Christmas in Legend and Story

Christmas in Legend and Story - A Book for Boys and Girls

Project Gutenberg's Christmas in Legend and Story, by Elva S. Smith This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Christmas in Legend and Story A Book for Boys and Girls
Author: Elva S. Smith
Release Date: February 10, 2004 [EBook #11014]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORY ***

Produced by David Schaal and PG Distributed Proofreaders

CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORY

Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour's birth, is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long: And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad; The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
SHAKESPEARE.

CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORY
A BOOK FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
COMPILED BY
ELVA S. SMITH
CARNEGIE LIBRARY PITTSBURGH
AND
ALICE I. HAZELTINE
PUBLIC LIBRARY ST. LOUIS
ILLUSTRATED FROM FAMOUS PAINTINGS
1915

CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORY

PREFACE
In our experience in library work with children we have learned that it is very difficult to find Christmas stories and legends which have literary merit, are reverent in spirit, and are also suitable for children. This collection has been made in an endeavor to meet this need, and thus to be of service to parents, teachers, and librarians.
Most of the stories and poems in this book are of the legendary type. They have been chosen from a wide variety of sources and represent the work of many writers. There are other stories also, which, although not strictly traditional, have the same reverent spirit and illustrate traditional beliefs and customs. These have been included for their literary value and their interest for young people.
In the arrangement of the selections we have followed the natural order of the events in preference to grouping the stories for boys and girls of different ages.
Although no attempt has been made to adapt the legends for story-telling, most of them may be used for that purpose. Many of the selections are also well suited for reading aloud.
Above all it is hoped that this book may bring real joy to the boys and girls for whom it has been compiled.
ELVA S. SMITH,
CATALOGUER OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS,
CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH.
ALICE I. HAZELTINE,
SUPERVISOR OF CHILDREN'S WORK,
ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The compilers wish to thank Mrs. Margaret Deland for permission to use "The Christmas Silence;" Mrs. Etta Austin McDonald for her adaptation of Copp��e's "Sabot of Little Wolff" from "The Child Life Fifth Reader;" Josephine Preston Peabody for "The Song of a Shepherd-Boy at Bethlehem;" Mrs. William Sharp for "The Children of Wind and the Clan of Peace," by Fiona Macleod; Nora Archibald Smith and the editors of the Outlook for "The Haughty Aspen;" and the editors of _Good Housekeeping Magazine,_ Little, Brown & Company and Mrs. Velma Swanston Howard for her translation of "The Legend of the Christmas Rose," by Selma Lagerl?f, taken from _Good Housekeeping Magazine_, copyright, 1907. Copyright, 1910, by Little, Brown & Company.
Thanks are also due to the following publishers for permission to reprint poems and stories on which they hold copyright: The Century Company for four selections from _St. Nicholas_, "The Little Gray Lamb" by A.B. Sullivan, "A Christmas Legend" by Florence Scannell, "F��lix" by Evaleen Stein, "The Child Jesus in the Garden;" The Churchman Company for "The Blooming of the White Thorn" by Edith M. Thomas; Doubleday, Page & Company for "Neighbors of the Christ Night" by Nora Archibald Smith; E.P. Dutton & Company for "The Sin of the Prince Bishop" by William Canton; Ginn & Company for "Christmas Carol" from "Open Sesame;" Mr. William Heinemann for "The Flight into Egypt" by Selma Lagerl?f; Houghton Mifflin Company for "The Child Born at Bethlehem" by H.E. Scudder, "The Christmas Song of Caedmon" by H.E.G. Pardee, "The Little Mud-Sparrows" by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.
"St. Christopher of the Gael" and "The Cross of the Dumb" are included through the courtesy of Messrs. Duffield & Company. From "Poems and Dramas" by Fiona Macleod, copyright, 1901, 1903, 1907, by Thomas B. Mosher; 1910 by Duffield & Company.
The selection "Christmas at Greccio" from "God's Troubadour" by Sophie Jewett is included by special arrangement with T.Y. Crowell Company. "The Little Friend" by Abbie Farwell Brown, "Christmas Hymn" by R.W. Gilder, "The Three Kings" by H.W. Longfellow, and "The Star Bearer" by E.C. Stedman are included by special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company; and "The Three Kings of Cologne" by Eugene Field, and "Earl Sigurd's Christmas Eve" by H.H. Boyesen, by special arrangement with Charles Scribner's Sons.
The story of St. Christopher is taken chiefly from the "Golden Legend," but a few