256 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



Here comes Holly, that is so gent, 



Alleluia! 

 To please all men is his intent, 



Alleluia! 

 But lord and lady of the hall, 



Alleluia! 

 Whosoever against Holly call, 



Alleluia! 

 Whosoever against Holly do cry, 



Alleluia! 

 In a lepe shall he hang full high. 



Alleluia! 

 Whosoever against Holly do sing, 



Alleluia ! 

 He may weep and his handys wring, 



Alleluia! 



From the above it will be seen that it was a crime 

 to say a derogatory word about holly. Holly was 

 not only loved for its beauty but it was a holy plant. 

 Witches detested it and it was a charm against 

 their evil machinations. The name comes from the 

 Anglo-Saxon holegn. The Norse word is hulf, or 

 hulver; and as Chaucer calls it "Hulfeere" we may 

 conclude that holly was familiar to the people of 

 Chaucer's time under that name. 



It is somewhat singular that Shakespeare has writ- 

 ten a song of wintry wind and holly berries to be 

 sung in the Forest of Arden. It affords, however, a 

 delightful contrast to the sun-lit summer woodland. 



