"The Holly and the Berry" is track #3 on Cherish the Ladies' "On Christmas Night" CD. It is played along with an O'Carolan tune (called "Henry Roe McDermott", I think).
The CD has many wonderful tracks on it, and I just happened to have performed that particular number with my church choir this past Sunday.
Oh, the holly she bears a berry, as white as the milk
And Mary she bore Jesus all wrapped up in silk
And Mary she bore Jesus, our savior for to be
And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly
Holly, holly. And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly.
Oh, the holly she bears a berry, as green as the grass
And Mary she bore Jesus who died on the cross
And Mary she bore Jesus, our savior for to be
And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly
Holly, holly. And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly.
Oh, the holly she bears a berry, as black as the coal
And Mary she bore Jesus who died for us all
And Mary she bore Jesus, our savior for to be
And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly
Holly, holly. And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly.
Oh, the holly she bears a berry, as blood it is red
And Mary she bore Jesus who rose from the dead
And Mary she bore Jesus, our savior for to be
And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly
Holly, holly. And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly.
Laitch, I think you are mistaken...Holly and the Ivy is a different tune then the one in question.
==
The version of "The Holly She Bears a Berry" on Bells of Dublin is a good one. My siblings and I learned it from that CD and it was HIT at our annual Christmas program.
The song is also on Kirkmount's (Cape Breton group) "Mittens for Christmas" album. There it is labeled as "Now the Holly Bears a Berry" and is said to be Cornish in origin.
Right you are, jdave. I just listened to the tune on the Cherish The Ladies CD. The bit of lyrics provided by paddywhack are similar in content and identical in meter to versions of English song I've played.
There are a ton of versions of The Holly and the Ivy, I know, I've seen any amount of different versions of lyrics and about five different melodies. But it's always been one of my favorites.
The holly and the ivy,
when they are both full well grown,
of all the trees that are in the wood,
the holly bears the crown.
(chorus_
O the rising of the sun,
and the running of the deer,
and the playing of the merry organ,
sweet singing in the choir.
O the holly bears a berry
as red as any blood
and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
for to do poor sinners good
O the holly bears a prickle
as sharp as any thorn
and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
on Christmas Day in the morn
Thanks everybody, I appreciate it. Yeah, the one I was thinking of I had heard from a few Irish recordings in the past, and the tune for 'The Holly and The Ivy' isn't the same, but the lyrics are almost identical....
Many thanks, I was looking for a midi download to accompany an animated xmas card, still looking.
Thanks for the links, they are cool, and I like the 'Steamroller' arrangement, Miss Zina Lee, thank you. These will work fine. The original tune I had in mind was the one heard on a few of the albums mentioned above, 'Bells of Dublin', etc, and I used to have a recording of the Black Family doing it also.
I mean, not a recording of the Black Family 'doing it', but ...oh well, you know what I mean!
S1m0n, thanks for the offer, but I haven't any audio proper software, I'm afraid.
that Christmas song about Holly
that Christmas song about Holly
"the Holly bears a berry as blood it is red
and Mary she bore Jesus who rose from the dead'
Anyone know the full title, or even better, where I can get a mp3 download of it for free?
thank you in advance!
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by gladys
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
The Holly and the Ivy
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by ∅
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
See
http://www.mfiles.org.uk/downloads/the-holly-and-the-ivy.mp3
...but it's instrumental
Jim
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by Worldfiddler
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
aka Sans Day Carol
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by TomB-R
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
paddywhack,
"The Holly and the Berry" is track #3 on Cherish the Ladies' "On Christmas Night" CD. It is played along with an O'Carolan tune (called "Henry Roe McDermott", I think).
The CD has many wonderful tracks on it, and I just happened to have performed that particular number with my church choir this past Sunday.
Oh, the holly she bears a berry, as white as the milk
And Mary she bore Jesus all wrapped up in silk
And Mary she bore Jesus, our savior for to be
And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly
Holly, holly. And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly.
