The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, December 26, 1947, Image 8
THE NEWBERRY SUN
Friday, December 26, 1947
Gknstmas Qiws
(Pleasant cJkoLiqlih
The turn of the year is a time for pause ... an opportunity to review
the year just past and to make plans for the new year to come.
In looking back we are, above all, grateful to you as a friend and cus
tomer. Your use of our services is the most sincere vote of confidence
you could possibly cast. We say, with all earnestness, “Thank you.”
In looking ahead we are determined to merit your continued support
by serving you as you want to be served. We pledge ourse'ves to be alert
to new and changing conditions, and to adapt our services to the needs
of our customers and our community.
We wish you the best of everything in the year that lies before us.
Newberry County Bank
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Personally, we’re glad to see old Santa again. Of course, we’ve
been through the usual busy season, the hustle and bustle that comes
always with the Christmas Season. We've been trying to find some last
minute gifts, too, and we’ve probably forgot to send a card to Aunt Some
body. There’ll be last minute wrapping of packages at our house
Christmas eve and no doubt we’ll run out of Christmas seals as usual.
We’ll feign typical surprise when we find our first three or four
packages containing socks two sizes too small, and we’ll beam modestly
when the family opens their gifts that we have selected so carefully.
There’ll be paper and ribbons and cards scattered everywhere and the
tree lights will flicker out just at the wrong time.
Undoubtedly, we’ll shove back
from the Yuletide dinner and say people
ought not to eat so much. The kids will
make a lot of noise and everybody will
talk at once. Sure, we’ll be glad it’s over,
all right. But, boy, we love it! It’s
Christmas! May yours be a glorious one!
NEWBERRY PACKING COMPANY
and
CITY FILLING STATION
“Next to the Post Office and Just as Reliable”
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A GAIN at this Yuletide season
the strains of Christmas carols
are floating into the hearts and
homes of millions of people, carry
ing the spirit of Christmas. It is at
this holiday season that the impulse
to sing grips everyone, from the
crooning Infant to the oldest and
most confirmed "monotone.”
There are many kinds of carols,
some for every mood and taste.
Hymns or chants celebrating the
Nativity have been sung since the
earliest days of the Christian church.
Some of the carols, like “Deck the
Hall with Boughs of Holly,” "Good
King Wenceslas” and the wassailing
songs, have no direct relation to the
Nativity, yet they are fully expres
sive of various phases of the Christ
mas spirit.
Best loved and most frequently
sung of the carols is “Silent Night.”
It was Christmas time in the ham
let of Obemsdorf, South Germany,
in 1818 that this beautiful song was
composed. A young priest. Father
Josef Mohr, was returning from the
bedside of a parishioner when he
looked down upon the sleeping ham
let surrounded by snow. It lay there
silent in the dark night, lighted only
by the bright stars and a few glim
mering candles. That first Christ
mas, he thought, must have been
like this and there came to hfm tlxese
words:
"Silent Night, Holy Night!
All is calm, all is bright . . ."
In his study he finished the verses,
then took them to Franz Gruber, the
organist, who caught the spirit of
a hymn. "Silent Night.” was sung
for the first time in the little wooden
church in Obemsdorf that Christ
mas Eve. Later a group of Aus
trian Tyrol mountain folksong sing
ers introduced the carol to other
parts of the world, including Amer
ica. Published in 1840, it has been
translated into almost every lan
guage and is a favorite through
out the world.
"Oh, Come All Ye Faithful” or
“Adeste Fideles” is another hymn
of the ages which apparently is des
tined to live for centuries. It has
been translated into 76 languages.
The words are sometimes as
cribed to St. Bonaventura, bishop
of Albano, in the thirteenth century.
It is most commonly believed, how
ever, that it was not written until
the seventeenth or eighteenth cen
tury. The hymn often is called the
Portuguese hymn because it was
sung in the Portuguese chapel in
London about 1785 to the tune now
inseparable from it:
"Oh come, all ye faithful, joyful
and triumbhanf,
Oh come ye, oh come ye to Beth
lehem . .
An American song which carries
the spirit of Christmas is the sweet
and beautiful carol, "It Came Upon
the Midnight Clear.” The poem was
written by Edmund H. Sears, a New
England minister, in a religious
journal. The music is by the Amer
ican composer, Richard S. Willis,
who was struck by the unusual
beauty of the poem and "just set
down the notes that fit the words”:
"It came upon the midnight clear
That glorious song of old . .
One of the most popular Yuletide
hymns, "It Came Upon the Midnight
Clear” follows the traditional carol
style. The first two stanzas depict
the angels hovering over the earth
and singing their joyous song, the
third brings words of comfort to the
weary ar.J the fourth prophesies the
happy days when all the world
shall join in the angel’s song.
