A little while ago, right after it happened, I saw that Shirley Collins received a MBE (i.e. Member of the British Empire), not quite a 'Dame' but who needs any stinking royals to be able to call her one! I had meant to do a post about that but I mean to do alot of things that never seem to get done and that was during a time when my ever raging Shirley love was somewhat dormant.
Well it's raging full on again, I recently got another album by her "Folk Roots, New Routes", which is actually her and the guitarist Davy Graham (
I wasn't sure how much I'd like this album b/c I prefer Shirley unaccompanied but it hasn't taken very long for me to become completely addicted, that said, my favorite track so far is the only one that's Shirley (and banjo) by herself, "The Cherry Tree Carol".
The Cherry Tree Carol
Joseph was an old man
and an old man was he
when he married virgin Mary
the queen of Galilee
as Mary and Joseph were walking one day
to an orchard of cherry trees they chanced for to stray
then Mary said to Joseph so meek and so mild
pick me some cherries Joseph for I am w/ child
but Joseph flew angry so angry flew he
let the father of your baby gather cherries for thee
then up spoke lord Jesus from in his mother's womb
bow low down cherry trees bow down to the ground
and the cherry trees they bowed down bowed low to the ground
and mary gathered cherries while Joseph stood around
then Joseph took Mary all upon his right knee
come tell me pretty baby when your birthday shall be
on the fifth day of January my birthday shall be
and the stars and the heavens shall all bow down to me
Joseph was an old man
and an old man was he
when he married virgin Mary
the queen of Galilee
as Mary and Joseph were walking one day
to an orchard of cherry trees they chanced for to stray
then Mary said to Joseph so meek and so mild
pick me some cherries Joseph for I am w/ child
but Joseph flew angry so angry flew he
let the father of your baby gather cherries for thee
then up spoke lord Jesus from in his mother's womb
bow low down cherry trees bow down to the ground
and the cherry trees they bowed down bowed low to the ground
and mary gathered cherries while Joseph stood around
then Joseph took Mary all upon his right knee
come tell me pretty baby when your birthday shall be
on the fifth day of January my birthday shall be
and the stars and the heavens shall all bow down to me
"The Cherry Tree Carol" in it's apocrypha/mild blasphemy brings to my mind the more blatantly blasphemous "ballad of joking jesus" (a.k.a. "ballad of japing Jesus", a.k.a. "The Song of the Cheerful (but slightly sarcastic) Jesus") of Stately plump Buck Mulligan's (a.k.a. Oliver Joseph St John Gogarty) from "Ulysses".
The Song of the Cheerful (but slightly sarcastic) Jesus
I'm the queerest young fellow that ever was heard.
My mother's a Jew; my father's a Bird
With Joseph the Joiner I cannot agree
So 'Here's to Disciples and Calvary.'
If anyone thinks that I amn't divine,
He gets no free drinks when I'm making the wine
But have to drink water and wish it were plain
That I make when the wine becomes water again.
My methods are new and are causing surprise:
To make the blind see I throw dust in their eyes
To signify merely there must be a cod
If the Commons will enter the Kingdom of Good
Now you know I don't swim and you know I don't skate
I came down to the ferry one day and was late.
So I walked on the water and all cried, in faith!
For a Jewman it's better than having to bathe.
Whenever I enter in triumph and pass
You will find that my triumph is due to an ass
(And public support is a grand sinecure
When you once get the public to pity the poor.)
Then give up your cabin and ask them for bread
And they'll give you a stone habitation instead
With fine grounds to walk in and raincoat to wear
And the Sheep will be naked before you'll go bare.
The more men are wretched the more you will rule
But thunder out 'Sinner' to each bloody fool;
For the Kingdom of God (that's within you) begins
When you once make a fellow acknowledge he sins.
Rebellion anticipates timely by 'Hope,'
And stories of Judas and Peter the Pope
And you'll find that you'll never be left in the lurch
By children of Sorrows and Mother the Church
Goodbye, now, goodbye, you are sure to be fed
You will come on My Grave when I rise from the Dead
What's bred in the bone cannot fail me to fly
And Olivet's breezy-- Goodbye now Goodbye.
I'm the queerest young fellow that ever was heard.
My mother's a Jew; my father's a Bird
With Joseph the Joiner I cannot agree
So 'Here's to Disciples and Calvary.'
If anyone thinks that I amn't divine,
He gets no free drinks when I'm making the wine
But have to drink water and wish it were plain
That I make when the wine becomes water again.
My methods are new and are causing surprise:
To make the blind see I throw dust in their eyes
To signify merely there must be a cod
If the Commons will enter the Kingdom of Good
Now you know I don't swim and you know I don't skate
I came down to the ferry one day and was late.
So I walked on the water and all cried, in faith!
For a Jewman it's better than having to bathe.
Whenever I enter in triumph and pass
You will find that my triumph is due to an ass
(And public support is a grand sinecure
When you once get the public to pity the poor.)
Then give up your cabin and ask them for bread
And they'll give you a stone habitation instead
With fine grounds to walk in and raincoat to wear
And the Sheep will be naked before you'll go bare.
The more men are wretched the more you will rule
But thunder out 'Sinner' to each bloody fool;
For the Kingdom of God (that's within you) begins
When you once make a fellow acknowledge he sins.
Rebellion anticipates timely by 'Hope,'
And stories of Judas and Peter the Pope
And you'll find that you'll never be left in the lurch
By children of Sorrows and Mother the Church
Goodbye, now, goodbye, you are sure to be fed
You will come on My Grave when I rise from the Dead
What's bred in the bone cannot fail me to fly
And Olivet's breezy-- Goodbye now Goodbye.
And continuing down the apocrypha/blasphemy/doggerel road that leads to one of my favorite Stereolab songs and hands down favorite piece of blasphemous apocryphal doggerel, "The Incredible He Woman".
The Incredible He Woman
month one mary grows a mustache
in the second she grows a beard
in the third month her breasts fall off
the fourth month testicles appear
the fifth her penis shows its face
in the sixth month grows a foreskin
it took nine months made evident
experience, she gave it hands
in the seventh month, christ's sandals grow on her
in the eighth month, her chest becomes transparent
in the ninth wounds appear as christ is apparent
and then she was christ
and mary disappeared
month one mary grows a mustache
in the second she grows a beard
in the third month her breasts fall off
the fourth month testicles appear
the fifth her penis shows its face
in the sixth month grows a foreskin
it took nine months made evident
experience, she gave it hands
in the seventh month, christ's sandals grow on her
in the eighth month, her chest becomes transparent
in the ninth wounds appear as christ is apparent
and then she was christ
and mary disappeared
put that one in your Da Vinci codes!?!
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