Oh, the holly she bears a berry, as green as the grass
And Mary she bore Jesus who died on the cross
And Mary she bore Jesus, our savior for to be
And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly
Holly, holly. And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly.
Oh, the holly she bears a berry, as black as the coal
And Mary she bore Jesus who died for us all
And Mary she bore Jesus, our savior for to be
And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly
Holly, holly. And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly.
Oh, the holly she bears a berry, as blood it is red
And Mary she bore Jesus who rose from the dead
And Mary she bore Jesus, our savior for to be
And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly
Holly, holly. And the first tree in the green wood it was the holly.
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by browndog
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
its also on the Chieftain's "Bells of Dublin" album
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by I_Fel
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
Laitch, I think you are mistaken...Holly and the Ivy is a different tune then the one in question.
==
The version of "The Holly She Bears a Berry" on Bells of Dublin is a good one. My siblings and I learned it from that CD and it was HIT at our annual Christmas program.
The song is also on Kirkmount's (Cape Breton group) "Mittens for Christmas" album. There it is labeled as "Now the Holly Bears a Berry" and is said to be Cornish in origin.
Jonathan
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by jdave
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
Right you are, jdave. I just listened to the tune on the Cherish The Ladies CD. The bit of lyrics provided by paddywhack are similar in content and identical in meter to versions of English song I've played.
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by ∅
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
There are a ton of versions of The Holly and the Ivy, I know, I've seen any amount of different versions of lyrics and about five different melodies. But it's always been one of my favorites.
The holly and the ivy,
when they are both full well grown,
of all the trees that are in the wood,
the holly bears the crown.
(chorus_
O the rising of the sun,
and the running of the deer,
and the playing of the merry organ,
sweet singing in the choir.
O the holly bears a berry
as red as any blood
and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
for to do poor sinners good
O the holly bears a prickle
as sharp as any thorn
and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
on Christmas Day in the morn
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
. . . the lyrics of which Zina Lee has now posted.
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by ∅
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
The Sans Day Carol is #35 in the Oxford book of Carols.
1. Now the Holly bears a berry as white as the milk.
And Mary bore Jesus, who was wrapped up in silk:
ch. And Mary bore Jesus Christ our Saviour for to be,
And the first tree in the greenwood, it was the holly.
2. ... as the grass
... died on the cross:
3. ... as the coal,
...died for us all:
4. ...as blood it is red,
Then trust we our Saviour, who rose from the dead:
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by s1m0n
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
Thanks everybody, I appreciate it. Yeah, the one I was thinking of I had heard from a few Irish recordings in the past, and the tune for 'The Holly and The Ivy' isn't the same, but the lyrics are almost identical....
Many thanks, I was looking for a midi download to accompany an animated xmas card, still looking.
Happy Holidays!
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by gladys
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly?
The tune's almost the same as the set dance, 'The Piper in the Meadow Straying':
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/1469
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
I could post or email you the score of the Sans Day Carol, and you could create your own midi file, if you have the right software.
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by s1m0n
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
Who is Holly? If she's passing out freebies I'm in line.
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by Zug Isle fiddler
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
Is it this one, paddywhack? http://www.mfiles.co.uk/Downloads/the-holly-and-the-ivy.mid
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
And try the Mannheim Steamroller arrangement in midi at http://members.aol.com/minngirl1/xmasmidi/holly.mid
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
Thanks for the links, they are cool, and I like the 'Steamroller' arrangement, Miss Zina Lee, thank you. These will work fine. The original tune I had in mind was the one heard on a few of the albums mentioned above, 'Bells of Dublin', etc, and I used to have a recording of the Black Family doing it also.
I mean, not a recording of the Black Family 'doing it', but ...oh well, you know what I mean!
S1m0n, thanks for the offer, but I haven't any audio proper software, I'm afraid.
see ya
# Posted on December 10th 2004 by gladys
Re: that Christmas song about Holly
The recording of the Black family doing it is fine until one of them rolls onto the banjo. then it's just plain nasty.
# Posted on December 10th 2004 by Ottery