| Christmas (170) Christmas History (64) |
Find hundreds of christmas stories, christmas carols, articles and exercises celebriting the origin and spirit of christmas. |
Christmas
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Is There A Santa Claus?
_The following, reprinted from the editorial page of the New York Sun,
was written by the late Mr. Frank P. Church:_
We take plea...
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O Little Town Of Bethlehem
PHILLIPS BROOKS
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
...
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The Glad Evangel
KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN
When the Child of Nazareth was born, the sun, according to the Bosnian
legend, leaped in the heavens, and t...
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The Shepherds
WILLIAM DRUMMOND, OF HAWTHORNDEN
O than the fairest day, thrice fairer night!
Night to blest days in which a sun doth...
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A Christmas Carol
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
What means this glory round our feet,
The Magi mused, more bright than morn?
And voices cha...
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A Christmas Hymn
ALFRED DOMETT
It was the calm and silent night!
Seven hundred years and fifty-three
Had Rome been growing up to ...
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Brightest And Best Of The Sons Of The Morning
REGINALD HEBER
Brightest and best of the Sons of the morning!
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid!
Star o...
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God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
DINAH MARIA MULOCK
God rest ye, merry gentlemen; let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Chr...
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The Christmas Silence
MARGARET DELAND
Hushed are the pigeons cooing low
On dusty rafters of the loft;
And mild-eyed oxen, breathing ...
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A Christmas Lullaby
JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS
Sleep, baby, sleep! The Mother sings:
Heaven's angels kneel and fold their wings.
...
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Hymn For The Nativity
EDWARD THRING
Happy night and happy silence downward softly stealing,
Softly stealing over land and sea,
Stars f...
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Masters In This Hall
ANONYMOUS
To Bethlem did they go, the shepherds three;
To Bethlem did they go to see whe'r it were so or no,
Wheth...
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The Adoration Of The Wise Men
CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER
Saw you never in the twilight,
When the sun had left the skies,
Up in heaven the clear s...
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The Shepherds In Judea
MARY AUSTIN
Oh, the Shepherds in Judea,
They are pacing to and fro,
For the air grows chill at twili...
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Christmas Carol
JAMES S. PARK
So crowded was the little town
On the first Christmas day,
Tired Mary Mother laid her down
...
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Neighbors Of The Christ Night
NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH
Deep in the shelter of the cave,
The ass with drooping head
Stood weary in the shadow, wher...
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Cradle Hymn
ISAAC WATTS
Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber;
Holy angels guard thy bed;
Heavenly blessings without number
...
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An Ode On The Birth Of Our Saviour
ROBERT HERRICK
In numbers, and but these few,
I sing thy birth, O Jesu!
Thou pretty baby, born here
With sup'...
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Christmas Song
EDMUND HAMILTON SEARS
Calm on the listening ear of night
Come heaven's melodious strains,
Where wild Judea stret...
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A Hymn On The Nativity Of My Saviour
BEN JONSON
I sing the birth was born to-night
The author both of life and light;
The angels so did sound it.
...
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The Shepherd's Song
EDMUND BOLTON
Sweet music, sweeter far
Than any song is sweet:
Sweet music, heavenly rare,
...
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A Christmas Carol
AUBREY DE VERE
They leave the land of gems and gold,
The shining portals of the East;
For Him, the woman's Seed ...
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A Christmas Hymn
ANON
Written in the Chapel of the Manger, in the Convent Church of Bethlehem,
Palestine:
In the fields where, long ago,
...
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Christmas Day
CHARLES WESLEY
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God an...
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Christmas
ANON
Once in Royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for H...
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Christmas
NAHUM TATE
While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came d...
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While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night
MARGARET DELAND
Like small curled feathers, white and soft,
The little clouds went by,
Across the moon, and past...
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Colonial Christmases
ALICE MORSE EARLE
[From Customs and Fashions in Old New England.]
The first century of colonial life saw few set times and days f...
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The Angels
WILLIAM DRUMMOND
Run, shepherds, run where Bethlehem blest appears.
We bring the best of news; be not dismayed:
A ...
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Hymn For Christmas
FELICIA HEMANS
Oh! lovely voices of the sky
Which hymned the Saviour's birth,
Are ye not singing still on high,
...
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New Prince New Pomp
ROBERT SOUTHWELL
Behold a simple, tender Babe,
In freezing winter night,
In homely manger trembling lies;
...
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The Three Kings
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Three Kings came riding from far away,
Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;
Three Wise M...
