Albion
Revisited
A series of articles on Ancient British Christianity
14th
November 2006
No. 2. Carols
In the first part of this series, I mentioned at the end of the
article that some Cornish folk remember the Tinners’ invocation, “Joseph was in
the tin trade” in connection with a children’s song, and the words of the song
included mention of Joseph coming to Britain
by ship. Some have asked whether the popular Christmas carol “I saw three ships” may have had some
connection with this. The words of the carol are a complete mixture of ideas
and sentiments, and apart from what is commonly called “poetic licence”, there
is absolutely no sense in the song at all. The usual version, as found in most
books of Christmas Carols, is as follows -
1. I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day,
I saw three ships come sailing in On Christmas Day in the morning.
2. And what was in those ships all three?
3. Our Saviour Christ and his lady.
4. Pray, whither sailed those ships all three?
5. O, they sailed into Bethlehem.
6. And all the bells on earth shall ring.
7. And all the angels in heaven shall sing.
8Then let us all rejoice, amain.
In point of fact there are other versions of this carol, for example
-
As I sat on a sunny bank On Christmas
Day, on Christmas Day,
I spied three ships come sailing by On Christmas Day in the
morning.
And who should be with those three ships
But Joseph and his fair lady,
O he did whistle, and she did sing, And all the bells on earth did
ring,
For joy that our Saviour he was born On Christmas day in the
morning.
And this one, (again, the
repetitions are omitted) –
As I sat under a sycamore tree, I looked me out upon the sea,
On Christmas day in the morning.
I saw three ships a sailing there, The Virgin Mary and Christ they
bare.
He did whistle and she did sing, And all the bells on earth did
ring,
And now we hope to taste your cheer, And wish you all a happy New
Year
On Christmas day in the morning.
And yet another version –
As I sat by my old cottage door, On Christmas day in the morning,
I saw three ships come sailing by.
I asked them what they had got in them.
They said they’d got their Saviour there.
I asked them where they were taking Him to.
They said they took Him to Jerusalem.
I asked them what they would do to Him there.
They said that they would Him crucify, On Christmas day in the
morning.
These four versions
have been seen in broadsides dating from the 18th century.
But there is a Scottish version, that was used during Christmas holidays about
the middle of the 16th century, the words of which are as follows –
All sons of Adam rise up with me, Go praise the
Blessed Trinitie, etc.
Then spake the Archangel Gabriel, said, Ave, Marie mild,
The Lord of Lords is with thee, now shall you go with child,
Ecce ancilla domini.
Then said the virgin, as thou hast said, so mat it be,
Welcome be heavens King.
There comes a ship far sailing then,
Saint Michael was the stieres-man;
Saint John sate in the horn;
Our Lord harped, our lady sang, And all the bells of heaven they
rang
On Christ’s sonday at morn, etc.
And finally, the “Song of the Ship”,
from a German manuscript of 1480, translated.
There comes a galley sailing, With angels flying
fast;
She bears a treasured cargo, Beneath her mighty mast.
Upon the silent waters, The ship glides into shore,
To bring to us the treasures, She holds within her store.
For this ship’s name is Mary, The fairest rose is she;
She brings us all her Baby, Whose love shall make us free.
Two other verses were added to this in the early 17th
century. The poetry of this carol is clear and unambiguous, and it makes us
wonder whether the more recent carols have borrowed the concept of the ship
from the original German, and then progressively added whatever thoughts were
deemed suitable.
Like ancient engraving
on stone, that has weathered to the extent that the inscription is now almost
illegible, so we have the possibility that Joseph of Arimathea was remembered
as coming to Britain in a ship, with the child Jesus on board. Through the centuries the
bards would have composed their lays to remember his visit, but now, in recent
centuries, their words have been very largely lost, so that we cannot for sure
know the origins of the carols.
By looking at the
amazing varieties of wording in the above songs, it is possible to conclude
that they all had some common origin in sentiment, if not in metre and verse.
Our suggestion is that Joseph did come by ship, and that he did bring Jesus
with him as a young teenager, and that they were remembered by the local folk
in Cornwall. We do not have to rely on the carols for this. There are other
pointers, some of which are more certain as to their meaning. These we shall
look at as the series progresses.