1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday and Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating. 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: Since today's episode is coming out on Christmas Day, we 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: thought we would replay a particularly Christmas Ee episode as 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: our Saturday Classic, and it is our Christmas triple feature, 5 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: which originally came out on December and covers three Christmas 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,279 Speaker 1: classics that were each having milestone birthdays that year. So 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class a 8 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Honley Frying. Today's podcast 10 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: is coming out on Christmas Eve, so it seems like 11 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: a good time to take a look at three creative 12 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: works that have become staples of the Christmas season. All 13 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: three of them have played a huge part in how 14 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: people observe and celebrate Christmas and parts of the world, 15 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: and they all happen to have milestone birthdays this year. 16 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: So A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens turned a hundred 17 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,680 Speaker 1: and seventy five on December nineteen. The poem A Visit 18 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: from St. Nicholas turned a hundred on December Probably we're 19 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: going to talk a little bit about that too, and 20 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: then the song Still Knocked or Silent Night is turning 21 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: two hundred on the day that this episode comes out. 22 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: I will tell you that if you had asked me 23 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: before any of this research landing in my hand, I 24 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: would have reversed the order that I believed they were 25 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: in terms of age. You would have put the You 26 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,759 Speaker 1: would have put Silent Night as the youngest one. Yeah, yeah, 27 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,279 Speaker 1: I don't know why, but in my brain it seems newer. 28 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: I don't know why. Um I think I bet it 29 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: has to do with perception that I always see a 30 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: Christmas Carol or I have often seen a Christmas Carol 31 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: played out in old timey costumes, and that has been 32 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: the case with the other two. So in my head, 33 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: those must be those must be the younger ones. I 34 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: think that's what it is. But we are going to 35 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: start with the youngest of these three works, and that 36 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: is Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol in Prose being a 37 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: Ghost Story of Christmas, first published by Chapman and Hall 38 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: on December nineteenth, eighteen forty three. And this novella begins 39 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: with the author's note quote, I have endeavored in this 40 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: ghostly little book to raise the ghost of an idea 41 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: which shall not put my readers out of humor with themselves, 42 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: with each other, with the season, or with me. May 43 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wished to 44 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: lay it their faithful friend and servant C. D. Today's 45 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: readers may miss the double meaning of to lay it, 46 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: which meant both to lay the book down and to 47 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: lay the ghost Dickens was raising to rest. Then the 48 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: book moves on to the relatively un Christmas e opening 49 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: line of Marley was dead to begin with. There is 50 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: no doubt whatsoever about that. Then it introduced is Ebenezer 51 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: Scrooge quote a typefisted hand at the grindstone, a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, 52 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,519 Speaker 1: covetous old center. There's also his jolly and kind hearted 53 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:17,119 Speaker 1: nephew Fred, his ill treated employee Bob Cratchett, cratch its son, 54 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: Tiny Tim, and the ghosts of Marley and the spirits 55 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: of Christmas past, present and yet to come. The story, 56 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: of course, follows Scrooge as he becomes a kinder and 57 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: more generous person through the intervention of all these spirits. 58 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: God bless us everyone. A Christmas Carol is commonly named 59 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: as one of the best selling books of all time, 60 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: but because of its age, that's actually pretty tricky to confirm, 61 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: and at this point there are also hundreds and hundreds 62 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: of adaptations across many genres and many types of media. 63 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: You can see flickers of it in everything from It's 64 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: a Wonderful Life to How the grinchtul Christmas, and none 65 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: of this colossal popularity is new. When it was first 66 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: published in eighteen forty three, its first run of six 67 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: thousand copies sold out in just a week, and within 68 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: two months of its debut, eight different dramatic versions were 69 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: already being staged. But Charles Dickens didn't originally set out 70 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: to write a book when he wrote a Christmas Carol, 71 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: his original intent was a pamphlet. Earlier, in eighteen forty three, 72 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: he had read a report on child labor in Britain, 73 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: and he had also visited what he described as a 74 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: ragged school. Urbanization, industrialization and the eighteen thirty four Poor 75 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,679 Speaker 1: Laws had all combined to create a system of really 76 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: devastating poverty. In nineteenth century England. Conditions at a lot 77 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,919 Speaker 1: of the factories were just appalling, and children employed in 78 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: the factories frequently did exhausting and dangerous work. This whole 79 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: system was also set up so that the poor were 80 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: forced to go work in workhouses, but the conditions at 81 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: those workhouses were so terrible into humanizing, that people would 82 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: do anything rather than to go there. Dickens thoughts on 83 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: all of this were certainly influenced by his own lived experience. 