Father Christmas, Yule, Père Noël etc.

Public‐domain character.

Father Christmas or King Christmas is a masculine personification of Christmas. As Santa Claus’ popularity skyrocketed, many of his attributes were passed backwards to Father Christmas and Père Noël.

• • “Sir Chriſtmas” (“ſyre cryſtꝭ maſſe”) (carol), attributed to Richard Smart, ca. 1461–77, Ritson Manuscript.

    • “In Die Nativitatis,” song 19 of class 3, Ancient Songs, from the Time of King Henry the Third, to the Revolution, compiled by Joſeph Ritſon, 1790. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)

    • “Sir Christmas,” illustrated by Myles Birket Foster, Christmas with the Poets: A Collection of Songs, Carols, and Descriptive Verses, Relating to the Festival of Christmas, from the Anglo‐Norman Period to the Present Time, ed. Henry Vizetelly, 1851. (HathiTrust)

    • “Sir Christmas,” A Garland of Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern: Including Some Never Before Given in Any Collection, ed. Joshua Sylvester (pseudonym of John Camden Hotten), 1861. (HathiTrust)

  • Letter by Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of York, 13 Nov. 1572, suppressing the annual riding of Yule and Yule’s wife. Reprinted in “Old York,” pt. 3, by Rev. J. Morris, The Month, vol. 6 (25), no. 24 (138), Dec. 1875. (HathiTrust)

  • Summer’s Laſt Will and Teſtament, by Thomas Naſhe, 1592, published 1600.

    • Reprinted in A Select Collection of Old Plays …, vol. 9, ed. John Payne Collier, 1825. (Internet Archive) (1827, HathiTrust)

  • Chriſtmas, His Maſque, by Ben Jonſon, 1616, published 1641.

    • Reprinted in The Works of Ben Jonſon, vol. 6, 1756. (HathiTrust)

  • The Spring’s Glory, a Maſke, by Thomas Nabbes, 1638.

    • Reprinted in The Spring’s Glory, a Maſke: Together with Sundry Poems, Epigrams, Elegies and Epithalamiums, 1639. (Internet Archive)

  • The Arraignment, Conviction, and Impriſoning of Chriſtmas: On St. Thomas Day Laſt; And How He Broke Out of Priſon in the Holidayes and Got Away, Onely Left His Hoary Hair, and Gray Beard, Sticking Between Two Iron Bars of a Window; With, an Hue and Cry After Chriſtmas, and a Letter from Mr.Woodcock[,] a Fellow in Oxford, to a Malignant Lady in London; And Divers Paſſages Between the Lady and the Cryer, About Old Chriſtmas: And What Shift He Was Fain to Make to Save His Life, and Great Stir to Fetch Him Back Again; With Divers Other Witty Paſſages, 1645. (1894 reprint or excerpt, HathiTrust, US access) (HCC)

  • The Vindication of Chriſtmas, or, His Twelve Yeares Obſervations upon the Times, Concerning the Lamentable Game Called Sweepſtake; Acted by General Plunder, and Major General Tax; with His Exhortation to the People; a Deſcription of That Oppreſſing Ringworm Called Excize; and the Manner How Our High and Might Chriſtmas‐Ale That Formerly Would Knock down Hercules, & Trip up the Heels of a Giant, Strook into a Deep Conſumption with a Blow from Weſtminſter, by John Taylor, 1652. (libertyfund)

  • The Examination and Tryall of Old Father Chriſtmas; at the Aſſizes Held at the Town of Difference, in the County of Diſcontent: Written According to Legal Proceeding, by Joſiah King, 1658. (EEBO U. Mich.) (HCC) (See also HathiTrust)

    • Reprinted in 1678 with additional material.

  • “Old Chriſtmaſs Returnd, or, Hoſpitality Revived: Being a Looking‐Glaſs for Rich Miſers, Wherein They May See (If They Be Not Blind) How Much They Are too Blame for Their Penurious Houſe‐keeping, and Likewiſe an Incouragement to Thoſe Noble‐Minded Gentry, Who Lay Out a Great Part of Their Eſtates in Hoſpitality, Relieving Such Perſons As Have Need Thereof” (ballad), published as a broadside, late 1600s, in the Pepys Library ballad collection, vol. 1. (EBBA)

    • Reprinted as “Old Christmas,” in Popular Ballads and Songs, from Tradition, Manuscripts, and Scarce Editions; with Translations of Similar Pieces from the Ancient Danish Language, and a Few Originals by the Editor, vol. 2, ed. Robert Jamieson, 1806. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) +

    • Derivative works, like *.

