1. Joseph was an old man,
    And old man was he,
When he wedded Mary
    In the land of Galilee.

2. Joseph and Mary walked
    Through an orchard so good,
There was cherries and berries
    So red as any blood.

3. O then bespoke Mary,
    With words meek and kind,
'Pluck me one cherry Joseph
    For they run in my mind.'

4. Go to the tree, Mary
    And it shall bow to thee,
And the highest branch of all
    Shall bow down to Mary's knee.

5. Go to the tree, Mary,
    And it shall bow to thee,
And you shall gather cherries
    By one, and two and three.

6. Then bowed down the highest tree
    Unto Mary's hand'
Then she cried, 'See Joseph,
    I have cherries at command.'

7. O eat your cherries Mary
    O eat your cherries now,
O eat your cherries Mary,
    That grow upon the bough.

8. As Joseph was a-walking
    He heard an angel sing:
This night shall be born
    Our heavenly king.
He neither shall in housen
    Be born, nor yet in hall,
Nor bed, nor downy pillow,
    But in an oxes stall.

9. He neither shall be clothed
    In purple nor in pall,
But in the fair linen
    That usen babies all.
He neither shall be rocked
    In silver nor in gold,
But in a wooden cradle
    That rocketh on the mould.

10. He neither shall be cristen'd
    In white wine nor in red,
But with the fair spring water
    As we were christened.
As Joseph was a-walking
    He heard an angel sing;
This night shall be born
    Your heavenly King.

1. Then Mary took her young Son
    And set Him on her knee:
'I pray Thee now my dearest Child
    Tell how this world shall be!

2. 'O I shall be dead mother
    As the stones in the wall;
O the stones in the streets, mother,
    Shall sorrow for Me all.

3. And O upon a Wednesday
    My vow I will make,
And upon Good Friday
    My death I well take;

4. On Easter Day My mother
    My rising will be,
O the sun and the moon, mother,
    They shall uprise with Me.

5. The people shall rejoice
    And the birds they shall sing
To see the uprising
    Of the heavenly King.'

Note: Rev. Terry has a page at the Choral Public Domain Library (Richard R. Terry), which contains the arrangements of two of his compositions:

• Joseph and the Angel (First Line: "As Joseph was a-walking He heard an angel sing")

• The King's Birthday (First Line: "Awake! glad heart, get up and sing")

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