By Judith Krauss, Department of Politics

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 of the choir

(Cecil Sharp (1911), English Folk Carols, #6, Novello, from IMSLP).

I don't know how many of you have heard or even sung this traditional British folk carol ‘The holly and the ivy’ celebrating the birth of Christ, which was very well known and written down by Cecil Sharp in 1911. Beyond 'The holly and the ivy', there is also the Cornish Sans Day Carol, also known as 'The Holly Bears a Berry', which is often sung around Christmas, but was also sung between Passiontide and Easter. Holly to me seems like a fascinating example of how long we have coexisted and lived alongside certain trees without knowing that much about them. I have sung Christmas carols about holly for quite a number of years, but until the reinvigoration of the Tree Trails on campus, I never thought to look into why it was particularly the holly that we sing about in these Christmas carols.

It turns out that people on this island and here in Yorkshire have lived with and appreciated holly for a very long time. Holly is a tree of woodland and wood-pasture, but also ancient hedgerows. It prefers oakwoods and acid soils, but also was grown in medieval parklands. In pagan belief, gifts of holly were given at the Roman festival of Saturnalia, celebrating Saturn, an agricultural deity - as many of you will know, Saturnalia in many ways was the predecessor of Christmas. In Celtic mythology, the Holly King, revered in conjunction with the Oak King from midsummer to midwinter, was a manifestation of the tenacity of life and the spirit of unbounded nature. 

In the Christian tradition, holly was gradually incorporated into Christianlore especially around the birth and death of Christ. The whiteness of holly blossom was seen to stand for purity, which rightly or wrongly was often associated with the Virgin Mary. The red holly berries symbolised the blood of Christ, while the prickly nature of holly was associated with the crown of thorns placed onto Christ crucified. This association with the birth, life and death of Christ also explains why the Cornish Sans Day Carol, The Holly bears a berry, was also sung in the run-up to Easter, leading up to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. 

This association between holly and Christ is referenced in our 'Holly and the Ivy' Carol, as it references that 'the holly bears the crown'. That, combined with its evergreen nature and berries, may also have been why holly found its way into churches and homes as decorative and protective items especially around Christmas. It was so popular that a Victorian merchant boasted in 1851 that he had sold 250,000 bushels of holly, which was used for decoration in the church, or worn as a decorative item by Carol Singers. Over time, different English counties had different beliefs and traditions around when to bring or not to bring holly into the house in order to trap evil spirits, invite in elves or fairies, or safeguard the house for example against lightning. Fundamentally, its evergreen nature symbolised immortality and the tenacity of life when surrounded by death, which was why hollies were often grown near homes, and some believed cutting them down was unlucky. 

But there have also been very practical applications of holly throughout history. Historically, forests were primarily important to kings and the aristocracy for hunting, particularly of deer, and they did not look kindly on interference with their hunting grounds. For deer, holly has served as shelter and browsing food – that is also why our carol talks about holly and 'the running of the deer'. The higher, softer holly leaves above the browse line were also essential for feeding cattle, particularly sheep, especially in the harsher Yorkshire winters – this is also a reason why medieval place names especially in the West Riding of Yorkshire so often mention 'holly'. Given its many uses, it is thus maybe unsurprising that in forest laws and punishments for breaking them, holly is regularly singled out. 

So I'd like to think that whoever decided to plant or preserve our hollies here on campus, it was because of this longstanding history of people sharing space with and appreciating holly – in memory of the deer who used it for shelter and food, of the cattle that were fed on its softer higher leaves in harsh Yorkshire winters, of everyone who went carol singing with a holly twig or decorated their house or church with holly, and of all those for whom its evergreen nature meant protection and the indestructibility of life. When you are singing this or another Christmas carol that mentions holly this year, I'd like you to think of our life-affirming, life-giving, protecting holly here.

I am indebted to research by Della Hooke, Susan Drury, John Langton and the Reverend Mark Lawson-Jones for what I've learnt. 

contributed by the creators of the Literature sub-group (including Anthony, Gina, Freya, Patricia, Louis)

Love and Friendship by Emily Brontë (1846), from Poetry Foundation

Love is like the wild rose-briar,

Friendship like the holly-tree—

The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms

But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring,

Its summer blossoms scent the air;

Yet wait till winter comes again

And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now

And deck thee with the holly’s sheen,

That when December blights thy brow

He still may leave thy garland green.

by Judith Krauss, Department of Politics

Please listen to The Holly and the Ivy from Ely Cathedral Choir or, if you have a bit more time, this Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from York Minster, with the Holly and the Ivy Carol at about 25:05.

Another famous carol about holly is Now the holly bears a berry (music by Guildford Cathedral Choir, tune of Sans Day Carol, with lyrics), where the berry amazingly changes colour from white to green to red in the course of the carol!

1. How would you feel about planting a holly near your house? Whether the stories about its evergreen nature safeguarding houses is true or not, it is a welcome sight of evergreen in the winter months, punctured by some beautiful red berries (though please ensure they are not eaten!), and in the summer, it will provide habitat to some other wildlife, including butterflies. The BBC’s Gardeners' World explains how to plant a holly here.

2. If you are making an Advent wreath this year, how would you feel about using some holly twigs? (cf Woodland Trust on foraging for wreaths)

By the InTREEgue Literature sub-group (including Anthony, Gina, Freya, Patricia, Louis)

If you are feeling more creative - we often think of families as a kind of tree, where different relatives branch off like a tree’s branches. As hollies can live up to 300 years, imagine your own ancestors, and think about how they would interact with the holly in their own time. Would your great-great-grandfather need to chop wood, or collect fruit? Would your great-great-grandmother whittle a pipe from a stick, or read in the shade? Write your own tiny story imagining someone from your family tree engaging with the trees around them! 

If you want to share your creativity with the world, please e-mail your story to judith.krauss@york.ac.uk