P.P.P.P. no 3 The Holly and the ivy

 

P.P.P.P.no 3 The Holly and the Ivy

Sunday December 21st 2008; Winter Solstice.

P IS FOR PERFORMANCE

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY

This is a surprising integration of pagan tradition and Christian sentiment. Holly and ivy are primitive symbols for male and female and the words probably derive from an ancient fertility dance. 'The rising of the sun' almost certainly has its roots in pagan religion.

The Holly and the Ivy : Lyrics

Play Music !
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
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Saviour
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas Day in the morn.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

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.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

This version we of the Holly and the Ivy was first published by Cecil Sharp.
Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early twentieth century, many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them.  As well as rescuing The Holly and The Ivy, Sharp was responsible for rescuing English Morris dancing from obscurity. Sharp was born in London; his father was a slate merchant, much interested in archaeology, architecture, old furniture, and music. His mother, Jane Bloyd, was also a music-lover. Sharp was educated at University of Cambridge, where he rowed in the Clare College boat and graduated B.A. in 1882. From this mix of parentage and a classical education grew his love affair with ancient music and dance traditions.
The Holly and the Ivy has Pagan origins and could date back more than 1500/2000 years. It’s very unusual for a traditional pagan song to have survived, especially during different periods of religious repression both by the catholic Christians and by the protestant Christians of the 17th century. The only way this song has survived is by being ‘Christianised’ (sanitised), and adopted by the church. Holly and Ivy have always been taken indoors during the winter in the hope that those within the decorated walls survive the difficult, harsh, winter conditions as well as the hardy Holly and Ivy growing outside. The colours of the Holly and Ivy, green and red are traditionally associated with Christmas. The original pagan author/s and composer/s of the Holly and the Ivy are unknown as are much those early traditions. It could even be that in Celtic times the traditional songs and chants gradually evolved over time and were passed down through generations of people with a strong oral tradition.

First, an apology, I have been online very little recently and have not been visiting or commenting the way I should, I feel very guilty, as if I have been neglecting my friends. Neglect was never my intent, I just can’t find enough time to do every thing I would like. This, my last P. P. P. P. before Christmas has been sitting half written on my computer for most of the previous week. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Hopefully, over the next couple of days,  I will manage to visit most of my friends and wish you all a Merry Christmas, but in case I miss any one;

MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO EVERYONE

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P. P. P. P. THE HOLLY AND THE IVY

I don’t think I need to remind any one, but just in case; P is for poem (as in Poetry Wednesday), P is for Photo (as in Foto Friday), P is for Performance (as in Song Saturday) and P is for Painting (as in Art Sunday)

P IS FOR POEM

The Holly
By Walter De La mare

The sturdiest of forest trees
With acorns is inset;
Wan white blossoms the elder brings
To fruit as black as jet;
But O, in all green English woods
Is aught so fair to view
As the sleek, sharp, dark-leaved holly tree
And its berries burning through?
Towers the ash; and dazzling green
The larch her tassels wears;
Wondrous sweet are the clots of may
The tangled hawthorn bears;
But O, in heath or meadow or wold
Springs aught beneath the blue
As brisk and trim as the holly-tree bole
With its berries burning through?
When hither, thither, falls the snow,
And blazes small the frost,
Naked amid the winter stars
The elm's vast boughs are tossed;
But O, of all that summer showed
What now to winter's true
As the prickle-beribbed dark holly tree,
With berries burning through!

Green Groweth the Holly
by Henry VIII
(1491-1547)

"As the holly groweth green,
And never changeth hue,
So I am, ever hath been
Unto my lady true."

Unknown author
English,
16th century

Green Grow'th the Holly
Green grow'th the holly, So doth the ivy;
Though winter blasts blow ne'er so high,
Green grow'th the holly.
Green grow'th the holly, So doth the ivy;
The God of life can never die,
Hope! saith the holly.

Ancient Symbolism of Holly

painting;
Fairies in the Meadow by Nils Blommer 1850
Holly conjures up images of Christmas wreaths, but it had cultural and symbolic significance long before it was adopted by Christianity. There are around 400 natural types of holly in the world, but the one people are most familiar with is Ilex aquifolium, or "English/Christmas Holly". It is a coniferous evergreen plant that can be found in many parts of the world. Holly was important in the Pagan/Druidic way of life. It was placed around dwellings during winter, so that the fairies could come into their homes and use the holly as shelter against the cold. It was the evergreen nature of the plant that made it special, the Druids believed it remained green to help keep the earth beautiful when the deciduous trees such as the sacred oak shed their leaves. The holly berries were thought to represent the sacred menstrual blood of their Goddess, this ancient pagan belief was corrupted by the early Christians to represent the spilt blood of Christ.  Holly was also used for protection, decorating doors and windows with holly prevented the  evil spirits from entering. As the British Isles began to convert to Christianity, the early Christians continued the tradition of decorating their home with holly. The significance of the berries changed so that they now symbolized the blood of Christ and holly gradually solidified its position as a Christmas tradition.

SIGNIFICANCE OF IVY

Ivy - Ivy has to cling to something to support itself as it grows. This reminds us that we need to cling to God for support in our lives.

