Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Over the river, and through the wood,
To Grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To Grandfather's house away!
We would not stop for doll or top,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river, and through the wood-
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose
As over the ground we go.
Over the river, and through the wood,
With a clear blue winter sky,
The dogs do bark, and children hark,
As we go jingling by.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ding",
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
Over the river, and through the wood,
No matter for winds that blow,
Or if we get the sleigh upset
Into a bank of snow
Over the river, and through the wood,
To see little John and Ann.
We will kiss them all, and play snow-ball,
And stay as long as we can.
Over the river, and through the wood
Trot fast, my dapple-gray!
Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river, and through the wood-
And straight through the barnyard gate,
We seem to go extremely slow,
It is so hard to wait!
Over the river, and through the wood,
Old Jowler hears our bells.
He shakes his pow, with a loud bow-wow,
And thus the news he tells.
Over the river, and through the wood,
When Grandmother sees us come,
She will say, "Oh, dear, the children are here,
Bring a pie for everyone."
Over the river, and through the wood-
Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!
by Lydia Maria Child
1844
fwiw, the seven or so verses under the lj-cut are ones that I never heard growing up, but this was THE Thanksgiving song to sing - I'm sure we drove our parents crazy with it.
The Thanksgiving holiday movie to watch was always "Miracle on 34th Street" - the original one with little Natalie Woods as the girl.
And, of course, mornings were for watching the Macy's Parade, itself, while the house was filled with the smell of turkey (and ham) cooking. With 8+ children to feed, plus however many people invited over, my mom always went overboard with the food. A ginormous turkey, a glazed ham studded with cloves and pineapple (a waste of good cloves and pineapple imho - I didn't care much for ham), 4 apple pies, 4 pumpkin pies, a mincemeat pie, candied yams, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, biscuits, cranberry sauce (it wasn't until I was an adult that I realised what the "jelly" stuff was really for), stuffing and cider. It was ... deliciously overwhelming.
In my memories, we were eating leftovers for a week after, picking strips of meat off the bones, pulling clumps of stuffing out of the carcase.
And best of all - Thanksgiving Day signaled the start of the very best season of the year - countdown to CHRISTMAS! All the old favorites - the Grinch who stole Christmas, Santa Claus is coming to town, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, It's a Wonderful Life, Holiday Inn, White Christmas. And the music.
'S wonderful.
To Grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To Grandfather's house away!
We would not stop for doll or top,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river, and through the wood-
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose
As over the ground we go.
Over the river, and through the wood,
With a clear blue winter sky,
The dogs do bark, and children hark,
As we go jingling by.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ding",
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
Over the river, and through the wood,
No matter for winds that blow,
Or if we get the sleigh upset
Into a bank of snow
Over the river, and through the wood,
To see little John and Ann.
We will kiss them all, and play snow-ball,
And stay as long as we can.
Over the river, and through the wood
Trot fast, my dapple-gray!
Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river, and through the wood-
And straight through the barnyard gate,
We seem to go extremely slow,
It is so hard to wait!
Over the river, and through the wood,
Old Jowler hears our bells.
He shakes his pow, with a loud bow-wow,
And thus the news he tells.
Over the river, and through the wood,
When Grandmother sees us come,
She will say, "Oh, dear, the children are here,
Bring a pie for everyone."
Over the river, and through the wood-
Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!
by Lydia Maria Child
1844
fwiw, the seven or so verses under the lj-cut are ones that I never heard growing up, but this was THE Thanksgiving song to sing - I'm sure we drove our parents crazy with it.
The Thanksgiving holiday movie to watch was always "Miracle on 34th Street" - the original one with little Natalie Woods as the girl.
And, of course, mornings were for watching the Macy's Parade, itself, while the house was filled with the smell of turkey (and ham) cooking. With 8+ children to feed, plus however many people invited over, my mom always went overboard with the food. A ginormous turkey, a glazed ham studded with cloves and pineapple (a waste of good cloves and pineapple imho - I didn't care much for ham), 4 apple pies, 4 pumpkin pies, a mincemeat pie, candied yams, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, biscuits, cranberry sauce (it wasn't until I was an adult that I realised what the "jelly" stuff was really for), stuffing and cider. It was ... deliciously overwhelming.
In my memories, we were eating leftovers for a week after, picking strips of meat off the bones, pulling clumps of stuffing out of the carcase.
And best of all - Thanksgiving Day signaled the start of the very best season of the year - countdown to CHRISTMAS! All the old favorites - the Grinch who stole Christmas, Santa Claus is coming to town, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, It's a Wonderful Life, Holiday Inn, White Christmas. And the music.
'S wonderful.