The Mystery Behind the World's Most Famous Christmas Poem | Mental Floss The Mystery Behind the World's Most Famous Christmas Poem Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain Like us on Facebook It's a literary mystery: Nearly 200 years after it was published in New York's Troy Sentinel, we still don't know who really wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas." When it first appeared in the newspaper on December 23, 1823, there was no name attached to it. It wasn't until 13 years later that Clement Clarke Moore, a professor and poet, was named as the author. A story emerged that a housekeeper had, without Moore’s knowledge, sent the piece—which he had written for his kids—to the newspaper, and in 1844, the poem was officially included in an anthology of Moore's work. The problem? The family of Henry Livingston, Jr., claimed their father had been reciting "A Visit From St. Nicholas" to them for 15 years before it was published. Here's the view from both sides. THE LIVINGSTON ARGUMENT Livingston's Dutch background is a key component in this mystery.

His mother was Dutch, and many references in the poem are as well. For example, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" is likely where we got the popular names for Santa's reindeer—there seems to be no reference to their names prior to the poem. A couple of the names have skewed slightly over the years; instead of Donner and Blitzen, the latter two reindeer recited were called "Dunder" and "Blixem," the Dutch words for "Thunder" and "Lightning." (These days, the spellings have changed slightly to "donder" and "bliksem.") According to proponents of this hypothesis, Blixem first became Blixen to better rhyme with Vixen , and then, in 1844, Moore changed it to the more German Blitzen . Dunder would become Donder, and then, in the early 20th century, was changed to Donner to match Blitzen’s new German name.

(Clement Moore proponents counter that the original editor of the poem may have altered the names to better fit a pseudo-Dutch framework , and Moore was simply changing them back to the original.) Also piling up in the case against Moore is the fact that at least four of Livingston's children and even a neighbor girl said they remembered Henry telling them the tale of St. Nick as early as 1807. They even said they had evidence—a dated, handwritten copy of the original poem with revisions and scratch marks all throughout. Unfortunately, the house containing this gem burned down, taking the Livingston family's proof with it. When a professor from Vassar analyzed poetry by both authors, he declared that there was virtually no possible way Moore could have written "A Visit from St. Nicholas." According to the professor, the style of the Christmas favorite was completely different—both structurally and content-wise—than anything else Moore had ever written. But the anapestic scheme used matched up with some of Livingston's work perfectly. Earlier this year, a New Zealand professor wrote a book where he tackled this question by applying complex statistical analysis to works by both authors.

He found that “if we did not know whether the poems in Moore’s manuscript notebook were by him or by Livingston, our full range of tests would, in combination, categorize every one of them as much more probably Moore’s. In this they contrast sharply with ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ which is consistently associated more closely with Livingston.” But the Moore camp usually argues that these studies are constructed in such a way that they would always discount Moore, especially through ignoring works like “The Pig & The Rooster,” which is anapestic. The Livingston camp dismisses it and another anapestic poem by saying, “If Moore wrote ‘The Night Before Christmas’ he displayed in it a facility that deserted him in his efforts in the same meter both at about the same time and a decade later.” THE MOORE ARGUMENT Aside from the obvious fact that Moore stepped forward to take credit first, one big key seems to be his relationship with Rip Van Winkle author Washington Irving. In Irving's A History of New York, he referred to St. Nick as "riding over the tops of the trees in that self-same wagon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children." And "when St.

Nicholas had smoked his pipe, he twisted it in his hatband, and laying his finger beside his nose," he got in his wagon and disappeared. Familiar, huh? Clement Moore being good friends with Irving might help explain some of the Dutch references in the poem—Irving was quite involved in the Dutch culture and traditions of New York state. There's still no definitive proof for either writer, though. To this day, it's just one family's word against the other's. Clement Clarke Moore is the author who usually gets the credit for the classic, and it will likely remain that way unless Livingston's descendants can prove otherwise. A version of the piece originally ran in 2012. December 8, 2016 - 5:45pm Twas The Night Before Christmas | Who Wrote Twas The Night Before Christmas? The best known Christmas poem in the English language begins . . . "Twas the night before Christmas, where all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." Its history is not only romantic, but there is also a question as to its authorship.

