Let’s hear it for the reindeer!

 

Let’s hear it for the reindeer!

‘Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!’

There has been controversy and debate about the author of the poem from which these lines come. ‘A Visit from St Nicholas’ was published anonymously in 1823, when its title was, ‘Account of a Visit from St Nicholas.’  Fourteen years after it appeared, Clement Clarke Moore claimed that he had written it, but some critics argue that Henry Livingston Jr was the author.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the poem has remained a favourite Christmas verse. Small children are entranced by the idea of Santa Claus guiding his reindeer through the night skies with a sleigh full of gifts for good little girls and boys. St Nicholas is the patron saint of children.

Santa Claus or St Nicholas derives his name from the Dutch Sinterklaas. He was a rich man and the Bishop of Myra, the ancient Turkish city. He used his considerable wealth to help the poor and needy. His feast day is December 6^th, and his generosity is associated with Christmas. When Dutch people emigrated to America, they took the legend of Sinterklaas with them and soon he had been adopted by Americans and renamed Santa Claus.

In England, the Spirit of Christmas is known as Father Christmas.

On 6^th December, Sinterklaas arrives in Amsterdam in a ship that has sailed from Spain, where he lives. He rides ashore on a white horse, accompanied by his servant, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). Dutch children leave their shoes out with food for the horse and Sinterklaas rides across the Netherlands on that evening, replacing the horse’s food with little gifts.

Mikolaj, St Nicholas, appears in Poland on this day, too, bringing confectionery and little presents to excited children.

On Christmas Eve in Germany, children eagerly await the advent of the Christkindl, the Christ child. They are not allowed into the room with the Christmas tree in it. When they eventually go in, they are always just too late to glimpse the Christkindl, but they know he has visited, because there are gifts under the tree for them.

In Italy, children receive gifts on 6^th January from an old lady called Befana. 6th January is Epiphany, or Three Kings’ Day, the day when the Three Kings or Wise Men, led by a star, arrived in Bethlehem to visit the baby Jesus.

Befana heard about the baby’s birth from the shepherds, but she was too busy to go and see him. When she finally found the time, it was too late, for the family had left. Ever since then she has wandered the world looking for the baby and leaving a gift at every house in case he should be there. It’s a similar story to that of Babushka in Russia, though for her it was the Three Kings who came to her house, seeking shelter and telling her about the new king.

Christmas is celebrated on 7^th January in Russia, when Grandfather Frost and his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden, give gifts to the children after they have sung songs and recited poems.

It is the little traditions around festivals that make them memorable and pleasurable. Seeing the awe and delight in the faces of small children as the magic unfolds is a fine counter to the cynicism that can creep in.

Other feasts and carnivals given to us by other faiths also wield their enchantment and allow adults to see again the world through a child’s eyes.

                                                      One last thing – you may have noticed that the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh all have antlers. While it’s true that males and females have antlers bestowed on them, it is only the females that retain them in the winter. So, it is the ladies who are doing the hard work, apart, of course, from Rudolph,who is an honorary helper for Father Christmas.