Traditional rhyme
"Christmas Is Coming" is a traditional nursery rhyme and Christmas song frequently sung as a round. It is listed as number 12817 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
Lyrics
The following are common representative lyrics:
- Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
- Please [do] put a penny in the old man's hat
- If you haven't got a penny, [then] a ha'penny will do
- If you haven't got a ha'penny, [then] God bless you!
Although the lyrics begin appearing in print in 1885[1] and 1886,[2] they are presented without an author and in a way of cataloging something that was already mostly common knowledge of the time. Some sources have variants of these lyrics and additional verses. [3][4][5]
Music
The common melody paired with the lyrics is usually simply listed as a traditional English carol, while some sources curiously list the author Edith Nesbit Bland as its composer.[6][7][8]
Another common melody, usually listed as a traditional English carol, is differentiated by an arrangement of it made by Walford Davies, published in 1914.[9] The lyrics have also been paired with the melody of the English dance tune "Country Gardens".[4][10]
Traditional collected versions
A few field recordings were made of traditional versions of the song,[11][12][13] including one sung by Jack Elliot of Birtley, Durham to Reg Hall in the early 1960s,[14] which is archived within the British Library Sound Archive.[15]
Popular recordings
The Kingston Trio recorded the song as "A Round About Christmas", on their album The Last Month of the Year released in 1960.[6][16][17] A calypso sounding version was featured on the 1979 album John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together[18] and a loose, jazzy piano-based arrangement was featured in the musical score of A Charlie Brown Christmas.[19]
The rhyme also became the basis for the song "Christmas Is a-Comin'", written by Frank Luther and performed by Bing Crosby, among others.[20]
See also
References
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Christ -- mas is com -- ing, the goose is get -- ting fat;
Please [do] put a pen -- ny in the old man's hat.
If you have -- n't got a pen -- ny, [then] a ha' -- pen -- ny will do.
If you have -- n't got a ha' -- pen -- ny, [then] God bless you!
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