THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



5 



custom too strongly rooted to be 

 easily eradicated, and to appease their 

 converts, they adopted the practice, 

 but transferred the festival from New 

 Year's day to Christmas. In mediaeval 

 times, when more importance was 

 attached to these mystic rites than in 

 this utilitarian age. The holly was 

 one of those honoured plants admitted 

 into the decoration of churches, whilst 

 the ivy was excluded. It being dedi- 

 cated to Bacchus, and used to indicate 

 the sign of a vintner, was relegated to 

 outside or secular adornment. A 

 curious carol of the time of Henry VI 

 in praise of the holly maintains this 

 depreciation of the contemned ivy :-— 



" Holly stond in the Halle, fayre to behold ; 

 Ivy stond without the dore ; she is full sore 

 acold. 



Chorus.— 1 ' Nay Ivy ! nay hyt shall not be 

 iwys ; 



Let Holly hafe the maystery, as 

 the maner is." 



Holly and his merry men they dawnsyn 



and they syng, 

 Ivy and hur maydenys they wepyn and they 



wryng, 



Chorus. — Nay Ivy, &c. 



Ivy hath a lybe ; she caghtit with the cold 

 So mot they all hafe that with Ivy hold. 



Chorus. — Nay Ivy, &c. 



Holly hath berys as red as any rose, 

 The forester, the hunters, kepe hem from 

 the does, 



Chorus. — Nay Ivy, &c. 



Ivy hath berys as black as any slo ; 



Ther com the oul and ete hym as she goo. 



Chorus.— Nay Ivy, &c. 



Holly hath byrds, a full fayre flok, 



The nyghtyngale, the poppyngy, the 

 gayntyl havyrok. 



Nay Ivy, &c. 



Good Ivy ! what byrds ast thou ? 

 Non but thehowlet that kreye ' how ! how !' 

 Nay Ivy, &c." 



Few plants have the etymology of 

 their names shrouded in greater ob- 

 scurity than the holly. The generic 

 name Ilex is the name given by Pliny 

 to the ever-green oak (Quercus Ilex), 

 a common and conspicuous tree in 

 southern Europe. As it is not indi- 

 genous in this country, our early 

 botanists appropriated the name to the 

 most likely ever-green tree with which 

 they were acquainted. Eor the deri- 

 vation of Ilex, some would trace it to 

 the same Celtic root as Vlex (see Y.N. 

 p. 150) ; according to others it is a 

 corruption of illex, enticing or alluring, 

 either from the beautiful colours of the 

 berries enticing birds to feed, or from 

 the alluring, entrapping properties of 

 the bird-lime made from its bark. 

 But, of course, if the name was not 

 originally intended to apply to the 

 holly, such speculations sre futile. The 

 specific name aquifolium (Ray has it 

 agrifolium) is most appropriately be- 

 stowed : it is from the Latin acui, 

 sharp-pointed, and folio, a leaf — the 

 tree with the sharp-pointed leaves. 

 Many writers give the name of Aqui- 

 foliacece to the natural order, and most 

 of the hollies are remarkable for their 

 prickly leaves. In Gaelic and Irish 

 the holly is called cuileann : citl, guard, 



