Green Grow the Rushes, O

The twelfth, cumulated, verse runs: :I'll sing you twelve, O :Green grow the rushes, O :What are your twelve, O? :Twelve for the twelve Apostles :Eleven for the eleven who went to heaven, :Ten for the ten commandments, :Nine for the nine bright shiners, :Eight for the April Rainers. :Seven for the seven stars in the sky, :Six for the six proud walkers, :Five for the symbols at your door, :Four for the Gospel makers, :Three, three, the rivals, :Two, two, the lily-white boys, :Clothed all in green, O :One is one and all alone :And evermore shall be so. ==Origins==

The lyrics of the song are, in many places, exceedingly obscure, and present an unusual mixture of Christian catechesis, astronomical mnemonics, and what may be pagan cosmology. The musicologist Cecil Sharp, influential in the folklore revival in England, noted in his 1916 One Hundred English Folksongs that the words are "so corrupt, indeed, that in some cases we can do little more than guess at their original meaning". The song's origins and age are uncertain: however, a counting song with similar lyrics, but without the 'Green grow the rushes' chorus, was sung by English children in the first half of the 19th century. By 1868 several variant and somewhat garbled versions were being sung by street children as Christmas carols. Sharp states that the song was very common in Somerset and the whole of the West of England. "Green grow the rushes, Ho" (or "O"), the chorus, is not included in Sharp's version, which has simply the call and refrain "Come and I will sing to you. What will you sing to me? I will sing you one-er-y. What is your one-er-y? One is One ..." However, Sharp records that "a form of this song, 'Green grow the rushes, O' is known at Eton", that it was printed in English County Songs, and that Arthur Sullivan had included a version in the Savoy opera The Yeomen of the Guard. Sharp discusses at length the similar Hebrew song "Echad Mi Yodea" (Who Knows One?), which accumulates up to thirteen and is sung at many Jewish Passover seders. ==Interpretation==

The twelve stanzas may be interpreted as follows: :Twelve for the twelve Apostles This refers to the twelve Apostles of Jesus. Sharp states that there were no variants of this line. Another possibility is the trio of Peter, James, and John, often mentioned together in the Gospels, who had a dispute "among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest" (Luke 22:24). :Two, two, the lily-white boys :Clothed all in green, Ho Many traditions hold that John the Baptist, like Jesus, was born without original sin, making them the lily-white boys. "The infant [John the Baptist] leaped in her [Elizabeth's] womb" (Luke 1:41). This may refer to the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus where Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus in clothes of 'dazzling white'. The dressed in green would then refer to St. Peter's suggestion that the disciples build shelters of branches for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. Robert Graves suggested that the reference is the defeat at Yule of Holly King by the Oak King. Sharp cites Baring-Gould's suggestion of an astronomical mnemonic, the Gemini twins (Castor and Pollux) or "signs for Spring". Normally they would be dressed in white, but their sacerdotal robes would be green. According to the writer and folklorist Tom Slemen, such practices were still being performed in secret in the last century, by a cult known as "The Lily White Boys" in the North West of England. :One is one and all alone This appears to refer to God. ==Variants==

Apart from the Notes and Queries and the Hebrew versions already mentioned, the following variants are known. The Twelve Apostles A variant, sung in the American Ozarks, is entitled The Twelve Apostles. Its twelfth, cumulated, verse, is: :Come an' I will sing! :What will you sing? :I will sing of twelve. :What of the twelve? :Twelve of the twelve apostles, :Leven of the saints that has gone to Heaven, :Ten of the ten commandments, :Nine of the sunshines bright an' fair, :Eight of the eight archangels, :Seven of the seven stars in the sky, :Six of the cheerful waiters, :Five of the ferrymen in the boat, :Four of the gospel preachers, :Three of them were strangers, :Two of the little white babes :Dressed in the mournin' green. The Dilly Song A similar variant is found in Winston Graham's The Twisted Sword (1990), the penultimate book in the Poldark series. It is sung by a Cornish choir on Christmas Eve. Current 93 recorded a version on their 1988 album Earth Covers Earth. English folksinger Kate Rusby recorded a rendition of "The Dilly Carol" for her 2015 Christmas album The Frost is All Over: :Come and I will sing you :What will you sing O? :I will sing One O. :What is your One O? :Twelve are the Twelve Apostles :Leven are the 'leven will go to Heaven :Ten are the Ten Commandments :Nine is the moonshine bright and clear :Eight are the Eight Archangels :Seven are the Seven Stars in the sky :Six the Cheerful Waiter :Five is the Ferryman in the boat :Four are the Gospel Praychers :Three of them are strangers :Two of them are Lilly-white babes :Clothed all in green-o :One of them is all alone and ever shall remain so. ==Alternative titles==

