Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: The Holly and the Ivy, 1 by Pistil

Pistil wrote:
Ok Jokesters-

Driving home and singing along but did not know the lyrics. Looked it up in Wikipedia, found this too. I never knew Holly and Ivy were so symbolic. "I wis" meant "I know " or "I think".

From Wikipedia:The music and most of the text was collected later by Cecil Sharp (1859–1924) from a woman in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, it is related to the older carol described 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, it shall not be I wis;
Let holly have the mastery, as the manner is.

Ivy hath chapped fingers, she caught them from the cold,
So might they all have, aye, that with ivy hold.
Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be I wis;
Let holly have the mastery, as the manner is.

Holly hath berries red as any rose,
The forester, the hunter, keep them from the does.
Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be I wis;
Let holly have the mastery, as the manner is.

Ivy hath berries black as any sloe;
There come the owl and eat him as she go.
Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be I wis;
Let holly have the mastery, as the manner is.

Holly hath birds a fair full flock,
The nightingale, the popinjay, the gentle laverock.
Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be I wis;
Let holly have the mastery, as the manner is.

Good ivy, what birds hast thou?
None but the owlet that cries how, how.
Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be I wis;
Let holly have the mastery, as the manner is.


Wikipedia says:There are indications that in ancient English village life there was a midwinter custom of holding singing-contests between men and women, where the men sang carols praising holly (for its "masculine" qualities) and disparaging ivy, while women sang songs praising the ivy (for its "feminine" qualities) and disparaging holly. (More of the men's songs have been recorded and survived than the women's, as in the example here) The resolution between the two was under the mistletoe. These three plants are the most prominent green plants in British native woodland during the winter, and for this reason they earned respect from the early country-dwellers and a place in their traditions.


Jokesters-I think we need some updated new verses to counter the misogynistic tone, or maybe a whole new song?! Being female, I will "weep and wring" my chapped fingers until we have some. I read somewhere that it took our local birds a hundred years to discover they could eat English Ivy berries, now many species are spreading it everywhere.(ivy is very invasive here and is illegal to plant), so here at least the owl has company now. Resin-do they still have singing contests over there? How civilized, we just have twerking.