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Is Jingle Bells an original Christmas song?

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You might think of Jingle Bells being a Christmas classics, it isn’t actually a Christmas song!

If you can recall – we highly expect you to be able to – the very first lyrics to Jingle Bells sound eminently Christmassy; “Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, over the hills we go, laughing all the way…” Horses aren’t really associated with Christmas and although snow certainly is, there’s not really anything else to link the song to everybody’s favourite holiday entertainment song. The reason for that? It…isn’t a Christmas song.

You see, although we only ever sing the first verse and chorus, there are many more lyrics to Jingle Bells that none of us really know. Some believe that the song was written for children to sing to the congregation at Sunday School. Alas, the verses none of us know go in a pretty intriguing direction with references to the sleigh crashing, a race with another sleigh owner and…err.. picking up women: “Now the ground is white, go it while you’re young, take the girls tonight, and sing this sleighing song…” Would children sing that? Probably not, though one could easily argue for the innocence of youth.

The song we sing today was written by a man named James Lord Pierpont in or around 1850. Nobody is exactly sure of the precise time at which it was written or indeed, where. What we do know is that Pierpont was an American and although he hailed from Medford in Massachusetts, he only published the song when living in Savannah, Georgia. The only reason that this is of importance is that both towns lay claim to being the birthplace of Jingle Bells.

Others believe that Jingle Bells is actually a drinking song. Historians are aware that it was a hugely popular song to sing at private parties and events, with guests ‘jingling’ the ice cubes in their glasses as they sang. Jingle all the way indeed! So which holiday is it about? If we go back to what we’ve previously written, the clue might be found in the history of Medford, Massachusetts. Back in the 1840s and 1850s, the Medford Sleigh Races were a hugely popular event with townsfolk cheering on the sleighs as they tore around the town. But they didn’t take place in December! They actually took place during Thanksgiving, which makes Pierpont’s classic ballad a song for the holidays, just not the one we all thought!

Music for your Irish party

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We thought we’d provide a few ideas on Irish entertainment. When thinking about the Emerald Isle and the entertainment that it has provided to the world, an obvious place to start is the harp.

It is known that the harp was revered across Celtic culture and Europe in the 1100s with various leaders having their own resident harpist who enjoyed a high status and special privileges. What did they have to do? As one might expect, they were expected to play music in accompaniment to other forms of party entertainment – poetry recitations or reading of psalms, etc. Alas, no music for the harp is written down from this period.

As any lover of history may tell you, Celtic culture wasn’t as popular as it used to be and the social status of a harp player began to lessen as the years wore on. No longer retained amongst the higher echelons, they took to the streets, performing as travelling musicians to the delight of crowds. Perhaps they were enjoyed too much; although the Irish harp was a symbol of the country and embraced around the world, it was now see as an emblem of resistance against the Crown and England. It was henceforth banned from the end of the Middle Ages and in just a few centuries, the Irish harp had all but disappeared.

…Well, almost. In 1792, a group of harpists travelled to Belfast for a traditional harp festival. A passionate musician, Edward Bunting, noted down the music they played and it is thanks to him that traditional Gaelic music lasts to this day; it had never previously been written down on paper (presumably because nobody ever saw the point or most harpists couldn’t read or write sheet music.)

There are less than a dozen Celtic harps that have survived from the medieval period. The oldest one is also the most famous – the Trinity College Harp, upon which the official emblem of Ireland is now based. It can be seen if you decide to visit Trinity College in Dublin and no doubt, you’ll learn even more about this lovely instrument.

A quintessentially English game

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The game of croquet was introduced to Victorian England by John Jaques and marketed to the growing middle class via the manufacture of croquet sets, which were showcased at The Great Exhibition of 1851. Great Exhibition sets were reissued in the 21st century by Jaques of London to mark 150 years since the introduction of croquet to England.

The popularity of the game in Victorian times engendered a wave of publications. Each publication offered a different number of rules, ranging from 20 to 126! Consensus arrived in 1870 with the publication of The Conference Rules of Laws. The current Laws of Association Croquet number a modest 55, though that number climbs into the hundreds if you count the many sub-sections.

As the world went to war in 1914, Stanley Paul & Co. published Lord Tollemache Croquet. The text describes the game of the Edwardian golden age, supported by event photographs demonstrating the techniques of a sequence game (as golf croquet today), involving ‘tight croqueting’ where the striker put his foot on his ball and hit it to move the ball in contact over the lawn, sending it ‘up the country’.

Croquet illustrates hoops run from circles rounding them on a square court with 4 baulks, 6 hoops and 2 pegs (1st below fifth hoop, 2nd above sixth hoop). The player was required to hit the 2nd peg (turning peg) with the striker’s ball, thus gaining one stroke before advancing to 1-back. The end game involved a peg-out at the peg below the fifth hoop.