84 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:09,279 Speaker 1: When he was a child, his father was placed in 85 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: a debtor's prison over an unpaid bakery bill. Dickens had 86 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: to leave school and work in a boot blacking factory. 87 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: So Dickens wanted to do something about all of this, 88 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: and he initially planned a pamphlet called an Appeal to 89 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: the People of England on Behalf of the poor Man's Child, 90 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 1: but he quickly decided that a work of fiction might 91 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: do a better job of getting his point across than 92 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: a pamphlet. Wood He also had a practical motivation to 93 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: write a book instead of a pamphlet. He flat out 94 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: needed money. He had just come back from a tour 95 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: of the US, where he had been treated like a celebrity, 96 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: but he hadn't earned very much, so he needed to 97 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: write a work that would sell, and that meant a 98 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: book not a pamphlet. He cranked out a Christmas Carol 99 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: over just a couple of months of writing while also 100 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: working on the Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit as 101 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: a serial. He's described as basically the most famous writer 102 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: living at that moment, and so he went on this 103 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: whole tour of the US and Canada and was just 104 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: hailed everywhere that he went, but did not earn money 105 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: off of it. Christmas Carol really synthesizes a lot that 106 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:20,280 Speaker 1: was going on at the time that it was written. 107 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 1: There's the Victorian fascination with ghosts and the supernatural, the 108 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: horrors of poverty and morality. The character of Ebenezer Scrooge 109 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: really embodies commonly held attitudes towards the poor, seeing them 110 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: as a burden on society who just deserved the cruelties 111 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: and degradations of the workhouse. The celebration of Christmas in 112 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: Britain was also shifting during this time. Christmas trees, turkey dinners, 113 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,679 Speaker 1: decorating with evergreens, gifts, and greeting cards were all becoming 114 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: more and more popular. So A Christmas Carol both reflected 115 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: and reinforced the Victorian idea of how to celebrate Christmas. 116 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: It's also credited with pop arizing Merry Christmas as a 117 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: Christmas greeting and with the idea that there should be 118 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: snow at Christmas. Even though A Christmas Carol was an 119 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: instant bestseller, Dickens did not make nearly as much money 120 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: with it as he hoped, and this was mostly because 121 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: of his own decisions. He wanted this book to be 122 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: really nice, with fancy gilded bindings and woodcuts and edgings 123 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: and extravagant lettering. All that stuff cost money. He even 124 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: made last minute changes to the title and in pages 125 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: of the books because he wasn't satisfied with the original versions. 126 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: All of this was very expensive and cut very deeply 127 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: into his profits. That entire first printing only netted two 128 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: hundred thirty pounds, and that was a fraction of the 129 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: thousand pounds that he had hoped to make off of 130 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: this book. In its first year, A Christmas Carol sold 131 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: fifteen thousand copies, and even after that he still was 132 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: not anywhere close to that thousand pound mark. It's like 133 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: he needed a business manager or to explain like how 134 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: the ballance of of profit works um And while the 135 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: book was not a financial success at all, It was 136 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: incredibly well received. It was nicknamed a new gospel. William 137 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: make Peace. Thackeray described it as quote a national benefit 138 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: and to every man and woman who reads it, a 139 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: personal kindness. It also appears to have inspired exactly the 140 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: kind of charitable mindset that Dickens had hoped that it 141 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: would when he decided to write it. The following spring, 142 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: Gentleman's magazine reported quote, more extensive kindness has been dispensed 143 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: to those who are in want at the present season 144 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: than at any preceding one. Later on, Robert Louis Stevenson 145 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: wrote to a friend that after reading this book, he 146 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: wanted to quote go out and comfort someone, and he 147 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: insisted in the same letter that the idea of not 148 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,479 Speaker 1: handing out money to people who needed it was just nonsense. 