  • “Christmas Play of ‘Saint George,’ as Presented in Cornwall,” Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern; Including the Most Popular in the West of England, and the Airs to Which They are Sung; Also Specimens of French Provincial Carols …, ed. William Sandys, 1833. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)

  • The Book of Christmas; Descriptive of the Customs, Ceremonies, Traditions, Superstitions, Fun, Feeling, and Festivities of the Christmas Season, by Thomas K. Hervey, illustration by R. Seymour, 1836. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)

  • A Christmas Carol: In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, by Charles Dickens, illustration by John Leech, 1843. (1920 facsimile ed., Internet Archive) (1920 facsimile ed., HathiTrust)

  • Carl Krinken: His Christmas Stocking, by Susan Warner and Anna Bartlett Warner, (Dec.) 1853. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)

  • King Winter, by Gustav W. Seitz, ca. 1859. King Winter is a blend of Old Man Winter and Father Christmas. (Internet Archive) (Library of Congress)

  • Christmastide: Its History, Festivities, and Carols, by William Sandys, 1860. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)

  • “My Godmother’s Picture Book,” by Juliana Horatia Ewing, serialized in Little Folks, vol. 2, 1872.

    • Ch. 1, no. 71. (HathiTrust)

    • Ch. 2, no. 72. (HathiTrust)

    • Ch. 3, no. 73. (HathiTrust)

    • Ch. 4, no. 74. (HathiTrust)

    • Reprinted as “Old Father Christmas,” in Lob Lie‐by‐the‐Fire, or The Luck of Lingborough and Other Tales, 1874. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)

  • “How the Umbrella Ran Away with Ellie,” by Susan Coolidge, initial by Addie Ledyard, Mischief’s Thanksgiving, and Other Stories, 1874. (HathiTrust)

  • “Christmas Mummers in Dorsetshire” (note), by John Udal, Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc., 5th ser., vol. 2, no. ?, 26 Dec. 1874. (Internet Archive)

    • “The Peace Egg” (query), by J. Charles Cox, Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc., 5th ser., vol. 4, no. ?, 25 Dec. 1875. (Internet Archive)

    • “Christmas Mummers in Dorsetshire,” by John Udal, The Folk‐lore Record, vol. 3, pt. 1, 1880. Greatly expanded to include entire transcripts of mummers plays. (Internet Archive)

  • “Old York,” pt. 3, by Rev. J. Morris, The Month, vol. 6 (25), no. 24 (138), Dec. 1875. (HathiTrust)

  • “The Peace Egg: A Christmas Mumming Play,” by Juliana Horatia Ewing, Aunt Judy’s Magazine, vol. 3 (new series), no. 9?, Jan.? 1884. Not to be confused with Ewing’s 1872 story of the same title. (HathiTrust)

    • Reprinted in The Peace Egg and A Christmas Mumming Play, 1887. (Internet Archive)

  • The Autobiography of a Father Christmas, by P. B. Power (d. 1899), [1890]. (HathiTrust)

  • Neighbors of Ours: Slum Stories of London, ch. 9, “Father Chris’mus,” by Henry W. Nevinson, 1895. (Internet Archive)

  • “Father Christmas at Home,” The Rainbow Book: Tales of Fun & Fancy, by Mrs. M. H. Spielmann (d. 1938), 1909. (Internet Archive)

  • The Rejuvenation of Father Christmas, by J. Edgar Park, 1914. (HathiTrust)

  • “Christmas Masque,” Christmasse in Merrie England with Old Carols, Dances and a Masque, arr. Mari Ruef Hofer, 1915. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)

  • “The Road to Christmas” (play), by Anita B. Ferris, uncredited headpiece, Everyland, vol. 8, no. 11, Nov. 1917. (HathiTrust)

  • Queen Christmas: A Pageant Play, by Carolyn Wells, 1922. (Internet Archive)

