228 
Holly. 
of their priests, appear to have used the holly in ornamenting 
their churches at Christmas, and undoubtedly this custom, 
which they derived from heathen nations, they have trans¬ 
mitted to their descendants. The earliest English record of this 
pleasant practice is supposed to be found in a carol in praise 
of holly, written in the time of Henry VI., and beginning with 
this stanza : 
“ Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be, I wys; 
Let holly hafe the mastry, as the maner is. 
Holly stand in the halle, fay re to behold; 
Ivy stand without the dore; she is full sore a-cold.” 
In some of the southern portions of the United States the 
leaves of the holly-bush are used as a substitute for tea. The 
American Indians are said to regard them as a panacea ; and 
at certain seasons of the year they hasten in large numbers to 
the sea-coast, where the bush flourishes best. Making a fire 
on the ground, and suspending a cauldron of water above it, 
they throw a great quantity of these leaves into the vessel, 
and then, sitting in a circle round the fire, they begin to imbibe 
large draughts of the liquid, which is served out in a wooden 
bowl : very shortly this produces vomiting. For two or three 
days the process is repeated, and then, every one carrying a 
bundle of the leaves away with him, they return home. 
“ This plant,” says Miller, writing some years ago, “ is sup¬ 
posed to be the same as that which grows in Paraguay, where 
the Jesuits make a great revenue of the leaves, an account of 
which is given by M. Frezier.” 
Evelyn in his garden at Sayes Court had a magnificent 
hedge of holly, which he glowingly described as “ at any time 
of the year glittering with its armed and varnished leaves; 
the taller standards, at orderly distances, blushing with their 
natural coral. It mocks,” he added, “ the rude assaults of the 
weather, beasts, or hedge-breaker;” but, alas for human fore¬ 
sight !—the impregnable hedge could not resist a sovereign’s 
folly. The Czar, Peter the Great, during his stay in England, 
having taken up his residence at Mr. Evelyn’s house in order 
to be near the Deptford dockyard, is recorded to have en¬ 
joyed the puerile amusement of being wheeled in a barrow 
through the dense holly hedges which had afforded their owner 
so much innocent pride. Under such onslaughts the gardens 
