(Traditional/ C. Sharp. Source)
Recording: The Holly & the Ivy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7eHtDtZ7hs & Sans Day Carol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIHYEb-EIfY
Lyrics to Sans Day Carol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans_Day_Carol
Two for the price of one today! Or rather, several variations on a theme.
There seem to be quite a number of carols and other songs that reference holly and ivy. As evergreen plants that would be in leaf even at midwinter- and in the case of holly, with bright red berries to bring a splash of colour- it’s probably not surprising that there are long traditions of them being used for decoration. Holly and ivy have long been used in garlands and wreaths- in late medieval and Tudor times these could be huge crowns that stayed up during the twelve days of Christmas festivities. Before that they may have had pagan significance, the evergreen nature symbolising the hope that spring would come again- it’s easy to see how that might be co-opted by the Christian church into a reminder of eternal life.
Holly apparently traditionally symbolises the male and ivy the female, so it’s easy to see how that would be Christianised to apparently refer to Jesus (holly) and Mary (ivy). Holly, therefore, ‘wears the crown’ as the first in importance- the ‘king’ tree.
The white blossom of the holly tree is used to symbolise the purity of Mary (as a virgin) and Jesus (as God’s sinless son). Although I have to say despite having two holly trees that are covered in berries at this time of year I can’t remember seeing much in the way of blossom. It’s certainly not a major feature of the holly compared to the leaves and berries.
The prickly leaves, bitter bark and blood-red berries are said to symbolise the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, dying to take away the penalty of sin and disobedience to God. Possibly the prickle also is supposed to symbolise the pain of childbirth?
The first part of the chorus hints at memories of earlier solstice celebrations:
“The rising of the sun
And the running of the deer”
The organ and choir seem rather out of place here, nineteenth-century interlopers in an older conception of midwinter. Although you could perhaps stretch a point and guess that Jesus could be identified with the sun, bringing hope and light into the darkness of midwinter (not to mention various Sun- son wordplays) and that deer have associations with royalty (the idea of Jesus as king). I have some vague memory of Mary being associated with deer in art but I can’t find any definite evidence.
How far the people singing the carol were ever aware of what the meaning behind the symbols was supposed to be we'll never know, nor how far they believed any of it.
There are quite a few versions of “The holly and the ivy” with variations on the exact symbolism. My favourite is the Sans Day carol, although there are some terrible rhymes! ‘Sans’ refers to ‘St Day’, the Cornish village where it was first written down from the singing of a Mr Thomas Beard (a version in the Cornish version also apparently exists).
Another version, or perhaps more accurately an adaption, (https://genius.com/Unknown-artist-advent-song-the-holy-and-the-ivy-are-dancing-in-a-ring-lyrics credited to Emily Chisholm in Hymns & Psalms) sung in advent when I was a child takes the process one step further. It removes the chorus completely and instead makes it a song about the advent wreath and what the candles in it represent. It has almost nothing in common with any other version except the tune and first line but shows the process of taking something well-known and changing the symbolism to suit a different audience continues into modern times.
That’s something to be cautious about, of course- it can too often be used to erase the experience and knowledge of less powerful groups. But it’s useful to challenge what we think we know and seek for new ways to talk and think about it, so that we can help others to understand.
If you’re interested in the history of greenery as winter decoration and some ideas for creating your own, you might want to look at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/christmas-from-the-garden