As croquet grew in popularity, so clubs were formed. In 1860 the first club was established at Worthing in west Sussex, followed by the All England Croquet Club at Wimbledon in 1868. A need to coordinate the activities of a growing number of clubs led to the formation of The Croquet Association (CA) in 1897; it remains today the national governing body for the sport in England and produces the Laws of Croquet for both Association and Golf.

The introduction of lawn tennis in 1875 challenged the popularity of croquet, but croquet continued to be played and perhaps benefited from the higher standards of lawn care that tennis demanded. Lawn mowers, first invented in 1830, improved and evolved to suit the leisure market.

Planning a picnic event

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‘Picnic’ began life as a 17th-century French word — it wasn’t even close to being an American invention. A 1692 edition of Origines de la Langue Françoise de Ménage mentions ‘piquenique’ as being of recent origin marks the first appearance of the word in print. As for how the French came by this new term, it was likely invented by joining the common form of the verb ‘piquer’ (meaning “to pick” or “peck”) and a nonsense rhyming syllable coined to fit the first half of this new palate-pleaser.

The first documented appearance of the term outside the French language occurred in 1748, but it was 1800 or thereabouts before anyone can prove it made it into the English language. Even then, it still wasn’t in America, it was in England.

Originally, the term described the element of individual contribution each guest was supposed to make towards the repast, as everyone who had been invited to social events styled as “picnics” was expected to turn up bearing a dish to add to the common feast. This element was picked up in other ‘picnic’ terms, such as ‘picnic society,’ which described gatherings of the intelligentsia where everyone was expected to perform or in some other way contribute to the success of the evening.

Over time, the meaning of the word shifted to emphasize an alfresco element that had crept into the evolving concept of what such gatherings were supposed to be. Nowadays one thinks of a picnic as a casual meal partaken in a pastoral setting, not as a repast enjoyed either indoors or outdoors but which was contributed to by everybody. Modern picnic baskets can be provisioned by only one cook, and no one would think anything of it — what matters now is the food be eaten outdoors.

By the 19th century, ‘picnic’ had successfully made this linguistic shift in meaning. Its history (and that of every other word in the English language) is documented in the Oxford English Dictionary.

History of the Caricaturists

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When it comes to booking entertainment for events, one of our most popular strolling acts is undoubtedly a caricaturist. Blessed with the skill of being able to draw both accurately and quickly, with a nice comedic slant, caricaturists often manage to draw ten to twelve people in just one hour at an event! Not bad at all! But where does the art of caricature come from? Who invented it? Let’s find out…

It’s hard to know exactly when caricature started but we do know that there are examples of the form in graffiti that can be found at Pompeii. This would confirm that the style of drawing has been popular for almost 2,000 years but it’s highly likely that it has been popular for even longer than that.

In more recent times, the form was highly enjoyed by the aristocratic circles in France and Italy, with portraits passed about friends for mutual enjoyment. Leonardo Da Vinci’s caricatures are some of the oldest on record; he would seek people with deformities to use as models, hoping to offer an impression of the original that was more striking than a portrait.

The first book of caricature can be dated to 1762 when Mary Darlas published A Book of Caricaturas. The first North American caricatures can be traced to just three years before that when Brigadier-General George Townshend would draw caricatures of other high ranking officials like British General James Wolfe during the Battle of Quebec. These drawings were often highly exaggerated to elicit laughter and amusement from his fellow officers.

Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray are perhaps the two most important British caricaturists in history; they were great friends and often visited pubs together in London. Rowlandson preferred to focus his efforts on artistry and drawing members of the public, whilst Gillray aimed his pen squarely at politics, satirising his subjects to great effect.

Rowlandson and Gillray’s differing approaches to caricature are still evident today with a drawing able to gently mock a subject for humorous effect or wound them with a serious social or political point. We would rather advise booking a caricaturist at an event to dish out the former rather than the latter for the good of the party atmosphere!

Remembering information

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The Method of Loci might be familiar to fans of Sherlock on BBC1 because Sherlock once used his ‘Mind Palace’, which was much ridiculed online. Even so, this method of remembering information is highly praised by memory experts and is used by those to whom memory is very useful indeed.

Derren Brown utilises a system for his incredible live shows whilst Simon Reinhard, European Memory Champion, showed such an effective deployment of the strategy that he was able to remember the position of all 52 cards in a deck in just under 21 seconds.

The easiest way to perfect the Method of Loci is to think of a journey that you make on a regular basis. For most that would be their commute to and from work. The trip should go past a number of distinctive ‘landmarks’ – a skate park, a memorable building, a colourful fence – which you tend to pay attention to every morning. The more memorable the place, the better the method will be.

