The music may have been in existence before then, but no direct attribution is known. On the other hand, the words were long credited to Martin Luther but there is no real evidence that he had any part in the existence of that particular carol. He did, however, write several others.
They were presented three times a year, at Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide, and were usually based on Bible stories, sometimes from the Old Testament, sometimes the New. The Chester Mysteries were a series of 24 pageants that have been dated to 1327. How "Lully, Lully, Lu" managed to get from St. Francis in Italy to Chester in England is the real mystery.
Coventry also had Mystery plays - one such was performed for Corpus Christi by local guilds sponsored by Queen Margaret in 1456, and later by Henry VII in 1492. The Pageant of Shearman and Tailors featured the Coventry Carol, sung by the women of Bethlehem just before Herod's soldiers came to slaughter the children of the town.
The Cherry Tree Carol in England was The Apple Tree Carol in France, and has been found in legends of Mexico as well as ancient Egypt. Poor Mary. The trip to Bethlehem was hot and tedious and in her condition, too!
They passed a tree laden with cherries, which looked wonderfully refreshing to her, so she asked Joseph to gather some for her. He was in a hurry, so he refused to stop. The tree, however, had other ideas, and obligingly bowed down so that Mary could reach the branches and more easily gather the ripe, luscious fruit.
When she had picked as many as she could carry, Joseph relented and stepped forward to pick even more for her. The tree, once again, had other ideas, and pulled its branches up beyond his reach. It suddenly occurred to him that he'd made a serious mistake, and he fell on his knees to ask forgiveness. Of both Mary and the tree.
In the early 1500s, a student at Queen's College was attacked by a wild boar while reading a volume of Aristotle. He had no weapon with him, so he jammed the book down the boar's throat, saving himself. And that's why the
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