"Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. It was recorded by Harry Belefonte in 1956 for his album An Evening with Belafonte. I was told by Jamaican singer Stan Shepherd that the grammar in this song, particularly the possessive pronouns, reflect common usage in the West Indies. This song is fairly well known, enough to be included in store muzak, often in a bogus West Indian accent - kind of a modern version of the nineteenth century minstrel show quasi-Negro accent.