Next you write down every bit of information that you’d like to remember. After assembling your list, you then attach a picture or symbol to each item. If you need to remember to buy a birthday card for example, you’d simply affix an image of a birthday card in your mind to the skate park we mentioned earlier. Every time you walk past, it will be instantly imprinted in your mind!

This technique may sound simple and that’s because it is, but it will still take some time to perfect.
And why is it called the ‘Method of Loci’? The reason being that ‘loci’ is the Latin for ‘places’ and the method itself has been around since around 80BC.

It is referred to in the oldest surviving Latin book on rhetoric, Rhetorica ad Herennium, and also features in Cicero’s De Oratore in 55BC and Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria in 95CE. Considering they have been around for well over 2,000 years, you can be certain of the fact that they work!

Christmas party ideas

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There are lots of ways to celebrate Christmas at the end of year office party. Many companies go for a themed occasion, but you can also strip it back a little bit. Away from the electronic entertainment and acts that require a loud sound system. You can take it all the way back to traditional Christmas party ideas, perhaps highlighting the true values of the holiday.

Victorian Performers
When thinking back to Victorian times, you might find yourself wondering what they managed to do with themselves with no television or films. We know, it’s hard to imagine. Of course, it was the theatre that they loved to visit and no doubt they were entertained by street performers en route.

Parlour Games
With all this wonderful entertainment on display, you might be thinking of wanting to hire interactive entertainment! This doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice your Victorian theme and bring in loud noises and bright lights; we’re talking parlour games like quoits. If anyone is successful then they may just win a Christmas present from the company or maybe a little more time off. Go on, be generous, it’s Christmas!

Costumed Characters
The number one thing you need to do if your employees are going to really feel as though they’ve gone back in time is to hire costumed characters. They don’t have to be famous Victorians but one or two certainly look nice (Charles Dickens for example), whilst others can mingle with the crowds, adding to the atmosphere of the occasion. A Dickensian Christmas is actually another popular theme; why not add Scrooge to the festivities whilst you’re at it?

Christmas Carol Singers
What Victorian Christmas party is complete without some Christmas carol singers. The best thing about this form of musical entertainment is that the group can wander about the venue, singing as they go, or you can make their background music a centre piece to the party.

Christmas Brass Band
A Christmas brass band can provide all the Christmas classics your party requires. They can either stick to strictly Victorian carols or play a few more modern Christmas hits once the drinks start flowing (nobody will notice the change of era once they’ve downed yet another sherry). Perfect for evoking the spirit of Christmas, opting to hire a brass band for your Christmas party always goes down well.

Wreck-It Ralph

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If you are thinking of holding a Wreck-It Ralph party. Have no fear for we are here to help!

Circus Strongman
Perhaps the most obvious party entertainment booking for a Wreck-It Ralph theme is the booking of a strong man. Wreck-It Ralph is famed for his strength – in fact it’s essentially his one big character trait in the first film – so why not book a real life strongman for your event? From bending metal bars to breaking blocks, you are sure to be impressed!

Joypad
Another no brainer when it comes to booking acts for a Wreck-It Ralph party – he is a video game character after all – Joypad video game hire is all about booking retro games to play at your event. From the Atari 2600 to the SNES, Sega and beyond, we guarantee that guests will be constantly coming back for more. Why obsess over the latest technology when there is so much fun to be had with 8-bit and 16-bit games? Whisper it, you may even be able to book the 64-bit N64!

Mash Machine
If you want to combine technology with fun, the Mash Machine is a must. Essentially a music creation station, guests move pieces onto the machine to create their own tune. The best bit? You can use whatever you like to work with the machine and even download your music afterwards. Why not have the characters from the film moving about a top the machine!?

Sweet Caterers
Fans of the first film may remember that a big part of the movie is the video game Sugar Rush, which features an edible landscape for all to enjoy. Thankfully there are numerous acts that can provide edible treats and even though Willy Wonka doesn’t exist, this is the next best thing! Tasty air emanates from these magical edible mist orbs and there are also options for chocolate fountains, chocolate taps, popcorn in any flavour and much more!

Costumed Characters
Last but not least, it’s the most obvious Wreck-It Ralph booking of the lot; Costumed Characters. Whether you’d like to book Wreck-It Ralph, Fix-It Felix, Jr or Vanellope von Schweetz, it’s all possible. Why not go the extra mile with some more theme ideas including wall murals and more?
We hope this gives you some idea of what you can achieve with a Wreck-It Ralph themed party and we hope you enjoy the new film!

