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HISTORICAL AND LITERARY MEMORANDA. 11 



" Ivy hath a lybe ; she laghtit with the cold, 

 So mot they all hafe that with Ivy hold. 



Nay, Ivy ! Nay, hyt shall not. 



" Holly hat berys as red as any Eose 

 The foster the hunters, kepe hem from the doo. 

 Nay, &c. 



" Ivy hath berys as black as any slo ; 

 There com the oule and ete him as she go. 

 Nay, &c. 



" Holly hath byrdys, aful fayre flok, 

 The Nyghtyngale, the Poppyngy, the gayntyl Lavyrok. 

 Nay, &c. 



" Good Ivy ! what byrdys ast thou ? 

 Non but the howlet that kreye ' How ! how ! ' 

 Nay, Ivy, &c." * 



That the ivy should be adopted as a tavern sign, and give its name to some 

 few places, may be considered necessary consequences of its association, first with 

 Pagan, and afterwards with Christian festivals ; or of the imposing drapery it 

 supplied to many an edifice or scrap of rock where it had enjoyed full scope for 

 many years to spread, and hold and beautify with its hale green leafage. To make 

 an enumeration of the places that have been named in consequence of their rich 

 garniture of ivy, might prove as tedious to the reader as to the writer, and so it is 

 hoped one reference of the kind will suffice. Ivy Lane, in the City of London, 

 was in olden times a place of far higher importance than in the present day, and 

 took its name from the ivy that grew there on the prebends' houses, "an adjunctive 



ornament that can scarcely be imagined by the present residents of the closely 

 confined neighbourhood." 2 



The part our plant has taken in promoting good cheer, and the excesses that 



make an ugly fringe to sociality, is full of attraction for those who are curious 



about old customs. 



The oldest sign borrowed from the vegetable kingdom is the Bush : it was 



a bush or bunch of ivy, box, or evergreen, tied to the end of a pole, such as is 



"Harleian Manuscripts," 5346, quoted in Hone's "Every-day Book," I. 1598, 1635. 

 Hone's " Every-day Book," II. 1137. 



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