| Author | Topic: Add: Christmas Day in the Morning | |
| dmcg | Posted - 18 Aug 04 - 12:49 pm | |
As I sat under a sycamore tree, A sycamore tree, a sycamore tree, I looked me out upon the sea, Christmas Day in the morning. I saw three ships a-saling there, A-sailing there, a-sailing there, The Virgin Mary and Christ they bare, Christmas Day in the morning. And he did whistle and she did sing, And he did whistle and she did sing, And all the bells on earth did ring, Christmas Day in the morning. And now we hope to taste your cheer, To taste your cheer, to taste your cheer, And wish you all a happy New Year, Christmas Day in the morning. | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 18 Aug 04 - 12:50 pm | |
This appears in Singing Together, Autumn 1966 edition. | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 18 Aug 04 - 05:23 pm | |
This came from 'Oxford Choral Songs 87', Oxford University Press. | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 16 Jun 07 - 08:11 am | |
See also "As I sat on a Sunny Bank" in "English Country Songs" by Lucy Broadwood; also the version in the Oxford book of Carols | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 16 Jun 07 - 09:34 pm | |
The words were originally printed in Notes and Queries, 3rd series III, (53) 3 January 1863 page 6, contributed by 'A.A'. The text was reproduced in The Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, 5 (1) 1946, 32, without the full backgound information (such as it was). The full Notes and Queries entry can be seen at The Internet Library of Early Journals: 'EXTRAORDINARY CHRISTMAS CAROL. In a town in Mid Kent some children were going from house to house the other day, singing carols; one of them struck me as very odd; I took down the words as well as I could collect them, which ran thus,- "As I sat under a sycamore tree [the 1st three words three times] I looked me out upon the sea, A Christmas day in the morning. "I saw three ships a-sailing there, [three times, as before] The Virgin Mary and Christ they bare, A Christmas day in the morning. "He did whistle and she did sing [three times] And all the bells on earth did ring, A Christmas day in the morning. And now we hope to taste your cheer [three times] And wish you all a happy new year, A Christmas day in the morning." The children said there were a great many more verses, which they did not know. Has this very singular production ever been printed? The tune was that generally known among children as "A cold and frosty morning." A.A.' The tune set to the words here may be related, but is distinctly different from the familiar 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' / 'Nancy Dawson'. Four tunes were printed in JEFDSS (two from Kent, apparently) but none is obviously our melody here. So far I can't tell where that came from. | ||
| jeff | Posted - 17 Jun 07 - 02:33 pm | |
The usual first line of the "Three ships" carol is of "As I sat on a sunny bank". It seems that the carol might be (or may have been) known as far as Shetland, at least if the Shetland fiddle tune "Christmas Day in the morning", whose phrasing exactly fits the words, is any evidence. Any Shetlanders out there who can comment? | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 23 Jun 07 - 12:19 pm | |
That may well be; the carol was widely printed on broadsides and in song books during the 19th century, and has turned up in oral tradition in most places where English is spoken. The Shetland tune 'Christmas Day i da Moarnin' came from the repertoire of John Stickle (1875-1957) of Unst, and the family tradition was that it had been composed by his great-grandfather Friedemann Stickle (born in the 1780s), who was paid to play it every Christmas morning in the Ha' of Buness, the home of the Edmonston family at Baltasound. Notation made by Patrick Shuldham-Shaw from John's playing (28 April 1947) was printed in the Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, 9 (3) 1962, 140; but nowadays it is probably most familiar in the form recorded by The Boys of the Lough, which they got via Tom Anderson. Either he or they seem to have changed it rather at some point, if the 1947 notation is anything to go by (and Pat Shaw noted that Mr Stickle's playing was very consistent and that he was very insistent that the notation be exactly as played). If there were ever any words sung to it in Shetland, they don't survive; though Tom Anderson apparently reckoned (quite reasonably) that the words of the title can be 'heard' in the final line. Edited By Malcolm Douglas - 10 Sep 07 - 05:12 am | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 09 Sep 07 - 01:28 pm | |
I have added an entry for the version set to the Shetland tune, mentioned by Jeff. See the tabs at the top of the page for the score. | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 10 Sep 07 - 05:21 am | |
Why? There is no evidence that those words, or any like them (or any at all, come to that), were ever sung to the Shetland tune. Come to that, the notation given is distinctly different from what John Stickle played to Pat Shuldham-Shaw. As I mentioned earlier, I don't know who altered the melody; it may have been Tom Anderson or the Boys of the Lough, but if John Stickle (the sole source) is to be believed, then that isn't how it was traditionally played. | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 10 Sep 07 - 07:35 am | |
My only reason for adding it was to enable anyone who read the thread above but didn't actually know the tunes concerned to get some more background in the discussion. I could also add the original composition, I believe, for comparison; I'm pretty sure I have it somewhere. I do agree, though, that for the reasons you give this entry doesn't really fit with the majority of songs I've put up on the site. I'll remove it if people think that's more appropriate. Please PM me your views if you don't want them in the thread. | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 11 Sep 07 - 12:56 am | |
There's no reason at all why the Shetland tune shouldn't be available so that people can see (or hear) what was meant; but I do think that it's potentially misleading to set the words of the carol to it. There's no reason beyond a coincidence of title to think that they are in any way related. I'll post Pat Shaw's original notation for comparison when I can, but I'm a bit tied up just now. | ||
| John Shaw | Posted - 11 Sep 07 - 03:43 pm | |
The final bar of the Shetland tune as printed is incorrect (leaving aside questions about its appropriateness as a song entry on this site, and about the extent to which it varies from John Stickle's original). I suspect the incorrect notation may derive from a transcription sent in by jeff. The error, however, was mine - in a draft transcription of the version as sung by the Hotwells Howlers, which I later corrected. The final bar actually goes down to a D, so that the melody ends in an "unfinished" fashion. The final bar should go (same note values as printed in your version): D-a-g-g-e-D. John Shaw. | ||