1. The holly and the ivy,
Now both are full well grown.¹
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.

Chorus
Oh, the rising of the sun,
The running of the deer.
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the quire.²

2. The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Savior. Chorus

3. The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good.³ Chorus

4. The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas day in the morn. Chorus

5. The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all. Chorus

6. The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown. Chorus

[7. The rising of the sun
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir. Chorus]

Notes

1. Sharp gives "When they are both full grown." Return

2. In another version, the final line, 'Sweet singing in the quire.' is repeated. Cecil Sharp substitutes "choir" for "quire," as does Edith Rickert. Return

3. Sharp gives "For to do us sinners good. Return

The seventh verse here is a later addition.

Sheet Music from Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer, Christmas Carols New and Old, Second Series (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., ca 1871), #23.
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF

Sheet Music from Rev. Richard R. Chope, Carols For Use In Church (London: William Clowes & Sons, 1894), Carol #15

Sheet Music from Rev. Charles Lewis Hutchins, Carols Old and Carols New (Boston: Parish Choir, 1916), Carol #489
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF

Sheet Music from Martin Shaw and Percy Dearmer, The English Carol Book, First Series (London: A. R. Mowbray & Co., Ltd., 1913), Carol #15

Sheet Music from Cecil Sharp, English-Folk Carols (1911)

Sheet Music from Ralph Dunstan, The Cornish Song Book (London: Reid Bros., Ltd., 1929), p. 89.

See A Garritan Community Christmas for an MP3:
The Holly and the Ivy, Daniel Powers

Several sources state that the first to print this carol was "Joshua Sylvestre" in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (London: John Camden Hotten, 1861)  However, my copy (a 1901 reprint) does not contain it; neither is it contained in the 1905 reprint, both by A. Wessels Company, New York.  I'd be grateful for a photocopy of this carol from the original 1861 publication, if it is found in that collection. I'd also be grateful for an accurate table of contents. Thanks!

This carol appears to have nearly escaped the notice of collectors, as it has been reprinted by one alone, who states his copy to have been taken from "an old broadside, printed a century and a half since," i.e., about 1710. It is still retained on the broadsheets printed at Birmingham. It is possible that it is an ancient carol. The praise of the holly and ivy was a favourite subject with the mediaeval carolists. The epithet "merry" is applied to the organ by Chaucer, in his Canterbury Tales, where, in a description of the possessions of a poor widow, the Nun's Priests is made to say: --

          "She had a cock, hight Chaunticleer,
In all the land of crowing was none is peer:
His voice was merrier than the merry organ
On mass days that in the church goon."

But later writers almost invariably speak of the instrument in very different terms: -- we have the "pealing organ" of Milton; the "sacred organ" of Dryden; the "deep" organ's "majestic sound" of Congreve; the "deep-mouth'd organ" of Hughes; and "the deep, majestic, solemn, organs" or Pope.

Sung by Mrs. Mary Clayton, at Chipping Campden.

I have supplemented Mrs. Clayton's words with those of another set recited to me by the late Mrs. Wyatt of East Harptree, Somerset. The only alteration that I have made is in the second stanza, substituting in place of the obviously incorrect "On Christmas day in the morn" (which Mrs. Wyatt gave me) the line given in the text which is the usual broadside rendering. Variants of "The Holly and the Ivy" are printed in Bramley and Stainer's [Second Series, ca. 1871] and Chope's collections. The words are also on a broadside by Wadsworth of Birmingham.

Also found in Edith Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), p. 267.

Also found in Henry Vizetelly, Christmas With The Poets (London: David Bogue, 1851).

Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott, in The New Oxford Book of Carols, make the point that the refrain and seventh verse are probably later (and lesser) additions. The first and sixth verses probably represent the original refrain, with verses two through five being the original verses.

Note from Pastor Peter Prange

This is one of a series of medieval English carols on the subject of the rivalry between the holly and ivy vying for mastery in the forest. These two plants came to be associated with the sexes, holly being masculine and ivy feminine. In this carol, the holly is used to represent various aspects of Christ's life and the ivy is not discussed at all.

Pastor Prange also pointed out that Sans Day Carol had a similar theme.

This is one of numerous carols concerning holly and ivy. Many of the earliest carols reflect an ancient contest of mastery between the two. Possibly of pagan origin, some writers have hypothesized that this conflict has come to symbolize a contest between the masculine (holly) and feminine (ivy) elements in nature. Examples include The Contest of the Ivy and the Holly and Holly And Ivy.

Over the centuries, these distinctions have, to an extent, been blurred (but see this curious account from 1779: Holly-Boy And Ivy-Girl). Holly and ivy became less the battleground and more the backdrop, although their decorative uses may also be of very ancient origin.

Perhaps because of their evergreen natures, holly and ivy have been natural decorations during winter celebrations, together with other, similar vegetation including rosemary, bays and mistletoe. Such decoration was common in the home, on light standards on the streets, and in the church (except for mistletoe, according to Brand & Ellis, which retained certain pagan overtones that the churchmen could not abide). The spirit of decoration can be found in Get Ivy And Hull, Woman, Deck Up Thine House and We've Decked The Church With Ivy.

