I Saw Three Ships

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

I Saw Three Ships
GenreChristmas carol
LanguageEnglish
Published1833 (1833)
I Saw Three Ships
Performed by Matt Norris & the Moon
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)" is an English Christmas carol, listed as number 700 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The earliest printed version of "I Saw Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was also published by William Sandys in 1833.[1][2] The song was probably traditionally known as "As I Sat On a Sunny Bank",[3] and was particularly popular in Cornwall.

Lyrics and melody

[edit]
\header { tagline = ##f } \paper { paper-width = 140\mm } \layout { indent = 0 \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } } global = { \key as \major \time 6/8 \partial 8 \autoBeamOff } soprano = \relative c' { \global \set midiInstrument = "flute" \repeat volta 2 { es8 | as4 as8 bes4 c8 | es4 c8 bes4 des8 | c4 as8 } \alternative { { as4 c8 | bes4 g8 es4 } { as8 bes c bes4. as4 } } \bar "|." } alto = \relative c' { \global \set midiInstrument = "flute" \repeat volta 2 { es8 | c4 c8 des4 es8 | es4 es8 es4 f8 | es4 es8 } \alternative { { es4 es8 es4 es8 es4 } { es8 es es | g4. as4 } } } tenor = \relative c { \global \set midiInstrument = "clarinet" \repeat volta 2 { es8 | as4 as8 as4 as8 | as4 as8 g4 as8 | as4 c8 } \alternative { { c8 (bes) as | g4 bes8 g4 } { c8 bes as | es'4. c4 } } } bass = \relative c { \global \set midiInstrument = "bassoon" \repeat volta 2 { es8 | as4 as,8 as4 as8 | c4 c8 es4 des8 | as'4 as8 } \alternative { { as4 as8 | es4 es8 es4 } { as8 g as | es4. as4 } } } verse = \new Lyrics \lyricmode { \repeat volta 2 \lyricmode { I saw three ships come sail -- ing in on Christ -- mas } \alternative { { day, on Christ -- mas day; } { day in the morn -- ing. } } } \score { \new ChoirStaff << \new Staff << \new Voice = "soprano" { \voiceOne \soprano } \new Voice = "alto" { \voiceTwo \alto } >> \new Lyrics \lyricsto "soprano" \verse \new Staff << \clef bass \new Voice = "tenor" { \voiceOne \tenor } \new Voice = "bass" { \voiceTwo \bass } >> >> \layout { } } \score { \unfoldRepeats { << \soprano \\ \alto \\ \tenor \\ \bass >> } \midi { \tempo 4=112 \context { \Score midiChannelMapping = #'instrument } \context { \Staff \remove "Staff_performer" } \context { \Voice \consists "Staff_performer" } } }
Source[4]

The modern lyrics are from an 1833 version by the English lawyer and antiquarian William Sandys, and consist of nine verses.

I saw three ships come sailing in
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
I saw three ships come sailing in
⁠On Christmas day in the morning.

And what was in those ships all three,
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day?
And what was in those ships all three,
⁠On Christmas day in the morning?

Our Saviour Christ and His Lady,
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
Our Saviour Christ and His Lady,
⁠On Christmas day in the morning.

Pray whither sailed those ships all three,
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day?
Pray whither sailed those ships all three,
⁠On Christmas day in the morning?

O they sailed into Bethlehem,
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
O they sailed into Bethlehem,
⁠On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the bells on earth shall ring,
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
⁠On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,
⁠On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the Souls on Earth shall sing,
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
And all the Souls on Earth shall sing,
⁠On Christmas day in the morning.

Then let us all rejoice amain,
⁠On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
Then let us all rejoice amain,
⁠On Christmas day in the morning.

The lyrics mention the ships sailing into Bethlehem, but the nearest body of water is the Dead Sea about 20 miles (32 km) away. The reference to three ships is thought to originate in the three ships that bore the purported relics of the Biblical Magi to Cologne Cathedral in the 12th century.[2] Another possible reference is to King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, who bore a coat of arms "Azure three galleys argent".[5] Another suggestion is that the ships are actually the camels used by the Magi, as camels are frequently referred to as "ships of the desert".[citation needed]

Traditional recordings and collected versions

[edit]

Countless traditional versions of the song have been collected. Many different melodies were used, as is typical of traditional folk songs including Christmas carols. In the 1910s, the English folklorists Cecil Sharp[6] and Janet Blunt[7] noted the tunes and lyrics of dozens of versions, primarily in the south of England.

