Jingle Those Bells

Winter temperatures have arrived, and the snow won’t be far behind. As we get busy preparing for the upcoming holidays, it’s hard to find time to create scholarly blog posts. So we are going to take a more light-hearted approach and look at “Jingle Bells” this week. After all, isn’t it time to recognize that song lyricists are writers, too?

Most of us think of “Jingle Bells” as a Christmas song, but it doesn’t mention Christmas or any other holiday, making it more appropriately classified as a winter song. The music and lyrics were both written by James Lord Pierpont. The song was first published in 1857 under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh” and was reissued two years later under the current title. It was not a hit either time.

It’s unclear exactly when and where Pierpont wrote the song. He grew up in New England and must have been remembering winters there, but he may have written it after moving to Georgia. In fact, both Massachusetts and Georgia appear to claim the honor.

The song has four verses, and some are more familiar than others. Here is the entire text using the original words (according to that fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia).

Dashing through the snow,

In a one horse open sleigh,

O’re the fields we go,

Laughing all the way;

Bells on bob tail ring,

Making spirits bright,

Oh what sport to ride and sing

A sleighing song tonight.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh! what joy it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh. (REPEAT)

A day or two ago

I thought I’d take a ride

And soon, Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side,

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

He got into a drifted bank

And we, we got upsot.

CHORUS

A day or two ago,

The story I must tell

I went out on the snow,

And on my back I fell;

A gent was riding by

In a one-horse open sleigh,

He laughed as there I sprawling lie,

But quickly drove away.

CHORUS

Now the ground is white

Go it while you’re young,

Take the girls tonight

And sing this sleighing song;

Just get a bobtailed bay

Two forty as his speed

Hitch him to an open sleigh

And crack! you’ll take the lead.

CHORUS

Have fun with your own winter pursuits.

_______

The picture at the head of this post is a Currier and Ives print titled “The Road – Winter.” The original was drawn on stone by Otto Knirsch no later than 1853 and supposedly shows Nathanial Currier and his wife in their favorite sleigh. Unfortunately, this picture has a two-horse open sleigh rather than a one-horse open sleigh. However, you can see the jingle bells around the white horse’s belly.

The picture and the lyrics to “Jingle Bells” are both in the public domain because of their age.