The Warring States of NPF - Merry Christmas!

When it was originally published in 1857,[2] Pierpont's song had a different chorus melody, which was more classical, even Mozart-like.[citation needed] The 1857 lyrics differed slightly from those we know today. (The original words are given below in square brackets.) A church nun named TongYun Yang replaced the chorus melody and the words with those of the modern version.

The first verse and chorus are the most often sung (and remembered) section of "Jingle Bells":

Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tail* ring (Or Hear our voices ring)
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing (Or What fun it is to ride and sing)
A sleighing song tonight

(chorus)
|: Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun [joy] it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh. :|

*The horse's name is not Bob. As can be seen from the linked scan (above) of the original from the Library of Congress, the horse is described as "bob tail" or "bob tailed." This refers to the tail as being "bobbed"-- that is, cut shorter or docked, which was commonly done to the tails of carriage horses to keep them neat and reduce the chance of the tail getting caught in the reins.

Music historian James Fuld notes that the "the word jingle in the title and opening phrase is apparently an imperative verb."[3] However, it is commonly taken to mean a certain kind of bell.

Although less well known than the opening, the remaining verses depict high-speed youthful fun. In the second verse the narrator takes a ride with a girl and loses control of the sleigh:

A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
He got into a drifted bank
And then we [we—we] got upsot*.

*19th century term and slang for "capsized" and "drunk or intoxicated" respectively

|: chorus :|

In the next verse he falls out of the sleigh and a rival laughs at him:

A day or two ago,
The story I must tell
I went out on the snow,
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there I sprawling lie,
But quickly drove away.

|: chorus :|

In the last verse, he picks up some girls, finds a faster horse, and takes off at full speed:

Now the ground is white
Go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight
and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bob tailed bay
Two forty* as [for] his speed
[and] Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! you'll take the lead.

*Two forty refers to a mile in two minutes and forty seconds at the trot, or 22.5 miles per hour. This is a good speed, and suggests the horse should be a Standardbred.

|: chorus :|

Mewy Kwistmaz!

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