Alternate Titles:
Joys Seven
The First Good Joy That Mary Had
Joyes Five
The Seven Joys Of Mary
The Ten Joys Of Mary
The Twelve Joys Of Mary
Compare: The Seven Joys of Mary - Version 1 (Bramley and Stainer)
The Seven Joys Of Mary - Version 2
The Seven Joys Of Mary - John Jacob Niles
The Ferst Joye As I Zu Telle
Off The 5 Joyes Of Owr Lady
Source: William Sandys, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (London: Richard Beckley, 1833)
1. The first good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of one;
To see her own Son Jesus
To suck at her breast bone;
To suck at her breast bone,
Good man, and blessed may he be,
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity. [1]
2. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of two;
To see her own son, Jesus
To make the lame to go: [1b]
To make the lame to go,
Good man, and blessed may he be,
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
3. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of three;
To see her own son, Jesus
To make the blind to see: [2]
To make the blind to see,
Good man, and blessed may he be,
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
4. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of four;
To see her own son, Jesus
To read the Bible o'er: [3]
To read the Bible o'er,
Good man, and blessed may he be,
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
5. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of five;
To see her own son, Jesus
To bring the dead alive: [4]
To bring the dead alive,
Good man, and blessed may he be,
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
6. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of six;
To see her own son, Jesus Christ,
To wear the crucifix: [5]
To wear the crucifix,
Good man, and blessed may he be,
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
7. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of seven;
To see her own son, Jesus
To wear the crown of heaven: [6]
To wear the crown of Heaven
Good man, and blessed may he be
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
The first seven joys were given by Sandys;
the following five joys were added by Husk.
8. The next good joy our Mary Had,
It was the joy of eight,
To see our blessed Saviour
Turn darkness into light.
Turn darkness into light,
Good man, and blessed may he be
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
9. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of nine,
To see our blessed Saviour
Turn water into wine;
Turn water into wine,
Good man, and blessed may he be
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
10. The next good joy our Mary had
It was the joy of ten,
To see our blessed Saviour
Write without a pen;
Write without a pen,
Good man, and blessed may he be
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
11. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of eleven,
To see our blessed Saviour
Shew the gates of Heaven;
Shew the gates of Heaven,
Good man, and blessed may he be
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
12. The next good joy our Mary had,
It was the joy of twelve
To see our blessed Saviour
Shut close the gates of hell;
Shut close the gates of hell,
Good man, and blessed may he be
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity.
Two additional verses:
The next good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of [number]
To see her own Son Jesus
To bring the crooked straight.
To bring the crooked straight,
Good man, How happy may you be:
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity
The next good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of [number]
To see her own Son Jesus
Bring up ten gentlemen.
Bring up ten gentlemen,
Good man, How happy may you be:
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
And Christ to eternity
Notes:
1. All other sources give a different last line of the refrain: To all eternity. Return
1b. Or: Making the lame to go. Return
2. Or: Making the blind to see. Return
3. Or: Reading the Bible o'er. Return
4. Or: Raising the dead to life. Return
5. Or: Upon the Crucifix. Return
6. Or: Ascending into Heaven. Return
One source differs in the following respects
Alternate First Verse:
1. The first good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of one;
To see the blessed Jesus Christ
When he was first her son:
When he was first her son, good man;
And blessed may he be,
Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
To all eternity.
Alternate third line in each verse:
To see her own son, Jesus Christ,
Alternate ending to verse 6:
Upon the crucifix:
Other versions include:
The Seven Rejoices of Mary
The Blessings of Mary
Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott have a lengthy history of this carol following carol # 131 in The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992). Another excellent history can be found in Ian Bradley's, The Penguin Book of Carols (London: Penguin, 1999), Carol #76.
Sheet Music from Rev. Charles Lewis Hutchins, Carols Old and Carols New (Boston: Parish Choir, 1916), Carol #429
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF
Music also available at An Online Christmas Songbook
Sandys' Note:
This [is] taken from popular broad-side carols, [and contains] rather curious legends, of which may have already been observed in the old carol for St. Stephen. This ... carol is similar to the old one called "Joyis Fyve." [The Ferste Joye As I Zu Telle]
William Henry Husk, Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868):
This is one of the most popular of carols. The earliest known version is in a manuscript of the fourteenth century, where it is entitled "Joyes Fyve." The version called "The Seven Joys" (the first seven verses that are here given) is, and has been for a very long time past, annually reprinted by the printers of carol-sheets throughout the entire length and breadth of the land. The unfortunate poet's difficulty of finding a rhyme for "one" in the first verse had led him to use a rather singular expression; but we may be certain nothing irreverent was intended, and the text as it stands, homely though it be, appeals to the human heart much more forcibly than some modern alterations of it, such as,
"To see our blessed Saviour
Sit upon the throne;"
which, apart from the impropriety of making the site of her holy Son in His glory, the first of the blessed Virgin's joys, puts wholly aside the incident which, if not all men, certainly all women, must admit naturally caused the Holy Mother her greatest happiness. The extension of the Seven joys to Twelve is confined to the northern parts of the country, being only found on broadsides printed at Newcastle late in the last, or early in the present century. In the present version the first seven verses are given from the older and most generally followed copies, the Newcastle version, whence the last five verses are taken, having corrupted the former portion of the carol to a very great extent. In its extended form the carol has never yet been given in any collection.
The first seven verses were also found in A. H. Bullen, A Christmas Garland (London: John C. Nimmo, 1885), pp. 55-7 under the title Joys Seven. He also notes "There is an older carol of a similar sort, entitled, 'Joyis Fyve.'"