Several traditional recordings have been made of the song. The American folk song collector James Madison Carpenter recorded several slightly different English versions in the early 1930s, all of which can be heard online via the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, several recorded in Cornwall[8][9][10][11] and one in Gloucestershire.[12] In 1956, Peter Kennedy recorded a man named John Thomas singing the song in Camborne, Cornwall.[13]

Jean Ritchie, a musician from the Appalachian Mountains, was recorded by Alan Lomax in 1949 singing a traditional version learned from her Kentucky family (whose ancestors seemingly brought the song from England), which can be heard courtesy of the Alan Lomax archive.[14] Ritchie later recorded the song on her album Carols of All Seasons (1959).[15] While Jean Ritchie's family version is the only traditional American version to be recorded, the song was known to be present in the United States in previous decades, particularly in the south.[16]

When they were collecting folk songs in the British Isles in 1952, Jean Ritchie and her husband George Pickow encountered the Irish traditional singer Elizabeth Cronin in Macroom, County Cork, who sang a version called "The Bells of Heaven".[17]

Arrangements

[edit]

An arrangement by Martin Shaw appears in The Oxford Book of Carols.[4] The Carols for Choirs series of carol books features arrangements of the carol by both Sir David Willcocks and John Rutter. Organist Simon Preston and former conductor of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Sir Philip Ledger, have also written arrangements that the choir have performed at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in recent years. There is also a more recent choral arrangement by British composer Richard Fox. This carol is also featured in the musical Caroline, or Change, but as a counterpoint. It has been adapted by Jon Schmidt on his Jon Schmidt Christmas album. John Renbourn has arranged it (in a rather free adaptation) for guitar.[citation needed] The song appears on Nat King Cole's 1960 album The Magic of Christmas.

Other versions

[edit]
Illustration from Walter Crane's The Baby's Opera (1877)
  • "I saw three ships come sailing by on New Year's Day" is a 19th-century version, which mentions three pretty girls in the ship entertaining at a wedding held on New Year's Day.[18]

Other recordings

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Cecil James Sharp (2008) The Morris Book: With a Description of Dances as Performed by the Morris Men
  2. ^ a b "I Saw Three Ships", texts, melodies, notes, references; hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com
  3. ^ "Ballads Online". ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b The Oxford Book of Carols (1928) p. 38.
  5. ^ Camden Roll, dated c.1280, entry 11 and Heralds' Roll, dated c.1280, entry 18.
  6. ^ "Search: RN700 Cecil Sharp". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.
  7. ^ "Search: RN700 Janet Blunt". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.
  8. ^ "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing (VWML Song Index SN16774)". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  9. ^ "I Sat on a Sunny Bank (VWML Song Index SN16758)". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  10. ^ "As I Sat on a Sunny Bank (VWML Song Index SN16728)". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  11. ^ "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing (VWML Song Index SN16765)". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  12. ^ "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing By (VWML Song Index SN16800)". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  13. ^ "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing in (Roud Folksong Index S178912)". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Alan Lomax Archive". research.culturalequity.org. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  15. ^ "I Saw Three Ships (Roud Folksong Index S304348)". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  16. ^ "Search: RN700 USA". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.
  17. ^ "The Bells of Heaven (Roud Folksong Index S228692)". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  18. ^ Crane, Walter (1877). The Baby's Opera: A Book of Old Rhymes with New Dresses. Frederick Warne & Co. pp. 18–19. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  19. ^ Connolly, Dave. Jon Anderson: Three Ships at AllMusic
  20. ^ "The Christmas Album". Amazon.com. 2000. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  21. ^ Katrina Rees, "Album Review: Lindsey Stirling – Warmer in the Winter", CelebMix, 19 October 2017
  22. ^ "Christmas Cards From Ireland". Spotify. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to I Saw Three Ships.
  • Works related to I Saw Three Ships at Wikisource
  • Free scores of "I Saw Three Ships" in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
  • Free sheet music for piano, voice and SATB from Cantorion.org
  • "Lyrics", carols.org.uk