"The Seven Joys of Mary" (Roud

Roud Folk Song Index

The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...

 # 278) is a traditional carol

Carol (music)

A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character....

 about Mary

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

's happiness at moments in the life of Jesus, probably inspired by the trope of the Seven Joys of the Virgin

Seven Joys of the Virgin

The Seven Joys of the Virgin is a popular devotion to events of the life of the Virgin Mary, arising from a trope of medieval devotional literature and art....

 in the devotional literature

Devotional literature

Devotional literature is religious writing that is neither doctrinal nor theological, but designed for individuals to read for their personal edification and spiritual formation....

 and art of Medieval Europe. Though not traditionally associated with Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

, it has become so in the modern era.

The song has English and American versions referring to different acts by Jesus that gave joy to Mary:

	English version	American version
1	Sucking at her breast	Being born
2	Curing the lame	Curing the lame
3	Curing the blind	Curing the blind
4	Raising the dead	Reading the Old Testament in the Temple
5	Bearing the cross Cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...	Raising the dead
6	Wearing the crown of Heaven	Rising from the dead
7	Writing with a golden pen	Wearing the crown of Heaven

Recordings

• Burl Ives
  Burl Ives
  Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
  
   - Christmas Day in the Morning
  Christmas Day in the Morning (Burl Ives album)
  Christmas Day in the Morning is the first of several Christmas albums by the folk singer Burl Ives. Subtitled Yuletide Folk Songs, this album includes seven traditional Christmas carols, from the well-known "What Child Is This?" to the little-known "Down in Yon Forest" and "The Seven Joys of...
  
   (1952)
• Maddy Prior
  Maddy Prior
  Maddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
  
   and June Tabor
  June Tabor
  June Tabor is an English folk singer.- Early years :June Tabor was inspired to sing by hearing Anne Briggs' EP Hazards of Love in 1965. "I went and locked myself in the bathroom for a fortnight and drove my mother mad. I learned the songs on that EP note for note, twiddle for twiddle. That's how I...
  
   - Silly Sisters (album)
  Silly Sisters (album)
  Silly Sisters is a 1976 album by English folk singers Maddy Prior and June Tabor, their first collaborative effort as a duo. The pair later adopted the Silly Sisters name for subsequent projects.-Track listing:#"Doffin' Mistress"...
  
   (1976)
• Stephen Cleobury
  Stephen Cleobury
  Stephen Cleobury CBE is an English organist and conductor. He was organ scholar at St John's College, Cambridge and sub-organist of Westminster Abbey before becoming Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral in 1979...
  
   and 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...
  
   (1984, 1999)
• Kate and Anna McGarrigle
  Kate and Anna McGarrigle
  Kate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
  
   - The McGarrigle Christmas Hour
  The McGarrigle Christmas Hour
  The McGarrigle Christmas Hour is a 2005 album by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. A sequel to their 1998 album The McGarrigle Hour, the album features a program of Christmas music recorded by the McGarrigles, their family and a number of friends and collaborators...
  
   (2005)
• John Jacob Niles
  John Jacob Niles
  John Jacob Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers", Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, with Joan Baez, Burl Ives, and Peter, Paul and Mary, among others,...
  
   - An Evening with (remastered 2006)
• Great Big Sea
  Great Big Sea
  Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
  
  - RedEye Holiday Sampler 2008'

External links

• An Online Christmas Songbook: The Seven Joys of Mary: link

Further reading

• Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott. The New Oxford Book of Carols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
• Ian Bradley. The Penguin Book of Carols. London: Penguin, 1999.