The Holly and the Ivy


"The Holly and the Ivy" is a traditional British folk Christmas carol. The song is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 514.

Words

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

Origin

The words of the carol occur in three broadsides published in Birmingham in the early nineteenth 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" : 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

Music

The usual 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". 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 the hexachord. The words have also been sung to other folk melodies, with three further tunes having been collected in Gloucestershire alone.
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 Christmastime, 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.
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 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,
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.

Recorded versions (partial list)