  • Festivals of Western Europe, by Dorothy Gladys Spicer, 1958. Entries for “La Veille de Noël (Christmas Eve)” (50), “Julafton (Christmas Eve)” (219). (HathiTrust)

Mother Christmas or Mrs. Christmas or Queen Christmas is a feminine personification of Christmas, most often said to be Father Christmas’ wife. Insofar as Father Christmas and Santa Claus have begun to be confused with one another, and as there are apparently also worlds in which they are indeed the same man, their wives have been similarly conflated. However, Mother Christmas is more clearly a personification and also has the names, according to various texts, of Christmas, Christmas Day and the Spirit of Christmas. She also has a more conventional given name but sources disagree on what it is, calling her variously Old Bet, Old Betty, Dame Dorothy and Mary Christmas. According to a text from the week of 11 December 1883, Mrs. Christmas is Santa Claus’ housekeeper. According to an 1892 play, Christmas is one of a group of “Amazons” that defend the Kingdom of the North Pole. According to a 1922 play, she is a queen consort, the wife of King Christmas.

In the 16th century, the public officials of York would go “Yule Riding,” i.e., riding horseback through the streets in an annual St. Thomas’ Day (21 December) ceremony that ushered in the Christmas season. “But the sheriffs, their wives, and their serjeants were not the chief show in the streets of York …. ‘Yule and his wife’ amused the good citizens, and no doubt drew a larger crowd after them than all the officials of their city …” (“Old York”). The pair were so popular that the archbishop was afraid the entertainment would keep citizens from church and so penned a letter in 1572 forbidding it, saying that “Yule and Yule’s wife, … ride through the city very undecently and uncomely, drawing great concourses of people after them to gaze, [which] tendeth … to the profaning of that day appointed to holy uses, and also withdrawing great multitudes of people from Divine service and sermons ….”

— https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/latest-news/the-christmas-chaos-theory-1-2592986

— William Marshall, “The Bishop Who Banned York’s Yuletide,” BBC News, 3 Dec. 2009.

— http://borthwickinstitute.blogspot.com/2015/12/yule-and-yules-wife.html

— http://www.theyorkwaits.org.uk/yule.html

By 1874, some Christmas mummers plays in England are including the character of Father Christmas’ wife, named Old Bet, Old Betty and Dame Dorothy in the extant transcripts. In an argument about whether their next meal should be roasted or fried, Father Christmas gets so enraged at Old Bet that he strikes her dead. Luckily, a nearby physician is able to bring her back to life (“Christmas Mummers in Dorsetshire”).

• • Letter by Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of York, 13 Nov. 1572, suppressing the annual riding of Yule and Yule’s wife. Reprinted in “Old York,” pt. 3, by Rev. J. Morris, The Month, vol. 6 (25), no. 24 (138), Dec. 1875. (HathiTrust)

  • “Christmas Mummers in Dorsetshire” (note), by John Udal, Notes and Queries, 5th ser., vol. 2, no. ?, 26 Dec. 1874. (Internet Archive)

    • “The Peace Egg” (query), by J. Charles Cox, Notes and Queries, 5th ser., vol. 4, no. ?, 25 Dec. 1875. (Internet Archive)

    • “Christmas Mummers in Dorsetshire,” by John Udal, The Folk‐lore Record, vol. 3, pt. 1, 1880. Greatly expanded to include entire transcripts of mummers plays. (Internet Archive)

  • “Old York,” pt. 3, by Rev. J. Morris, The Month, vol. 6 (25), no. 24 (138), Dec. 1875. (HathiTrust)

  • “Boreas Bluster’s Christmas Present,” by Helen Ashe Hays (Mrs. William J. Hays), Harper’s Young People, vol. 5, no. 215, 11 Dec. 1883. Mrs. Christmas. (Internet Archive)

  • Santa Claus’ Daughter: A Musical Christmas Burlesque in Two Acts … to Which Is Added Description of the Costumes—Cast of the Characters—Entrances and Exits—Relative Positions of the Performers on the Stage, and the Whole of the Stage Business, by Everett Elliott and F. W. Hardcastle, Ames’ Series of Standard and Modern Drama, no. 309, (Dec.) 1892. (Internet Archive) The Kingdom of the North Pole is defended by “Amazons” that include a feminine personification of Christmas.

