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Christ Made a Trance

[ Roud 2112 ; Ballad Index Leath192 ; trad.]

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 commented in the latter album's notes:

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) 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 And he made it with his own hand He made the sun clear all off the moon Like water on dry land	Christ made a trance one Friday view And he made it with his own hand He made the sun clear all off the moon Like water on dry land
Like water on dry land man Christ Who died all on the tree What shall we do for our Saviour As he has done for we	Like water on dry land man Christ Who died all on the tree What'll we do for our Saviour man Christ As he has done for we
What'll we do for our Saviour man Christ Who died all on the road We'll do as much for him man Christ Who shared his precious blood	What'll we do for our Saviour man Christ Who died all on the road We'll do as much for him man Christ Who shared his precious blood
	Three drops of our Saviour's sweet blood Were shed on Calvary Fell on the precious grass o lord Like the leaves fall down from the tree
The holly points her head to Heaven To show her berries red The drops of our Saviour's sweet blood On Calvary were shed	The holly points her head to Heaven To show her berries red The drops of our Saviour's sweet blood On Calvary was shed
	Oh Hell is deep and Hell is dark And Hell is full of mist What shall we do for our Saviour As he has done for us
Christ made a trance one Friday at noon He made it with his own hand He made the sun clear all of the moon Like water on dry land	Christ made a trance one Friday at noon And he made it with his own hand He made the sun clear all of the moon Like water on dry land
Three drops of our sweet Saviour's blood Were shed on Calvary Fell down on the precious grass O lord Like the leaves fall down from the tree
Oh Hell is deep and Hell is dark And Hell is full of mist What'll we do for our Saviour man Christ As he has done for us
Rattlebone & Ploughjack version
Christ made a trance one Sunday at noon He made it with his hand And made the sun clear all off the moon Like the water off dry land
Like water off the land man Christ What died upon the cross What shall we do for our Saviour As he has done for us
Oh Hell is deep and Hell is dark And Hell is full of moss What shall we do for our Saviour That he has done for us

Links and Acknowledgements

Transcribed by Garry Gillard.

See also the Mudcat Café thread Help: 'Christ Made a Trance'.