149 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: On top of all that, A Christmas Carol launched the 150 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: genre of Christmas books. It also popular is the genre 151 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: of Christmas ghost stories, although the British tradition of telling 152 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: ghost stories around a fire in winter definitely predates Dickens's work. 153 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: Dickenspace's disparity between how his book was received and how 154 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: much money he made off of it with a lot 155 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: of frustration. He summed up his chagrin in a letter saying, quote, 156 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,079 Speaker 1: what a wonderful thing it is that such a great 157 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: success should occasion me such intolerable anxiety and disappointment. It 158 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: took him more than ten years after this book came 159 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,440 Speaker 1: out to really get on stable financial footing. At the 160 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,959 Speaker 1: same time, though, he was genuinely glad that it inspired 161 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: such a wave of seasonal goodwill and really spread the 162 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: idea that employers had a duty not to be completely 163 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: horrible to their employees. I don't know why that tickles me, 164 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: but it does. Uh. Today Dickens's original handwritten manuscript of 165 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: a Christmas Carol is at the Morgan Library and Museum 166 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: in New York City, and they put it on display 167 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: there every Christmas season. I don't think I have been 168 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: at the Morrigan at exactly the time when they're showing it. 169 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: But when I realized that, I was like, do I 170 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: need to go to New York between now at the 171 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: end of the year. I don't think I do. We 172 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,959 Speaker 1: will get into our next little piece of culture after 173 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:24,599 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break. People may know our next subject, 174 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: which is the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas by 175 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: another name, The Night before Christmas A Visit from St. 176 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: Nicholas is sometimes also called an Account of a Visit 177 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: from St. Nicholas, and it was first published in the 178 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: Troy Sentinel of Troy, New York on December twenty three. 179 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: This is the one that starts twas the night before Christmas, 180 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,079 Speaker 1: when all through the house not a creature was stirring, 181 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: not even a mouse. The narrator and his wife and 182 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 1: the story are settling in forbid when St. Nicholas arrives 183 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: in a miniature sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer. In 184 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: the first printing they were named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, comment, Cupid, Dunder, 185 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: and Blixum not litzen. Uh. St Nicholas not Honor is 186 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: described as chubby and plump, All right, jolly old elf. 187 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: He comes down the chimney with a bound. He fills 188 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: all the stockings with presents, and then he goes back 189 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: up the chimney before flying away, exclaiming Happy Christmas to all, 190 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: and to all a good night. Similarly to how a 191 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: Christmas carol really reinforced and spread the way that the 192 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: Victorians were celebrating Christmas, this poem had a huge effect 193 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: on how people think about Christmas, especially St. Nick. Among 194 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: other things, A Visit from St. Nicholas really cemented jolly 195 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: old St. Nick as this rotund and laughing person with 196 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: twinkling eyes and a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer who 197 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: comes into people's homes by sliding down the chimney. That's 198 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 1: not the first ever appearance of sliding down the chimney, 199 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: but it did really popularize all of that. And then 200 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: they're also the sugar plums, which went on to become 201 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:02,199 Speaker 1: a prominent part of the nutcracker sweet in eight after 202 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: that first appearance of the poem, in eighteen twenty three, 203 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: the Troy Sentinel reprinted a Visit from St. Nicholas every year, 204 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: still anonymously. Over the years, it went through various edits, 205 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: mostly related to changes in spelling. For example, in earlier 206 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: editions of the poem, the narrator sprung from the bed, 207 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: but later he sprang, and of course dunder and blixum 208 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: became dunder Mifflin, No I'm kidding became donner and blitzen Uh. 209 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: The poem was picked up in other publications as well. 210 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: As This poem grew in popularity, people started writing into 211 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: the Troy Sentinel to talk about or to ask about, 212 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: who the author was. In eighteen nine, the paper printed 213 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: that they could only say that it was someone quote 214 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: by birth and residence to the city of New York, 215 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,319 Speaker 1: and that he is a gentleman of more merit as 216 