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Christ Made a Trance
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Christ Made a Trance
Christ Made a Trance
[
Roud 2112
; Ballad Index Leath192
; VWML CJS2/10/2865
, EML/2/40
, RoudFS/S14076
; Mudcat 43088
; trad.]
Shirley Collins and Julie Carter sang Christ Made a Trance in a 1982 live recording from London that was included in 2002 on Shirley's Fledg'ling anthology Within Sound.
Martin Carthy recorded the carol Christ Made a Trance on 24 June 1991 at Ideal Sound Studio, London. It was included in the Hokey Pokey charity compilation All Through the Year. Carthy also sang it live in December 2004 at Ruskin Mill and in 2006 on Waterson:Carthy's album Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man. He noted:
The Passiontide carol Christ Made a Trance is a song which I have known for years. “Trance” is a piece of old usage of the word, used here to mean a narrow defile between two places—in this case life and death. It's a great example of apparently obsolete bits of language surviving in old songs.
The words are a mixture of extant versions—all from gipsy singers—plus oddments from A.L. Lloyd's book The Singing Englishman plus one which I have added myself, and the tune was learned by Cecil Sharp from Mrs Reservoir Butler (née Holland) [ VWML CJS2/10/2865 ] who, along with her husband, sang many unique carols and other songs to collectors before WW1.
Three verses of Christ Made a Trance were sung by the Albion Morris Men on Ashley Hutchings' record Rattlebone & Ploughjack.
Lyrics
Martin Carthy sings Christ Made a Trance on All Through the Year |
Martin Carthy sings Christ Made a Trance on Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man |
---|---|
Christ made a trance one Friday view |
Christ made a trance one Friday view |
Like water on dry land man Christ |
Like water on dry land man Christ |
What'll we do for our Saviour man Christ |
What'll we do for our Saviour man Christ |
Three drops of our Saviour's sweet blood | |
The holly points her head to Heaven |
The holly points her head to Heaven |
Oh Hell is deep and Hell is dark | |
Christ made a trance one Friday at noon |
Christ made a trance one Friday at noon |
Three drops of our sweet Saviour's blood | |
Oh Hell is deep and Hell is dark | |
Rattlebone & Ploughjack version | |
Christ made a trance one Sunday at noon | |
Like water off the land man Christ | |
Oh Hell is deep and Hell is dark |
Acknowledgements
Transcribed by Garry Gillard.