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The now rarely played Christmas carol, ‘Little Donkey‘; was written by the late British songwriter Eric Boswell (1921 – 2009) back in 1959. It describes the journey made by a heavily pregnant Mary and her husband Joseph, to Bethlehem, the former seated on a donkey; recorded here by the Danish–Dutch popular folk singing duo of the late 1950s and early 1960s, “Nina & Frederik”, [Frederik van Pallandt and his then wife at the time, Nina van Pallandt (nee Moller)].
Their recording of ‘Little Donkey’ reached No. 3 in the Christmas charts in 1960.
Little Donkey.
Little donkey, little donkey,
On the dusty road,
Gotta keep on plodding onward,
With your precious load.
Been a long time little donkey,
Through the winters night.
Don’t give up now little donkey,
Bethlehem’s in sight.
Ring out those bells tonight,
Bethlehem, Bethlehem.
Follow that star tonight,
Bethlehem, Bethlehem.
Little donkey, little donkey,
Had a heavy day.
Little donkey, carry Mary safely on her way.
Do not falter little donkey, there’s a star ahead.
It will guide you little donkey to a cattle shed.
Ring out those bells tonight,
Bethlehem, Bethlehem.
Follow that star tonight,
Bethlehem, Bethlehem.
Little donkey, little donkey,
Had a heavy day.
Little donkey, carry Mary safely on her way.
Safely on her way.
END
Here is a Christmas song that once hear, sticks in your brain and you will find yourself singing the first line all day long.
“I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas“.
Christmas Novelty Song Lyrics: By John Rox. (1902–1957).
Vocals: by Gayla Rienette Peevey, a former singer and child star, who recorded the song when she was just 10 years old, back in 1953.
I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
Only a hippopotamus will do.
Don’t want a doll, no dinky Tinker-toy,
I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy.
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
I don’t think Santa Claus will mind, do you?
He won’t have to use our dirty chimney flue,
Bring him through the front door,
That’s the easy thing to do.
I can see me now on Christmas morning,
Creeping down the stairs.
Oh, what joy and what surprise,
When I open up my eyes,
To see a hippo hero standing there.
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
Only a hippopotamus will do.
No crocodiles, or rhinoceroses,
I only like hippopotamuses,
And hippopotamuses like me too.
Mom says the hippo would eat me up,
But then teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian.
There’s lots of room for him in our two car garage.
I’d feed him there and wash him there,
And give him his massage.
I can see me now on Christmas morning,
Creeping down the stairs.
Oh, what joy and what surprise,
When I open up my eyes,
To see a hippo hero standing there.
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
Only a hippopotamus will do.
No crocodiles, or rhinoceroses,
I only like hippopotamuses,
And hippopotamuses like me too.
END
The song “Twelve Days of Christmas” is an English Christmas carol published around the beginning of 18th century. Its earliest first known version appeared in a children’s book called “Mirth With-out Mischief”.
A first edition of that latter publication, containing the song, was sold for $23,750 at a Sotheby’s auction in 2014.
Initially it was possibly a secular French song in origin and not a Catholic Carol as some would claim. Many people believe it was written by members of the Roman Catholics persuasion, who continued to practise their faith in secret, during the reign of the English Queen Elizabeth I, to thus avoid religious persecution.
Its lyrics are believed to have been written in an effort to teach young children the articles of the Roman Catholic faith, without drawing the attention of Queen Elizabeth’s officials. Thus the song uses imagery, to help children to remember articles of faith.
To the non-religious person, the song merely represents the giving of expensive gifts during each of the twelve days of Christmas, courtesy of, as the song state, “my true love”.
Many people also believe that the song was intended to be a ‘memory and forfeits’ game, where players would have to recite a verse and with an agreement by those taking part to pay some sort of light-hearted penalty, like the giving of a token or kiss, if they failed to remember the gifts in the correct order.
Personally, I have never heard it sung in any Christian Church, but to many religious believers it represents a ‘Christianity code’ to secretly pass on certain Christian ideology, with the various 12 gifts meaning as follows:-
- Partridge = Jesus Christ, the Son of God whose birthday we celebrate on the first day of Christmas. Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge, a bird that will die to protect its young. The partridge in a pear tree is therefore symbolic of Christ being crucified on the Cross.
- Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments.
- French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, The Theological Virtues.
- Calling Birds = The Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists.
- Gold Rings = The First Five Books of the Old Testament.
