Digging Through the Notes: Twelve Days of Christmas

Monday, January 2, 2023

Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 9 - The Holly and the Ivy

The Holly and the Ivy is one of the oldest and most traditional of English Christmas carols. An early mention of the carol's title occurs in William Hone's Ancient Mysteries Described (1823), 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 words of the carol were included in Sylvester's collection A Garland of Christmas Carols (1861), where it is claimed to have originated from "an old broadside, printed a century and a half since" - namely around 1711. The carol, with music said to be an 11th century French song, appears not only in Bramley and Stainer's Christmas Carols New and Old (1871), but also Chope's Carols for Use in Church (1894), Hutchins' Carols Old and Carols New (1916), and Shaw and Dearmer's The English Carol Book (1913). The carol, with a different melody, the one now most often associated with it today, was first published in Cecil Sharp's English Folk-Carols (1911). 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 Mrs. Clayton's singing of the third verse is dated January 13th 1909.

Many beautiful arrangements of this carol have been made, so it was hard to choose which ones to feature . . . though I didn't get tired listening any of them. Enjoy!

p.s. there was only one recorded version I could find of the old French song version, but it's quite a shock, frankly, to hear the words sung to this minor mode French melody.

The Holly and the Ivy

The holly and the ivy,
Now both are full well grown.
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.

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

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

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

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

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

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