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Hymn On The Nativity
JOHN MILTON
It was the winter wild,
While the heaven-born child
All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies;
N...
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Christmas Eve At Mr Wardle's
From Pickwick Papers
CHARLES DICKENS
From the center of the ceiling of this kitchen, old Wardle had just
suspended with his own ...
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A Visit From St Nicholas
CLEMENT C. MOORE
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a m...
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A Christmas Piece
Of garnered rhyme, from hidden stores of olden time that since the
language did begin, have welcomed merry Christmas in, and made the
...
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Wassailer's Song
ROBERT SOUTHWELL
Wassail! wassail! all over the town,
Our toast it is white, and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl is ...
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A Carol
And here's a Christmas carol meant for children, and most excellent, and
though the monk that wrote it was hung, yet still his vers...
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Christmas Eve
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
[From My Study Fire.]
The world has been full of mysteries to-day; everybody has gone about
weighted with ...
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Christmas In The Olden Time
WALTER SCOTT
On Christmas-eve the bells were rung;
The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;
The hall was dressed with h...
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Sly Santa Claus
MRS. C.S. STONE
All the house was asleep,
And the fire burning low,
When, from far up the chimney,
Came d...
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The Waits
MARGARET DELAND
At the break of Christmas Day,
Through the frosty starlight ringing,
Faint and sweet and far awa...
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The Knighting Of The Sirloin Of Beef By Charles The Second
ANON
The Second Charles of England
Rode forth one Christmas tide,
To hunt a gallant stag of ten,
Of Ching...
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The Christmas Goose At The Cratchits'
CHARLES DICKENS
You might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered
phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter ...
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Bells Across The Snows
FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL
O Christmas, merry Christmas!
Is it really come again,
With its memories and greetings,
...
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Christmas Bells
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and swee...
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Minstrels And Maids
WILLIAM MORRIS
Outlanders, whence come ye last?
_The snow in the street and the wind on the door._
Through what ...
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Inexhaustibility Of The Subject Of Christmas
LEIGH HUNT
So many things have been said of late years about Christmas, that it is
supposed by some there is no saying more. O they...
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Song Of The Holly
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Blow, blow thou winter wind--
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude!
...
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Under The Holly-bough
CHARLES MACKAY
Ye who have scorned each other,
Or injured friend or brother,
In this fast-fading year;
Ye w...
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Ceremonies For Christmas
ROBERT HERRICK
Come, bring with a noise,
My merry, merry boys,
The Christmas log to the firing,
While m...
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Santa Claus
ANON
He comes in the night! He comes in the night!
He softly, silently comes;
While the little brown heads on th...
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The Ceremonies For Christmas Day
ROBERT HERRICK
Kindle the Christmas brand, and then
Till sunset let it burn;
Which quench'd, then lay it up agai...
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December
HARRIET F. BLODGETT
I
Oh! holly branch and mistletoe.
And Christmas chimes where'er we go.
And stockings ...
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The Festival Of St Nicholas
MARY MAPES DODGE
We all know how, before the Christmas-tree began to flourish in the
home-life of our country, a certain right joll...
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The Christmas Holly
ELIZA COOK
The holly! the holly! oh, twine it with bay--
Come give the holly a song;
For it helps to drive stern...
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To The Fir-tree
FROM THE GERMAN
O Fir-tree green! O Fir-tree green!
Your leaves are constant ever,
Not only in the summer time,
...
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The Mahogany-tree
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
Christmas is here;
Winds whistle shrill,
Icy and chill,
Little care we;
Litt...
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Christmas
WASHINGTON IRVING
But is old, old, good old Christmas gone? Nothing but the hair on
his good, gray, old head and beard left...
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Church Decking At Christmas
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Would that our scrupulous sires had dared to leave
Less scanty measure of those graceful rites
...
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So Now Is Come Our Joyfulst Feast
GEORGE WITHER
So, now is come our joyfulst feast,
Let every man be jolly;
Each room with ivy leaves is drest,
...
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Fairy Faces
ANON
Out of the mists of childhood,
Steeped in a golden glory,
Come dreamy forms and faces,
...
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Merry Christmas
ANON
In the rush of the merry morning,
When the red burns through the gray,
And the wintry world lies waiting
...
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A Merry Christmas To You
THEODORE LEDYARD CUYLER
My own boyhood was spent in a delightful home on one of the most
beautiful farms in Western New York--an ex...
