Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Bitter Withy – England and Ethiopia


Mural from the monastery church on the summit of Bahar Dar, Lake Tana, Ethiopia.

The English Folk Song, The Bitter Withy echoes this Ethiopian mural that depicts Jesus being whipped by his mother for his magical crossing of the beams of the beams of the sun leading three rich young lords to their deaths after there refusal to play at ball. 

Rather than using the rope as above Mary in the song uses a bunch of willow sticks also popularly known as withy.

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