This traditional English Christmas Carol features words collected by the song-catcher Cecil Sharp, who was a big part of the “folklore revival” in the early 20th C., from a woman who lived in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, in the UK Cotswolds.

Although this is a Christmas carol, its subjects, holly and ivy, each featured prominently in the pre-Christian yuletide holiday. The holly symbolized winter magic which repelled evil, while the ivy symbolized immortality.

For me, this mix is a special gift indeed, for it features the return to the board of Lisa DeBenedictis,
who first mentioned ccmixter to me, some years ago, just before a remix contest featuring her began. I’ve been a fan of this place ever since that first visit, and a fan of her music on magnatune.com ever since I first heard it.

Lisa handles (and mixes in) the vocals and the keyboard which accompanies her, while the second take on the traditional public domain melody is my own (this time a nose flute run through a synthesizer).

Because the ocean fascinates me so, and because in my mind, the sea and the island nation which is the UK are inextricably linked, I decided to pair the melody with a winter sea backdrop.

Although I celebrate Christmas, I tend to the universalist view, and am fond of people of good will regardless of creed. I ask that people look beyond the creedal content here, and look forward to the defeat of the world’s symbolic winters and the coming of a more ever-green Spring.

My thanks for Lisa for being Lisa, and for being willing to work in a gurdonarkian landscape.

My very best holiday wishes to each of you, and my fondest regards.