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Christmas Bells
ANON
There are sounds in the sky when the year grows old,
And the winds of the winter blow--
When night and the ...
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The Birth Of Christ
ALFRED TENNYSON
The time draws near the birth of Christ;
The moon is hid--the night is still;
The Christmas be...
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The Christmas Carol
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
The minstrels played their Christmas tune
To-night beneath my cottage eaves;
While, smitten b...
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Christmas At Fezziwig's Warehouse
CHARLES DICKENS
Yo ho! my boys, said Fezziwig. No more work to-night; Christmas Eve,
Dick! Christmas, Ebenezer! Let's have the shut...
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Christmas Bells
JOHN KEBLE
Wake me to-night, my mother dear,
That I may hear
The Christmas Bells, so soft and clear,
To high ...
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A Christmas Carmen
JOHN G. WHITTIER
I
Sound over all waters, reach out from all lands,
The chorus of voices, the clasping of hands;...
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The Spirit Of Christmas
From Pickwick Papers.
CHARLES DICKENS
And numerous indeed are the hearts to which Christmas brings a brief
season of happiness a...
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On Good Wishes At Christmas
FRISWELL
At Christmas, which is a good holiday for most of us, but especially for
that larger and better half of us, the young, the...
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A Christmas Song
WILLIAM COX BENNETT
Blow, wind, blow,
Sing through yard and shroud;
Pipe it shrilly and loud,
Aloft as we...
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Sery
RICHARD WATSON GILDER
With wild surprise
Four great eyes
In two small heads,
From neighboring beds
Looke...
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A Christmas Song
TUDOR JENKS
When mother-love makes all things bright,
When joy comes with the morning light,
When children gather ...
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Christmas
(A Selection from Dreamthorp)
ALEXANDER SMITH
Sitting here, I incontinently find myself holding a levee of departed
Christmas ni...
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Christmas Carol
PHILLIPS BROOKS
The earth has grown old with its burden of care,
But at Christmas it always is young,
The heart ...
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The End Of The Play
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
The play is done--the curtain drops,
Slow-falling to the prompter's bell:
A moment y...
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Christ's Nativity
HENRY VAUGHAN
Awake, glad heart! get up and sing!
It is the Birthday of thy King.
Awake! awake!
...
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Christmas Dreams
CHRISTOPHER NORTH
To-morrow is Merry Christmas; and when its night descends there will be
mirth and music, and the light sounds of ...
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Keeping Christmas
Romans, xiv, 6: _He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord,_
HENRY VAN DYKE
[From The Spirit of Christmas.]
It is ...
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Mark Well My Heavy Doleful Tale
ANONYMOUS
Mark well my heavy doleful tale,
For Twelfth-day now is come,
And now I must no longer sing,
An...
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A Christmas Carol
CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI
In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like...
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The Glorious Song Of Old
EDMUND H. SEARS
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
...
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A Christmas Carol For Children
MARTIN LUTHER
Good news from heaven the angels bring,
Glad tidings to the earth they sing:
To us this day a child ...
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On Santa Claus
GEORGE A. BAKER, JR.
Brave old times those were. In the first half of the seventeenth
century, we mean; before there was any such p...
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A Christmas Carol
JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND
There's a song in the air!
There's a star in the sky!
There's a mother's ...
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An Offertory
MARY MAPES DODGE
Oh, the beauty of the Christ Child,
The gentleness, the grace,
The smiling, loving tender...
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Christmas Song
LYDIA A.C. WARD
Why do bells for Christmas ring?
Why do little children sing?
Once a lovely, shining star,
...
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A Christmas Carol
CHRISTIAN BURKE
The trees are hung with crystal lamps, the world lies still and white,
And the myriad little twinkling ...
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A Simple Bill Of Fare For A Christmas Dinner
H.H.
All good recipe-books give bills of fare for different occasions, bills
of fare for grand dinners, bills of fare for little di...
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A Ballade Of Old Loves
CAROLYN WELLS
Who is it stands on the polished stair,
A merry, laughing, winsome maid,
From the Christmas rose i...
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Ballade Of Christmas Ghosts
ANDREW LANG
Between the moonlight and the fire
In winter twilights long ago,
What ghosts we raised for your desire...
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Hang Up The Baby's Stocking
[Emily Huntington Miller]
Hang up the baby's stocking:
Be sure you don't forget;
The dear little dimpled darling...
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The Newest Thing In Christmas Carols
ANONYMOUS
God rest you, merry gentlemen!
