Talk:Green Grow the Rushes, O
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Three rivals could be Ocean-land-air or the three popes during the western schism. (but this is unsourced so I'm writing here).
"My only source for this is what we used to sing in childhood in the westcountry (Devon, UK) - "Five for the five bars at your gate" - just another variant."
I couldn't find any references to this variant on google, so I removed it entirely. It could be widespread, or it could be limited to the author's family! If anybody else has heard this variant, please re-insert it as an alternate lyric. --Spudtater 12:56, 10 August 2005 (UTC)
"a folk song popular in England, Scotland, and Wales" - I don't think it is popular in Scotland and Wales. This song has always struck me as being very English. The Robert Burns' "Green grow the rushes O" is a popular folk song in Scotland.
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[edit] Related song(s)
I heard a song that is clearly related to this one at a performance of the SF Bay Christmas Revels last night. According to their program note, it is "a counting song ... from Devon and Cornwall. Sometimes called the 'Dilly Song', [it is] related to Green Grow the Rushes-O, but contains more ancient and universal images."
And here are the count items (I'm using their capitalizations verbatim):
One and all alone
Two Christmas babes in green
Three Great Rivals
Four Seasons of the year
Five Symbols at your door
Six Proud Walkers
Seven Stars in the Sky
Eight for the Hour of Morning's Break
Nine for the Pale Moonshine
Ten April Rainers
Eleven maids in a dance
Twelve Months One after Another
Quite a lively song, at least in this performance. Can't recall the tune, but remember that it's not quite as arpeggio-driven as "Green." It does have the same call and response structure (though it begins each verse with something like "What shall I sing of?")
70.137.145.84 18:16, 17 December 2005 (UTC)
I have some interesting ideas about 3 through 1. Three rivals could refer to the three peoples whose bodies are being chewed on by Lucifer in Dante's Inferno,Judas, Brutus and Cassius. The two kids in green could refer to the two boys who, after the reserection, were either the first to see the empty cave or actually saw Jesus (I forget what actually happened, I just seem to remember two boys). And for the one alone. I'm pretty sure it refers to Jesus himself, refering both to his stint in the wilderness and simply the fact that he was alone in his suffering and such, though if what you say is true about the origins, then Jesus wouldn't make much sense, though it seems reasonable. Steeley42 07:32, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] the three rivals
It has always seemed to me that the 'three rivals' refers to the three peaks in Wales known as Yr Eifl in Welsh and corrupted into The Three Rivals in English.
Also, I learned the text as the six wide walkers which never made any sense to me but makes waters seem like a better word than walkers -- the six wide waters. But of course aren't there seven seas?
I was taught that the three rivals referred to the judgement of Paris, when he had to choose the most beautiful of three goddesses (or was it two goddesses and a mortal woman?).
Could it not mean the three branches of the Christian church (Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox)? 84.70.185.231 09:55, 29 January 2007 (UTC)- JP
[edit] Clothed all in Green O!
When I originally learned this song at primary school, the textbook stated that Two, two, the lilly-white boys, clothed all in green O! was a reference to Jesus and his cousin John the Baptist. It's an easy fit to Jesus - lilly white for purity and perfection, green because this is the usual colour of priestly robes in the Catholic Church and Jesus is regarded as the prototype of the Christian priesthood. Not quite as easy a fit to John the Baptist, though.
The alteration of April rainers to eight bold rangers may be partly influenced by a parallel with six proud walkers, and also by the desire to get the word eight into the line. There's a similar parallel between nine bright shiners and seven stars in the sky, which may have suggested it.
--PeteBleackley 09:12, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
I definitely favour the interpretation of the Holly King and the Oak King being the two lily-white boys. It sounds a lot more Pagan than Christian to me!202.86.97.52 21:43, 10 September 2006 (UTC)Kate Rockpool
[edit] Hebrew version
Does anyone know where I can find the Hebrew version? Zargulon 18:06, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] go where i send thee?
The page lists "Children Go Where I Send Thee" as an alternate title, but it isn't really- it's a related, but entirely different song! Should this be elucidated? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.2.42.105 (talk) 14:44, 8 December 2006 (UTC).