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: a scholar and a writer than many of more noisy pretensions. Then, 217 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty seven, Charles Fenno Hoffman published a book 218 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 1: called New York Book of Poetry, in which he named 219 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: the author of a Visit from St. Nicholas as his friend, 220 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: Clement Clark Moore. Moore was a scholar and a professor 221 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,560 Speaker 1: at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, where 222 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: he taught subjects such as Hebrew and Greek literature. His 223 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: other works included a two volume compendious lexicon of the 224 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: Hebrew language. At first, More didn't really acknowledge Hoffmann's claim 225 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:27,439 Speaker 1: that he had written a Visit from St. Nicholas, but 226 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty four he included the work in an 227 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: anthology of his poetry. He said that he had written 228 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: it for his children back in eighteen twenty two and 229 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: that he had never intended for it to be made 230 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: public outside their family at all. The most common explanation 231 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: for how it came to be in the pages of 232 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: the Troy Sentinel was that a family friend named Sarah 233 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: Harriet Butler had visited that Christmas of eighteen twenty two 234 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: and taken a copy of this family poem home with her, 235 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: and then sent it to the Sentinel the following year 236 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: without telling more about it. In eighteen sixty two, the 237 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: librarian of the New York Historical Society asked More to 238 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: handwrite a copy of it for their collections, and he did. 239 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: You can see a scan of it online at the 240 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: New York Historical Society Museum and Library website. At the time, 241 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: the Society's librarian noted that when they were discussing this 242 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: request for a manuscript, Moore said his inspiration for his 243 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: depiction of St. Nick was quote a portly rubicund Dutchman 244 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: living in the neighborhood. He wrote out other copies of 245 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: the poem on request as well. However, there's also a 246 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: competing claim to the authorship of a visit from St. Nicholas. 247 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: Descendants of Major Henry Livingston Jr. Had said that he, 248 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: not More, was the one who wrote the poem all 249 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: the way back in roughly eighteen o eight, a few 250 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: years after the eighteen forty four anthology of Moore's poetry 251 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: came out. The Livingston's learned about it, and various members 252 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: of the family started writing to each other about how 253 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: Moore was taking credit for their father or grandfather's poem, 254 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: depending on who was doing the writing, but they didn't 255 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: really go public with their allegations until the early nineteen hundreds. 256 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: By that point, all they really had to go on 257 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: with this claim was their family lore. The family members 258 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: who had said they had personal memories of it had 259 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: all died, and then Livingstone himself had been dead for 260 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: sixteen years when Moore's anthology came out, so even when 261 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: that anthology came out, they could not just go ask him, hey, 262 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: is this the poem that you wrote? There is no 263 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: original handwritten copy of a visit from St. Nicholas from 264 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: eighteen o eight or eighteen twenty two. The Livingstone family 265 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: said they had a manuscript with handwritten notes, but that 266 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: it was destroyed in a fire around eighteen fifty nine. 267 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: So this has spawned a debate over who should actually 268 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: get credit. Moore's supporters have pointed out that the Troy 269 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: Sentinel described the poet as a scholar from New York City. 270 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: More was a scholar and was born in New York City, 271 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: and when this poem was first published, he was living 272 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: in a eight in Chelsea, Manhattan. Livingstone, on the other hand, 273 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: was neither a scholar nor from New York City. He 274 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: was sort of a gentleman farmer living in Poughkeepsie, roughly 275 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: eighty miles or a hundred and twenty nine kilometers north 276 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: of New York City. More supporters also questioned why More 277 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: would take credit for the poem if he didn't write it, 278 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: going so far as to write out copies for historical collections, 279 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: especially since he seemed kind of embarrassed that it had 280 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: even been published in the first place. More as a detractors, 281 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: on the other hand, have contended that he was too 282 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: preachy and cranky to have written such a lighthearted poem, 283 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 1: and also that he hated children. They've also noted that 284 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 1: Moore's family members gave three completely different stories about what 285 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: inspired him to write it. One was that it was 286 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: written to cheer up the sun after he was thrown 287 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: from a horse