May nothing you dismay;
Not even the dyspeptic plats
Through whi...
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A Christmas Letter From Australia
DOUGLAS SLADEN
'Tis Christmas, and the North wind blows; 'twas two years yesterday
Since from the Lusitania's bows I looked...
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Christmas
ROSE TERRY COOKE
Here comes old Father Christmas,
With sound of fife and drums;
With mistletoe about his brows,
...
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The Fir Tree
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
Out in the forest stood a pretty little Fir Tree. It had a good place;
it could have sunlight, air there wa...
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Little Roger's Night In The Church
SUSAN COOLIDGE
The boys and girls had fastened the last sprig of holly upon the walls,
and then gone to their homes, leaving the ol...
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Mr Bluffs Experiences Of Holidays
OLIVER BELL BUNCE
I hate holidays, said Bachelor Bluff to me, with some little
irritation, on a Christmas a few years ago. Then he ...
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Santa Claus At Simpson's Bar
BRET HARTE
It was nearly midnight when the festivities were interrupted. Hush!
said Dick Bullen, holding up his hand. It was the qu...
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God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
OLD CAROL
God rest you, merry gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
Was born ...
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Old Christmas Returned
All you that to feasting and mirth are inclined,
Come here is good news for to pleasure your mind,
Old Christmas is come ...
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Christmas Carol
As Joseph was a-waukin'
He heard an angel sing,
This night shall be the birthnight
Of Christ our heavenly King.
...
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In Excelsis Gloria
When Christ was born of Mary free,
In Bethlehem, in that fair citie,
Angels sang there with mirth and glee,
_I...
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The Boar's Head Carol
(Sung at Queen's College, Oxford.)
The boar's head in hand bear I,
Bedecked with bays and rosemary;
And I pray you...
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Christmas Carol
Listen, lordings, unto me, a tale I will you tell;
Which, as on this night of glee, in David's town befell.
Joseph came f...
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A Christmas Insurrection
ANNE P.L. FIELD
In the hush of a shivery Christmas-tide dawn
Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!
Three small frozen figur...
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The Night After Christmas
ANNE P.L. FIELD
Twas the night after Christmas in Santa-Claus land
And to rest from his labors St. Nicholas planned.
...
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When The Stars Of Morning Sang
ANNE P.L. FIELD
When the stars of morning sang
Long ago,
Sweet the air with music rang
Through the sn...
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A Prayer At Bethlehem
ANNE P.L. FIELD
O pulsing earth with heart athrill
With infinite creative will!
O watchful shepherds in whose eyes...
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The Christmas Fires
ANNE P.L. FIELD
The Christmas fires brightly gleam
And dance among the holly boughs,
The Christmas pudding's spi...
|
Carol
O Child of Mary's tender care!
O little Child so pure and fair!
Cradled within the manger hay
On that divine first C...
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The Mother
ROBERT HAVEN SCHAUFFLER
All day her watch had lasted on the plateau above the town. And now the
sun slanted low over the dull, blue...
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The Goblins Christmas
little Man, and tiny Maid,
Who love the Fairies i...
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The Call Of The Woodsman
The day before Christmas, in the year of our Lord 722.
Broad snow-meadows glistening white along the banks of the river
Moselle; ...
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The Trail Through The Forest
Two years had passed, to a day, almost to an hour, since that
Christmas eve in the cloister of Pfalzel. A little company of
pilgrim...
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The Shadow Of The Thunder-oak
Withered leaves still clung to the branches of the oak: torn and
faded banners of the departed summer. The bright crimson of aut...
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The Felling Of The Tree
A swift mountain-flood rolling down its channel; a huge rock
tumbling from the hill-side and falling in mid-stream; the baffled
wat...
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A Christmas Dream And How It Came True
"I'm so tired of Christmas I wish there never would be another one!"
exclaimed a discontented-looking little girl, as she sat idly w...
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The Goblins' Christmas
Copyright, 190...
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Christmas At Fezziwig's Warehouse
CHARLES DICKENS
"YO HO! my boys," said Fezziwig. "No more work to-night! Christmas Eve,
Dick! Christmas, Ebenezer! Let's have the...
|
The Fir-tree
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
OUT in the woods stood a nice little Fir-tree. The place he had was a
very good one; the sun shone on him...
|
The Christmas Masquerade
MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN
ON Christmas Eve the Mayor's stately mansion presented a beautiful
appearance. There were rows of differe...
