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=                       The Holly and the Ivy                        =
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                             Introduction                             
======================================================================
"The Holly and the Ivy" is a traditional British folk Christmas carol,
listed as number 514 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song can be
traced only as far as the early nineteenth century, but the lyrics
reflect an association between holly and Christmas dating at least as
far as medieval times. The lyrics and melody varied significantly in
traditional communities, but the song has since become standardised.
The version which is now popular was collected in 1909 by the English
folk song collector Cecil Sharp in the market town of Chipping Campden
in Gloucestershire, England, from a woman named Mary Clayton.


                                Words                                 
======================================================================
The following are taken from Sharp's 'English Folk-Carols' (1911), the
publication that first established the current words and melody:

|1. 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.	'The rising of
the sun'	'And the running of the deer,'	'The playing of the merry
organ,'	'Sweet singing in the choir.'	2. The holly bears a blossom,	As
white as the lily flower,	And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,	To be our
sweet Saviour.	'The rising of the sun' etc	3. The holly bears a berry,
As red as any blood,	And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ	For to do us
sinners good.	'The rising of the sun' etc	|valign="top"|4. The holly
bears a prickle,	As sharp as any thorn,	And Mary bore sweet Jesus
Christ	On Christmas Day in the morn.	'The rising of the sun' etc	5.
The holly bears a bark,	As bitter as any gall,	And Mary bore sweet
Jesus Christ	To redeem us all.	'The rising of the sun' etc	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.	'The rising of the
sun' etc


                               History                                
======================================================================
The words of the carol occur in three broadsides published in
Birmingham in the early 19th century.

An early mention of the carol's title occurs in William Hone's 1823
work 'Ancient Mysteries Described', which includes "The holly and the
ivy, now are both well grown" among an alphabetical list of "Christmas
Carols, now annually printed" that were in the author's possession.

The complete words of the carol are found in a book review dating from
1849, in which the reviewer suggested using the text of "The Holly and
the Ivy" in place of one of the readings found in the book under
discussion. The anonymous reviewer introduced the lyrics of carol
thus:

The words of the carol were included in Sylvester's 1861 collection 'A
Garland of Christmas Carols' where it is claimed to originate from "an
old broadside, printed a century and a half since" [i.e. around 1711]:
Husk's 1864 'Songs of the Nativity' also includes the carol, stating:
'Early English Lyrics' by Chambers and Sidgwick, published in 1907,
repeats Husk's statement.


                               Variants                               
======================================================================
There have been many variants collected from traditional singers and
early printed versions which differ significantly from the now popular
version. The most popular traditional variant seems to have been "The
Holly Bears a Berry", whilst the more familiar "The Holly and the Ivy"
variant was sung with a variety of tunes and lyrics.


 Lyrics 
========
Textual variants differing from Sharp (1911) (first verse and chorus)
Variant	Wadsworth (1814-1818)	Bloomer (1817-1827)	Wrighton
(1812-1830)	'The Theologian' (1849)	 Sylvester (1861)	 Husk (1864)
|verse 1 line 2: **'Now are** both well grown'
X	X	X	X	X	X
|chorus line 1: 'The rising of the sun, **the sun,**'
X
|chorus line 2: **' **The running of the deer'
X	X	X	X	X	X
|chorus line 3: 'The playing of the merry **groan**'
X
|chorus line 4: 'Sweet singing **of** the choir'
X
|chorus line 4: **'The** singing in the choir'
X	X


 Standard melody 
=================
The popular melody for the carol was first published in Cecil Sharp's
1911 collection 'English Folk-Carols'. Sharp states that he heard the
tune sung by "Mrs. Mary Clayton, at Chipping Campden", a quaint town
in the Cotswolds. Sharp's manuscript transcription of Clayton's
singing of the third verse, dated "Jan 13th 1909", is archived in the
Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection at Clare College, Cambridge and
viewable online. The melody is notable in being confined to the notes
of a hexachord. {{Image frame
|align=center
|caption=Melody as first published in Sharp, 'English Folk-Carols'
(1911)
|content=
\new Staff <<
\time 3/4
\key g \major
\partial 4
\relative c'
{ \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"flute"
\autoBeamOff
g4 |
g8 g8 g4 e'4 |
d4 b4. g8 |
g8 g8 g4 e'4 |
d2 d8 ([c8]) |
b8 a8 g4 b8 b8 |
e,8 e8 d4 g8 ([a8]) |
b8 c8 b4 a4 |
g2 r8 g8 |
g8 g8 g4 e'4 |
d4 ([b4]) g8 g8 |
g8 g8 g4 e'4 |
d2 d8 ([c8]) |
b8 a8 g4 b4 |
e,8 e8 d4 g8 a8 |
b8 c8 b4 a4 |
g2
\bar "|."
}
\addlyrics {
The
hol -- ly and the i -- vy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The hol -- ly bears the crown.
The ri -- sing of the sun
And the run -- ning of the deer,
The play -- ing of the mer -- ry or -- gan,
Sweet sing -- ing in the choir.
}
>>
\layout { indent = #0 }
\midi { \tempo 4 = 106 }

}}


 Other melodies 
================
The words have traditionally been sung to countless folk melodies,
including three further tunes having been collected in Gloucestershire
alone. Some traditional recordings have been made which demonstrate
this melodic variety; these include one sung by Peter Jones of
Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, and another performed by Bessie Wallace of
Camborne, Cornwall in the early 1930s and recorded by James Madison
Carpenter, which is publicly available on the Vaughan Williams
Memorial Library website. The "Sans Day Carol", considered a variant
of the song, is associated with a different tune.

