"Jolly Old St. Nicholas" is a Christmas song

Christmas music

Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...

. Its authorship is often credited to Wilf Carter

Wilf Carter

Wilf Carter , also known as Montana Slim, was a Canadian country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and yodeller...

. However, since the song is mentioned in earlier works (such as Susan Gregg's Christmas Orphans, pub. 1916), this attribution is unlikely. The song has also been credited to Benjamin Hanby

Benjamin Hanby

Benjamin Russell Hanby , also given as Benjamin Russel Hanby, was an American composer who wrote approximately 80 songs, the most famous of which are "Darling Nelly Gray", the Christmas song "Up on the House Top", and the hymn "Who Is He In Yonder Stall?".Hanby was born near Rushville, Ohio...

, author of "Up on the House Top

Up on the House Top

"Up on the House Top" is a Christmas song written by Benjamin Hanby in 1864 in the town of New Paris, Ohio.. It has been recorded by a multitude of singers, among the most notable Gene Autry, who is also known for his version of the classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".-History:According to...

", at some point in the 1860s, although this too may be in dispute.. The song is traditionally performed to an up-tempo arrangement of Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...

's "Canon in D Major".

Lyrics

The traditional lyrics are:



Jolly Old Saint Nicholas,

Lean your ear this way;

Don't you tell a single soul

What I'm going to say,



Christmas Eve is coming soon;

Now you dear old man,

Whisper what you'll bring to me;

Tell me if you can.



When the clock is striking twelve,

When I'm fast asleep,

Down the chimney broad and black

With your pack you'll creep;

All the stockings you will find

Hanging in a row;

Mine will be the shortest one;

You'll be sure to know. (Or, in some versions: "Mended at the toe.")



Johnny wants a pair of skates;

Susy wants a dolly;

Nellie wants a story book--

She thinks dolls are folly; (Or, in some versions: "She thinks they are jolly.")

As for me, my little brain

Isn't very bright;

Choose for me, old Santa Claus,

What you think is right.





The last verse has been changed in the 20th Century to:



Johnny wants a pair of skates,

Susie wants a sled;

Nelly wants a storybook –

one she hasn't read.

As for me, I hardly know,

so I'll go to rest.

Choose for me, dear Santa Claus,

What you think is best.
Another 20th C. variation:

Johnny wants a pair of skates;

Susie wants a sled;

Nelly wants a picture book –

Yellow, blue and red.

Now I think I'll leave to you

What to give the rest.

Choose for me, dear Santa Claus;

You will know the best.