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The Shepherds And The Angels
ADAPTED FROM THE BIBLE
AND there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and
keeping watch by night over their f...
|
The Telltale Tile
OLIVE THORNE MILLER
IT BEGINS with a bit of gossip of a neighbour who had come in to see
Miss Bennett, and was telling her about ...
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Little Girl's Christmas
WINNIFRED E. LINCOLN
IT WAS Christmas Eve, and Little Girl had just hung up her stocking by
the fireplace--right where it would b...
|
A Christmas Matinee
MRS. M. A. L. LANE
IT WAS the day before Christmas in the year 189--. Snow was falling
heavily in the streets of Boston, but the ...
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Toinette And The Elves
SUSAN COOLIDGE
THE winter's sun was nearing the horizon's edge. Each moment the tree
shadows grew longer in the forest; each mome...
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The Voyage Of The Wee Red Cap
RUTH SAWYER DURAND
It was the night of St. Stephen, and Teig sat alone by his fire with
naught in his cupboard but a pinch of tea...
|
A Story Of The Christ-child
A German legend for Christmas Eve as told by
ELIZABETH HARRISON
ONCE upon a time, a long, long time ago, on the night before Ch...
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Jimmy Scarecrow's Christmas
MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN
JIMMY SCARECROW led a sad life in the winter. Jimmy's greatest grief was
his lack of occupation. He liked...
|
Why The Chimes Rang
RAYMOND MC ALDEN
THERE was once in a faraway country where few people have ever
travelled, a wonderful church. It stood on a high...
|
The Birds' Christmas
F. E. MANN
Founded on fact.
"CHICKADEE-DEE-DEE-DEE! Chickadee-dee-dee-dee! Chicka----" "Cheerup,
cheerup, chee-chee! Cheerup, ...
|
The Little Sister's Vacation
WINIFRED M. KIRKLAND
IT WAS to be a glorious Christmas at Doctor Brower's. All "the
children"--little Peggy and her mother always...
|
Little Wolff's Wooden Shoes
A CHRISTMAS STORY BY FRANCOIS COPPEE; ADAPTED AND TRANSLATED BY ALMA J.
FOSTER
ONCE upon a time--so long ago that everybody has f...
|
Christmas In The Alley
OLIVE THORNE MILLER
"I DECLARE for 't, to-morrow is Christmas Day an' I clean forgot all
about it," said old Ann, the washerwoman...
|
A Christmas Star
KATHERINE PYLE
"COME now, my dear little stars," said Mother Moon, "and I will tell you
the Christmas story."
Every morning fo...
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The Queerest Christmas
GRACE MARGARET GALLAHER
BETTY stood at her door, gazing drearily down the long, empty corridor
in which the breakfast gong echoed...
|
Old Father Christmas
J. H. EWING
THE custom of Christmas-trees came from Germany. I can remember when
they were first introduced into England, and wha...
|
A Christmas Carol
CHARLES DICKENS
MASTER Peter, and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the
goose, with which they soon returned in hi...
|
How Christmas Came To The Santa Maria Flats
ELIA W. PEATTIE
THERE were twenty-six flat children, and none of them had ever been flat
children until that year. Previously the...
|
The Legend Of Babouscka
ADAPTED FROM THE RUSSIAN
IT WAS the night the dear Christ-Child came to Bethlehem. In a country
far away from Him, an old, old wo...
|
Christmas In The Barn
F. ARNSTEIN
ONLY two more days and Christmas would be here! It had been snowing
hard, and Johnny was standing at the window, look...
|
The Philanthropist's Christmas
JAMES WEBER LINN
"DID you see this committee yesterday, Mr. Mathews?" asked the
philanthropist. His secretary looked up.
"Yes,...
|
The First Christmas-tree
BY LUCY WHEELOCK
TWO little children were sitting by the fire one cold winter's night.
All at once they heard a timid knock at th...
|
The First New England Christmas
G. L. STONE AND M. G. FICKETT
IT WAS a warm and pleasant Saturday--that twenty-third of December,
1620. The winter wind had blown...
|
The Cratchits' Christmas Dinner
(Adapted)
CHARLES DICKENS
SCROOGE and the Ghost of Christmas Present stood in the city streets on
Christmas morning, where (fo...
|
Christmas In Seventeen Seventy-six
ANNE HOLLINGSWORTH WHARTON
"On Christmas day in Seventy-six,
Our gallant troops with bayonets fixed,
...
|
Christmas Under The Snow
OLIVE THORNE MILLER
IT WAS just before Christmas, and Mr. Barnes was starting for the
nearest village. The family were out at the...