The poem was apparently first published on December 23, 1823, in the Troy, New York, "Sentinel." It was titled "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas;" occupied nearly a column in small type, and was prefaced with a sympathetic note, written by Orville L. Holley, the editor: We know not to whom we are indebted for the following description of that unwearied patron of music—that homely and delightful personage of parental kindness, Santa Claus, his costumes, and his equipage, as he goes about visiting the firesides of this happy land, laden with Christmas bounties; but from whomsoever it may have come, we give thanks for it. There is, to our apprehension, a spirit of cordial goodness in it, a playfulness of fancy and a benevolent alacrity to enter into the feelings and promote the simple pleasures of children which are altogether charming.

We hope our little patrons, both lads and lassies, will accept it as a proof of our unfeigned good will towards them—as a token of our warmest wish that they may have many a Merry Christmas; that they may long retain their beautiful relish for those unbought home­bred joys which derive their flavor from filial piety and fraternal love, and which they may be assured are the least alloyed that time can furnish them; and that they may never part with that simplicity of character which is their own fairest ornament and for the sake of which they have been pronounced by Authority which none can gainsay, types of such of us as shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Thus the first publication of the poem is shrouded in mystery. Whether the copy was sent in anonymously or whether the editor deliberately falsified in proclaiming ignorance of its source, no one will ever know; but the fact remains that the very first sentence of this appreciative editorial comment only serves to render the solution of the problem more difficult.

The poem was used un-illustrated as a carriers' address by the Troy "Sentinel" in several succeeding years and was printed in the "Morning Courier," New York City, on January 1, 1829. It was again used as an address by the Troy "Sentinel" in 1830 and apparently was not again reprinted until it appeared in a little volume entitled "Poems by Clement C. Moore, LL.D.," and published in 1844 by Bartlett and Welford, 7 Astor Place, New York City. This book contains a lengthy preface, which begins as follows: My dear Children: In compliance with your wishes, I here present you with a volume of verses written by me at different periods of my life. I have not made a selection from among my verses of such as are of any particular cast, but have given you the melancholy and the lively, the serious and the sportive, and even the trifling; such as relate solely to our domestic circle and those of which the subjects take a wider range. . . .

We are so constituted that a good honest, hearty laugh, which conceals no malice, and is excited by nothing corrupt, however ungenteel it may be, is healthful to both body and mind; and it is one of the benevolent ordinances of Providence that we are thus capable of these alternations of sorrow and trouble with mirth and gladness. Another reason why the mere trifles in this volume have not been withheld is that such things have been often found by me to afford greater pleasure than what was by myself esteemed of more worth. This evidence of an appreciation of the lighter things of life is an important factor in the controversy, because Dr. Moore was a man of serious nature and without reputation as a humorist. He was born July 15, 1779. His father, Right Reverend Benjamin Moore, was the second Protestant Episcopal bishop of New York, assisted at the inauguration of President Washington, and administered communion to Alexander Hamilton when the latter was dying after his fatal duel with Aaron Burr. Dr.

Moore was educated for the church, became proficient in classical languages, and upon the opening of the General Theological Seminary, of which he was the founder and benefactor, served as professor of Oriental and Greek literature. The trend of his mind was distinctly sober and grave; but when it is remembered that "Alice in Wonderland" was written by a teacher of mathematics, and that "Nonsense Novels" and "The Elements of Political Science" have the same authorship, it may not seem incongruous that the writer of a merry jingle also compiled "A Compendious Lexicon of the Hebrew Language," with an explanation of every word in the Psalms. The combination of grave and gay in literature has happened more than once. The commonly accepted story of the first publication of the poem, while lacking documentary authenticity, is explicit and plausible and has gained credence through frequent repetition. It relates that Miss Harriet Butler, eldest daughter of Reverend Dr. David Butler, rector of St. Paul's Church in Troy, while visiting Dr.

