I Saw Three Ships

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I Saw Three Ships is a traditional and popular Christmas carol from England. It is often regarded as a children's song, due to the simplicity and repetitiveness of its lyrics. Some sources assert that this song is "an upbeat variant of Greensleeves", which has a similar meter. The earliest printed version is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire.

[edit] Lyrics

Version from "Christmas Carols, An­cient and Mo­dern", by William Sandys, 1833:

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 Savior Christ and His lady,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
Our Savior 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 Heav’n shall sing,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
And all the angels in Heav’n 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 rejoice amain,
On Christmas day in the morning.

Digest of lyrics, as sung by Nat King Cole:

I saw three ships come sailing in

And what was in those ships all three?

The Virgin Mary and Christ were there

And all the Angels in Heav'n shall sing

Then let us all rejoice again

On Christmas Day in the morning

There are plenty of traditional versions of this that have been collected/recorded in the UK. Here is the text of a version traditional in the repertoire of the Romani family, the Brazil family of Gloucester as sung by Lemmy Brazil, recorded by Peter Shepheard in the 1960s:

I saw three ships go sailing by,

Sailing by, sailing by;

I saw three ships go sailing by,

On Christemas day in the morning.

Joseph and Mary was on the ship,

On the ship, on the ship;

Joseph and Mary was on the ship,

On Christemas day in the morning.

Joseph whistled and Mary singed,

And all the bells in Heaven ringed;

All the bells in Heaven ringed,

On Christemas day in the morning.

I Saw Three Ships

[edit] Trivia

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• Bethlehem, being on an inland hill, has no actual seaport.
• The Carols for Choirs series of carol books features an arrangement of the carol by Sir David Willcocks. Organist Simon Preston and former conductor of the Choir of King's College, Sir Philip Ledger, also written arrangements that the choir have performed at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in recent years.
• The song features in the opening titles of the classic 1935 film version of David Copperfield.
• The song has been recorded by several popular singers including Burl Ives, Sting, Dan Fogelberg and Jon Anderson.
• This carol is also featured in the musical Caroline, or Change, but as a counterpoint.
• A Baroque-style instrumental version from the first Narada New Age-genre Christmas album has received much airplay due to its use as underscore music on The Weather Channel during Christmas season.
• The song was parodied in the Weebl and Bob episode "Christmas 4", with three ships carrying pie.
• This song is also sung by Shelley Marsh on South Park.
• Adapted by Jon Schmidt on Jon Schmidt Christmas album.