- 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.
- Oh, the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,
- The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.
- The holly bears a blossom as white as any flower,
- And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to be our sweet saviour
- Oh, the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,
- The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.
- The holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn,
- And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the morn.
- Oh, the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,
- The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.
- I’m certain there is a sect of purists who wouldn’t like this carol for its extra-Biblical text. It doesn’t even mention the Biblical story until the second verse, and there only lightly. It seems filled with naturism.Yet I think G.K. Chesterton would find it very inviting. He’d probably say of it like he did in his book Orthodoxy, that only Christianity has been able to preserve the good things in paganism.Me, I like the references to nature, but I also like the references to music, the organ, the choir, both of which have very church-centered connotations to me.
I’m not sure how the sun, the deer, the organ and the choir have much to do with holly and ivy. but they all seem to fit quite naturally into the running lines of the melody.
At The Rainbow 
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