How holly came to bear the crown among the evergreens

IN THE two decades I have been in this house, the holly tree standing a few yards from my kitchen door has never produced such a bumper crop of berries.

There are 30 or more in each dense scarlet cluster hanging from every part of the tree, and they are currently providing a feast for blackbirds and redwings.

According to country lore, this superabundance of fruit means that we’re in for a very hard winter, the berries being nature’s way of ensuring birds don’t starve.

But in fact, modern science tells us that it’s a direct result of those bursts of unseasonably hot weather we had back in the spring.

Other factors can have an adverse effect on the berry crop.

If there is a very late cold spell in March or April, like that in 2013, then the holly flowers which later turn into berries will be killed off.

Also, a prolonged period of dry weather can make a tree drop its flowers as it struggles to get enough water.

Lack of water certainly hasn’t been an issue this year.

And so without any effort on my part the holly tree outside now forms a lovely natural Christmas decoration.

As such it provides a link with a pagan tradition dating back to the era of the ancient druids, who believed that holly was sacred and would protect your home because it remained green all year round.

When everything else on the land had withered and died in midwinter, they declared, holly was a sign of hope.

Later, Christians claimed it was needle-edged holly leaves which formed the crown of thorns at the crucifixion.

As a result, many claim that the word holly was derived from “holy”.

Where holly trees were common, it often led to the name “hollin” appearing in place names.

Near where I live above the

Aire Valley is the locally famous Hollins Hill, a steep stretch of the Shipley to Guiseley road on the north-west side of Leeds.

Not far away, by the way, the biggest collection of holly trees in Yorkshire is at Saltaire.

The wealthy industrialist Sir Titus Salt ordered his salesmen to bring back from foreign trips samples of the world’s 480 holly species for his park near Salts Mill.

In medieval times, a hollin was a group or grove of hollies which were often pruned by farmers to provide cattle feed. The prickly leaves don’t seem to put off livestock – sheep love them too – because they are high in calories and nutrients.

Hollins are still cut for sheep in parts of Cumbria and Derbyshire.

In the South Pennines, the Holme Valley also owes its name to holly. The Old English word for holly was holegn and the word gradually turned into “holm”.

Holmfirth, forever associated with Last of the Summer Wine , is a compound of holly and “frith” or wood.

Perhaps the place that’s most obviously associated with holly in the whole of Britain is Hollytreeholme, a small hamlet to the north of Beverley in East Yorkshire.