I found this at one stage:

GREEN GROW THE RUSHES HO (COMMENTARY) This file summarizes postings to the Internet whenever this song has re-surfaced for discussion.

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TITLES:

Alternate Titles: - Children Go Where I Send Thee - I'll Sing You One Oh - The Carol Of The Twelve Numbers - The Twelve Apostles - The Dilly Song

Green Grow The Rashes-o: - Often confused because of the title - A different song by Robert Burns

Green Grow the Lilacs: - Often confused because of the title - American troops sang it during the Mexican-American war (circa 1848) - Supposedly the Mexicans transliterated "Green Grow" to "Grin-go" - From Sing Out! Reprints (1959-1964), page 342 - Other sources say "gringo" comes from "griego" (greek) - It was used for any untelligible speech ("It's all greek to me")

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EXPLANATIONS:

ONE IS ONE AND ALL ALONE: - God, or Jesus Christ

TWO, TWO, THE LILY-WHITE BOYS (BABES): - Alt: Two are the Christmas babes in green - God and Jesus - Or: Jesus Christ and John the Baptist - Or: James and John, who didn't deny Christ - Or: the constellation Gemini (the twins) (a sign of spring?)

THREE, THREE, THE RIVALS: - The Trinity (God, Jesus, The Holy Ghost) - This explanation does not explain the term "rivals" - Or: Peter, James, and John - They argued about who would be the greatest in Heaven - Alt: Three are the three that's in Bethlehem (Jesus, Mary, Joseph)

FOUR FOR THE GOSPEL MAKERS: - The four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) - Alt: Four, the carolers at your door (Christmas)

FIVE FOR THE SYMBOLS AT YOUR DOOR: - The five books of Moses - Or: a pentagram, a common motif on doorposts (why?) - Or: The Greek symbols spelling "Icthys" - The fish was a code symbol for early Christians - Alt: Five for the oxen standing by (Christmas)

SIX FOR THE SIX PROUD WALKERS: - "Walkers" may be a corruption of "waters" - The six water-pots used in the miracle of Cana - Where Jesus changed water into wine at a wedding - Alt: The Charming Waiters - Alt: The six that never did mix (?)

SEVEN FOR THE SEVEN STARS IN THE SKY: - The seven stars in the constellation Ursa Major (The Big Dipper) - Or: the seven visible stars in the constellation Pleiades

EIGHT FOR THE APRIL RAINERS: - The constellation Hyades (eight stars) - Also called "The Rainy Hyades" - Rise heliacally with the sun in the month of Arpil - Or: Gabriel and the Archangels

NINE FOR THE NINE BRIGHT SHINERS: - The Muses (does not fit with biblical or astronomical theme) - Suggests another constellation (The Pleiades?)

TEN FOR THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: - Obvious - Rumor says that Moses actually had fifteen commandments - But he dropped one of the stone tablets on the way down the mountain

ELEVEN FOR THE ELEVEN WHO WENT TO HEAVEN" - The eleven apostles minus Judas

TWELVE FOR THE TWELVE APOSTLES: - Obvious

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REFERENCES:

English Country Songs: - Editor: Lucy Broadwood - Leadenhall Press, London, 1893

One Hundred English Folk Songs: - Editor: Cecil Sharp - New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1975 - ISBN: 0-486-23192-5 - From: wald@theory.lcs.mit.edu (David Wald), 18 Dec 1994 - Also mentioned by Holly Tannen (see: Sing Out)

Sing Out Magazine (39-4, page 105): - From: htannen@mcn.org (Holly Tannen), 4 Jan 1996 It has been collected in the southern mountains, the north atlantic states, Ohio, Michigan, and in Canada. These versions trace back to Cornwall and the west country of England, where it was popular as a Christmas carol and as a harvest song.

Journal of American Folklore: - V.62 #246, Oct-Dec 1949 (Leah Yoffie) - Songs of the Twelve Numbers and the Hebrew Chant of Echod Mi Yodea The song was well known in many sections of Europe as early as the sixteenth century, when it first appeared as an addition to the German Jewish Passover Haggadah, and may have existed as a Jewish folk song some time before it was printed. A Latin version from a 1630 manuscript lists two testaments, three Patriarchs, four evangelists, five books of Moses, six vessels (of Cana) etc.