Hi, Greenwood Lassie. Here's a recording:
I'll agree that the lyrics are hard to make out in many places. Here's what I found on a Website called genius.com. I'll add my corrections in italics, but there's still a lot I can't understand.
CALVARY HILL
(Shirley Collins)
[Verse 1]
Joseph, husband, come tell me why
Our lovely son was left for to die
Too young was he, for his to blood to spill
Down yon green slopes of Calvary Hill
[Verse 2]
That(?) little foot when the stable was bare
All wrapped in cree(?) from the cold night air
This heart of mine with grief would fill
To see his body hang on Calvary Hill
[Verse 3]
Hard is the iron that holds him there
Sharp are the thorns in (on?) his dark hair;
But harder yet, and darker still
Are the hands that nailed him on Calvary Hill
[Verse 4]
May god forgive them that did the deed:
The judge, the spy and the men of greed
To save a fortune(?) my boy was killed
By Roman soldiers on Calvary Hill
[Verse 5]
Come Joseph, husband, and let us go
To some lone corner and clean our wound(?)
The cross may shake but the boy is still
His life is ended on Calvary Hill
The melody is "Lady Franklin's Lament" or "Bob Dylan's Dream." Is there a more official name for the melody?
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sj