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The Knickerbockers
The next year, on December 6, 1810, Alexander Anderson,
a member of the New York Historical Society, created and distributed
woodcuts of St. Nicholas to those who attended the society's annual
meeting (funded by John Pintard). There was an engraving of Saint
Nicholas, in a bishop’s cloak; the background contains now-familiar
Santa images including a stocking filled with toys and fruit hung over a
fireplace (for the good little girl; the bad little boy received a
stocking containing a bundle of switches). The woodcut had the following
inscription:
Saint Nicholas, good holy man!
Put on the Tabard, best you can,
Go, clad therewith, to Amsterdam,
From Amsterdam to Hispanje,
Where apples bright of Oranje,
And likewise those granate surnam’d.
Saint Nicholas, my dear good friend!
To serve you ever was my end,
If you will, now, me something give,
I’ll serve you ever while I live.
Charles
W. Jones notes that "Pintard later said that Judge Benson had procured
these from an ‘ancient lady 87 years of age. Several, "gdma" Brasher and
others, knew some lines, but none except Mrs. H. remembered the whole.’
Mrs. H. was probably Mrs. John Hardenbrook, who died in 1817, aged 87."
(Page 342). This would put Mrs. Hardenbrook’s date of birth in 1730.
At least some parts of the verse are of great age. At
pages 310-1, Jones also reproduced a fragment of a poem that appears to
date from the early middle ages:
Ride he may to Amsterdam,
From Amsterdam to Spain
Put your finest tabard on,
So may you ride to Spain
With little apples from Orange.
The Spectator published a few verses
concerning Santa Claus in 1815. Again we see the hanging of stockings
and their filling either with goodies – or a rod.
Oh good holy man!
Whom we Sancte Claus name,
The Nursery your praise
Shall proclaim;
The day of your joyful
Visit returns,
When each little bosom
With gratitude burns,
For the gifts which at night
You so kindly impart
For the girls of your love,
And the boys of your heart.
O! Come with your painiers
And pockets well stow’d,
Our stockings shall help you
To lighten your load,
And close to the fireside
Gaily they swing
While delighted we dream
Of the presents you bring.
Oh! Bring the bright Orange
So juicy and sweet,
Bring almonds and raisins
To heighten the treat;
Rich waffles and doughnuts
Must not be forgot,
Nor Crullers and Oley-Cooks
Fresh from the pot.
But of all these fine presents
Your Saintship can find,
O! Leave not the famous
Big Cookies behind –
Or, if in your hurry,
One thing you mislay,
Let that be the Rod –
And oh! Keep it away.
Then holy St. Nicholas!
All the year,
Our books we will love
And our parents revere;
From naughty behavior
We’ll always refrain,
In hopes that you’ll come
And reward us again.
Regrettably, the author is unknown. Note the
similarity of the first line to that reproduced by Anderson.
The modern Dutch tradition still includes a
Sinterklaas song which is similar:
Sinterklaas, goed heilig man! (St.
Nicholas, Good Holy Man):
Sinterklaas, good holy man!
Put your best robe on,
ride with it to Amsterdam,
from Amsterdam to Spain,
little apples of orange,
little apples from the trees
Sinterklaas shall come!
Washington Irving comes back into the picture in 1819
and 1820 when he published
The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. An instant success both
in England and America, Irving purported to describe a traditional
English Christmas celebration at "Bracebridge Hall" in five of the
sketches he produced. The sketches contain a live description of an old
Yorkshire country house at Christmas, with carol singing, Yule log,
mingling of the masters and servants, holly, ivy, and mistletoe. The
basis of these sketches was ostensibly an actual visit to Aston Hall
near Birmingham in 1818, plus visits in 1831 to Barlborough Hall and
Newstead Abbey, accompanied by Sir Walter Scott, who had been delighted
with ‘Diedrich Knickerbocker’s’ History of New York." Irving
later admitted that some portions of the sketches were products of his
imagination. Nevertheless at the time, they provided an immediate
reinforcement of the desire to bring Christmas into the home.
In
1821, a small, sixteen-page booklet appeared, titled A New Year’s
Present for the Little Ones from Five to Twelve, Part III. It was
about Christmas, and was the first to picture Santa Claus in a sleigh
drawn by a reindeer. Published by William B. Gilley of New York, no
credit was given to either the author or the illustrator. Part of the
verse is reproduced below:
Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night,
O’er chimney tops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you.
The steady friend of virtuous youth,
The friend of duty, and of truth,
Each Christmas eve he joys to come
Where love and peace have made their home.
Through many houses he has been,
And various beds and stockings seen;
Some, white as snow, and neatly mended,
Others, that seem’d for pigs intended.
Where e’er I found good girls or boys,
That hated quarrels, strife and noise,
I left an apple, or a tart,
Or wooden gun, or painted cart;
To some I have a pretty doll,
To some a peg-top, or a ball;
No crackers, cannons, squibs, or rockets,
To blow their eyes up, or their pockets.
No drums to stun their Mother’s ear,
Nor swords to make their sisters fear;
But pretty books to store their mind
With knowledge of each various kind.
But where I found the children naughty,
In manners rude, in temper haughty,
Thankless to parents, liars, swearers,
Boxers, or cheats, or base tale-bearers,
I left a long, black, birchen rod.
Such as the dread command of God
Directs a Parent’s hand to use
When virtue’s path his sons refuse.
The booklet contained eight colored
engravings. The price was 25 cents; 18 cents if plain.
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Collections of Christmas Carols & Poetry
Compiled and Edited by
Douglas D. Anderson

Victorian Visions
A Christmas Poetry Collection |

Divinely Inspired
A Christmas Poetry Collection |

The Bridegroom Cometh
Poetry For The Advent |
Other books
by Doug Anderson |
Once A
Lovely Shining Star
A Christmas Poetry Collection
|
So Gracious Is The Time
A Christmas Poetry Collection
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How
Still The Night
The Christmas Poems of Father Andrew, S.D.C.
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Father
and Daughter
Christmas Poems by Frances and William Havergal
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Now, Now The Mirth Comes
Christmas Poetry by Robert Herrick
|
What Sudden Blaze Of Song
The Christmas Poems of Rev. John Keble
|
A Holy Heavenly Chime
The Christmastide Poems of Christina
Georgina Rossetti
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All My
Heart This Night Rejoices
The Christmas Poems of Catherine Winkworth
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A
Victorian Carol Book
Favorites from the 19th Century —
Still favorites today!
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Other Books by Doug Anderson
A Psalter – A Book of the Psalms Arranged by Luther's Categories
Betbüchlein: A Personal Prayer Book, a
recreation of Luther's 1529 prayer book
Daily Prayer
Luther's Passional
Luther's Writings on Prayer: A Selection
Devotions for the Advent – 2009
The Lenten Sermons of Martin Luther, Second Edition
Descriptions of all these volumes can be seen at
Books by Doug
Anderson
The Hymns and Carols of Christmas
Douglas D. Anderson
© Copyright 1996, All Rights Reserved.
The Hymns and Carols of Christmas is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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