In pagan times, Holly was thought to be a male plant and Ivy a female plant. An old tradition from the Midlands of England says that whatever one brought into the house first over winter, tells you whether the man or woman of the house would rule that year!! But it was unlucky to bring either into a house before Christmas Eve.
In Germany, it is traditional that Ivy is only used outside and a piece tied to the outside of a Church was supposed to protect it from lightning!
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P IS FOR PHOTO

These are recent photos of the decorations in my home, most of the ‘Holly and Ivy’’ seen here is artificial. I could not decide which was more environmentally friendly; To use artificial plants which can be used year after year but are made from plastics which are very UN-environmentally friendly, OR to use the real thing which is non toxic and non polluting, but involves cutting away at real trees AND needs replacing every year. I chose the artificial in the end………..partly because the real thing is more expensive and needs replacing………..at more expense every year. Anyway……………here are the photos.

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P IS FOR PAINTING

THE ARTIST - ALFONS MUCHA

Alphonse Mucha (1869-1939) was one of Europe's leading Art Nouveau artists. In 1896, Mucha designed four enormously successful decorative panels in Paris called "The Four Seasons".  Each beautiful Mucha female figure embodies a season: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, and carries its characteristic attribute. This type of image is the pinnacle of the Art Nouveau style as represented in Paris, Prague and Chicago. This is the ‘’WINTER’’ panel from this series.

Alfons Maria Mucha was born in Ivančice, Moravia (today's region of Czech Republic). His singing abilities allowed him to continue his education through high school in the Moravian capital of Brno, but drawing had always been his first love. He worked at decorative painting jobs in Moravia, mostly painting theatrical scenery, then in 1879 moved to Vienna to work for a leading Viennese theatrical design company, while informally furthering his artistic education. Count Karl Khuen of Mikulov hired Mucha to decorate Hrušovany Emmahof Castle with murals, and was impressed enough that he agreed to sponsor Mucha's formal training at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Mucha moved to Paris in 1887, and continued his studies at Académie Julian and Académie Colarossi while also producing magazine and advertising illustrations. Around Christmas 1894, Mucha was in the right place at the right time, an unplanned, chance meeting in a print shop led to his now famous poster of Sarah Bernhardt. On 1 January 1895, the advertisement for Gismonda appeared on the streets of the city. It was an overnight sensation and announced the new artistic style and its creator to the citizens of Paris. Bernhardt was so satisfied with the success of that first poster that she entered into a 6 years contract with Mucha.
This one is simply called  IVY, and the next one is called ''Maddona of the lilies'', but she is holding a wreath of ivy, which is why it is included. as always...... all pictures and photos here can be clicked on to see the original size without distortion.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Dec 24, '08 A very colourful blog and very festive for the season. I'm sorry I missed this post earlier, but last week I wasn't online much either. I've made an orange clove ball a couple of years ago and I was surprised at how much scent it released for a little while. The smells of Christmas are some of the loveliest from the whole year. My favourite scent was the smell of real fir tree in the lounge room of the family home as a youngster. The smell would permeate the whole house. I don't even own a plastic tree because I doubt if I could live without the smell of that tree, it was part of the whole thing. The other thing about Christmas that makes it visually interesting, naturally, is the theme colours of red and green. Naturally holly has both, and it looks great as a table decoration, which you have shown in your picture.

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Dec 23, '08 beautiful post Loretta-thanks so much for all the work you do in putting this all together. Please don't worry about your multiply friends right now-enjoy your family and holidays-hugs from the ozarks Kathy

Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Dec 22, '08 wonderful loretta couldn't get into your site this am multiply was having isues but okay now and what a lovely blog thank you very much

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Dec 22, '08 A tour de force of loveliness! Happy Holidays to you!

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Dec 22, '08 Same here, Loretta. I love your PPPP posts. They're always so informative and well-written, plus a wonderful way to include 4 posts in one. When I was little we always sang 'The Holly and the Ivy' at Christmastime. While reading the poem by HenryVIII, I wondered to which lady he was true. LOL. Thanks for a beautiful post.

delete reply dianahopeless wrote on Dec 21, '08 I am loving your PPPP posts Loretta!! This one is very informative and inspiring. I love learning new things. I didn't know that ivy had any significance in holiday decorating. I have always liked holly with evergreen boughs as part of my holiday decorations. It is so colorful. Have a beautiful and blessed holiday season!! ((HUGS))

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Dec 21, '08 Very good and informative post. I am no stranger to holly and ivy stories. I am aware of the legend of the Holly King and that he is considered by many to be the forerunner of Santa Claus. Also that the Holly King may have been the inspiration for the Green Knight of Arthurian legend. There are also some Norse legends, which I can't fully recall now. My Great-Grandmother told the legend that the berries of the holly were once white, but when the crown of thorns was pressed on Christ’s head all holly berries turned red to represent his blood. There is quite a lot of new information, new to me anyway, in your post. I am partial to Art Nouveau or Jugendstil, so enjoyed the art work. Thank you.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Dec 21, '08 Fairies in the Meadow is lovely, I could get lost in it. I also like the little chickadees. I like to read bits and pieces of your informative blogs and chew on them. On the real vs artificial holly and ivy, my plant chewing cat has made up my mind. Not liking artificial things and not wanting to serve up possible cat poison (and or hairball fodder) I use neither. I thank you for all your work in putting this together. I hope your grandchildren enjoyed the clove/orange balls. They smell heavenly.

delete reply msowens1 wrote on Dec 21, '08 amazing post..... have a wonderful happy Christmas.... enjoy the blessings of your family and friends... I always learn something when I visit you.... thank you for adding so much to my 'multiply' year.....