and broke his leg. Another was that 288 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: he wrote it after having to go out on Christmas 289 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: Eve to find a turkey after the butcher didn't deliver their's, 290 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: And the last was that it was written after hearing 291 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: the bells jingling on his horse while traveling to his 292 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: Chelsea estate by slay. So they point to the existence 293 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,399 Speaker 1: of these three disparate stories as a sign that none 294 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,680 Speaker 1: of them are true. Some of those spelling changes made 295 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: to the poem over the years have also been brought 296 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: up as evidence that Moore did not write it, especially 297 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: dunder and blixum to donner and Blitzen. Dunder and Blixum 298 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,640 Speaker 1: is supposedly derived from the Dutch words for thunder and lightning, 299 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: and Livingstone spoke Dutch. However, Moore spoke German, and donner 300 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,919 Speaker 1: und blitz is German for thunder and lightning. Ye, dunder 301 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: and donna are really the words for thunder. Neither blix 302 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: um nor blitzen is exactly the word for lightning. It's 303 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: close in those two languages. Moore's detractors have also brought 304 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 1: up a handwritten note on the title page of a 305 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: book that he donated to the New York Historical Society. 306 00:17:56,359 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 1: The note says, by clements seem Moore a m this 307 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: book is a translation of another work in Moore's detractors 308 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 1: say that this is evidence that he made a habit 309 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 1: of just taking credit for other people's work, but his 310 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: supporters counter that this note is not even in his handwriting, 311 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,239 Speaker 1: and that it's probably not him trying to say I 312 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: translated this book, but it's just the notation written by 313 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: someone else at the Historical Society to Mark who donated 314 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:28,880 Speaker 1: the book today. Livingston supporters include Donald Foster of Vassar College, 315 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: who wrote Author Unknown on the Trail of Anonymous, and 316 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: McDonald P. Jackson of the University of Auckland, author of 317 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: who wrote The Night Before Christmas. Analyzing the Clement Clark 318 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: Moore versus Henry Livingston question. Both Foster and Jackson ground 319 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,680 Speaker 1: their arguments in linguistic forensics, with Jackson's book having such 320 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: chapter titles as the Evidence of Meter, Statistical Interlude, Phony Pairs, 321 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 1: Definite and indefinite articles, and Favorite Expressions, and Quirks of Style. 322 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: But of these men argue that the poem uses language 323 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: in a way that makes it more likely to be 324 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:09,880 Speaker 1: Livingstone's than More's and Jackson's analysis, the most important part 325 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: is quote, the frequencies of common words such as the 326 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: on as at to that would, and some vocutions such 327 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: as mania and in vain, and phony pairs comprised of 328 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: the last phonetic symbol on in one word and the 329 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,399 Speaker 1: first in the next. Jackson goes on to state that 330 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: these elements of language are not easy to imitate and 331 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: are outside the conscious control of a writer. After Foster's 332 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: book Author Unknown was published, historic document dealer Seth Keller 333 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: published a point by point rebuttal of the various claims 334 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: against Clement Moore as author of a Visit from St. Nicholas, 335 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 1: including Foster's forensic analysis. When it comes to the more 336 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,680 Speaker 1: subjective claims of things like More's temperament, Keller's response is 337 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,440 Speaker 1: sort of no, he wasn't a jerky pedant who hated 338 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 1: kids here are example. But when it came to the 339 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: linguistic analysis, Caller contended that Foster cherry picked the evidence 340 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: that supported the idea that Livingstone was the author, while 341 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: discarding everything that did not support his idea. Caller concludes 342 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:18,400 Speaker 1: unequivocally that Moore wrote the poem. McDonald p. Jackson's book 343 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,159 Speaker 1: Just came out in April of twenties sixteen, so it 344 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,719 Speaker 1: is really new, and there really has not been a 345 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 1: lot of scrutiny into whether his analysis holds up. I 346 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:31,199 Speaker 1: found one blog post on that subject and nothing in 347 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: any peer reviewed journal or anything like that. The book 348 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: author unknown as much older, so there's been a lot 349 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: more writing about whether those conclusions are valid. However, it's 350 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: important to note that there is debate about whether linguistic 351 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: forensics can reliably and conclusively identify the author of a 352 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: work at all, especially as the field stands right now. 353 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: The field itself is kind of divided over this issue 354 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: of can linguistic forensics conclusively identify the author of an 355 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: unknown work, and several of Foster's other attempts to use 356 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: forensic linguistics and criminal investigations have been completely wrong. This 357 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 1: includes falsely implicating the wrong man in the September eleven 358 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,160 Speaker 1: anthrax attacks in the United States, which led to a 359 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:22,679 Speaker 1: massive defamation suit. Keller, Jackson, and Foster are just the 360 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: latest round of people to weigh in on this topic. 