A Yuletide song

The Holly and the Ivy (Yuletide version)

The Holly and the Ivy
When they are both full grown, 
Of all the trees that are in the wood 
The holly bears the crown  

Chorus: 
Oh the rising of the sun, 
The running of the deer. 
All merry folk arise and sing 
To greet the dawning year  

Oh the holly bears a berry 
As red as any blood, 
And the ivy grows beneath the snows 
That blanket all the wood  

Oh the holly bears a blossom 
As white as lily flower, 
And the ivy turns the winter wood 
To a green and leafy bower  

Chorus: 
Oh the rising of the sun, 
The running of the deer. 
All merry folk arise and sing 
To greet the dawning year  

Oh the holly bears a prickle 
As sharp as any thorn, 
And the ivy climbs on trees and towers 
To greet the Yuletide morn  

Chorus: 
Oh the rising of the sun, 
The running of the deer. 
All merry folk arise and sing 
To greet the dawning year  
      
	- adapted by Karen Deal Robinson (with edits by Sìne Chondaidh)