t_, act i, sc. 2 (85).

(3) _Adriana._

If ought possess thee from me, it is dross,
Usurping Ivy, Brier, or idle Moss.

_Comedy of Errors_, act ii, sc. 2 (179).

(4) _Shepherd._

They have scared away two of my best sheep, which I fear the
wolf will sooner find than the master; if anywhere I have
them 'tis by the seaside browsing of Ivy.[130:1]

_Winter's Tale_, act iii, sc. 3 (66).

(5) _Perithores._

His head's yellow,
Hard hayr'd, and curl'd, thicke twin'd like Ivy tops,
Not to undoe with thunder.

_Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 2 (115).

The rich evergreen of "the Ivy never sear" (Milton) recommended it to
the Romans to be joined with the Bay in the chaplets of poets--

"Hanc sine tempora circum
Inter victrices Hederam tibi serpere lauros."--VIRGIL.

"Seu condis amabile carmen
Prima feres Hederae victricis praemia."--HORACE.

And in mediaeval times it was used with Holly for Christmas decorations,
so that Bullein called it "the womens Christmas Herbe." But the old
writers always assumed a curious rivalry between the two--

"Holly and Ivy made a great party
Who should have the mastery
In lands where they go."

And there is a well-known carol of the time of Henry VI., which tells of
the contest between the two, and of the mastery of the Holly; it is in
eight stanzas, of which I extract the last four--

"Holly he hath berries as red as any Rose,
The foresters, the hunters, keep them from the does;
Ivy she hath berries as black as any Sloe,
There come the owls and eat them as they go;
Holly he hath birds, a full fair flock,
The nightingale, the popinjay, the gentle laverock;
Good Ivy, say to us, what birds hast thou?
None but the owlet that cries 'How, how!'"

Thus the Ivy was not allowed the same honour inside the houses of our
ancestors as the Holly, but it held its place outside the houses as a
sign of good cheer to be had within. The custom is now extinct, but
formerly an Ivy bush (called a tod of Ivy) was universally hung out in
front of taverns in England, as it still is in Brittany and Normandy.
Hence arose two proverbs--"Good wine needs no bush," _i.e._, the
reputation is sufficiently good without further advertisement; and "