FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS CAROL # 38 THE LORD AT FIRST DID ADAM MAKE

 

The Lord At First Did Adam Make

English West Country traditional Music and lyrics authorship unknown

 

The Lord at first did Adam make
    Out of the dust and clay,
And in his nostrils breathed life,
    E'en as the Scriptures day.
And then in Eden's Paradise
    He placed him to dwell,
That he within it should remain
    To dress and keep it well.

Chorus.
Now let good Christians all begin
    An holy life to live,
And to rejoice and merry be,
    For this is Christmas Eve.

And then within the garden he
    Commanded was to stay,
And unto him in commandment
    These words the Lord did say:
The fruit which in the garden grows
    To thee shall be for meet,
Except the tree in the midst thereof,
    Of which thou shalt not east. Chorus.

For in the day that thou shalt eat,
    Or do it them come nigh;
For if that thou doth eat thereof
    Then surely, thou shalt die.
But Adam he did take no heed
    Unto that only thing,
But did transgress God's holy law,
    And so was wrapped in sin. Chorus.

Now mark the goodness of the Lord
    Which he for mankind bore,
His mercy soon he did extend,
    Lost man for to restore;
And then for to redeem our souls
    From death and hellish thrall,
He said his own dear son should be
    The Saviour of us all. Chorus.

Which promise now is brought to pass,
    Christians, believe it well;
And by the coming of God's dear Son
    We are redeemed from thrall.
Then if we truly do believe,
    And do the thing aright;
Then by his merits we at last
    Shall live in Heaven bright. Chorus.

Now for the blessings we enjoy,
    Which are from Heaven above,
Let us renounce all wickedness
    And live-in perfect love.
Then shall we do Christ's own command,
    Ev'n his own written word,
And when we die in Heaven shall
    Enjoy our living Lord. Chorus.

And now the tide is nigh at hand,
    Int' which our Saviour came;
Let us rejoice, and merry be,
    In keeping of the same.
Let's feed the poor and hungry souls,
    And such as do it crave;
Then when we die, in Heaven sure,
    Our reward we shall have. Chorus.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS MAIL (2010)

 

In this holiday romantic comedy, Kristi North (Ashley Scott) works two months out of the year and always doing the same job, handwriting responses to the children who wrote Santa letters.

Santa Claus, her father, sends her to a different post office depot every year and in the film she’s in Del Vista, California.

However, the Del Vista branch is managed by the egotistical Richard Fuller (Lochlyn Munro) who has no Christmas spirit whatsoever and won’t even allow any Christmas adornments.

He also believes Kristi to be a corporate spy, so he enlists the unwilling assistance of mail carrier Matt Sanders (A.J. Buckley) as assistant manager, and primarily his job was to spy on Kristi and report back to Fuller.

As a single man taking care of an eight-year-old child, his orphaned niece Emily (Piper Mackenzie Harris), Matt takes the job solely because he needs the money.

Unbeknown to him Emily writes to Santa about her Christmas wish which is to see her Uncle Matt happy.

Santa's response, via Kristi, who is unaware that Emily's Uncle Matt is the same as the Matt she works with, leads to Emily trying to act as matchmaker which is where the fun begins.

However, as a result of reluctantly trying to do his spying job Matt gets closer and closer to Kristi and in the process, Matt and Kristi start to fall for each other.

But all does not go smoothly and Fuller reveals all to Kristi out about Matt's clandestine work which almost drives them apart, but everything comes good in the end of a very enjoyable seasonal romantic comedy.

IN SANTA’S CHRISTMAS VILLAGE

In Santa’s Christmas village

What do you call a female Elf?

Well not an Elfess or Elfette

So, the name would be “a Shelf”

THE YULE LOG

 

The Yule log custom existed in most Europeans countries and dates back as far as the 12^th century.

The custom happened on Christmas Eve when an enormous log of freshly cut wood predictably called the Yule log would be carried to the house amidst great ceremony.

It would be placed on the hearth On Christmas Eve, by the master of the house would make a traditional libation by sprinkling the trunk with a combination of oil, salt and mulled wine and say an appropriate prayer.

If possible, the young girls of the household would light the log with splinters from the previous year’s log which would have been kept safely stored away. If no young girls were available, the honor and privilege fell to the mother of the house.

Superstition says that the cinders of the burnt log should be kept to protect the house from a variety of mishaps including lightning strikes and even protect against the malevolent attentions of the devil.

The tradition had all but died out by the end of the 19^th century mainly due to changes in the way houses were heated the magnificent hearths of the great house began to be replaced by boilers of stoves and then in the 20^th century houses began to be built with no fireplace at all.

The great Yule log has now been replaced by a small log decorated with candles, holly and other Christmas embellishments to be placed in the center of the Christmas table as a festive decoration.

Also, today we have the marvelous Yule log cake which is a firm favorite it our house made from a delicious Swiss roll cake covered in chocolate icing and sugared decorations.

THE ORIGINS OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE – BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT

 

The first Christmas tree as we have come to know it, minus the light and tinsel, appeared in Alsace in around 1521 and by the 18^th century the custom was well established in Germany and Austria

It was then spread far and wide due to the Royal families and the aristocrats.

It was introduced into France by the princess Hélène de Mecklenburg who brought one to Paris in 1837 after her marriage to the duke of Orleans.

In 1841 it reached England when Prince Albert, a German, husband of Queen Victoria, set up a Christmas tree at Windsor castle.

From then on, the Christmas tree custom spread quickly through the middle class and then to working people.

Once the custom had firmly taken hold in England it quickly spread around the globe through the British Empire.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS SPIRIT (2011)

A cynical youth, Riley (Aaron Jaeger), whose mother Sarah (Maureen McCormick) is about to lose her job right before the holidays, is visited by a magical Christmas spirit called Hope (Vanessa Angel).

She gives him a task to help another family regain their Christmas spirit and by so doing get it back for himself.

Alexandra Paul, Jason Brooks and Mariah Buzolin star as the family in crisis but Janet Carroll steals the show as Grandmother Betty.

SANTA CLAUS PASSED HIS TEST

 

Santa Claus passed his test

One fine frost filled day

Which was evidenced

By Noel plates on the sleigh