Moore's family in 1822, heard the poem read, copied it into her album, and in the Christmas season of 1823 sent it to the Troy "Sentinel." It has also been printed that Dr. Moore was chagrined over the publication, "which he apparently considered quite beneath the dignity of a theological professor," but it is difficult to reconcile this statement with the fact that the poem appeared without affording the slightest clue to its author. Up to the time of his death, July 10, 1862, Dr. Moore was evidently undisturbed as to any future question of his fame, for he made no effort to substantiate his own position. He had published the poem under his own name in 1844, twenty-one years after it had first appeared, and on March 24, 1856, he furnished a holographic copy in response to a written request, stating in his letter that "I wish the enclosed was more worthy of attention." In 1862 the New York Historical Society sent a representative to interview him.

The report of this agent, published in the Bulletin of the Society under date of January, 1919, is disappointing in its lack of detail as to the origin of the poem. Dr. Moore, then eighty-three years old, did not state that he had furnished the original copy to Miss Butler but, according to the interview, explained that she had copied the poem from another copy furnished by one of Dr. Moore's female relatives. He was further quoted as saying that "a portly rubicund Dutchman, living in the neighborhood of his father's country seat, Chelsea, suggested to him the idea of making St. Nicholas the hero of the Christmas piece," which, he added, had been written forty years previously for his two children. As a matter of fact, Dr. Moore had three children in 1822. The eldest, Charity, named after her mother, was six years of age; Clement was a baby of two, and Emily was only eight months old. Only the eldest child could have had the slightest interest in hearing about St. Nicholas. The interviewer made no inquiry of Dr. Moore respecting the original draft, which, so far as known, is not now in existence.

Apparently the original manuscript is not in the custody of the Moore family, for Casimir deR. Moore, grandson of Dr. Moore, writing in answer to an inquiry, says: My grandfather, Clement C. Moore, wrote it for the enjoyment of his children and had no intention of publishing it. A connection of the family saw it while on a visit to my grandfather, copied it, and had it published anonymously in a Troy paper, I believe. There were at once several persons who claimed to be the author; and it was not until urged to do so that my grandfather acknowledged that he was the author. This I have understood from my father, uncle and aunts to be the facts in the case. I think my grandfather’s reputation stands sufficiently high in warranting me in saying that he never could have said he was the author unless he was so in fact. What became of the original manuscript I cannot say. Although "A Visit from St. Nicholas" is universally known today, it does not seem to have acquired instant popularity.

As already stated, it was occasionally used as a newspaper carriers' address, its appearance in 1830 being made memorable by a wood engraving executed by Myron King, of Troy, in which the children's patron saint and his "eight tiny reindeer" were depicted levitating over the house-tops. In 1849 Griswold published a second edition of his anthology of American poetry in which the poem was included, with credit to Dr. Moore; and a reprint also appeared in "The Cyclopaedia of American Literature," published by the Duyckincks in 1855. In 1862 it was issued in a separate volume with illustrations by F. O. C. Darley, since which time it has found a place in nearly every school reader, with annual publication as a Christmas feature in a large number of newspapers. The doubt as to Dr. Moore's authorship has assumed definite form; and this is due to the intelligent and unremitting industry of William S. Thomas, a well-known physician of New York City. Dr.

Thomas is the great-grandson of Henry Livingston, Jr., who was born in 1748 and died in 1828, residing throughout his life at "Locust Grove" near Poughkeepsie, New York. He was a man of distinction, a student, a surveyor, a landed proprietor, a major of infantry in Montgomery's ill-fated expedition into Canada; and so much of a patriot that in his old music-book he altered "God Save the King" into "God Save the Congress." Above all, he was a deft manipulator of rhymes; and for more than a century there has been a tradition—or, rather, a positive belief—among his descendants that he wrote the famous Christmas poem. Dr. Thomas has attempted to discover the foundation for this belief. Naturally the effort has been attended with much difficulty, owing to the length of time which has elapsed since the rhyme was written, but the mass of testimony which he has collected is worthy of consideration in the hope that eventually the question of authorship will be definitely settled. It must be admitted, first of all, that the evidence is purely circumstantial.