|
Mr Bluff's Experiences Of Holidays
OLIVER BELL BUNCE
"I HATE holidays," said Bachelor Bluff to me, with some little
irritation, on a Christmas a few years ago. Then...
|
Master Sandy's Snapdragon
ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS
THERE was just enough of December in the air and of May in the sky to
make the Yuletide of the year of grace 1...
|
A Christmas Fairy
JOHN STRANGE WINTER
IT was getting very near to Christmas time, and all the boys at Miss
Ware's school were talking about going h...
|
The Greatest Of These
JOSEPH MILLS HANSON
THE outside door swung open suddenly, letting a cloud of steam into the
small, hot kitchen. Charlie Moore, a ...
|
Little Gretchen And The Wooden Shoe
ELIZABETH HARRISON
THE following story is one of many which has drifted down to us from the
story-loving nurseries and hearthston...
|
Christmas On Big Rattle
THEODORE GOODRIDGE ROBERTS
ARCHER sat by the rude hearth of his Big Rattle camp, brooding in a sort
of tired contentment over the...
|
They Saw A Great Light
CHAPTER I.
ANOTHER GENERATION.
"Here he comes! here he comes!"
"He" was the "post-rider," an institution now almost of the p...
|
Christmas Waits In Boston
I.
I always give myself a Christmas present. And on this particular year
the present was a Carol party,--which is about as good f...
|
Alice's Christmas-tree
CHAPTER I.
Alice MacNeil had made the plan of this Christmas-tree, all by herself
and for herself. She had a due estimate of thos...
|
Daily Bread
I.
A QUESTION OF NOURISHMENT.
"And how is he?" said Robert, as he came in from his day's work, in
every moment of which he had...
|
Stand And Wait
I.
CHRISTMAS EVE.
"They've come! they've come!"
This was the cry of little Herbert as he ran in from the square stone
which...
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The Two Princes
A STORY FOR CHILDREN.
I.
There was a King of Hungary whose name was Adelbert.
When he lived at home, which was not often, it...
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The Story Of Oello
Once upon a time there was a young girl, who had the pretty name of
Oello. I say, once upon a time, because I do not know when the t...
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Love Is The Whole
A STORY FOR CHILDREN.
This is a story about some children who were living together in a
Western State, in a little house on the p...
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Christmas And Rome
The first Christmas this in which a Roman Senate has sat in Rome since
the old-fashioned Roman Senates went under,--or since they "w...
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The Survivor's Story
Fortunately we were with our wives.
It is in general an excellent custom, as I will explain if opportunity
is given.
First, yo...
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The Same Christmas In Old England And New
The first Christmas in New England was celebrated by some people who
tried as hard as they could not to celebrate it at all. But loo...
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The History Of John Wildgoose
Thomas Wildgoose was an honest and hard-working man, in one of the
midland counties. He had long been attached to Susan Jenkins, a
we...
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The Smuggler
It was the latter end of the month of November, when Mary Waldron,
having carefully put her two children to bed, sat down with an ac...
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Good-nature Or Parish Matters
Mr. Stanley had just reached the last stile in the footpath leading to
Inglewood parsonage, when his progress was for a moment int...
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Christmas History
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Date Of Christ's Birth Discussed
The day on which Jesus Christ died is plainly distinguishable, but the
day of His birth is open to very much question, and, literall...
|
Historic Christ-tides
Only one is noted in the reign of Edward VI., that of 1551, of which
Holinshed writes, Wherefore, as well to remove fond talke out of
...
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Christmas's Lamentation
Christmas is my name, far have I gone,
Without regard; without regard.
Whereas great men by flocks there be flown,
...
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Attempts Of Puritans To Put Down Christ-tide
As soon as the Puritans became at all powerful, their iconoclastic
zeal naturally attacked Christmas, and the Scotchmen, such as Baill...
|
The Popular Love Of Christmas
And this was the general feeling. Parliament might sit, as we learn by
The Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer, No. 152: Thursday, Decem...
|
Commencement Of Christ-tide
We take it for granted that in the old times, when Christ-tide was
considered so great a festival as to be accorded a Novena--that i...
|
Chapter Vii
Paddington Charity (Bread and Cheese Lands)
Until Christmas eve there is nothing remarkable about this Novena of
Christ-tide...
|
The Bellman Descriptions Of Him
Before the advent of Christmas the Bellman, or Watchman, left at each
house a copy of verses ostensibly breathing good-will and a ha...
