Jolly St. Nick

A dear, good old fellow is Jolly St. Nick;

Girls and boys, every one, think he is a brick;

On the night before Christmas he comes with his sleigh,

Which carries of presents a splendid array.

When he comes to a house-top, his reindeer he stops,

then down through the chimney he easily drops;

It's strange he can do it, he's not at all slim,

but at climbing no monkey or cat can beat him.

He knows where the stockings are hung in a row,

he fills them with treasures, and doesn't work slow;

For Mary and Bessie, for Tommie and Jack,

There are candy and toys in his wonderful pack.

Up the chimney he hurries, and jumps in his sleigh;

In an instant his deer are again on their way,

while their bells jingle gaily and fill him with mirth;

and this way the jolly Saint travels the earth.

Poem from the night before Christmas and other Christmas poems published by Barse & Hopkins, New York c1907 with illustrations by Hugo von Hofsten.

I love the picture of the children and mama and papa all sleeping in the same room and the one of St. Nick taking toys from his sack. I'm not sure a pipe-smoking Santa would be very popular now, but it's important to remember the book was published over a hundred years ago.

The night before Christmas and other Christmas poems has been part of my collection for a very long time. It's in poor condition with missing plates and damage to the binding, but it was given to me by a dear friend and is very precious to me.

Do you have a forever book?  The one book that is long past its best but is still too precious to part with?

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Our two little granddaughters are so excited about Christmas and can't wait for Santa's visit. We won’t be able to share the excitement with them this year, but we are all determined to get together next Christmas and in the meantime our son and daughter in law keep us well supplied with photographs. These are some of our recent favourites;  

Zoe in classic ballet pose 

and Little Lilly having fun. 

Zoe, Lilly and Santa.

A dear, good old fellow is Jolly St. Nick!

Christmas wishes and love from Barbara, Terry and all the family xxx