There is not extant a single written document which shows that Henry Livingston himself ever laid claim to authorship, but this may be explained by the fact that he had been dead sixteen years when Dr. Moore's volume appeared. There is no doubt that his family regarded him as the author; and a succinct expression of this belief is found in the letter of Mrs. Edward Livingston Montgomery, as follows: The little incident connected with the first reading of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" was related to me by my grandmother, Catherine Breese, the eldest daughter of Henry Livingston. As I recollect her story there was a young lady spending the Christmas holidays with the family at Locust Grove. On Christmas morning Mr. Livingston came into the dining room, where the family and their guests were just sitting down to breakfast. He held the manuscript in his hand and said that it was a Christmas poem he had written for them. He then sat down at the table and read aloud to them "A Visit from St. Nicholas." All were delighted with the verses and the guest, in particular, was so much impressed by them that she begged Mr. Livingston to let her have a copy of the poem.

He consented and made a copy in his own hand, which he gave to her. On leaving Locust Grove, when her visit came to an end, this young lady went directly to the home of Clement C. Moore, where she filled the position of governess to his children. So well grounded is the faith of the Livingston family in their ancestor's authorship that as long ago as 1865-1870, when Dr. Thomas's father was teaching in Churchill's Academy at Sing Sing, New York, he had an argument with a grandson of Dr. Moore, who was among his pupils, because the latter naturally credited his grandfather with writing the poem. Again, in 1879, Mrs. Eliza Livingston Thompson wrote that "the poem was supposed and believed in our family to be father's and I well remember our astonishment when we saw it claimed by Clement C. Moore many years after my father's decease, which took place more than fifty years ago.

At that time my brother, in looking over his papers, found the original in his own handwriting, with his many fugitive pieces which he had preserved." And Henry Livingston, of Babylon, Long Island, not only substantiates this statement, but again refers to the original and accounts for its disappearance as follows: My father, as long ago as I can remember, claimed that his father (Henry, Jr.) was the author; that it was first read to the children at the old homestead below Poughkeepsie, when be was about eight years old, which would be about 1804 or 1805. He had the original manuscript, with many corrections, in his possession for a long time, and by him was given to his brother Edwin, and Edwin's personal effects were destroyed when his sister Susan's home was burned at Waukesha, Wisconsin, about 1847 or 1848. There are, of course, some discrepancies in these recorded recollections. If the poem was first read in 1804 or 1805, it could not have been in the presence of the governess of Dr. Moore's children, for Dr.

Moore at that time was only twenty-five or twenty-six years old and unmarried. A reconciliation of these conflicting statements is suggested by Gertrude Fonda Thomas, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a granddaughter of Henry Livingston. She says that the governess was connected with Mr. Livingston's family. Another factor in the case is Eliza Clement Brewer, who lived at "Russ Plaets," adjoining "Locust Grove," and who married Charles Livingston, son of Henry Livingston. Her granddaughter, Mrs. Rudolph Denig, wife of a retired commodore of the navy, states that her grandmother told her that in 1808, while visiting at the Livingston home, she heard Mr. Livingston recite the poem as his own. When Charles, who had been West, returned in 1826 to marry Miss Brewer, he carried back with him a newspaper in which the poem had been printed and kept it in his desk for many years. In view of the possibility that this newspaper was the Poughkeepsie publication to which Mr.

