Sans Day Carol facts for kids
The "Sans Day Carol", also known as "St. Day Carol" or "The Holly Bears a Berry", is a traditional Cornish Christmas carol. It gets its name from the village of St Day in Cornwall, where it was discovered around the early 1900s. This song is very similar to the more famous carol "The Holly and the Ivy". In fact, experts believe they are different versions of the same song.
Contents
How the Carol Was Found
The music and words for the "Sans Day Carol" were first written down by Gilbert Hunter Doble. He heard the song from W.D. Watson, who was the Head Gardener in Penzance, Cornwall. Watson had learned the song in the early 1900s from an older man named Thomas Beard, who lived in St Day.
In the 1930s, an American expert named James Madison Carpenter recorded W.D. Watson singing the song. He used an old-fashioned machine called a wax cylinder. You can still listen to this recording online today!
W.D. Watson also translated the song into the Cornish language. He thought Cornish might have been the song's original language. He even added a new fourth verse. After learning the song from Watson, Gilbert Doble made some small changes and published it in 1929. The fourth verse Doble published was Watson's Cornish verse translated back into English.
What the Carol Says: "Now the Holly Bears a Berry"
The most common words for this carol are "Now the holly bears a berry." Here are the lyrics:
1. Now the holly bears a berry as white as the milk,
And Mary she bore Jesus, who was wrapped up in silk:
Chorus: And Mary she bore Jesus our Saviour for to be,
And the first tree that's in the greenwood, it was the holly.
Holly! Holly!
And the first tree that's in the greenwood, it was the holly!
2. Now the holly bears a berry as green as the grass,
And Mary she bore Jesus, who died on the cross:
Chorus
3. Now the holly bears a berry as black as the coal,
And Mary she bore Jesus, who died for us all:
Chorus
4. Now the holly bears a berry, as blood is it red,
Then trust we our Saviour, who rose from the dead:
Chorus
Another Version: "When the Angel Came to Mary"
A British hymnodist (someone who writes hymns) named Michael Perry wrote different words for the Sans Day Carol. His version is called "When the Angel Came to Mary."
Hear the Carol: Recorded Versions
Many artists have recorded the "Sans Day Carol." Here are some of them:
- 1965 - The Watersons - Frost and Fire: A Calendar of Ceremonial Folk Songs
- 1976 - Philip Ledger and the King's College Choir - Carols for Christmas Eve
- 1988 - Rita MacNeil - Now the Bells Ring
- 1991 - The Chieftains - The Bells of Dublin
- 1993 - John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers - Christmas Day in the Morning
- 1998 - David Hill and the Choir of Winchester Cathedral - O Come Let Us Adore Him: Christmas Carols from Winchester Cathedral
- 1996 - Sue White - Best of Cornish Folksongs, Vols I & II
- 2004 - Cherish the Ladies - On Christmas Night
- 2006 - Maddy Prior - An Evening of Carols and Capers
- 2007 - Chris Squire - Chris Squire's Swiss Choir
- 2008 - Nidarosdomens Guttekor(Nidaros Cathedral Boys' Choir) - I Wish
- 2009 - Belshazzar's Feast (Paul Sartin and Paul Hutchinson)- "Frost Bites"
- 2011 - Sandy Denny, Patsy and Alex Campbell - 19 Rupert St (recorded 1967)
- 2011 - Kate Rusby - While Mortals Sleep
- 2020 - Burd Ellen - Says the Never Beyond
