All Things Christmas (14 page)

Day
9
Th
e
nine ladies dancing represented the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self
Control.

Day
10
The ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments.

Day
11
T
he
eleven pipers piping refers t
o the eleven faithful apostles.

Day
12
The twelve drummers drumming were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles' Creed: Belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, Made man, Crucified, Died and rose on the third day, that He sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the Resurrection of the Dead
and Life Everlasting.

One of the recurring themes of Christmas is its central place in most family traditions. Over time families have developed individual practices about particular foods, the time when the tree is decorated or when the presents are opened, how the Nativity set is arranged, and so on. None of these practices are good or bad. The important thing is the sense of cohesiveness and continuity they provide for children. It’s surprising how often a discussion of Christmas around the water cooler devolves into a
sharing of childhood memories.

An oft heard phrase these days is
Pay it Forward
. There’s no better opportunity to do just that than filling your children’s lives with many happy memories of Christmas. Don’t be afraid to start a tradition or two of your own. Someday they’ll thank you for it.

Chapter S
even
teen

Favorite
Christmas
Songs

What is said to be the first Christmas hymn,
Veni
redemptor
gentium
,
O come, Redeemer of the Earth, is attributed to St. Ambrose who was Archbishop of Milan in the 4
th
Century. Despite his efforts, as we saw in the previous chapter the singing of Christmas hymns, or Carols, by the common folk didn’t become popular until the 13
th
Century. Since then, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Carols both religious and secular have been written.

Yet even with this bounty of Carols to choose from, it seems that as each Christmas rolls around we hear pretty much the same tunes. Why?
Probably because Christmas is built on traditions and
nothing
illicits
childhood memories of Christmas like
the old songs.
Still, every so often a new one makes its way onto the list of favorites,
The Little Drummer Boy
being an example.

In an effort to play off the season, every year newspapers, radio and TV stations and websites poll their readers/listeners to produce their own top ten list of favorite Christmas Carols. After doing a little research, we now share the results of some of those surveys with you.

The Top Ten Religious Carols

1
.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
—This song may be one of the most surprising additions to this list since
The Twelve Days of Christmas
was written in England as one of the catechism songs to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith.

2
.
Silent Night
—This very famous song, like
Oh Christmas Tree
, has its own origins from the German tradition where it is well known as
Stille
Nacht
. This is the most translat
ed song with over 147 versions.

3
.
Away in a Manger
—
The
music to this song was written by James R. Murray but the lyrics remain an unknown. The words were found in a Lutheran Sunday school book published in 1885, in Philadelphia. While the song was thought to have German origins dating from the time of Martin Luther, it has sinc
e been proven that it does not.

4.
The First Noel
—This Christmas carol has English descent. An interesting fact is that its original spelling was
Nowell
. Some scholars believe the word to actually stand for the phrase,
Now
all is well
. It was written sometime in the 17
th
Century and has been popular for over three centuries. Yet who first wrote the words or the music for this carol
is unknown
. It was passed down orally through families
until
finally written down in a book of Christmas carols in 1833.

5.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
—
The
traditional English hymn,
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
, was termed “the most popular of Christmas carols” by the 19
th
Century newspaper editor, A.H.
Bullen
. The lyrics and music are simply credited as English Tr
aditional with no known author.

6.
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
—This song first started as a poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Weston, Massachusetts. Records show that it first appeared on December 29, 1849 in the Christian Register in Boston. In 1850 Richard Storrs Willis, a composer who trained under Feli
x Mendelssohn supplied the melody.

7.
Joy
to the World
—Isaac Watts wrote this unforgettable carol back in 1719. Watts was an ordained Pastor of an Independent congregation. He also wrote many hymns and carols and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree by the University of Edinburgh in 1728. The music to the carol is by George Frederick Handel.

8.
O Come all ye Faithful
—The Englishman, John Francis Wade, wrote both the words and music, to the hymn known as
Adeste
Fideles
. The musical score was not published until 1782. The lyrics were first published in 1760. It is definitely of English origin, despite
its
original Latin verses.

9
.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
—This song is actually a translation of another Latin text,
Veni
,
veni
, Emmanuel
, done by John Mason Neale in the mid-19
th
Century. It is believed that the traditional sounding music stems from a 15
th
Century French processional for Franciscan nuns though other experts believe it may be 8
th
Century Gregorian in its origins. It is known as one of the most solemn Advent hymns.

10.
We Three Kings
—
We Three Kings of Orient Are
is a Christmas carol written by Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., in 1857. He wrote both the words and the music as part of a Christmas pageant for the General Theological Seminary in New York City. It first appeared in his book
Carols, Hymns and Song
in 1863.

A Secular List

ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers who license broadcast music developed a list of most-played songs over holiday season. The list, of course, is limited to the songs they
license
. Based on over 2,500 radio stations nationwide, the
y
compiled the following list.

1.
Sleigh Rid
e by Le
roy Anderson & Mitchell Parish.

2.
Winter Wonderland
by Fe
lix Bernard & Richard B. Smith.

3.
The Christmas Song
(Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fir
e) by Mel
Tormé
& Robert Wells.

4.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
by
Sammy Cahn &
Jule
Styne
.

5.
Jingle Bell Rock
by Joseph Car
leton Beal & James Ross
Boothe
.

6.
It's
The
Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
by Edward
Pola
& George Wyle.

7.
Do You Hear What I Hear?
 
by
Gloria Shayne Baker.

8.
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
by Meredith
Willson
.

9.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
by Ralph
Blane
& Hugh Martin.

10.
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
by Johnny Marks.

A Radio Station’s Top 25

1.
The Christmas Song

2.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

3.
Winter Wonderland

4
. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

5.
White Christmas

6.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

7.
Jingle Bell Rock

8.
The Little Drummer Boy

9.
Sleigh Ride

10.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

11.
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

12.
I'll Be Home for Christmas

13.
Silver Bells

14.
Rockin
' Around the Christmas
Tree

15.
Feliz
Navidad

16.
Blue Christmas

17.
Frosty the Snowman

18.
A Holly Jolly Christmas

19.
It's Beginning To Look a Lot
Like
Christmas

20.
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

21.
Here Comes Santa Claus
(Right Down Santa Claus Lane)

22.
Carol of the Bells

23.
Do They Know It's Christmas?

24. (There's No Place Like)
Home for the Holidays

25.
Santa Baby

What songs would be on
your
list? Our choice of favorite Christmas song is definitely driven by many factors…childhood memories ranking high among them. One newspaper took things a little further by asking participants to name the song they most
liked
along with the one they most
disliked
. Using this data, they compiled two separate lists. Interestingly enough, one song ended as number one on both lists.
Its name?
The Christmas Song
, most often referred to by its opening line “Chest
nuts roasting on an open fire…”

In closing, we present a short list of songs voted the most annoying. Feel free to add one that you think should be on the list. In no particular order, here they are:

Jingle Bells by the Four Barking Dogs

I saw Mommy Kissing Santa

The Chipmunks Christmas Song

Grandma got run over by a Reindeer

Christmas Shoes

All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Chapter Eighteen

A MOST UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS CAROL

Title Page,
First Edition

Mention a Christmas tale about a crotchety old man who disliked people until he had some other worldly visions on Christmas Eve and everyone immediately thinks of Charles Dickens perennially popular story featuring Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob
Cratchit
, Tiny Tim and Marley’s Ghost. As well they should.
A Christmas Carol
was published on December 19, 1843 and the entire print run sold out in just four days. The book became an instant hit,
and in
no time at all people all across England and the United States knew and loved the story.
I
t’s still beloved today.