Livingston contributed, a search has been made of the now incomplete files, but thus far without success; and it is probable that the newspaper was the Troy "Sentinel." The fact that he had the paper and carefully preserved it is a matter of family history. All these threads of family tradition are tied together with what might be called internal corroboration. Major Livingston left a manuscript volume of poems, many of which were printed in a Poughkeepsie paper and in other publications. The fact that they were all printed anonymously or under the pseudonym "R” is alleged to account for his failure to publicly claim the authorship of the now famous poem. An examination of the forty-five productions included in this collection shows that nineteen are the same meter as the poem in controversy, while in Dr. Moore's volume all of the thirty-three poems are iambic, with the exception of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" and "The Pig and the Rooster." The latter, beginning: On a warm sunny day in the midst of July, A lazy young pig lay stretched out in his sty . . . is distinctly inferior in theme and treatment to the Christmas effort.

Major Livingston evidently loved the anapestic meter, which Edward Everett says “is better adapted than any other measure to lively and spirited subjects." In this connection there should be mentioned three of his poems, one a letter in rhyme to his brother Beekman, which begins thus: And this conclusion of a carriers' address, written in 1787: And now the end of all this clatter Is but a small and trifling matter; A puny sixpence or a shilling From willing souls to souls as willing. And the tribute which he paid to Nancy Crooke, who was a belle in Poughkeepsie, where her name is still a treasured memory, and which concluded as follows: If a pin or a handkerchief happen to fall, To seize on the prize fills with uproar the hall; Such pulling and hauling and shoving and pushing, As rivals the racket of "Key and the cushion"; And happy—thrice happy! too happy! the swain Who can replace the pin or bandanna again. These are, to say the least, in the style of "A Visit from St.

Nicholas." A further examination of Livingston's versifications discloses his delight in the use of such rhymes as "clatter" and "matter," "belly" and "jelly," "elf" and "self;" all of which are to be found in "St. Nicholas." He was fond of repetitive phrases, such as "to the top of the porch, to the top of the wall." He invariably used the word mamma, when referring to his wife, while the adverbial use of the word all and the odd usage of gave, occurring frequently both in his verses and the Christmas poem, are cited as additional evidence in his favor. Then, further, he was fond of the idea of levitation, while tininess frequently appealed to him. In one of his poems he describes Oberon as riding in a tiny royal coach made of a nutshell drawn by "green katydids." And, finally, he repeatedly wove into his lines some references to articles of clothing — shoes, soft "shammy" gloves, ruffles, wristbands, new shirts, cravats, and even "chamezes"—just as in "St.

Nicholas" there is a description of "mamma in her 'kerchief and I in my cap." Surely if Livingston did not write "A Visit from St. Nicholas" he wrote much that was cast in the same mold. And even if this is all that can be said, it is enough to excite curiosity, to say the least. It recalls the famous observation of Martin Hewitt, that "two trivialities, pointing in the same direction, become at once, by their mere agreement, no trivialities at all." Perhaps this idea was in the mind of Benson J. Lossing, the historian, when he wrote to one of Livingston's descendants as long ago as 1886, that "the circumstantial evidence that your great-grandfather wrote 'A Visit from St. Nicholas’ seems as conclusive as that which has taken innocent men to the gallows." The circle in which the question has been discussed has been restricted because of the previous unwillingness of Mr. Livingston's family to allow publicity for a belief which has been cherished by them for a century.

The work which has been undertaken, and which is here only partially recorded, is, of course, a labor of love; and it has been prosecuted with full appreciation of the difficulty in overturning an apparently established fact. Dr. Moore's authorship, resting upon the inclusion of the poem in his published volume, has stood practically unchallenged; and the burden of disproving the claim of a man of his high attainments and unblemished character, is not a light one. From its literary side, the problem is not without interest; but, in a broader sense, the result is immaterial. No matter who wrote it, the poem has been a joy for generations; and it will continue to live as long as the human heart is touched with the spirit of Christmastide.

