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The Whitsuntide Carol

[ Roud 3186 ; Ballad Index EPNWISWh ; DT WHITSUNC ; Mudcat 13130 , 43128 ; trad.]

The Young Tradition sang The Whitsuntide Carol in 1967 on their second album, So Cheerfully Round. Heather Wood noted:

The Whitsuntide Carol which we sing was collected from Thomas Coningsby of Whaddon in Cambridgeshire. He tells how the men of the village used to go into the woods on Whit Sunday morning, cut oak branches and lay them on the doorsteps of all the houses. Then they would go round in a group singing this carol. It seems strange that the high moral tone of the early verses should be linked with what is obviously a pagan custom.

English Tapestry (Ruth and Brian Britain and at that time Andrew Taylor) sang Whitsuntide Carol in 1974 on the fundraiser album The First Folk Review Record. The liner notes commented:

Published as The Whitsun Song in English Dance and Song, Vol. XXXVI, No. 1; tune recorded by Peter Kennedy from Thomas Coningsby, 1956. Arranged by Brian Britain.

John Roberts, Tony Barrand, Fred Breunig and Steve Woodruff (a.k.a. Nowell Sing We Clear) sang The Whitsun Song on their 1980 album To Welcome In the Spring.

Keith Kendrick sang the Whitsuntide Carol in 2003 on his WildGoose CD Well Seasoned. He noted:

A scary but great song, and kind of humorous […], promoting the old fallacy that the only motivation to be good in our lifetime lies in the belief that we go somewhere nice when we die as a reward! Topped off with a nice bit of Royalist claptrap at the end!

Lynne Heraud and Pat Turner sang the Whitsuntide Carol in 2007 on their WildGoose CD September Days. They noted:

This song was collected from Thomas Coningsby of Whaddon, Cambridgeshire and entered into our psyche from the singing of the Young Tradition.

Lyrics

The Young Tradition sing The Whitsuntide Carol

Now Whitsuntide is come you very well do know,
Come serve the Lord we must before we do go.
Come serve him truly with all your might and heart
And then from heaven your soul shall never depart.

How do you know how long we have to live?
For when we die oh then what would we give?
For being sure of having our resting place
When we have run our simple wretched race.

Down in those gardens where flowers grow in ranks,
Down on your knees and to the Lord give thanks.
Down on your knees and pray both night and day,
Pray unto the Lord that He will lead the way.

Come all those little children all in the streets we meet
All in their pastimes so even and complete.
It’s how you may hear them lie, boast, curse and swear
Before that they do know one word of any prayer.

Now we have brought you all this royal branch of oak,
God bless our Queen Victoria and all the royal folk.
God bless our Queen and all this world beside,
That the Lord may bless you all this merry Whitsuntide.

John Roberts, Tony Barrand, Fred Breunig and Steve Woodruff sing The Whitsun Song

Now Whitsuntide is come you very well do know,
Come serve the Lord we must before we do go.
Come serve him truly with all your mind and heart
And then from heaven your soul shall never depart.

How do you know how long we have to live?
For when we die, oh then what would we give?
For to being sure of having our resting place
Since we have run our simple wretched race.

Down in those gardens where flowers grow in ranks,
Down on your knees and unto the Lord give thanks.
Down on your knees and pray both night and day,
Pray unto the Lord that He will lead you the right way.
Pray unto the Lord that angels he may bring
And then in heaven your soul shall sit and sing.

Both young and old, both rich and poor, give ear,
Don’t allow your children to lie, both curse nor swear.
Pray do not allow them to keep ill company
For that’ll surely bring them to shame and misery.

Come all those little children all in the streets we meet
All in their pastimes so even and complete.
So it’s how you may hear them lie, both, curse and swear
Before they do know one word of any prayer.

Now we may bring you the royal branch of oak,
God bless our King and Queen and all the royal folk.
God bless our King and Queen and all the world beside,
Then the Lord He will send us all a merry Whitsuntide.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Kate Taylor for details on English Tapestry.