I chose this because I used to enjoy singing it at school and it has the mix of pagan and Christian that makes a good Christmas.
Yet it's popularity is a recent phenomenon. Here's Wikipedia:
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 lyrics and melody varied significantly in traditional communities, but the song has since become standardised.
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.
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