The Lyrics of Henry VIII/Grene growith the holy, Henry VIII

[ff. 37v-38r]

The.Kyng .H.viij.

Textual Commentary
Traditionally associated together with the winter season and specifically Christmas, holly and ivy are (as here) also associated with the male and female, respectively. Together, holly and ivy are often seen in strife over issues such as mastery. Additionally, holly contains associations with foresters (fosters) and hunters, as well as with Christ, and ivy with the Virgin. In this love lyric, Henry draws on some aspects of the traditional holly and ivy carol, but focuses on the amity of the two, their inseparability in adverse circumstances (ll. 9–12), and holly’s invariability (ll. 5–8). In “Grene growith the holy” the lover, on impending departure, assures his lady of his constancy in love. This lyric is mentioned in Philip Lindsay’s Here Comes the King (chap. 8); see W. H. J. “Henry VIII: Verses.”


 * 9   A  Ever.


 * 16 betake   Entrust, commit, give in charge (OED v. 1.b); also used in the sense of departure (OED v. 2) which follows in l. 17.


 * 19–20 hath my hart . . . and euer shall   Cf. Cornish’s “Whilles lyue or breth is in my brest” (H 43): “He hath my hart and euer shall” (l. 37); Wyatt’s “ffortune what ayleth the”: “She hath my hart and euer shall” (l. 25; from DBla); and Henry Bold’s “I love my Love, she not me”: “she hath my heart, / And shall have evermore” (ll. 3–4).

“Grene growith the holy” appears in H in three voices, with voices 2 and 3 given for ll. 1–4 alone. Music is provided for the burden only; the lyrics may have been sung to a well-known tune (Stevens M&P 127–28, 399), as with “Hey nony nony nony nony no” (H 26), “Blow thi hornne hunter” (H 29), “Whilles lyue or breth is in my brest” (H 43), and “Yow and I and amyas” (H 35).

This lyric is indexed in Robbins Index and Suppl. 409.5, Boffey, Ringler MS TM210, and Crum G580. It is reprinted in Chappell Account 374–75, Chambers Lyrics 54, Chambers Verse 34–35, Davies 290–91, Dearmer130, Flügel Anglia 237–38, Flügel Neuengl 135, Greene 304, Padelford 77, Stevens M&P 398–99, Stevens MCH8 28, and Trefusis 13.