The Holly and the Ivy

Christmas Carols Explained, #9

I couldn’t find a definitive answer on when this song originated, but William Chappell included it in a collection of Christmas songs in 1861. Holly and ivy predate Christianity (although…does anything, really? hehehehe) as symbols of winter, but like many such things, they were integrated into seasonal decorations over time. It’s generally understood that holly’s red berries are symbols of Christ’s blood and ivy’s thorns are symbols of the crown He wore.

(Personally I think those symbols make more sense for Easter, but that’s just me.)

The melody came after the lyrics, sometime around 1909 or 1911, originating in Gloucestershire, England, then spreading from there. Naturally I picked the Mannheim Steamroller arrangement. This was on their earliest Christmas albums in the 1980s, and the group gained major popularity in the 1990s through radio play.