Holly and Ivy for Christmas

Here is some typically Christmassy Christmas singing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96decVNChdo

 The carol is a 19th century Cornish song and it is another version of the more familiar one "The Holly and the Ivy".
Here is some information from Wikipedia these carols. It seems that there is more to holly and ivy than you may think!

 "The Holly and the Ivy" is an English traditional Christmas carol. The carol contains intermingled Christian and Pagan imagery, with holly and ivy representing Pagan fertility symbols^[1]. Holly and ivy have been the mainstay of English Christmas decoration for church use since at least the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when they are mentioned regularly in churchwardens’ accounts (Roud 2004). Holly and ivy also figure in the lyrics of the "Sans Day Carol".

more music for Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3TUWU_yg4s&feature=related

This one of the most famous pieces of music ever written, sung by one of the most famous choirs!

Giotto di Bondone (1266/7 – January 8, 1337), better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance. This is a painting called "The Annunciation". It's not such a great reproduction as far as colours go, but you can see the quite impressive colour scheme of the angel's wings! The picture is actually a painting on a wall. It is known as a fresco.  There is a lovely Christmas carol about this particular scene, called The Angel Gabriel. here is the youtube link for that :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pliqObTHxUQ&feature=related