Holly is slow to grow and beset by seasonal clichés - but it's the gift that keeps on giving

​

'The holly and the ivy/ When they are both full grown/ Of all the trees that are in the wood/ Dum de dum dum dum de dum." You probably heard more than enough of this carol before Christmas, beamed into shopping malls, programmed into end-of-term nativity plays, so I won't press on any further. The words are quite weird though, suggesting the pagan figure of the Green Man lurking at the crib.










Continue reading...