- Geese A-laying = The Six Days of Creation.
- Swans A-swimming = The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
- Maids A-milking = The Eight Beatitudes.
- Ladies Dancing = The Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit. [Fruit of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control].
- Lords A-leaping = The Ten Commandments.
- Pipers Piping = The Eleven Faithful Apostles.
- Drummers Drumming = The Twelve Points of Doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed.
Note: The 12 days of Christmas are commonly thought of as being from December 25th; the birth date of Jesus Christ, to January 5th; the supposed arrival date of the “Three Wise Men” or Magi, [Latter 3 priests believed to be of the Zoroastrianism faith, an Iranian religion, and one of the world’s oldest organized faiths].
A Song For A Sunday.
Vocals: Alan Jackson.
Gospel Song Lyrics: Carl L. Trivette.
I Want To Stroll Over Heaven With You
If I surveyed all the good things that come to me from above,
If I count all the blessings from the storehouse of love,
I’d simply ask for a favour of him beyond mortal king,
And I’m sure that he’d grant it again.
I want to stroll over Heaven with you some glad day,
When all our troubles and heartaches are vanished away.
Then we’ll enjoy the beauty where all things are new,
I want to stroll over Heaven with you.
So many places of beauty we long to see here below,
But time and treasures have kept us from making plans as you know,
But come the morning of the rapture together we’ll stand anew,
While I stroll over Heaven with you.
I want to stroll over Heaven with you some glad day,
When all our troubles and heartaches are vanished away.
Then we’ll enjoy the beauty where all things are new,
I want to stroll over Heaven with you.
I want to stroll over Heaven with you.
END
The Christmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of the First World War actually around Christmas 1914.
Truces between British and German units in fact can be dated to early November 1914, around the time that the war of manoeuvre ended. Rations were brought up to the front line always after dusk and soldiers on both sides noted a period of peace, while they collected their food.
One unusual phenomenon that grew in intensity was music; in peaceful sectors, it was not uncommon for units to sing in the evenings, sometimes deliberately with an eye towards entertaining or gently taunting their opposite numbers.
Roughly 100,000 British and German troops were involved in the informal cessations of hostility along the Western Front. The Germans celebrated by singing Christmas carols, with the British responded by singing carols of their own.
On Christmas Day, Brigadier-General Walter Congreve, commander of the 18th Infantry Brigade, stationed near Neuve Chapelle, wrote a letter recalling the Germans declared a truce for the day. One of his men bravely lifted his head above the parapet and others from both sides walked onto no man’s land. Officers and men shook hands and exchanged cigarettes and cigars, one of his captains “smoked a cigar with the best shot in the German army”, the latter no more than 18 years old.
In December 1915, there were orders by the Allied commanders to forestall any repeat of the previous Christmas truce. Units were encouraged to mount raids and harass the opposing line, whilst communicating with the enemy was discouraged by artillery barrages along the front line throughout the day. However, a small number of brief truces occurred despite this prohibition.
On the German side, a general order from December 29th, 1914 had already forbade fraternisation with the enemy, warning German troops that “every approach to the enemy…will be punished as treason”.
Silent Night (Christmas 1915)
Vocals: Celtic Thunder.
Lyrics: Cormac MacConnell.
1915 on Christmas Day,
On the western front the guns all died away,
And lying in the mud on bags of sand,
We heard a German sing from no man’s land.
He had tenor voice so pure and true.
The words were strange but every note we knew.
Soaring or the living dead and dammed,
The German sang of peace from no man’s land.
They left their trenches and we left ours,
Beneath tin hats smiles bloomed like wild flowers.
With photos, cigarettes, and pots of wine,
We built a soldier’s truce on the front line.
Their singer was a lad of twenty one.
We begged another song before the dawn,
And sitting in the mud and blood and fear
He sang again the song all longed to hear.
Silent night, no cannons roar.
A King is born of peace for evermore.
All’s calm, all’s bright,
All brothers hand in hand,
In 19 and 15 in no man’s land.
And in the morning all the guns boomed in the rain,
And we killed them and they killed us again.
At night they charged we fought them hand to hand,
And I killed the boy that sang in no man’s land.
Silent night no cannons roar,
A King is born of peace for evermore.
All’s calm, all’s bright,
All brothers hand in hand,
And that young soldier sings,
And the song of peace still rings,
Though the captains and all the kings,
Built no man’s land.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
END
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