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The first version was sung to me by a whilom resident of Wootton-under-Edge (Gloucestershire) as it was performed by the children of that village many years ago. The words are given without alteration.

The second and third versions were sung, respectively, by Mrs. Beachy and Mr. Grimmet at Shipston-on-Stour (Worcestershire). Mr. Grimmet's words are printed exactly as he sang them; one small change has been made in Mrs. Beechy's words—"were" for "was" in the third stanza.

The tune of the second version will be recognised as a variant of the well known "Nancy Dawson" air. Mr. Grimmet, having presumably forgotten the proper air, sang his words to the hymn tune "Sun of my Soul".

The words of the second version are almost exactly the same as those printed on a broadside by Wadsworth of Birmingham. The text of the third version is different from all the published versions that I have seen.

The carol is very widely known. Traditional versions with tunes may be seen in Sandys, Bramley and Stainer, English County Songs and elsewhere.

Ritson in his Scotch Songs (I, p. civ) quotes the following lines, and says that they were sung during the Christmas holidays about the middle of the sixteenth century:—

This carol has already been printed in Folk-Songs from Somerset (No. 125).

The words given in the text are those which Mrs. Duddridge sang to me. She learned them from her grandfather. Of several variants that I have collected all, with one exception, conclude with the seventh Joy. One version, however, noted in Gloucestershire, gives twelve Joys, the fourth lines of the last two stanzas running "To have the keys of heaven" and "To have the keys of hell."

The "ten gentlemen" in the Somerset variant may possibly refer to the cleansing of the ten lepers. The Gloucestershire singer sang "To write with a golden pen," which is probably a fanciful rendering invented for the sake of the rhyme.

Sandys prints two versions of the words, the first of which, "Joyis five", is from the Sloane MS. The scheme of this is similar to that of the Somerset carol but the wording is different. The other is almost identical with the first stanzas of Mrs. Duddridge's version.

The carol with a traditional air is in Bramley and Stainer's collection. The words are on broadsides by Evans and Thompson.