Lift up Your Hearts

We went scrumping in Goldings Wood today (with permission - is that possible?) today for holly to decorate the church. We have a Victorian Carol service tomorrow. (I know, I know, it is still only Advent 3…) We have masses of ivy in the garden here, but very little holly.

Holly in Goldings - taken a bit earlier in the Autumn when things were warmer!

The linkage of Holly with the passion of Christ is found in a number of ancient carols. It is thought that evergreen decorations were used in pre-christian times for midwinter festivals. The church has always been very good at appropriating symbolism. Placing Christian festivals on the same days as pagan ones forced people to choose: you could not celebrate both things.

This is called the Sans Day Carol. The Music is here.

Now the holly bears a berry as white as the milk,
and Mary bore Jesus, all wrapped up in silk:

And Mary bore Jesus our Saviour for to be,
and the first tree in the greenwood, it was the holly
Holly! Holly!

Now the holly bears a berry as green as the grass,
And mary bore Jesus who died on the cross:

Now the holly bears a berry as black as the coal,
and Mary bore Jesus who died for us all:

Now the holly bears a berry, as blood is it red
Then trust we our Saviour who rose from the dead.

I didn't know that

The sale of the land on which Haileybury was to be built was completed on 23rd October 1805. It was the day of the battle of Trafalgar.

Dreaming Spires

Blogging has been light as things have been busy, but I think we are close to fixing a dinner in Oxford on March 4th. I'll post details as soon as possible, but pencil it in your diary for now.

Streets Called Haileybury 5

Liverpool boasts not only a Haileybury Road, but also Haileybury Avenue, L10, right next to the Aintree race course. By and large the Avenues are named after schools running at right angles to drives named after Oxford Colleges.