|
Christ-tide Carols
The singing of carols is now confined to Christmas day; but it was not
always so, appropriate carols being sung during the Christ-ti...
|
Christmas Eve--herrick Thereon
All the festivals of the Church are preceded by a vigil, or eve, and,
considering the magnitude of the festival of Christmas, it is ...
|
Christmas Eve In North Notts
As these old customs are fast dying out, and should be chronicled, I
must be pardoned if I give another and very similar illustration ...
|
Decorating With Evergreens
Christmas Eve is especially the time for decorating houses and
churches with evergreens, a custom which seems to have come from
hea...
|
Legends Of The Nativity
It would indeed be singular if an event of such importance as the
birth, as man, of the Son of God had not been specially marked out b...
|
The Glastonbury Thorn Its Legend
Even the vegetable world contributed to the wonders of Christmas, for
was there not the famous Glastonbury Thorn which blossomed on ...
|
Withholding Light
There was a curious tradition in the north of England, which is
practically done away with in these days of lucifer matches. In the
o...
|
Curious Gambling Customs In Church
In 1570 was published The Popish Kingdome, or, Reigne of Antichrist,
written in Latin Verse by Thomas Naogeorgus (Kirchmayer) and engl...
|
Ordinance Against Out-door Revelry
These Christmas revelries were sometimes carried to excess, and needed
curbing with the strong hand of the law, an early instance of w...
|
A Christmas Jest
This is rather sorry stuff; but then in purely rural places, untouched
by that great civiliser, the railroad, a little wit goes a gr...
|
The Lord Of Misrule--the Emperor And King At Oxford
We have seen in the account of historic Christ-tides how a Lord of
Misrule was nominated to amuse Edward VI., and with what honour he ...
|
A Riotous Lord Of Misrule At The Temple
The high spirits of the Temple Sparks occasionally led them to
licence, as the author of The Reign of King Charles (1655) tells us
...
|
Honey Fairs Card-playing At Christmas
Time's Telescope (1824, p. 297) notes that in Cumberland, and in all
the great towns in the north of England, about a week before
Chr...
|
Profusion Of Food At Christ-tide
If any exception can be taken to Christ-tide in England, it is to the
enormous amount of flesh, fowl, etc., consumed. To a sensitive...
|
The First Carol
Bishop Jeremy Taylor very appropriately said that the first Christmas
carol was sung by the angels at the Nativity of our Saviour--G...
|
Christmas Gifts Forbidden In The City Of London
The presentation of gifts on Christmas day was an English custom of
very great antiquity; so great that, in 1419, the practice had b...
|
Christ-tide Literature
The literature specially designed nowadays for Christmas reading is
certainly not of a high order, whether we take books--which are is...
|
Carol For St Stephen's Day
On the day succeeding Christmas day the Church commemorates the death
of the proto-martyr Stephen, and in honour of this festival the
...
|
St John's Day
The 27th December is set apart by the Church to commemorate St. John
the Evangelist. Googe, in his translation of Naogeorgus, says:-...
|
New Year's Eve
New Year's eve is variously kept--by some in harmless mirth, by others
in religious exercises. Many churches in England have late serv...
|
New Year's Day
There is a peculiar feeling of satisfaction that comes over us with
the advent of the New Year. The Old Year, with its joys and sorr...
|
Eve Of Twelfth Day
The 5th of January is the eve of the Epiphany, and the Vigil of
Twelfth day, which used to be celebrated by the liberal use of the
...
|
The King Of The Bean
But another sovereign had a great deal to do with Twelfth day, The
King of the Bean, who takes his title from a bean, or a silver pe...
|
St Distaff's Day
Here Christ-tide ought to end, and men and women should have returned
to their ordinary avocations, but the long holiday demoralised t...
|
Date Of Christ's Birth Discussed
The day on which Jesus Christ died is plainly distinguishable, but the
day of His birth is open to very much question, and, literall...
|
Historic Christ-tides In 790 878 And 1065
The earliest historic Christmas in England was 790, when the Welsh
suddenly attacked the soldiers of Offa, King of Mercia, who were
...
|
Historic Christ-tides--edward Vi 1551
Only one is noted in the reign of Edward VI., that of 1551, of which
Holinshed writes, Wherefore, as well to remove fond talke out o...
|
Attempts Of Puritans To Put Down Christ-tide
As soon as the Puritans became at all powerful, their iconoclastic
zeal naturally attacked Christmas, and the Scotchmen, such as Baill...