The early nineteenth-century sources do not provide music for the
carol. Several late nineteenth-century collections set the words to
"old French carol" in D minor.


                         Cultural background                          
======================================================================
Holly, especially the variety found in Europe, is commonly referenced
at Christmas time, and is often referred to by the name 'Christ's
thorn'. Since medieval times the plant has carried a Christian
symbolism, as expressed in this popular Christmas carol "The Holly and
the Ivy", in which the holly represents Jesus and the ivy represents
His mother, the Virgin Mary. Angie Mostellar discusses the Christian
use of holly at Christmas, stating that:
As such, holly and ivy have been a mainstay of British Advent and
Christmas decorations for Church use since at least the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, when they were mentioned regularly in
churchwardens’ accounts (Roud 2004).

Holly and ivy figure in the lyrics of the "Sans Day Carol". The music
was first published by Cecil Sharp. Sir Henry Walford Davies wrote a
popular choral arrangement that is often performed at the Festival of
Nine Lessons and Carols and by choirs around the world. Henry VIII
wrote a love song 'Green Groweth the Holly' which alludes to holly and
ivy resisting winter blasts and not changing their green hue 'So I am
and ever hath been Unto my lady true'.

Hone's 1823 'Ancient Mysteries Described', which lists the carol's
title as mentioned above, also describes (p 94) a British Museum
manuscript: 'The same volume contains a song on the Holly and the Ivy
which I mention because there is an old Carol on the same subject
still printed. The MS begins with',


Nay, my nay, hyt shal not be I wys,
Let holy hafe the maystry, as the maner ys:

Holy stond in the hall, faire to behold,
Ivy stond without the dore, she ys ful sore acold,
Nay, my nay etc

Holy and hys mery men, they dawnseyn and they syng,
Ivy and hur maydyns, they wepen and they wryng.

Nay, my nay etc

"The Holly and the Ivy" is also related to an older carol described by
Sharp as: "The Contest of the Ivy and the Holly", a contest between
the traditional emblems of woman and man respectively.

Holly stands in the hall, fair to behold:
Ivy stands without the door, she is full sore a cold.
'Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be I wis;'
'Let holly have the mastery, as the manner is.'

Holly and his merry men, they dance and they sing,
Ivy and her maidens, they weep and they wring.
'Nay, ivy, nay,' etc

Ivy hath chapped fingers, she caught them from the cold,
So might they all have, aye, that with ivy hold.
'Nay, ivy, nay,' etc

Holly hath berries red as any rose,
The forester, the hunter, keep them from the does.
'Nay, ivy, nay,' etc

Ivy hath berries black as any sloe;
There come the owl and eat him as she go.
'Nay, ivy, nay,' etc

Holly hath birds a fair full flock,
The nightingale, the popinjay, the gentle laverock.
'Nay, ivy, nay,' etc

Good ivy, what birds hast thou?
None but the owlet that cries how, how.
'Nay, ivy, nay,' etc


                               See also                               
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* List of Christmas carols


                            External links                            
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* Free [http://cantorion.org/music/17/The+Holly+and+the+Ivy sheet
music] for piano from 'Cantorion.org'
* [http://www.hymnswithoutwords.com/hymns/The_holly_and_the_ivy Hymns
Without Words]  free recording for download suitable for services
*
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070212193036/http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000062980,00.html?sym=MIS
Steve Roud on superstitions]
*
[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/contest_of_the_ivy_and_the_h.htm?sym=
"Notes on 'The Contest of the Holy and the Ivy'"]
*
[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/holly_and_the_ivy.htm
Hymns and Carols of Christmas]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=fukFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA99 Ancient
Mysteries Described Especially the English Miracle Plays, Founded on
Apocryphal New Testament Story, Extant Among the Unpublished
Manuscripts in the British Museum, Including Notices of Ecclesiastical
Shows, the Festivals of Fools and Asses, the English Boy-bishop, the
Descent Into Hell, the Lord Mayor's Show, the Guildhall Giants,
Christmas Carols, Etc By William Hone, George Cruikshank]
* [http://piereligion.org/yulesongs.html#holly Holly and Ivy Songs]


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=========
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holly_and_the_Ivy