But holly, ivy and the other natural decorations of Christmas had their time as decorations, and that time only. Thus, the poet Robert Herrick (1591-1674) would write that on February 2nd, the Feast of the Purification (and the very, very end of the Christmas-tide):

Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and mistletoe;
Down with the holly, ivy, all
Wherewith ye deck's the Christmas hall;
That so the superstitious find
Not one least branch there left behind:
For look! How many leaves there be
Neglected there, Maids, trust to me,
So many goblins you shall see.

Finally, the holly would also assume certain symbolism in the life and suffering of Christ. Its use at Christmas was seen as a presage of Good Friday and Easter. The Sans Day Carol (First Line: "Now the holly bears a berry") is a clear example. See also Modryb Marya - Aunt Mary.

Songs related to holly and ivy:

Here Comes Holly:

• Her Commys Holly, That Is So Gent (Wright, 1847)

• Here Comes Holly (Husk, 1868)

Holly And Ivy Made A Great Party:

• Holvyr And Heyvy Made A Gret Party (Wright, 1847)

• Holly And Ivy (Husk, 1868; First line: "Holly and Ivy made a great party")

Ivy, Chief Of Trees:

• Ivy Chefe Off Treis It Is (Wright, 1847)

• Ivy, Chief Of Trees, It Is (Vizetelly, 1851)

• Ivy, Chief Of Trees (Husk, 1868)

Nay, Ivy, Nay:

• A Song Of the Ivy and the Holly (Sandys, 1833)

• Nay iuy, nay (Sandys, 1852)

• The Contest of the Ivy and the Holly (Husk, 1868, with notes))

Other Holly and Ivy Carols

• Come Buy My Nice Fresh Ivy (John Keegan, 1809-1849)

• Deck The Halls

• Get Ivy And Hull, Woman, Deck Up Thine House (Thomas Tusser, 1558)

• Green Growth The Holly

• Modryb Marya - Aunt Mary ("Now, of all the trees by the king's highway, / Which do you love the best?"; Robert Stephen Hawker, 1838)

• Nay, Nay, Ivy! ("Holly beareth berries") (Rickert, 1910)

• Sans Day Carol ("Now the holly bears a berry")

• We've Decked The Church With Ivy (Hutchins, 1916)

Additional carols concerning ivy:

"Ouer all gatis that I haff gon," Richard Leighton Greene, The Early English Carols (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1935), #139, p. 95.

"Ivy is both fair and gren," Richard Leighton Greene, ed., A Selection of English Carols (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1962), #36, pp. 94-5.

Also see:

John Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities. With the Additions of Sir Henry Ellis. London: Chatto and Windus, 1888.

• Decking Churches And Houses With Evergreens At Christmas

From W. Carew Hazlitt, Faith and Folklore. Two Volumes. London: Reeves and Turner, 1905. ("Forming A New Edition of 'The Popular Antiquities of Great Britain' By Brand and Ellis.")

• Christmas Decorations At Christmas

• Holly-Boy And Ivy-Girl

• Ivy

Additional Sources:

Percy Dearmer, et. al., eds., The Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1928)

Earthly Delights: Xmas Carols

William C. Egan, The History of Carols

Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott, eds., The New Oxford Book of Carols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Elizabeth Poston, The Penguin Book of Christmas Carols (London: Penguin, 1965)

William L. Simon, ed., The Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook (Pleasantville, NY: Readers Digest Association, revised 2003)

William Studwell, The Christmas Carol Reader (New York: Harrington Park Press, 1995)

Holly, Ilex, is any of several trees and shrubs that belong to the holly family, Aquifoliaceae. Hollys have glossy, evergreen or deciduous leaves, small, inconspicuous flowers, and bright red berries.

In Scandinavia, the evergreen varieties were revered; a sign of defiance to cold and a symbol of life’s continuity. Holly was thought to be the home of wandering spirits. It was hung in homes to assure the occupants good luck. It was assumed that the "points" would snag the evil-intentioned and prevent their entering. When holly was brought into the house, it became an object of lively interest and speculation. It was (incorrectly) believed that the very sharp "pointed" leaves were male, the smoother, female. Thus, the type of holly determined who should "rule the roost" in the coming year. Victorian merchant, Henry Mayhew estimated that London merchants sold 250,000 bushels during the 1851 Christmas.

Many other myths surround this most popular of all Christmas plants. It supposedly wards off witches. A Syrup made from holly allegedly cures coughs. A spring of holly on a bedpost assures one of pleasant dreams. Many, many other such myths also exist.

Christian tradition assigns significance to Holly. According to tradition the pointed leaves represent the thorns of Christ's Crown. The perennially-green leaves represent eternal life. The red berries represent the blood He shed for our salvation.

There is even a tradition that holly was used to make the crown of thorns. At that time the berries were yellow. In honor to the blood shed by Christ the berries turned red.

While holly is most often pictured as having red berries the berries come in other colors too. One tradition says that white berries represent Jesus purity, green berries the cross of wood, and black berries his death.

Many holly species have the pistillate (berry-bearing flower) on one plant and the staminate (pollen-bearing flower) on another plant. Hollys bear fruit best in colder climates and can withstand most freezing temperatures. American holly, Ilex opaca, a slow-growing evergreen tree, can reach heights of 18 m (60 ft) at maturity. Holly trees can live for 200 years. The leaves are stiff and deep dull-green with spines on the margin. The bright red berries ripen in October and remain through winter. English Holly, Ilex aquifolium, is similar to American holly but has glossier leaves and larger clusters of berries. It is not as hardy as American holly.