[First published in 1920] Twas The Night Before Christmas Poem: Original Lyrics (TEXT) | The Huffington Post Twas The Night Before Christmas Poem: Original Lyrics (TEXT) 12/25/2010 12:46 am ET | Updated May 25, 2011 210 One of the oldest and most popular Christmas poems ever, commonly referred to as "Twas The Night Before Christmas," was written in the early 19th century. Though its author is disputed, with the poem being attributed to both Clement Clarke Moore and Henry Livingston Jr. over the years, it was definitely first published on Dec. 23, 1823 in the Troy Sentinel newspaper in upstate New York. It is also referred to as "A Visit From St. Nicholas" or "The Night Before Christmas." Below are the original lyrics to the poem (see how the poem looked in the Troy Sentinel here ): 1 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house, 2 Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; 3 The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, 4 In hopes that St.

Nicholas soon would be there; 5 The children were nestled all snug in their beds, 6 While visions of sugar plums danc'd in their heads, 7 And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, 8 Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap- 9 When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, 10 I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. 11 Away to the window I flew like a flash, 12 Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash. 13 The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, 14 Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below; 15 When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, 16 But a minature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer, 17 With a little old driver, so lively and quick, 18 I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. 19 More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, 20 And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name: 21 "Now! Dasher, now!

Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen, 22 "On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem; 23 "To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! 24 "Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!" 25 As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly, 26 When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; 27 So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, 28 With the sleigh full of Toys - and St. Nicholas too: 29 And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof 30 The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. 31 As I drew in my head, and was turning around, 32 Down the chimney St.

Nicholas came with a bound: 33 He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot, 34 And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot; 35 A bundle of toys was flung on his back, 36 And he look'd like a peddler just opening his pack: 37 His eyes - how they twinkled! his dimples how merry, 38 His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; 39 His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, 40 And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; 41 The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, 42 And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

43 He had a broad face, and a little round belly 44 That shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly: 45 He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, 46 And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself; 47 A wink of his eye and a twist of his head 48 Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. 49 He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, 50 And fill'd all the stockings; then turn'd with a jerk, 51 And laying his finger aside of his nose 52 And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. 53 He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, 54 And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle: 55 But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight- 56 Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night. More: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas - by Clement Clarke Moore 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (or A Visit from St.

Nicholas) by Clement Clarke Moore 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap. When out on the roof there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the lustre of midday to objects below, when, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came, and he whistled and shouted and called them by name: "Now Dasher! Now Dancer! To the top of the porch!

To the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky so up to the house-top the coursers they flew, with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes--how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk. And laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" A Brief Note about the Author and the Poem Clement Clarke Moore's famous poem, which he named "A Visit From St. Nicholas," was published for the first time on December 23, 1823 by a New York newspaper, the Sentinel. Since then, the poem has been reprinted, translated into innumerable languages and circulated throughout the world.

Clement Clarke Moore was born in 1779 to a well-known New York family. His father, Reverend Benjamin Moore, was president of (what is now) Columbia University and was the Episcopal Bishop of New York. Moore's father also participated in George Washington's first inauguration and gave last rites to Alexander Hamilton after Hamilton was mortally wounded in an 1804 duel with Aaron Burr. Moore himself was an author, a noted Hebrew scholar, spoke five languages, and was an early real-estate owner and developer in Manhattan. Despite his accomplishments, Clement Clarke Moore is remembered only for "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," which legend says he wrote on Christmas Eve in 1822 during a sleigh ride home from Greenwich Village after buying a turkey for his family. Some say the inspiration for Moore's pot-bellied St. Nicholas was the chubby, bewhiskered Dutchman who drove Moore to Greenwich Village to buy his holiday turkey. Moore never copyrighted his poem, and only claimed as his own over a decade after it was first made public. Moore read the poem to his wife and six children the night he wrote it, and supposedly thought no more about it.

