# Our American Holidays - Christmas

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CONTENTS :
| Preface | i |
| Introduction | iii |
| I ORIGIN ||
| Is there a Santa Claus? . . F.P. Church | 3 |
| O Little Town of Bethlehem . . Phillips Brooks | 5 |
| The Glad Evangel . . Kate Douglas Wiggin | 7 |
| The Shepherds . . William Drummond | 8 |
| A Christmas Carol . . James Russell Lowell | 9 |
| A Christmas Hymn . . Alfred Domett | 10 |
| Sons of the Morning . . Reginald Heber | 12 |
| God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen . . Dinah Maria Mulock | 13 |
| The Christmas Silence . . Margaret Deland | 14 |
| A Christmas Lullaby . . John Addington Symonds | 15 |
| Hymn for the Nativity . . Edward Thring | 16 |
| Masters in the Hall . . Anonymous | 18 |
| The Adoration of the Wise Men . . Cecil Frances Alexander | 20 |
| The Shepherds in Judea . . Mary Austin | 21 |
| Christmas Carol . . James S. Park | 23 |
| Neighbors of the Christ Night . . Nora Archibald Smith | 24 |
| Cradle Hymn . . Isaac Watts | 25 ​ |
| An Ode on the Birth of Our Saviour . . Robert Herrick | 27 |
| Christmas Song . . Edmund Hamilton Sears | 28 |
| A Hymn on the Nativity of My Saviour . . Ben Jonson | 29 |
| The Shepherd's Song . . Edmund Bolton | 30 |
| A Christmas Carol . . Aubrey de Vere | 32 |
| A Christmas Hymn . . Anonymous | 33 |
| Christmas Day . . Charles Wesley | 35 |
| Christmas . . Anonymous | 36 |
| Christmas . . Nahum Tate | 37 |
| "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night" . . Margaret Deland | 38 |
| The Star Song . . Robert Herrick | 39 |
| Colonial Christmases . . Alice Morse Earle | 41 |
| The Angels . . William Drummond | 43 |
| Hymn for Christmas . . Felicia Hemans | 44 |
| New Prince, New Pomp . . Robert Southwell | 45 |
| The Three Kings . . Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | 46 |
| Hymn on the Nativity . . John Milton | 49 |
| II CELEBRATION ||
| Christmas Eve at Mr. Wardle's . . Charles Dickens | 63 |
| A Visit from St. Nicholas . . Clement C. Moore | 68 |
| A Christmas Piece . . Fred S. Cozzens | 73 |
| Wassailer's Song . . Robert Southwell | 75 |
| Christmas Eve . . Hamilton Wright Mabie | 77 |
| Christmas in the Olden Time . . Walter Scott | 84 |
| Sly Santa Claus . . Mrs. C. S. Stone | 86 |
| The Waits . . Margaret Deland | 88 |
| The Knighting of the Sirloin . . Anonymous | 89 |
| The Christmas Goose at the Cratchits' . . Charles Dickens | 91 ​ |
| God Bless Us Every One . .James Whitcomb Riley | 94 |
| Bells Across the Snow . . Frances Ridley Havergal | 95 |
| Christmas Bells . . Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | 96 |
| Minstrels and Maids . . . . . William Morris | 98 |
| Inexhaustibility of the Subject of Christmas . . Leigh Hunt | 101 |
| Song of the Holly . . . . William Shakespeare | 108 |
| Under the Holly-Bough . . . . Charles Mackay | 109 |
| Ceremonies for Christmas . . . . Robert Herrick | 110 |
| Santa Claus . . . Anonymous | 111 |
| The Ceremonies for Christmas Day . . Robert Herrick | 112 |
| December . . Harriet F. Blodgett | 113 |
| The Festival of St. Nicholas . .Mary Mapes Dodge | 115 |
| The Christmas Holly . . . Eliza Cook | 123 |
| To the Fir-Tree . . . From the German | 125 |
