The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy ( The Virgin Mary had a baby boy / The Virgin Mary had a baby boy , etc.) or Glorious Kingdom is a traditional English Christmas carol from the West Indies .
The Calypso Christmas song was first mentioned by Edric Connor (1913-68) from Trinidad in his 1945 book West Indian Spirituals and Folk Tunes . As the editors of the Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols note, the chorus contains "mighty echoes from Africa."
There are numerous recordings and arrangements of the song. Harry Belafonte and the American folk group The Weavers recorded it among others. An arrangement version was made by Wolfgang Kelber.
The Edric Connor collection of West Indian spirituals and folk tunes / arr. For voice and piano by Max Saunders and Hal Evans. London; Sydney: Boosey & Hawkes, c1945 ( library link ).