Scary films for your next Halloween

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When it comes to Hallowe’en, you could theme a Halloween party in a generic manner with cobwebs, spiders, skeletons and pumpkins. But if you want to give your Hallowe’en party a horror film list, here are some very cool film and entertainment ideas to make it an evening nobody will ever forget.

Stephen King’s It

The beauty of hosting a Hallowe’en party themed around Stephen King’s It is that the whole event is incredibly simple. Book costumed characters to dress in yellow coats holding red balloons – ideally facing away from guests – and book a clown (naturally with horrific makeup) to stalk the event and scare guests. If you want to take the theme further, by all means have a paper crafts table where attendees can make paper boats, which can handily be pressed down and act as a name tag. Clever.

Saw

Though we frown upon the idea of forcing two groups of guests into doing tasks to save their limbs, you can still have some fun with a Saw theme. Keep the lights down low and have an unseen voice speaking to guests as they enter. Add a digital clock counting down to zero – what will happen next? – as a unique way to say that food is now being served and yes, Jigsaw can always be cycling around the venue on his tricycle. Feel free to theme the event with numerous tasks from the movie franchise as well.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Another easy theme to set up – simply hang an ‘Elm Street’ sign in your event space to create the titular setting – the beauty of holding an A Nightmare on Elm Street Hallowe’en party is that Freddy Krueger haunts the teenagers in their dreams. When it comes to event themes, nothing is more broad than ‘dreams’ as an idea because it be anything you want. Book macabre dancers, circus acts, costumed characters– Anything at all! Just be sure to have Freddy interrupt each scene throughout the evening (or perhaps meander through the audience) to ensure that the scares keep coming!

Night of the Living Dead

Not every Hallowe’en party has to focus on the slasher genre! George A. Romero’s franchise about ‘living dead’ or zombies as we now call them is sure to impress when guests enter a venue to be greeted by a horde of the undead. We highly recommend booking a photo booth to capture the experience and numerous attendees can enjoy an evening of avoiding the zombie outbreak. Marvellous.

Halloween

John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise is perhaps the most famous of all horror movies. Not only did it give the world Michael Myers, a deranged masked killer who famous brings all manner of terrors to Jamie Lee Curtis’ main character, but it also spawned a number of sequel including the frankly mad Halloween III, a film that focuses on the idea of a song turning the public insane. We highly recommend not only booking a costumed Michael Myers to scare patrons but also playing ‘Happy happy Halloween’ on a loop to really send those in attendance insane.

Silent Disco

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Booking a disco for your party or event entertainment is generally a no brainer. Almost everybody in attendance will enjoy a chance to let their hair down but should you opt for the traditional disco with loud thumping beats or a silent disco?

Before we begin, we should probably outline what you get when you book a silent disco. Rather than the usual thumping beats emanating from the DJ booth, you simply receive a pair of headphones. The DJ will still be in attendance, it’s just that their decks won’t make a sound. Rather than amplifiers around the room, it’s all about that headset around your head. All of the fun of a disco with none of the noise to keep up the neighbours…which brings us to point number one.

It’s Quiet
Yes, that may be obvious but there is a very important reason for opting to book a silent disco rather than a tradition disco in some cases. That one reason comes down to two words – ‘sound limiter’. Many weddings, events and parties take place in stunning venues and because of their historic significance or the fact that they are situated near a number of private residences, these spaces may have a sound limiter, which means that no music can go above a set level. Because a silent disco is err… silent, there’s no problem!

It Won’t Distract
This particular reason isn’t so much a problem at a wedding where the only activity to be enjoyed is a disco at the end of the evening, but at a party or event that perhaps takes place during the day (yes, it does happen), there may be a number of other activities also going on at the same time. Nobody wants to have their face painted to the sound of a deep bass flooding through the floor and thankfully the silent disco solves this problem!

Change the Tune
When you attend a traditional disco, you often only have the one DJ and you have to dance to his or her tune. Not so when you book the silent disco! Although you can opt for one DJ there is also the option to have two or even three putting out the tracks they love with those dancing in the middle of the venue able to pick the track that they’re listening to. So what’s it to be? Pop, rock or novelty tunes? The choice is yours!

Communication
You know when you go to a nightclub and find yourself shouting at the person next to you? This simply doesn’t happen with a silent disco! If you need to talk to the person on your left, take off your headphones and have a chat at a normal level. Those dancing won’t notice (because the music hasn’t stopped for them) and the two of you can speak as you ordinarily would with no threat of losing your voice or tearing an ear drum.

It’s Hilarious
At a disco, you’ll all too often be dancing with friends, colleagues or family to stop and observe the goings on from the sidelines. Even if you do decide to take a breather, there’s nothing that funny anyway because the dance moves are in time to the music that you can hear. Not so when you book a silent disco! Take off your headphones and take some quality videos of people jumping about in a silent room.