| The Mahogany-Tree . . William Makepeace Thackeray | 125 |
| Christmas . . Washington Irving | 129 |
| Church Decking At Christmas . . .William Wordsworth | 137 |
| So, Now is Come Our Joyful’st Feast . . George Wither | 138 |
| Fairy Faces . . . . Anonymous | 140 |
| Merry Christmas . . Anonymous | 141 |
| A Merry Christmas to You . . Theodore Ledyard Cuyler | 143 |
| Christmas Bells . . Anonymous | 147 |
| The Birth of Christ . . . . . Alfred Tennyson | 151 |
| The Christmas Carol . . . William Wordsworth | 152 |
| Christmas At Fezziwig’s Warehouse . .Charles Dickens | 155 |
| Christmas Bells . . .., John Keble | 158 ​ |
| III SIGNIFICANCE AND SPIRIT ||
| A Christmas Carmen . . . . John G. Whittier | 161 |
| The Spirit of Christmas . . . . Charles Dickens | 162 |
| On Good Wishes At Christmas . . . . . Friswell | 165 |
| A Christmas Song . . . . William Cox Bennett | 168 |
| Sery . . ...... Richard Watson Gilder | 169 |
| A Christmas Song . . . . . . Tudor Jenks | 170 |
| Christmas . . ....... Alexander Smith | 171 |
| Christmas Carol . . ..... Phillips Brooks | 179 |
| The End of the Play . . William Makepeace Thackeray | 180 |
| Christ’s Nativity . . .... Henry Vaughan | 184 |
| Christmas Dreams . . . . . Christopher North | 186 |
| Keeping Christmas . . .... Henry Van Dyke | 204 |
| Mark Well My Heavy, Doleful Tale . . .......... Anonymous | 206 |
| A Christmas Carol . . . . . Christina G. Rossetti | 208 |
| The Glorious Song of Old . . . Edmund H. Sears | 209 |
| A Christmas Carol for Children . .......... Martin Luther | 211 |
| On Santa Claus . . . . . George A. Baker. | 213 |
| A Christmas Carol . . ...... Josiah Gilbert Holland | 219 |
| An Offertory . . ..... Mary Mapes Dodge | 220 |
| Christmas Song . . ,... Lydia A. C. Ward | 220 |
| A Christmas Carol . . .... Christian Burke | 221 |
| A Simple Bill of Fare for a Christmas Dinner . . ............ H. H. | 223 |
| A Ballade of Old Loves . . . . Carolyn Wells | 227 |
| Ballade of Christmas Ghosts . . . Andrew Lang | 228 |
| Hang Up the Baby’s Stocking . . ...... | 230 |
| The Newest Thing in Christmas Carols . . ......... Anonymous | 231 |
| A Christmas Letter From Australia . . ......... Douglas Sladen | 232 |
| Christmas . . ...... Rose Terry Cooke | 235 ​ |
| IV STORIES ||
| The Fir Tree . . . . Hans Christian Andersen | 241 |
| Little Roger’s Night in the Church . .......... Susan Coolidge | 256 |
| Mr. Bluff’s Experiences of Holidays . . ........ Oliver Bell Bunce | 270 |
| Santa Claus At Simpson’s Bar . . . Bret Harte | 282 |
| V OLD CAROLS AND EXERCISES ||
| God Rest You Merry Gentlemen . . ..... | 297 |
| Old Christmas Returned . . ....... | 301 |
| Christmas Carol . . .......... | 302 |
| In Excelsis Gloria . . .......... | 303 |
| The Boar’s Head Carol . . ....... | 304 |
| Christmas Carol . . .......... | 304 |
| ADDITIONAL PIECES ||
| A Christmas Insurrection . . . . Anne P. L. Field | 311 |
| The Night After Christmas . . . Anne P. L. Field | 313 |
| When the Stars of Morning Sang . . .......... Anne P. L. Field | 316 |
| A Prayer at Bethlehem . . . . Anne P. L. Field | 317 |
| The Christmas Fires . . . . . Anne P. L. Field | 317 |
| The Mother (A Story) . . Robert Haven Schauffler | 321 |
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