361 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 1: It's been the subject of ongoing debate since about n 362 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: and at this point you will find the poem attributed 363 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: in a lot of different ways Encyclopedia Britannica's entry on 364 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: the poem attributes it to neither man, but acknowledges the 365 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,159 Speaker 1: issue of its authorship in a paragraph. The Academy of 366 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 1: American Poets lists More as the author, as do various 367 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: publications from the U S Library of Congress. The Poetry 368 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: Foundation confusingly has the poem on two different pages on 369 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: its website, one attributed to More and the other attributed 370 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: to Livingston. Livingston's biography at the Poetry Foundation lists him 371 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: unequivocally as the author, while Moore's points out the lack 372 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,959 Speaker 1: of concrete evidence in Livingstone's claim before saying, scholars today 373 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: give the credit to Livingstone. I don't know what scholars 374 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 1: are talking about. I am not a linguist. I am 375 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 1: not a forensic scientist. But as a poet, I find 376 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,639 Speaker 1: the idea that you can conclusively determine what the author 377 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: was of a five hundred and something word poem with 378 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:36,640 Speaker 1: some computer analysis. I find that specious. I was having 379 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: a conversation with somebody about this yesterday, and I think 380 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:46,920 Speaker 1: that forensic linguistics has the potential to someday be sort 381 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,640 Speaker 1: of like fingerprinting in terms of identifying people. But at 382 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,400 Speaker 1: this point it's a lot more like phrenology. So that's 383 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:58,359 Speaker 1: my Uh. I read a lot of very frustrating charts 384 00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: of words in their use in different works by Clemet 385 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: Moore and and Livingston, and I found it all very frustrating. 386 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: And as a side note, this is not the only 387 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: he said she said back and forth about the authorship 388 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: of a Christmas classic. Medford, Massachusetts and Savannah, Georgia, two 389 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: cities I cannot think of more different from one another, 390 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: have both claimed to be the place where James Pierrepont 391 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 1: wrote jingle Bells. They even have their own plaque about it, 392 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: each city having a plaque saying this is where where 393 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: he wrote jingle Bells. Over the last couple of years, 394 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: there's been a whole other argument raised about that author 395 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 1: or that location of where it was written, which is 396 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 1: that it might not be either of them. They might 397 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 1: both be wrong. Uh. Both cities, however, feel extremely passionately 398 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,159 Speaker 1: about it. And we are going to move on to 399 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 1: something that that has a much clearer authorship after another 400 00:23:54,560 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 1: quick break. The song Studa Knocked, known in English as 401 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,919 Speaker 1: Silent Night or a Silent Night Holy Night, was created 402 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: in the eighteen teens, and since neither Holly nor I 403 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,400 Speaker 1: speak German, we do not want to traumatize people with 404 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: h like preschool Irish attempt to read lyrics in German instead. 405 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: Here is the beginning of the song from a nineteen 406 00:24:25,400 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: fourteen recording sung by Julia Colp. The most common English 407 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: translation of this song is by episcopal priest John Freeman Young, 408 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,159 Speaker 1: who was born in Pittston, Maine, and later became Bishop 409 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:49,640 Speaker 1: of Florida. His eighteen fifty nine version starts silent night, 410 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:54,400 Speaker 1: Holy night, All is calm, all is bright round yon, 411 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: Virgin mother and child, Holy infant, So tender and mild, 412 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 1: Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace. The original 413 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: German lyrics to Still An Act were written by Joseph Moore. 414 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: More had been born into poverty in Salzburg on December eleventh, 415 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,680 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety two, and when he was still a child, 416 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: a local priest started mentoring him and saw that he 417 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: had a talent for music. This priest helped him get 418 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: an education, including studying music at a Benedictine monastery. More 419 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:31,080 Speaker 1: also attended the Lyceum school in Salzburg. In eighteen eleven, 420 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: More entered seminary, something that he had to get a 421 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: special dispensation to do because his parents had not been married. 