• I'll Sing You One Oh • The Carol of the Twelve Numbers • The Twelve Apostles • The Dilly Song • The Dilly Carol • The Counting Song • Come and I Will Sing You • Stay and I’ll Sing ==Related works==

• The spiritual "Children, Go Where I Send Thee" has a similar format, counting down from ten or twelve biblical references. • "Echad Mi Yodea" ("Who Knows One?"), a Hebrew song sung at the end of the Jewish Passover seder, has a very similar structure, counting up to thirteen using biblical and religious references. • The song "The Ten Commandments", on Figgy Duff's album After The Tempest is a variant, omitting the last two symbols. • A filk song titled "High Fly the Nazgul-O!" uses the same tune but the lyrics have been changed to refer to The Lord of the Rings. • The comedy character Rambling Syd Rumpo sang a parody called "Green Grow My Nadgers, O" on the Round the Horne radio comedy programme. • In the Gilbert & Sullivan opera The Yeomen of the Guard, the duet "I Have a Song to Sing, O" was inspired by a variant of this song, beginning "Come, and I will sing you". • In The Children of Green Knowe, by Lucy M. Boston, Tolly sings the first two verses of the song. • In the "Too Many Christmas Trees" episode of the 1960s U.K. TV series The Avengers, Steed sings the first two verses of this song to avoid having his mind influenced by his adversaries with psychic powers. • The Society for Creative Anachronism kingdom of Ealdormere has a filk version of the song, using the tune and the count-down format; the final line is "And one for the land of Ealdormere that ever more shall be so". • The Two Ronnies performed a satirical version as members of a Russian Choir. "Green" was changed to "Red". Memorable lyrics included: "Six for the Common Market / Five pence a mile to drive your car / And four pounds just to park it / Three P for a rotten cup of tea / Tu-tu for women's lib / Now they've burned their bras - O! / One is one, and all alone, and that is Greta Garbo". • "Red Fly the Banners, O" is a Marxist-Leninist version of the song. • Twelve of Anthea Fraser's novels featuring fictional detective David Webb reference lines of the song. • The song is sung by Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols preceding her murder in Alan Moore's From Hell. Though there is no record of Nichols knowing the song or being known to sing it, Moore admits in his annotations that he included the song to tie into the book's theme of the pagan symbolism of Britain - as well as it being a song likely to be sung by a citizen of London in the 1800s. • A variation of this song using nature references and extending only from one to five is performed by an animated turtle in children's TV show Sesame Street. • Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals references the song several times: the three companies are described as the "three rivals" and lines from the song are sung by characters. • The Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea recorded a version titled "Come and I Will Sing You" on their 2005 album The Hard and the Easy. • Terry Pratchett's novel Hogfather features two brothers that share the last name "Lilywhite"; the book also contains a fictional holiday carol "The Lilywhite Boys". • The American band R.E.M. wrote a song named "Green Grow the Rushes" that was released in 1985 on their album Fables of the Reconstruction. • Jonathan Stagge's (pseud. see Patrick Quentin) mystery novel ''Death's Old Sweet Song'' (1946) has a series of murders referencing lines of the song. • Australian writer Garth Nix's Old Kingdom book series incorporates a version of the song, as well as the idea of Nine Bright Shiners, into its cosmology. • The song is referenced in Shirley Jackson's novel Hangsaman. • A much-corrupted version of the song appears in Irene Hunt's novel Across Five Aprils, which she cites as having heard from her grandfather. ==See also==