“All these things confirmed James in the resolution which he had taken on the preceding evening. Orders were given for an immediate retreat. Salisbury was in an uproar. The camp broke up with the confusion of a flight. No man knew whom to trust or whom to obey. The material strength of the army was little diminished: but its moral strength had been destroyed. Many whom shame would have restrained from leading the way to the Prince’s quarters were eager to imitate an example which they never would have set; and many, who would have stood by their King while he appeared to be resolutely advancing against the invaders, felt no inclination to follow a receding standard.”

Excerpt From
The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 2
Thomas Babington Macaulay

We awoke this morning to an indescribable alteration of atmospheric conditions. Overnight and imperceptibly at first there has been a transition from subtropical weather to what resembles a far more northern sphere. The first half of the day was devoted to bureaucratic necessity which succeeded to obscure the glistening sunshine and the sudden amendment. It was therefore late in the afternoon before I unraveled myself from the matutinal absorption and happily diverted to the more engaging relief of bicycling throughout the now tranquil and seemingly uninhabited footprints of Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island. Once again today – as I had already partially noted yesterday – the geriatric crowd has overtaken the Island. To deny the plausibility of the transition would be impenetrable stupidity.  Historically the metamorphosis is as predictable as the crocus in spring or, as in this instance, the holly and the berry in winter.

The “Sans Day Carol“, also known as “St. Day Carol” and “The Holly Bears a Berry“, is a traditional Cornish Christmas carol named after the Cornish village of St Day, where it was found around the turn of the twentieth century. The song, which is listed as no. 35 in the Oxford Book of Carols, is very closely related to the more famous carol “The Holly and the Ivy”. According to the Roud Folk Song Index, the “Sans Day Carol” and “The Holly and the Ivy” are variants of the same song (Roud 514).

The progress of change is as inevitable as it is welcome. Nonetheless en route there are ineluctable obstructions and challenges which we must of equal necessity confront.