422 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,640 Speaker 1: He was ordained in eighteen fifteen, and in eighteen sixteen 423 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: he moved to the town of maryap Far in Lungao 424 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,840 Speaker 1: in the Austrian Alps for his first assignment as an 425 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: assistant priest, and this area was also where his father's 426 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: family was from, and it was where he wrote the 427 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: poem that would become the lyrics to Silent Night in 428 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: eighteen sixteen. He never described a s ific inspiration for 429 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: the poem, but Maria Far, which translates to Mary's Parish, 430 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: had been the spiritual and religious heart of the Longal 431 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: region for centuries, and it had also really really struggled 432 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. It had been 433 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: occupied by Bavarian troops, and those troops were finally withdrawing 434 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,240 Speaker 1: at about the same time that more started working there. 435 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,399 Speaker 1: So it makes a lot of sense that all of 436 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 1: this would come together to inspire a poem about the 437 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 1: birth of Christ that prominently featured the themes of peace, 438 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: love and salvation. Working as an assistant priest required more 439 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: to move from place to place than by eighteen eighteen. 440 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:43,679 Speaker 1: He had arrived in Obendorff by Salzburg, roughly eighty miles 441 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,879 Speaker 1: that's about a hundred and thirty kilometers northwest of Maria 442 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: Far on the Austrian border, and like Maria Far, this 443 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: region had been through its share of turmoil. Starting in 444 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: the thirteenth century. It had been part of a state 445 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: that was ruled by the prince archbishops of the City 446 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,880 Speaker 1: of Salzburg. In eighteen oh three, it had been forced 447 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,199 Speaker 1: to secularize. Then, after the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of 448 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: Vienna drew a new border through the region, and what 449 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: had been its own entity was divided up and absorbed 450 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 1: into Austria and Bavaria. Part of this new border followed 451 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: the Salzac River, which ran directly through town, and so 452 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:25,399 Speaker 1: what had been one municipality became Obendorf by Salzburg, Austria 453 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: on the east side of the river, and Laffen, Bavaria 454 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 1: on the west. The war had also affected the salt trade, 455 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: which was a major part of the local economy, so 456 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: laborers and boat builders, who made up most of the 457 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: population of Obendorf were really struggling. After the new border 458 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,960 Speaker 1: was drawn, a parish was established at Obendorf by Salzburg 459 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: at the Church of St. Nicholas, and that is where 460 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: Moore became assistant priest in eighteen eighteen. And as a 461 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: side note, More did not get along with the parish 462 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,120 Speaker 1: priest there, who accused him of, among other things, singing 463 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: songs which do not edify. The organist at the Church 464 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: of St. Nicholas was a man named Franz Xaver Gruber. 465 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: Gruber was born on November seven and his parents were 466 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:16,360 Speaker 1: linen weavers, but his real interest was in music, and 467 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: his teacher encouraged this interest and gave him some music 468 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: lessons outside of his regular studies. At first, Gruber went 469 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 1: into the family linen business, but when he turned eighteen, 470 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: his father gave him permission to find work as a teacher. 471 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 1: Gruber hoped that teaching would let him keep pursuing music. 472 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: It was pretty common for teachers to also work as 473 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: church organists. He found an internship with another organist, and 474 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: he got his first job as a teacher in eighteen 475 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: oh seven. In eighteen eighteen, he was working as the 476 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: organist at the Church of St. Nicholas, along with working 477 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: as a school teacher. A church caretaker and as organist 478 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: at another church. On Christmas Eve eighteen eighteen, More went 479 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: to Gruber and asked him to write a melody to 480 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 1: along with that poem he had written two years earlier. 481 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,800 Speaker 1: More wanted something suitable for a choir with two soloists 482 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: accompanied by a guitar, and it's not totally clear what 483 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: prompted this request. One hypothesis is that the church organ 484 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: was broken. Today, there are a lot of really dramatic 485 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: explanations for what was wrong with the organ, including a 486 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: mouse infestation that's really not uh substantiated in anyway, and 487 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,760 Speaker 1: the fact that the organ was broken is really speculative. 488 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:36,280 Speaker 1: Whatever the reason, Gruber wrote the music and presented it 489 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: to More on that same day, and Gruber described it 490 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 1: as just a simple composition, but More was pleased enough 491 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: with it that he decided to include it as part 492 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: of that night's Christmas Eve mass. More saying the tenor 493 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: part and played the guitar, and Gruber sang the bass part. 494 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,720 Speaker 1: Very little is known about this first performance on Christmas 495 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: Eve eighteen eighteen, but Gruber later described it as receiving 496 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:04,720 Speaker 1: quote general approval by all so still, Nach started out 497 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 1: as a simple song for Christmas Eve, with lyrics by 498 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: an assistant priest and a melody by a church organist. 