Joe - Thank you very much for responding. Like you, I've come across a few references to Mary being accompanied by two virgins (in 'transitus mariae') or, as you indicate, two named women (whether Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene would be as virgins is a moot point) but not as many as seven. Like many English researchers, I now questions whether everything Lloyd wrote is totally reliable and this reference to 'apocryphal' gospels, without a more specific citation, becomes problematic without more definite information.

It's still a beautiful carol though.

Georgina