Jingle
by Molly-Ann Leikin

I found this story in the Santa Barbara News-Press, and thought you'd all enjoy it as much as I did.

"Jingle Bells is the only pre-Civil War American song on the A List. There's no mention of Chrismas in the lyrics. And nobody sings it correctly anymore. Songwriter James Lord Pierpont carried the tune around in his head for a long time before he actually wrote it down, because he was 'a ramblin' man'."

Pierpont's family was frustrated with him. He didn't seem to know what he wanted to do when he grew up. A bad businessman, he was like a 19th century hippie.

Born in 1822, Pierpont ran away to sea when he was 14, followed the gold rush to California, fought with the Confederate cavalry in the Civil War and died poor.

In 1832, ten year-old James Pierpont was sent to school in New Hampshire. He wrote his mother a letter about riding in a sleigh through the December snow.

Four years later, he shipped out to sea. Then he moved to San Francisco, where his name appears on the rolls of the Unitarian Church, as a member of the music committee. Later, he moved to Savannah.

In August, 1857, Pierpont got married. In that same month, Oliver Ditson and Co. of Boston published "One Horse Open Sleigh". Two years later it was reprinted with the title "Jingle Bells, or The One Horse Open Sleigh".

It's a very popular song, but please note that it's not about Christmas. It's a sleighing song, part of a whole genre that was popular then. This happened to be the one that caught on.

Still, after the war, Pierpont went into the hardware business with his usual lack of success. By 1862, he joined the cavalry.

His major contribution ot the war effort was his songwriting. Three patriotic songs - "Before Our Battle Flag", "Strike for the South" and "We Conquer or Die", survive.

Sadly, the South didn't have money for music after the Civil War. In 1880, Pierpont's son, Juriah, renewed the copyright on "Jingle Bells" but he never made much money from it. It took considerable effort to keep his father's name permanetly attached to the song after the copyright expired."

But consider this: nobody on the planet doesn't know "Jingle Bells". How many songs share that honor and distinction?

Here's something else I read in the newspaper:

"The different between using the right word and the wrong word is like lightning and lightning bugs"...Mark Twain.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

© 1999 Molly-Ann Leikin

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