499 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 1: This is what I really love about the story. These 500 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: were just regular people doing their regular work at their 501 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 1: local church, performing for a congregation of laborers and their families, 502 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: all living at a place that had just come through 503 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 1: a war and was struggling economically. And in the years 504 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:30,440 Speaker 1: that followed, the song continued to be performed all around 505 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: this part of Austria. There are surviving copies of the 506 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:37,920 Speaker 1: music and lyrics that belonged to various teachers, choir directors, vicars, 507 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: and the like. By the eighteen thirties, the song had 508 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: started to spread beyond Austria, mostly through traveling groups of 509 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: family singers. One was the Strasser family singers, who performed 510 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: the song in Leipzig in eighteen thirty two. A newspaper 511 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: article promoting the upcoming concert even said that the writer 512 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: hoped that they would sing stealen Nacht, meaning that by 513 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: that point the song had been performed there before four. 514 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: It is not known exactly how and when the song 515 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: spread beyond Europe, but the Rainer family singer started a 516 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: North American tour in eighteen thirty nine, and they performed 517 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,080 Speaker 1: the song on Christmas Day of that year. But in 518 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: the process of copying and passing along this music, people 519 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 1: had left off the attribution some More and Gruber. By 520 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: the eighteen fifties, folks were trying to figure out who 521 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: had written this song that at this point had become 522 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 1: incredibly popular. Word got back to Gruber about the search, 523 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,640 Speaker 1: and on December eighteen fifty four he wrote his authentic 524 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,720 Speaker 1: account of the origin of the Christmas carol Silent Night, 525 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: Holy Night. Of course it was really titled in German. 526 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,719 Speaker 1: By the turn of the twentieth century, Silent Night had 527 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:46,480 Speaker 1: been performed in one language or another on almost every continent. Today, 528 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: it has been translated into more than three hundred languages 529 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: and dialects. It's also remembered as one of the songs 530 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: sung during the Christmas Eve Truce in World War One. 531 00:32:56,280 --> 00:33:01,520 Speaker 1: In eleven, UNESCO designated it as an Intangible Cultural Heritage 532 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: being Crosby's nineteen thirty five version is reportedly the number 533 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 1: three best selling single of all time. You see that 534 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: statistic a lot. How they came up with it is 535 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: a little unclear, And of course More and Gruber both 536 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: lived their own lives. After that first performance of Silent 537 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: Night and their song becoming so popular, More moved from 538 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,360 Speaker 1: parish to parish on various assignments, becoming known as a 539 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 1: social reformer in his later work as a parish priest, 540 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: and he died on December four, eight Gruber continued to 541 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: teach and work as an organist and a choir director. 542 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: He was married three times, remarrying after the deaths of 543 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 1: his first and second wives. He also had at least 544 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: twelve children, but only four lived to adulthood. One of them, 545 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 1: his son, Felix, followed in his footsteps as a composer 546 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 1: and a musician. Gruber died on June seven, eighteen sixty three. 547 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 1: The St. Nicholas Church is no longer standing, but today 548 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 1: there is a chapel on the former site known as 549 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,280 Speaker 1: the Opendorf Silent Night Chapel. The guitar that More played 550 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: also still survives and is in a museum. I find 551 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 1: that whole story kind of lovely, just a simple story 552 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 1: about a simple song that has stayed around for two 553 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:18,560 Speaker 1: hundred years. It is very sweet. I also, before we 554 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: get into some listener mail, I want to thank Christopher 555 00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: Hasciotis who did some research for this day in History 556 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:28,160 Speaker 1: class about the first publication of a Christmas carol, which 557 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: became a part of the research for that part of 558 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:41,080 Speaker 1: today's episode. So thanks Christopher Heay so much for joining 559 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 1: us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of 560 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: the archive, if you heard an email address or a 561 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,319 Speaker 1: Facebook U r L or something similar over the course 562 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: of the show, that could be obsolete now. 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