The author and exact date of the following traditional English poem, about Christmas customs, are unknown.
The version of the poem shown here can be found in many publications including, “A Christmas Wonderland: Stories, Verse and Thoughts to Cheer Your Heart”, published by Regal in 2006. A much longer version, with six stanzas, was included in the December 1897 (Volume 25, Number 6) issue of the magazine “Good Housekeeping” and in the book “Yule-Tide In Many Lands”, by Mary P. Pringle and Clara A. Urann, first published in 1916 by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Boston.
At Christmas time, we deck the hall
With holly branches brave and tall,
With sturdy pine and hemlock bright
And in the Yule log’s dancing light
We tell old tales of field and fight
At Christmas time.At Christmas time we pile the board
With flesh and fruit and vintage stored,
And mid the laughter and the glow
We tread a measure soft and slow,
And kiss beneath the mistletoe
At Christmas time.– Author unknown