But a family friend heard about it and submitted the poem to the Sentinel, a newspaper in upstate New York, which published it anonymously the following Christmas. Moore's poem immediately caught the attention and imagination of the state, then the nation, and then the world. Finally, in 1844, he included it in a book of his poetry. Moore died in 1863 and is buried in Trinity Cemetery in Washington Heights, New York. Because of his "mere trifle," as he called it, 175 years ago Clement Clarke Moore almost single-handedly defined our now timeless image of Santa Claus. Note: Some scholars now believe the poem was actually written by Major Henry Livingston, Jr. Whatever the authorship controversy ultimately determines, this work has become a Christmas favorite. "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." Note: What is a "courser?" A swift horse; a charger. Note: Worried about the correct spelling of "Donner?" Go here to see an explanation of the difference between "Donner" and "Donder." Happy Holidays from BlackDog! Who Wrote "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"?

| Historic Mysteries 933 Views The Family Feud Over Who Wrote ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” is a cherished poem and storybook that perfectly capture the magic of Christmas. Children are bedazzled by the colorful imagery of sugar plums, flying reindeer and the jolly, twinkling-eyed Santa who whooshes down our chimneys. For the last two centuries, this festive poem has become as much of a staple at Christmas time as turkey dinners, presents and decorated trees. Each and every December, parents around the world would recite it verbatim. Few, however, realise that there is a debate going on as to who wrote ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas in the first place. “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” story book originated as a poem from the 1820s. Source: Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Publications of the Classic Christmas Poem First Print 1823 When it was originally published in the Troy Sentinel of New York, two days before Christmas in 1823, editor, Orville Holley, admitted in print the following: We know not to whom we are indebted for the following description of that unwearied patron of music—that homely and delightful personage of parental kindness, Santa Claus, his costumes, and his equipage, as he goes about visiting the firesides of this happy land, laden with Christmas bounties; but from whomsoever it may have come, we give thanks for it. There is, to our apprehension, a spirit of cordial goodness in it, a playfulness of fancy and a benevolent alacrity to enter into the feelings and promote the simple pleasures of children which are altogether charming.

We hope our little patrons, both lads and lassies, will accept it as a proof of our unfeigned good will towards them—as a token of our warmest wish that they may have many a Merry Christmas; that they may long retain their beautiful relish for those unbought home­bred joys which derive their flavor from filial piety and fraternal love, and which they may be assured are the least alloyed that time can furnish them; and that they may never part with that simplicity of character which is their own fairest ornament and for the sake of which they have been pronounced by Authority which none can gainsay, types of such of us as shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Clement Clarke Moore 1844 Book of Poems The verse took up an entire column in print and the header read “An Account from a Visit of St Nicholas”. From these humble beginnings, a legend emerged and thrived over the following years. There is only Holley’s word that someone sent this missive in anonymously. It is quite possible that either he or one of his staff wrote it but preferred not to declare it for whatever reason. Original printing of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” in the Troy Sentinel.

Source: NBC News. The Christmas poem surfaced in newspapers another couple of times in the following 6 or 7 years. Then it disappeared out of the public domain until sometime in 1844, when a New York publisher, Bartlett and Welford, released a book of poetry that Clement Clarke Moore authored. In it was a version of the now fabled classic. In a substantial preface, Moore revealed that he wrote the collections of poems at various points during his lifetime. Many people consider this to be an example of ‘case-closed’, and they do not consider that perhaps history might be wrong. In the same preface, Moore did go into detail in regards to lighter aspects to life in general. Descriptions of Moore indicate that he was somewhat stern and humourless or, at the very least, his reputation was usually more of a serious one. How Did the Sentinel Get the Poem in 1823? The story of how the “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem surfaced in the Sentinel is also open to some interpretation. The most common theory is that the eldest daughter of Reverend Doctor David Butler, Harriet, overheard the poem when visiting the Moores in 1822.

