I. Aquifolium : Legends, etc. 



this, Dr Chandler in his Travels in Greece says, 

 " houses were decked with them (Holly branches), 

 that the sylvan spirits might repair to them un- 

 nipped by frosts and cold winds, until a milder 

 season had renewed the foliage of their darling 

 abodes." 



There is an English superstition which pro- 

 bably had its origin in much the same manner 

 as the foregoing. It says that " Holly was 

 brought in so that the fays might hang in each 

 leaf and cling on each bough during Christmas 

 time when spirits had no power " (see Plant Lore, 

 Legends and Lyrics , by Richard Folkard, Jun.\ 

 In the same work the following statement is 

 made. "In commemoration of the infant Saviour 

 having laid on a manger, it is customary, in some 

 parts of Italy, to deck mangers at Christmas time 

 with Moss, Sow Thistle, Cypress, and prickly 

 Holly." 



The origin of the use of Holly for Christmas 

 decorations in our own country is difficult to 

 trace, though quite likely it was a custom 

 brought by the Romans. Conclusive evidence 

 however exists to show that it was popular 

 several centuries ago under the various names of 

 Holm, Hulver, Holy and Holly. Loudon in 

 his Arboretum et Fruticetum, Vol. III. p. 512, 

 says, " the first record of its use for Christmas 

 decorations was in the time of Henry VI.," 

 when the following quaint carol was composed 



47 



