Green grow the rushes, O Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Green Grow the Rushes, O, is a folk song popular in England, Scotland, and Wales. The tune originates from Scotland but Robert Burns's Green grow the rashes, O has only that line in common.It is cumulative in structure, with each verse built up from the previous verse by appending a new stanza. The first verse is:
- ''I'll sing you one, O
- ''Green grow the rushes, O
- ''What is your one, O?
- ''One is one and all alone
- ''And evermore shall be so.
- ''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 eight bold rangers, (sometimes 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, lily-white boys,
- ''Clothed all in green, O
- ''One is one and all alone
- ''And evermore shall be so.
- Twelve is clearly the twelve apostles of Jesus (of course, the twelve have other significances - days of Christmas, months, signs of the zodiac etc)
- Eleven are the eleven (minus Judas Iscariot) who 'went to heaven', although it could also be St Ursula and eleven martyred virgins.
- Ten, again clearly, are the ten commandments given to Moses.
- The nine may be an astonomical reference (however counting the sun, moon and planets known before 1781 yields at most 8, not 9). It could potentially refer to the nine orders (or 'choirs') of angelss.
- The eight bold rangers or April rainers is obscure, possibly historical, possibly astonomical (the Hyades?).
- The seven are possibly the planets, possibly stars (most likely the Pleiades, called the Seven Sisters).
- The six seems to be a historical reference, but remains obscure. It is possible that they were members of a Saxon warband who beat the bounds of their fortified camp in a traditional way between 450AD and 1066AD. Perhaps it is a Biblical reference to Ezekiel 9 verse 2 - six men with swords come in a vision of the prophet to slaughter the people, whose leaders (8 v16) have committed such sins as turning East to worship the Sun, and "have filled the land with violence".
- Five for the symbols at your door probably refers to the supposed power of a pentogram to ward off evil - it was frequently used above a door for this purpose.
- Four refers to the four Gospel authors Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.
- The three are possibly facets of the human mind, "when three meet together, doubts arise among them" (I Ching).
- The two remain obscure. Posibly they are the holly and the ivy (although the holly berry is red, the ivy berry is black) they are both green, but neither is white. Pagan tradition also has the holly and the ivy as male and female, so they are not both 'boys'. Possibly they are mistletoe (white berries with green banches) in some traditional rite? Robert Graves suggests that they are the Holly King and Oak King (who fight for the Goddess on Mayday). There is some suggestion that the two may be the Old and New Testaments, perhaps referring to some mediaeval tradition.
- The One, to the mediaeval mind would be the one true God.
There is also a similarly titled R.E.M song.
This is an Article on Green grow the rushes, O. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Green grow the rushes, O