“O Little Town of Bethlehem,”
another American contribution to
the famous Christmas songs of the
A traditional good luck piece,
chicken wishbonei
make an attractiv*
addition to th«
Christmas present.
Wash them dry and
then paint them
any color you like
Fasten one to th«
top of every Christ
mas gift to add at
extra note of sentiment when wrap
ping packages for yuletide giving.
world, was written by Phillips
Brooks, a Boston minister. On a
trip to the Holy Land, Brooks stood
on the starlit hills on Christmas
Eve and looked down upon the little
city of Bethlehem lying still and
peaceful in the night. On the next
Christmas, back in America, he
wrote the song that was to become
famous:
"O little town of Bethlehem
How stiH we see thee lie . .
Written for Sunday school singing,
the song at first was anonymous
but, when the hymn gained im-
j mediate favor. Brooks admitted au
thorship. Many musical settings
of this beautiful poem have been
made, the two most commonly used
being by the English composer, Jo
seph Barnby, and the American
composer, Louis H. Redner.
Charles Wesley, younger brother
of John Wesley, founder of the
Methodist denomination, shares with
E'VE searched everywhere
to find some new way of expressing
our greetings to you. Each selection 'Jf
we made was discarded and each time
we came back to the old reliable,
"Merry Christmas". It just fits the
occasion perfectly and we see no rea
son to change it or to use any oth^/
expression.
So when we say, "M E R R Y
CHRISTMAS" pleace remember
that it is expressed with all the sin
cerity and appreciation we can think
of for your loyalty and consideration
Isaac Watts the honor of being the
greatest producer of hymns. His
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,”
first published in 1739, is among the
most popular Christmas carols al
though it has undergone many
changes.
"Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King . .
The music is by that distinguished
composer, Felix Mendelssrhn-Bar-
tholdy and hence was written long
after Wesley died.
Watts’ principal contribution to
the world’s holiday joy is the carol,
“Joy to the World.” The tune, "An
tioch,” is an adaptation of Handel’s
oratorio, “Messiah.”
"Joy to the world, the Lord is
come;
Let earth receive her King . . ."
Watts, too. was a minister. While
officiating as pastor of Market Lane
church in England his health failed
although he was still a young man.
He turned to writing verse and be
came a great poet.
"The First Noel,” meaning the
first Christmas, is one of the oldest
songs about the coming of Christ.
One of the ancient medieval carols,
it probably is about 400 years old.
The poetry is crude, merely a peas
ant’s attempt to present the New
Testament story in rhyme (thus
making it easy to remember) but
thoroughly sincere and devout. The
music likewise is simple, being prac
tically one little strain sung three
times, but it is vigorous, joyous,
fresh and virile.
"The first Noel the Angel did say,
Was to certain poor shepherds in
fields as they lay . . ."
Caroling or wassailing is an old
English custom. The original words
of this traditional English Christmas
song began “Here we come a-was-
sailing” and continued in the cho
rus, “Love and joy come to you,
and to your wassail too.”
The old song commonly was sung
by groups of revelers, particularly
young women, who went about of
fering a hot drink, a merry song
and a pretty curtsey in exchange for
a small gift. The word “wassail”
comes from the Anglo-Saxon “Waes-
hael,” meaning “Be in health."
And, of course, Merry Christmas
would be less merry to both children
and adults without that little jingle,
“Jingle Bells,” to jingle all the way
through the Yuletide season with its
mythical one-horse sleigh—which in
most parts of America belongs to
another day. But, sans the sleigh
bells and the sleigh, who is there,
child er -dull, who does not love
that gay and rollicking Christmas
ditty to which dear old Santa claus
comes skimming into town or to iso
lated country homes behind his eigh
reindeer.
Gilder
Dr. James Burgess
Margaret Folk
Sara Mae Day
Mildred Wilson
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That ea-h of you may
enjoy the fullest measure
of happiness and prosper
ity is our Christmas wish
to the fine people of this
community who have
made possible the splendid
growth of this organiza
tion. Whatever degree of
success we have attained,
we attribute to the splen
did goodwill of our friends.
Quaint Swiss Custom
Of Meeting Lover
Forecasting is ritualized in Switz
erland. Grandma goes to the cellar
selects the most perfect onion,
halves it, and peels 12 layers, one
for each month. The next day these
layers show what the weather will
be during the coming year.
The daughter of the house goes
about town at midnight, to drink
from nine different fountains. Then
she goes to church. She expects to
meet her unknown lover on the
church steps.
§
• «-* o«
J. Ellerbe Sease
Your
J. I. Case Farm Machinery
Dealer