The song can be traced only as far as the early nineteenth century, but the lyrics reflect an association between holly and Christmas dating at least as far as medieval times.

The version which is now popular was collected in 1909 by the English folk song collector Cecil Sharp in the market town of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, England, from a woman named Mary Clayton.

The holly bears a berry, As red as any blood, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ For to do us sinners good.

The holly bears a prickle, As sharp as any thorn, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ On Christmas Day in the morn.

The holly bears a bark, As bitter as any gall, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ To redeem us all.

[6] The anonymous reviewer introduced the lyrics of carol thus: Instead of passages from Bernard Barton, however, and Mary Howitt, we think we could have gathered more from the seventeenth century poets; and especially might larger use have been made of that touchingly simple class of religious ballads, which under the name of carols, &c., is so rife throughout the rural districts, and the humbler quarters of England's great towns.

We have before us at this time a collection of carols printed in the cheapest form, at Birmingham, uniting for the most part extreme simplicity, with distinct doctrinal teaching, a combination which constitutes the excellence of a popular religious literature.

It is still retained on the broadsides printed at Birmingham.Early English Lyrics by Chambers and Sidgwick, published in 1907, repeats Husk's statement.

[1] Sharp states that he heard the tune sung by "Mrs. Mary Clayton, at Chipping Campden",[10] a quaint town in the Cotswolds.

[12] Some traditional recordings have been made which demonstrate this melodic variety; these include one sung by Peter Jones of Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire,[13][14] and another performed by Bessie Wallace of Camborne, Cornwall in the early 1930s and recorded by James Madison Carpenter, which is publicly available on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website.

[16][17][18] Holly, especially the variety found in Europe, is commonly referenced at Christmas time, and is often referred to by the name Christ's thorn.

Combined with the fact that holly maintains its bright colors during the Christmas season, it naturally came to be associated with the Christian holiday.

[20] As such, holly and ivy have been a mainstay of British Advent and Christmas decorations for Church use since at least the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when they were mentioned regularly in churchwardens' accounts (Roud 2004).

[23] Sir Henry Walford Davies wrote a popular choral arrangement that is often performed at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and by choirs around the world.