The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #11105   Message #2872473
Posted By: Jim Dixon
26-Mar-10 - 11:19 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: The Seven Virgins / The Leaves of Life
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Seven Virgins / The Leaves of Life
From A Garland of Christmas Carols: Ancient and Modern by Joshua Sylvester (London: John Camden Hotten, 1861), page 71:

THE SEVEN VIRGINS.

This is another Carol which has hitherto eluded the search of all collectors of such religious antiquities. The legend is extremely ancient. The line towards the end which alludes to "our king and queen" is evidently a modern interpolation. The metre, occasionally faulty, is here given just as it occurs on the original old Birmingham broadside.

[The text is identical to the one shown above, from Shropshire Folk-Lore, with this additional verse:]

10. O the rose, the gentle rose,
And the fennel that grows so green,
God give us grace, in every place,
To pray for our king and queen.

11. [Same as 10 in Shropshire Folk-Lore.]