Can anyone explain the words of the song, 'Green Grow the Rushes-O'? Several of the references are o

Can anyone explain the words of the song, 'Green Grow the Rushes-O'? Several of the references are obviously biblical, but who were the lilywhite boys, the rivals, the proud walkers, and the April rainers? What were the symbols at your door, the bright shiners, and the seven stars in the sky?

• THE DILLY SONG, as it was once known, is one of the most mysterious oral folk songs. Versions were found in German, Flemish, Scots, Breton, Medieval Latin, Hebrew, Moravian, Greek and French traditions. The song is clearly religious, but not originally Christian. The more traditional versions have only 10 verses; the other two have been added to bring it in line with the 12 apostles. Any definitive list explaining each verse would be misleading. In his book, Where is Saint George? ... Pagan Imagery in English Folksong, Bob Stewart devotes some 6,000 words to this song alone, but draws no conclusions as to which version is "correct".

  P. Stephenson, Buxton.

• THE SONG has been traced back to the conversion of England to Christianity and was probably an aid to teaching the Creed. There is a mystery about the symbols, as they draw on pagan as well as Hebraic/Christian imagery. A possible explanation would be: the lily-white boys are Christ and John the Baptist; the three rivals are the Magi; the six proud walkers are the water-pot bearers at the feast at Cana; the eight bold rangers (April-rainers?) could be the archangels; the five symbols at your door - possibly the Hebraic pentagon but more likely the five wounds of Christ; the nine bright shiners are possibly the nine joys of Mary; the seven stars in the sky are probably the Planets or perhaps the Great Bear.

  Leon Bailey, Worcester.

• IN The White Goddess, Chapter 10, Robert Graves equates the letters D and T (the 7th and 8th letters of the Beth-Luis-Nion tree alphabet) with the Lily White Boys. D is the sacred Druidic oak which rules the waxing year, and T is the evergreen oak or holly; the bloody oak which rules the waning part of the year. Jesus is often identified with the holly but it was not the holly king but the oak king who was crucified on a T-shaped cross. See also Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (oak and holly) who agreed to behead each other each alternate New Year. (Midsummer and Midwinter). Audrey Coleman, St Leonards on Sea, Sussex.