The Bitter Withy / Cerys Hafana
“This is how you keep a cultural tradition alive—you make it so immediate that it feels like it’s starting life all over again.” Ted Gioia
The Bitter Withy is an English folk song reflecting an unusual and apocryphal vernacular idea of Jesus Christ. The “withy” of the title is the Willow and the song gives an explanation as to why the willow tree rots from the centre out, rather than the outside in. One of the first popular groups to record the song was The Kingston Trio and other folk artists such as John Tams who recorded the song on his album The Reckoning (2005). The album won 2006 the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for the “Best Album.”
The Bitter Withy is a carol traced to the 14th century and is based on a story occurring in the c. 1st to 4th century Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Verses 2–3 as identified in The Suppressed Gospels and Epistles of the Original New Testament of Jesus the Christ by Archbishop William Wake (1657–1737). This carol is of considerable antiquity, and is based on incidents in the apocryphal gospels (Pseudo-Matthew and Thomas) transposed into an English setting.
Mary and her Disobedient Son
The depiction of the story of Mary and her disobedient son in a fresco at the church of San Martino at Lucca in Italy attests to its popularity in medieval Europe. According to information on the Comparative Video site the scene depicted is a bit startling to those raised in the conventional Western religious traditions. It clearly shows the Virgin Mary (identifiable, of course, from her blue garb and the orange halo) armed with a doubled-up rope with which she is walloping little Jesus, distinguishable as well by that oddly-colored holy diadem.
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The good monks wanted viewers to understand that this is a real and painful whipping. For example, note the consternation on the face of the non-holy child to the left as he witnesses the severe chastisement of his chum for transgressions unknown. Little Jesus seems to be taking it all pretty well – there is an almost nirvanic calm in his facial expression that stands in stark contrast to Mary’s cross look, which seems to be a combination of sorrow and anger.
The point of this mural – its theme, if you will – is that little Jesus was a boy like any other boy, one who needed severe discipline at times as all normal boys do. The net effect of the work is to emphasize the humanity of Jesus, which was a hotly-contested point of faith in the early Christian centuries, as some of the so-called heresies of the times asserted that God the Creator could not truly become one of his own creations and that therefore the “true God, true man” passage in the Nicene creed was false and the humanity of Jesus which was a hotly-contested point of faith in the early Christian centuries, as some of the so-called heresies of the times asserted that God the Creator could not truly become one of his own creations and that therefore the “true God, true man” passage in the Nicene creed was false and the humanity of Jesus an illusion.
There is clearly no passage in the canonical books of The Bible describing anything remotely like this charming little domestic scene – but there are many such in several of the Gnostic and Apocryphal writings going back as far as the second century. And more to our concern here – one of the oldest Christmas carols extant in the English language climaxes with an incident very much like this. That carol is “The Bitter Withy.”
I was drawn to learning about The Bitter Withy first from a review from the sub stack called The Honest Broker from cultural critic Ted Gioia. His post on July 17 was Nine New Albums I’m Loving Right Now. I clicked and got a preview of two on the nine albums. One was a fascinating singer from India. The other was the song The Bitter Withy by Celtic singer Cerys Hafana. Ted wrote about the song “The Bitter Withy” in his post today, noting:
Incantatory Folk Ballads
So much folk music is a snooze—lifeless, bloodless, a nostalgic hankering after a past that never was. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When you hear a musician who really inhabits that soundscape, the music doesn’t even feel old anymore.
But make no mistake, these songs are time tested. The opening track “The Bitter Withy” was first written down in the 1800s—transcribed from a 70-year-old man who learned it from his grandmother. But now listen to Hafana’s version (below) which sounds totally in-the-moment and even in-your-face.
And she does this while playing the Welsh triple harp. I don’t think the folks at Billboard magazine would even recognize one if they saw it.
Cerys Hafana will tell you that she mangles the folk tradition. But that’s just modesty. This is how you keep a cultural tradition alive—you make it so immediate that it feels like it’s starting life all over again.
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Thanks to Ted’s review I listened to the The Bitter Withy. It was a hypnotizing sound. Much like the drone of eastern music. In some ways similar to Coltrane’s eastern drone sound in his 60s quartet. Yet Celtic music has always had this drone sound deep within its musical heritage.
The musicianship and voice and creativity of Cerys all comes together on this powerful piece of music given a reinterpretation of something very ancient and important to her culture. A famous old folk piece of music. Bringing it alive in the modern world. This is what she attempts to do on “The Bitter Withy.” She succeeds in a spectacular way.
Cerys Hafana on the Coast of Wales
In 2022, she released the album Edyf, based on songs found in the National Library of Wales. The album was shortlisted for the 2022-23 Welsh Music Prize and the Welsh-language album of the year. The Guardian named it one of the top ten folk albums of 2022. Paul Carr and Robert Smith of the University of South Wales have described Hafana as “one of the most original voices in contemporary Welsh folk music.” Judy Rogers of The Guardian has described her as “a master of the Welsh triple harp” who “explores resonances from the past that connect with the modern day.”
Explore a powerful video Cerys made titled “Eternity” on a page on Midnight Oil Studios.
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Website of Cerys Hafana
Lyrics to the Ballad The Bitter Withy
As it fell out on a bright holiday
Small hail from the sky did fall;
Our Saviour asked his mother dear
If he might go and play at ball.
“At ball? At ball? My own dear son?
It’s time that you were gone;
Don’t let me hear of any complaints
At night when you come home.”
So up the hill and down the hill
Our sweet young Saviour ran
Until he met three rich lords’,
“Good morning to each one.”
“Good morn, good morn, good morn,” said they,
“Good morning,” then said he,
“And which of you three rich young lords
Will play at ball with me?”
“We are all lords’ and ladies’ sons
Born in a bower and hall,
And you are nothing but a poor maid’s child
Born in an ox’s stall.”
Sweet Jesus turned him round about,
He did neither laugh nor smile,
But the tears came trickling from his eyes
Like water from the sky.
“If you’re all lords’ and ladies’ sons
Born in your bower and hall,
I’ll make you believe in your latter end
I’m an angel above you all”
So he made him a bridge of the beams of the sun
And over the water ran he;
The rich young lords chased after him
And drowned they were all three.
So up the hill and down the hill
Three rich young mothers ran
Saying, “Mary mild, fetch home your child
For ours he’s drowned each one.”
“Oh I’ve been down in yonder town
Far as the holy well,
I took away three sinful souls
And dipped them deep in hell.”
Then Mary mild, she took her child
And laid him across her knee
And with a handful of withy twigs
She gave him slashes three.
“Oh bitter withy, oh bitter withy
You’ve caused me to smart.
And the withy shall be the very first tree
To perish at the heart.”