|
The Popular Love Of Christmas
And this was the general feeling. Parliament might sit, as we learn by
The Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer, No. 152: Thursday, Decem...
|
Commencement Of Christ-tide
We take it for granted that in the old times, when Christ-tide was
considered so great a festival as to be accorded a Novena--that i...
|
Paddington Charity (bread And Cheese Lands)
Until Christmas eve there is nothing remarkable about this Novena of
Christ-tide, excepting a curious charitable custom which used t...
|
The Bellman--descriptions Of Him
Before the advent of Christmas the Bellman, or Watchman, left at each
house a copy of verses ostensibly breathing good-will and a ha...
|
Christ-tide Carols
The singing of carols is now confined to Christmas day; but it was not
always so, appropriate carols being sung during the Christ-ti...
|
Christmas Eve--herrick Thereon
All the festivals of the Church are preceded by a vigil, or eve, and,
considering the magnitude of the festival of Christmas, it is ...
|
Christmas Eve In North Notts
As these old customs are fast dying out, and should be chronicled, I
must be pardoned if I give another and very similar illustratio...
|
Decorating With Evergreens
Christmas Eve is especially the time for decorating houses and
churches with evergreens, a custom which seems to have come from
hea...
|
Legends Of The Nativity
It would indeed be singular if an event of such importance as the
birth, as man, of the Son of God had not been specially marked out...
|
The Glastonbury Thorn Its Legend
Even the vegetable world contributed to the wonders of Christmas, for
was there not the famous Glastonbury Thorn which blossomed on ol...
|
Withholding Light
There was a curious tradition in the north of England, which is
practically done away with in these days of lucifer matches. In the
...
|
Curious Gambling Customs In Church
In 1570 was published The Popish Kingdome, or, Reigne of Antichrist,
written in Latin Verse by Thomas Naogeorgus (Kirchmayer) and en...
|
Ordinance Against Out-door Revelry
These Christmas revelries were sometimes carried to excess, and needed
curbing with the strong hand of the law, an early instance of...
|
A Christmas Jest--ben Jonson's Masque Of Christmas
This is rather sorry stuff; but then in purely rural places, untouched
by that great civiliser, the railroad, a little wit goes a grea...
|
The Lord Of Misrule
We have seen in the account of historic Christ-tides how a Lord of
Misrule was nominated to amuse Edward VI., and with what honour h...
|
A Riotous Lord Of Misrule At The Temple-
The high spirits of the Temple Sparks occasionally led them to
licence, as the author of The Reign of King Charles (1655) tells us
...
|
Honey Fairs--card-playing At Christmas
Time's Telescope (1824, p. 297) notes that in Cumberland, and in all
the great towns in the north of England, about a week before
C...
|
Profusion Of Food At Christ-tide
If any exception can be taken to Christ-tide in England, it is to the
enormous amount of flesh, fowl, etc., consumed. To a sensitive...
|
The First Carol--anglo-norman Carol
Bishop Jeremy Taylor very appropriately said that the first Christmas
carol was sung by the angels at the Nativity of our Saviour--GLO...
|
Christmas Gifts Forbidden In The City Of London
The presentation of gifts on Christmas day was an English custom of
very great antiquity; so great that, in 1419, the practice had b...
|
Christ-tide Literature
The literature specially designed nowadays for Christmas reading is
certainly not of a high order, whether we take books--which are ...
|
Carol For St Stephen's Day
On the day succeeding Christmas day the Church commemorates the death
of the proto-martyr Stephen, and in honour of this festival th...
|
St John's Day
The 27th December is set apart by the Church to commemorate St. John
the Evangelist. Googe, in his translation of Naogeorgus, says:-...
|
New Year's Eve--wassail
New Year's eve is variously kept--by some in harmless mirth, by others
in religious exercises. Many churches in England have late serv...
|
New Year's Day
There is a peculiar feeling of satisfaction that comes over us with
the advent of the New Year. The Old Year, with its joys and sorrow...
|
Eve Of Twelfth Day
The 5th of January is the eve of the Epiphany, and the Vigil of
Twelfth day, which used to be celebrated by the liberal use of the
...
|
The King Of The Bean
But another sovereign had a great deal to do with Twelfth day, The
King of the Bean, who takes his title from a bean, or a silver pe...
|
St Distaff's Day
Here Christ-tide ought to end, and men and women should have returned
to their ordinary avocations, but the long holiday demoralised...
|
|
