record producer, mainly of choral music.-Biography:Born in London, Rutter was educated at Highgate School, where a fellow pupil was John Tavener. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the...

 with the Cambridge Singers

Cambridge Singers

Cambridge Singers is an English mixed voice chamber/choral group formed in 1981 by their director John Rutter with the primary purpose of making recordings under their own label "Collegium"....

, the Poor Clares from New Orleans titled "Cherry Tree Carol" on their album "Songs for Midwinter", by the English musician Sting on his 2009 album "If on a Winter's Night" and by Kerfuffle

Kerfuffle

Kerfuffle were a four-piece English folk band, originally formed in 2001 around the East Midlands and South Yorkshire regions of the UK, initially comprising Hannah James , Sam Sweeney , Chris Thornton-Smith and Tom Sweeney . Thornton-Smith was replaced by Jamie Roberts in 2007...

as "Cherry Tree Carol" on their Midwinter album "Lighten the Dark".