English Language FAQ

A very long time ago you might think as you hurry away from  I wish it would be Christmas Every Day and So Here It Is Merry Christmas, currently blasting out of every shopping mall in the western world. In fact less than thirty years before Roy Wood and Noddy Holder were doing their worst, Christmas was the catalyst for some magnificent songwriting. Sleigh Ride , White Christmas , Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, The Christmas Song ( Chestnuts Roasting) and many other standards were written during the mid 1940s and early 1950s. Many have identified the trauma of the Second World War as the inspiration - an idea made explicit in Hugh Martin's wistful  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Make the Yule-tide gay. From now on our troubles Will be miles away. Here we are as in olden days, Happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us Will be near to us once more. Someday soon we all will be together

"A merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!" Which all the [Cratchit] family re-echoed. "God bless us, every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last of all. What is Frankinsense? And Myrrh A Paul McCartney story about the young John Lennon's late night encounter with a Nativity scene inspired  this fun  Fred & Rita playscript . Christmas Carol Teaching Pack More Christmas-related posts

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." According to legend, L Frank Baum was stuck for a name for his magical land. Looking up from his desk for inspiration, he saw a filing cabinet with tow drawers. One was labelled A-L and the other O-Z.  Baum wrote down OZ,  meaning  to replace this later. What is Frankinsense? And Myrrh A Paul McCartney story about the young John Lennon's late night encounter with a Nativity scene inspired  this fun  Fred & Rita playscript . Christmas Carol Teaching Pack More Christmas-related posts

 "A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, although the claim has also been made that it was written by Henry Livingston, Jr. The poem, which has been called "arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American",[1] is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today.  And no doubt, either, as to the most popular reading. Take it away, Sachmo.