  • At the Court of King Winter: A Christmas Play for Schools, by Lizzie M. Hadley, The Practical Teachers’ Library, no. 3, (Oct.) 1896. Christmas Day. (HathiTrust)

  • Trouble in Santa Claus Land: A Christmas Entertainment in Two Scenes, by Orissa W. Gleason, 1905. Spirit of Christmas. (HathiTrust)

  • “Father Christmas comes, you see,” Dog Tales, Cat Tales and Other Tales with Puzzle Pictures, by Prescott Holmes, 1907. (HathiTrust)

  • “A Child’s Christmas Prayer,” Songs with Silver Linings, by James W. Foley, 1910. Mary Christmas. (HathiTrust)

  • “Mother Christmas,” by John W. Clark, The Yale Literary Magazine, vol. 77, no. 2, whole no. 683, Oct. 1911. (HathiTrust)

  • “The Coming of ‘Mary Christmas’,” by Margaret E. Sangster, Jr., The Christian Herald, vol. 35, no. 52, 25 Dec. 1912. (Internet Archive)

  • Reprinted in Friends o’ Mine: A Book of Poems and Stories, 1914. (Internet Archive)

  • “Mother Christmas,” by Owen Oliver (pseud. of Joshua Albert Flynn) (d. 1933), illustrations by G. C. Wilmshurst (d. 1930), The London Magazine, vol. 33 (new ser.), no. 50, Dec. 1914. (HathiTrust, first page missing)

  • “Santa’s Allies” (play), by Anita B. Ferris, uncredited illustrations, Everyland, vol. 8, no. 7, July 1917. Spirit of Christmas. (HathiTrust)

  • Queen Christmas: A Pageant Play, by Carolyn Wells, 1922. (Internet Archive)

Christkind or Christkindchen or Krishkringle.

Public‐domain bibliography.

• • “Madame Goetzenberger’s Christmas Eve,” by Mary Howitt, The Amaranth; or, Token of Remembrance: A Christmas and New Year’s Gift for 1853, ed. Emily Percival, (Aug.) 1852. (HathiTrust)

    • Reprinted (and expanded?) in The Garland; or, Token of Friendship: A Christmas and New Year’s Gift for 1854, (Aug.) 1853. (HathiTrust)

    • Reprinted in Godey’s Lady’s Book, vol. 47, no. (6?), Dec. 1853. (HathiTrust)

  • “The Christmas Tree,” Children’s Holidays: A Story‐book for the Whole Year, 1857. (HathiTrust)

  • Christmas Holidays at Cedar Grove, ch. 6, by Mrs. William Wood Seymour [Mary Alice Ives Seymour], 1858. Brief but good summary of the Christkind and Pelznichol. (HathiTrust)

  • “December” (poem), by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, The Autograph Birthday Book for Young Folks: Twelve Original Month Poems by Leading American Poets; Selected Day‐Verses from All the Poets, ed. Amanda B. Harris, 1881. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)

    • Reprinted with altered opening lines as “Kriss Kringle,” Mercedes, and Later Lyrics, 1883. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)

  • “A Song of Kriss Kringle’s Tree,” by Margaret E. Sangster, Harper’s Young People, vol. 14, no. 684, 6 Dec. 1892. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)

  • Mr. Kris Kringle: A Christmas Tale, by Silas Weir Mitchell, 1893. (HathiTrust)

  • Santa Claus, Kriss Kringle or St. Nicholas, illustrations by E. Gaucher (from signatures), (Dec.) 1897. (Internet Archive)

  • The Christmas Angel, by Katharine Pyle, 1900. Kris Kringle and grandmother Mrs. Kringle, along with Santa Claus’ reindeer, live in the Wonder Country. (Internet Archive)

  • Santa Claus’ Twin Brother, by Frances Trego Montgomery, illustrated by Hugo von Hofsten, 1907. (synopsis, HathiTrust)

  • “The Road to Christmas” (play), by Anita B. Ferris, uncredited headpiece, Everyland, vol. 8, no. 11, Nov. 1917. Christ‐child (Das Krist‐Kindlein) (HathiTrust)

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