Old saying
The above grim prediction refers to the belief that an unusually mild winter causes more disease. But Christmas is always green, in the sense that plants are always included in the celebration of Christ’s birth. This wasn’t always the case. In the early days of Christendom, believers were discouraged from decorating with evergreens because it was considered a pagan custom.
That prohibition didn’t last long. By the 1600’s, Robert Herrick was writing in an apparently post-holiday poem:
Down with the baies and mistletoe,
Down with the holly, ivie all,
Wherewith ye deck the Christmas hall.
In the following century, Robert Steele commented satirically on the “decking” of churches: “The Pulpit itself has such Clusters of Ivy, Holly, and Rosemary about it that a light Fellow in our Pew took Occasion to say that The Congregation heard the Word out of a Bush, like Moses.”
The tradition of bringing boughs indoors at the winter solstice probably originated with the Roman feast of Saturnalia that ran from December 17 to 24 each year. During this evergreen-decked festival, business ceased, all classes were temporarily equal, and gifts were exchanged.
Since I have written other articles on rosemary and mistletoe, I won’t comment farther on them here—except to refer you to those articles at the following links: Rosemary: The Rite Herb and Under the Mistletoe.
Sweet bay is the ancient laurel, also called lorbeer or daphne, which wreathed the brows of heroes and poets and stands for “glory.” The word “bachelor” in our college degrees comes from “bacca-laureus” or “laurel-berry’ through the French ‘bachelier.”
Bay still flavors soups and stews. A tea made from the berries was once recommended for poisonous bites and stings, to prevent contagious diseases, to alleviate cold, flu, and allergy symptoms, and to relieve gas. Applied externally, bay oil treated bruises, sunburn, itches, eczema, earache, and arthritis pain. The berries were also given to women in childbirth, but should never be consumed by pregnant women prior to that since they may cause premature delivery.
Holly has been considered a symbol of Christ’s sufferings, because it sports both thorns—as in the crown of thorns—and red berries, like drops of blood. So it has been called Christ’s thorn or holy tree as well as holver bush, holme, or holme chase.
Representing “foresight,” holly was considered a man’s plant. Perhaps that explains the pro-holly bias in the following Christmas carol!
