Green Grow The Rushes, O

"Green Grow the Rushes, O" is a traditional cumulative folk song found throughout the UK and Ireland. Its precise origins likely evolved over centuries through oral tradition, though versions were documented by folk song collectors such as Sabine Baring-Gould in the 19th century.

The song is uses a cumulative structure: each verse introduces a new numbered item, progressing from one up to twelve, and then recounts all the preceding numbered items in reverse order back down to one. This structure serves as both a mnemonic challenge and a key feature of its performance. The song also features the recurring call "Green grow the rushes, O," .

The twelve numbered phrases can be interpreted as Christian religious symbols, perhaps as a form of folk catechism or memory aid. One interpretation could be:

• One for God
• Two for the lily-white boys (sometimes linked to Jesus and John the Baptist, or Old/New Testaments)
• Three for the rivals (often linked to the Trinity or Wise Men)
• Four for the Gospel makers (Mathew, Mark, Luke & John)
• Five for the symbols at your door (could be interpreted as the Pentagram protective symbol, the Five Wounds of Christ, or the five senses)
• Six for the six proud walkers (/'proud waters', often linked to the six water pots at the Wedding at Cana, or the six days of Creation)
• Seven for the seven stars in the sky (perhaps the seven classical 'planets', the Pleiades star cluster, the Seven Joys or Sorrows of Mary, or other significant groups of seven)
• Eight for the April rainers (could be linked to the eight people saved on Noah's Ark, or the eight Beatitudes)
• Nine for the nine bright shiners (the nine orders of Angels)
• Ten for the Commandments
• Eleven for the Apostles who went to heaven,
• Twelve for the Twelve Apostles.