The Joy Tree

All songs Trad. Arr. Paul except: 
A Child This Day is Born, © GD Paul 1999, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)

We Three Kings
Oh Christmas Tree
The Irish Set; The Bouncer with a Broken Leg/The Blarney Pilgrim/The Christmas Reel
I Saw Three Ships
A Child This Day Is Born
Deck The Halls
Good King Wenceslas
Tra Bo Dau
The Holly and the Ivy
Auld Lang Syne


Notes and Lyrics


We Three Kings

Trad. Arr. Paul
DADGAD, Capo V

We three kings of orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

Born a king on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign

REFRAIN
Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading still proceeding
Guide us to they perfect light

Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a diety nigh
Prayer and praising, all men raising
Worship him, God on high

Myhr is mine, it's bitter perfume
Speaks a life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the cold stone tomb
REFRAIN

Glorious now, behold him arise
King and god and sacrifice
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Sounds through the earth and skies
REFRAIN

Oh, Christmas Tree

Trad. Arr. Paul
DADGAD,Capo II

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree
How lovely are your branches
Not only green in summer's heat
But also winter's snow and sleet
Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree
How lovely are your branches

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree
Of all the trees most lovely
Each year you bring to me delight
Shining bright through the longest night
Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree
Of all the trees most lovely

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree
Your beauty green will teach me
That hope and joy and faithfulness
Are precious things I can posess
Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree
Your beauty green will teach me

The Irish Set

Trad. Arr. Paul except:
The Bouncer with a Broken Leg, © GD Paul 1997, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD Capo V

I Saw Three Ships

Trad. Arr. Paul
DADGAD

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

The holly, the ivy, the mistletoe
On Christmas day, on Christmas day
The holly, the ivy, the mistletoe
On Christmas day in the morning

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

The Mother, the Father, the Babe all three
On Christmas day, on Christmas day
The Mother, the Father, the Babe all three
On Christmas day in the morning

And where did these three ships come from
On Christmas day, on Christmas day
And where did these three ships come from
On Christmas day in the morning

They come from lands across the sea
On Christmas day, on Christmas day
They come from lands across the sea
On Christmas day in the morning

A Child This Day is Born

© GD Paul 1999, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD, Capo IV

A child this day is born
A child of earth and sky
Born each year this morning
The divine son of light
By countless generations
Loved, worshipped and revered
In and endless procession
For thousands of years

REFRAIN
Hold him up, hold him high
He's the king of the summer sky
Now his strength and power grow
Born of winter snow
Hold him up, hold him high
He's the light of truth that shines
A child this day is born
This cold winter morning

She waited with such patience
Her lover to receive 
For the love of the whole world
This child was conceived
And now she turns around so slowly
With the blessing of that night
What she conceived in darkness
She brings forth in light
REFRAIN

Now we wait in this dark chamber
In prayer all through the night
Like the ancestors before us
For this morning's first light
And now awake with breathless wonder
The first rays do appear
And we shout, "Hallelujah!
The new king is here!"
REFRAIN

Deck the Halls

Trad. Arr. Paul
DADGAD, Capo V

Deck the halls with boughs of holly
'Tis the season to be jolly
Don we now our gay apparel
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol

See the blazing yule before us
Strike the harp and join the chorus
Follow me in merry measure
As I tell of Yuletide treasure

Fast away the old year passes
Hail the new ye lads and lasses
Joyful now we sing together
Heedless of the wind and weather

Good King Wenceslas

Trad Arr. Paul
DADGAD 

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
While the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gathering winter fuel

Hither page and stand by me
If thou knows it telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?
Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain

Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine-logs hither
Thou and I shall see him dine
When we bring them thither 
Page and monarch, forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather

Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind grows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how
I can go no longer
Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly

In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
That the saint had printed
Therefore, all good folk be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
They who now will bless the poor
Shall themselves find blessing

Tra Bo Dau

Trad. Arr. Paul (Welsh folk song)
DADGAD, Capo V

The Holly and the Ivy

Trad. Arr. Paul
DADGAD, Capo V

The holly and the ivy now they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the woods the holly tree bears the crown

REFRAIN
Oh the rising of the sun, the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing all in the choir

Oh the holly tree bears a blossom as white as any milk
And the Mother bore the precious Son and wrapped him up in silk
REFRAIN

The holly tree bears a berry as red as any blood
And the Mother bore the precious Son to do our poor hearts good
REFRAIN

Oh the holly tree bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn
And the Mother bore the precious Son on Solstice Day in the morn
REFRAIN

Auld Lang Syne

Trad. Arr. Paul
DADGAD Capo V

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days o' lang syne

REFRAIN
For Auld Lang Syne, m'dear
Auld Lang Syne
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yen
For the sake o' lang syne

We twa ha' run abou' the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine
We've wandered manys the weary mile
Sin' auld lang syne
REFRAIN

So here's a hand my trusty friend
And gee's a hand o' thine
We'll tak' a right guid wally-wacht
For the sake o' lang syne

Aye, surely ye'll be your pint stoop
And surely I'll be mine
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yen
For the sake o' lang syne
REFRAIN


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