The Stories Behind Classic Holiday-themed Songs: Jingle Bells

“Jingle Bells”, or as it was originally called, “The One Horse Open Sleigh”, is not only one of the most popular holiday-themed songs in the world, it is one of the most popular and well-known songs of any era in any genre ever! The song was written waaaay back in the 1850s by a man named James Lord Pierpont. At the time that he penned his famous words, automobiles were not yet a thing, so traveling to and fro in horse-drawn carriages and sleighs was quite common. In fact, it is said that Pierpont was inspired to write his ditty based upon sleigh races that were being held in his, as of then, hometown of Medford, Massachusetts. “The One Horse Open Sleigh” was recorded in the 1880s on a device known as an Edison Cylinder, making it arguably the first holiday-themed song ever recorded in history. The funny thing for me is that although this song will be celebrating its 175th birthday in a few years, it was always considered by the kids at school to be a modern song like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and the like, as opposed to the hymn-like carols that describe the birth of the Baby Jesus, such as “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”. As songs go, “The One Horse Open Sleigh” is a fairly non-controversial song. However, the same cannot be said of its author, John Lord Pierpont. So get on your warm clothes, grab a cozy blanket for two, and let’s get ready to go on a sleigh ride of discovery. Here is the story of the song we know as “Jingle Bells”. Giddy-up!

When crafting this tune, John Lord Pierpont followed the old writer’s guideline of writing about what you know. The lyrics basically describe the conveyance that was being used, which, in this case, was an open sleigh pulled by one horse. An open sleigh is one that was open to the elements because it did not have a roof and was not enclosed. For many families at the time, open sleighs were the way in which they traveled during the wintertime. The lyrics also mention the fact that the travelers were passing over hills and through fields, which indicates that they were in the countryside at the time, as opposed to gliding through the streets of a city or a town. So far, there is nothing to indicate why “The One Horse Open Sleigh” became so popular. One theory is that what caught everyone’s attention was the second verse. In that verse, Pierpont describes a man taking a lady out for a sleigh ride and the sleigh tipping over and the pair becoming “upsot”. This verse is a nod and a wink to those who knew that sleigh rides were often an opportunity for young courting couples to have some private time away from the prying eyes of parents and elders. More than a few kisses were exchanged under the starry night skies and sometimes, if the young man driving the sleigh became distracted, accidents could happen, including the sleigh going off of the road, into a snowbank and tipping over, thus upsetting the passengers. As a result, when this song was first being sung in public, there were more than a few shared glances between couples as the second verse unfolded. All in all, “The One Horse Open Sleigh” captured the innocent fun of the times in a light and carefree manner. It was a song that just about everyone could relate to and enjoy with a smile.

It was said that James Lord Pierpont wrote the song as a way for him to earn some money. Immediately after writing the lyrics and composing the musical score, Pierpont established publishing rights. That Pierpont was short on cash says a lot about the quality of his character because he was as connected a person as there was in America. James Lord Pierpont’s nephew was billionaire tycoon J.P. Morgan. There was money and privilege a-plenty for those in Pierpont’s family tree. However, Pierpont had the reputation as a drinker and a contrarian and was eventually cast out by his family. Pierpont grew up in Boston. His father was a pastor and a staunch abolitionist.  Pierpont’s drinking was one way that he struck back at his father’s authority. Another was that he married a woman that he had impregnated out of wedlock, which, in those times, caused quite a scandal in society circles. A final nail in his family coffin was the fact that James Lord Pierpont held decidedly firm views on race in America. In fact, shortly after writing “The One Horse Open Sleigh”, his first sale of the song was to a local minstrel group that was known for performing in “blackface”.  Pierpont was a regular member of the audience for shows put on by Ordway’s Aeolians.  Just as songs about sleighing were popular in 1850s Massachusetts, so were minstrel shows put on by white men who pretended to be black men. Pierpont’s affection for these minstrel shows became politicized after the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. Lincoln pledged to end the practice of slavery throughout America. As you may know from history, many of the Southern states had economies that were agrarian in nature and which were dependent upon the “free” labour of slaves. When the Civil War broke out, James Lord Pierpont declared his support for the Confederacy and moved to Savannah, Georgia. Once there, he fathered more children and settled down, establishing a home in which he stayed until his death in 1893.

A final bit of trivia regarding “The One Horse Open Sleigh” is that no one knows for certain where Pierpont actually wrote the song in the first place. For many years, conventional wisdom had it that Pierpont wrote the song based upon witnessing sleigh races in Medford, Mass. There is even a historical plaque in Medford that states this very thing. However, once Pierpont moved to Savannah, Georgia, he claimed to have written the song there based on his memories of snowy winters long gone by. There is even a historical plaque in Savannah that states that it is the birthplace of “The One Horse Open Sleigh”. As much as it would make sense for the song to have been written in a wintery locale, historians claim that Pierpont was actually prospecting for gold in California, hoping to strike it rich quickly, during the time that the Medford crowd claim he was in a pub watching sleigh races from the window. While the truth of the matter remains somewhere in the murky middle, both communities continue to embrace their century-old claim which they have allowed to become interwoven into the fabric of their history. Whatever the case, “The One Horse Open Sleigh”, despite its popularity, never made Pierpont a great deal of money. But it has made a great many people happy over the years, including many school children who happily sing Pierpont’s lyrics to this day. 

“The One Horse Open Sleigh” became known as “Jingle Bells” in the early 1900s. If you have ever been on a sleigh ride, you will be aware that a sleigh gliding over snow can actually be fairly quiet. In order to avoid crashes and/or startling people who may have been walking on foot, it became common practice for bells to be attached to the harnesses of the horses that were pulling the sleighs. One of the things that makes the song so enduring is that the cadence of the melody flows in time with the jingling of the bells on the horse’s harnesses. For many children today, being able to shake some sleigh bells at a holiday concert at school or at church is as close as many of them get to experiencing the joy of what a one-horse sleigh ride is really like. That is too bad. Being bundled up next to the ones you love while gliding through the woods on a snowy day under a starry sky is an experience that everyone should have at least once in their lifetime. It would certainly add an extra layer of meaning when it comes to singing this song. There is nothing to say that all Christmas gifts need be toys and clothes. Perhaps arranging for a family sleigh ride would be the stuff of holiday memories, too. I guess that there is only one way to find out! Who’s up for a sleigh ride?!

The link to a video for the song “Jingle Bells” by James Lord Pierpont can be found here. ***The lyrics video is here.

The link to the official website for a Canadian museum dedicated to sleighs and other horse-drawn carriages can be found here.

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