She copied it to her own album and eventually sent it on to the Sentinel. Historians believe that Moore opted not to contest this publication, as he considered it beneath the dignity of a theological professor. This may or may not be accurate. There were no hints to even suggest links at a possible author. For the rest of his life, which ended on 10 July 1862, Moore didn’t show any interest in the possible celebrity from the work he allegedly wrote. Not long before his passing, the New York Historical Society sent a representative to interview the 83 year old. The interview went unpublished for 47 years until January 1919. It offered little to no additional information about the poem. That is not such a bad thing though. Clement C. Moore’s handwritten, signed copy of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” 1860. Source: Heritage Auctions. Moore didn’t confirm giving Harriet a personal copy, which could mean she did overhear it innocently enough. Moore also thought it was possible that Harriet obtained a copy by other means – perhaps via one of his female relatives. Dr. Moore had three children, two daughters sandwiching a son.

It is logical to assume that the eldest girl may have shown more of an interest in Santa Claus than his other children, since at the time of publication they both would have been a little too young to have piqued their curiosity. The Missing Manuscript Another fact that doesn’t work in the Moores’ favour is that the original manuscript is not in their possession. Also, there is no evidence that the original draft survived into modern times. Casimir Moore, Clement’s grandson, has gone on record with the firm belief that the intention for the poem was strictly for the benefit and enjoyment of Moore’s immediate family: not for it to become the world’s most famous Christmas poem that it has become today. Several claims at the authorship eventually compelled Clement to admit to it himself. Casimir also revealed that he had no knowledge of where the original manuscript could be today. Assuming that Clement Clarke Moore didn’t pen the famous poem, then who else could have written the following? “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St.

Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap, When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; “Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN! On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away!

dash away! dash away all!” As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my hand, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose; He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, “HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!” The Livingston Dutch Proof? Perhaps the family of Major Henry Livingston Jr. might have an idea.

According to them, reading the “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem was a private family practice they shared. They also insist that the first time this family tradition occurred was on or around 1830. Henry Livingston had Dutch ancestry, as his mother hailed from the Netherlands. A good number of references used in the poem itself do point to European origins, in particular Holland. At least some of the reindeer have their names lifted from the Dutch language. Donner and Blitzen may reflect Dunder and Blixem – the Dutch words for Thunder and Lightning respectively. Perhaps more conclusive evidence comes in ear-witness testimony. Four of Livingston’s own children, as well as a next door neighbour, insisted that the tale was often told to them from as early as 1807. Each even went as far to claim that there was a written copy with amendments and notations on it. However, their home burnt down in a fire, which took this possible blockbuster proof with it. An academic study done on both men and their poetry came to the conclusion that it was almost certainly not possible that Clement Moore could have authored the work. Both the content and the structure were different to the prose used by Moore.

It matched up much better with Livingston’s style. After almost two centuries though, does it really matter? Just enjoy it for what it is: a brilliant poem that conveys the true spirit of Christmas. Sources: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Text Version 'Twas the Night Before Christmas or Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas by Major Henry Livingston Jr. (1748-1828) (previously believed to be by Clement Clarke Moore) 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap, When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; "Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN! On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my hand, and was turning around, Down the chimney St.

Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose; He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" Until recently it was believed that this ballad was written in 1822 for Clement Clarke Moore 's two daughters, Margaret and Charity, and later anonymously published in the Troy [New York] Sentinel on December 23, 1823.

But, according to University of Toronto English Library , in 2000, Don Foster, in his book Author Unknown: On the Trail of Anonymous (New York: Henry Holt, 2000) was able to demonstrate that Moore could not have been the author. Foster concluded that it was probably written by Major Henry Livingston Jr. For another analysis of the authorship see Christmas (Moore or Less?) . Visit A Mouse in Henry Livingston's House for a biography and an account of the quest to correct the authorship of this poem. According to sources cited at University of Toronto English Library , the last two reindeer were origianlly Dunder and Blixem and were "[l]ater revised to 'Donder and Blitzen' by Clement Clarke Moore when he took credit for the poem in Poems (New York: Bartlett and Welford, 1844)."

Question: Who wrote the poem Twas the night before Christmas also called "A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1822?
Answer: Clement Clarke Moore