The Contest of the Ivy and the Holly

Nay, Ivy, nay, it shall not be, I wis,
Let Holly have the mastery as the manner is.
Holly standeth in the hall, fair to behold,
Ivy stands without the door; she is full sore a cold.
Nay, Ivy, nay, etc.
Holly and his merry men, they dancen and they sing;
Ivy and her maidens, they weepen and they wring.
Nay, Ivy, nay, etc.
Ivy hath a lybe, she caught it with the cold,
So may they all have, that with Ivy hold.
Nay, Ivy, nay, etc.
Holly hath berries, as red as any rose,
The foresters, the hunters, keep them from the does.
Nay, Ivy, nay, etc.
Ivy hath berries, as black as any sloe,
There comes the owl and eats them as she go.
Nay, Ivy, nay, etc.
Holly hath birds, a full fair flock,
The nightingale, the poppinjay, the gentle laverock.
Nay, Ivy, nay, etc.
Good Ivy, good Ivy, what birds hast thou?
None but the owlet that cries How! How!
Nay, Ivy, nay, etc.

It is just as well to be particular as to the quality of the holly used in Christmas decorations; for on that depends who will be the ruler of the house during the coming year—the wife or the husband. If the holly is smooth the wife will get the upper hand, but if it be prickly, then the husband will gain the supremacy. It is also unlucky to bring holly into the house before Christmas Eve. And, please, if you are doing at home any decorations for the church, be sure and make them on the ground floor, for it is specially unlucky to make anything intended for use in a church in an upper chamber.

The custom of church decoration may possibly have been suggested by a verse in the first lesson appointed to be read on Christmas eve—lx. Isaiah, 13. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary." Some years ago, at the commencement of the great Church revival, the Christmas decorations in churches were very elaborate, but they are now, as a rule, much quieter, and the only admissible evergreens are contained in the following distich—

Holly and Ivy, Box and Bay,
Put in the Church on Christmas day.

These decorations, both in church and in private houses, ought to be kept up until the 1st of February, Candlemas eve, when they should be burnt—a proceeding which set fire to the hall of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1719. Herrick gives the following:—

Ceremonies for Candlemasse Eve

Down with the Rosemary and Bayes,
Down with the Mistleto;
Instead of Holly, now upraise
The greener Box (for show).
The Holly, hitherto did sway;
Let Box now domineere;
Untill the dancing Easter day,
Or Easter's Eve appeare.
The youthfull Box, which now hath grace,
Your houses to renew;
Grown old, surrender must his place,
Unto the crisped Yew.
When Yew is out, then Birch comes in,
And many Flowers beside;
Both of a fresh and fragrant kinne
To honour Whitsuntide.
Green Rushes then, and sweetest Bents,
With cooler Oken boughs;
Come in for comely ornaments,
To readorn the house
Thus times do shift; each thing his turn do's hold;
New things succeed, as former things grow old.

And with Candlemas day ends all festivity connected with Christ-tide.