December 24, 2022
Steve and Tipper Christmas at Granny Gazzie’s
Today I’m sharing another favorite Christmas song video we’ve uploaded over the years. The song is so old no one really knows for sure who wrote it.
I grew up hearing Pap and his brother sing “The Friendly Beasts” and I’ve always thought it sounds like a lullaby. It brings great comfort to my heart every Christmas.
Pap said he learned the song from The Blue Sky Boys, but the song’s origins have been traced as far back as the 12 century.
“The Friendly Beasts”
Jesus our brother, kind and good
Was humbly born in a stable room
And the friendly beasts around him stood
Jesus our brother, strong and good.
Said the donkey shaggy and brown,
I carried his mother up hill and down;
I carried his mother to Bethlehem town.
Thus said the donkey shaggy and brown.
Said the cow all white and red
I gave him my manger for a bed;
I gave him my hay to pillow his head.
Thus said the cow all white and red.
Said the sheep with the curly horn,
I gave him my wool for his blanket warm;
He wore my coat on Christmas day.
Thus said the sheep with curly horn.
Thus every beasts by some good spell
In the stable dark was glad to tell
Of the gift he gave Emmanuel
Of the gift he gave Emmanuel
Sigh. That’s what the song always makes me do sigh in a good way as I think about the many blessings that have been poured out onto my undeserving head from the day I was born. From my Lord and King who was born around those beasts to the loving family who surrounded my birth and have guided my way in this ole world.
I hope you enjoyed the video! There’s a great version of the song on our cd “Songs of Christmas.” If you’d like to pick up a copy of the cd go here.
—December 24, 2022
It’s been a few years since I wrote the post I shared today. The ancient Christmas song still makes me sigh and I’m still beyond thankful for my Lord and King and my loving family. And I’m thankful for you too!
Last night’s video: Surprising our Daughter at Christmas in Appalachia.
Tipper
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Such simplicity in those lyrics AND the strummin’, yet SO beautiful! Thank you for sharing that song (I wish I could play it for Mom…to go over there and tell her what I brought for her to hear — she would love the words, the tempo, and the harmony from their clear voices!).
‘So pretty!
Such beautiful singing! Merry Christmas to all.
So beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing the gift of that beautiful music & all the beauty you share with us all ! Blessed Christmas Eve everyone! ❤️
Looks like Granny Gazzie was a mid century modern gal!
Loved The Picture Of You, Your Brother At Your Granny Gazzies House. The Tree Is So Beautiful. Loved Pap,Paul Singing.
We had a silver tree also. We also had the rotating color light (which we still have after 60 years….and it works!) that would shine on it at night. Today is a day for remembering all the past Christmas get togethers with so many family members. We have expanded our family and we older ones still keep the same traditions going that we had as children. Our parents would be so happy to know those times meant so much to us!
I have never heard this song. It is so sweet and the harmony is just beautiful. I am going to share it with the pastor at my church. Merry Christmas to you and your family and to all the Acorns.
Merry Christmas to all of you. Loved the song.
A gentle way to begin Christmas Eve – listening to Pap & Paul singing this wonderful oldie. Happy Christmas Eve Wilson/Pressley family and all Acorns – and everyone have a beautiful Christmas tomorrow.
Last night we were actually listening to this very song as it is one of our very favorites. Pap and Paul do an amazing job. It’s just beautiful. We always enjoy their Christmas cd, but this song is so special. Thanks for sharing it. Praying for sweet Granny.
Merry Christmas, Tipper and family! Thank you for sharing this beautiful touching song, pap and Paul did a wonderful job singing it. I was think, after listening to the song, about the only gift that Jesus wants from us – our hearts!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Pap’s harmony is so beautiful it gives me chills, especially on the second line of each verse. What a treasure you have to be able to hear his voice. My mom also sang and harmonized with her sisters. Unfortunately, that was back when we had no means available to record. I would give almost anything to hear her voice again.
Even though most of our family is having a glorious Christmas in Heaven, and memories are so bittersweet, there is so much to be grateful for.
That picture is a beautiful time capsule!! Those are the kinds of pictures that make me long to be able to spend a few minutes (as my adult self) in that moment, so you can truly soak up the feeling that existed in that moment. Merry Christmas to you, your precious family and all of the Acorns out there. I’m hosting my very small group this evening and have been baking and preparing their favorites these past 2 days. My grandson & his husky pup, Balto. My granddaughter and my beautiful (6 mos on 12/26) great granddaughter, Hazeleigh and her daddy. My former son-in-law will also be invited. I’m so saddened that my younger granddaughter won’t be coming this year. (The first time in 19 Christmas’ I won’t have all 3 of my babies with me on this special night) Her boyfriend’s cousin, was shot/killed, in a senseless drive-by in a town 2 hours from here and they will be with his family. Please say a prayer for this family who just lost a family member and help ease their pain during this extremely difficult time. I’m counting my blessings as I type this. We are not promised tomorrow. Tell those you love and hold dear that you love them every chance you get♡
Kim I’m so sorry for them. I will pray for them.
Thank you for sharing the song and the cute picture of you and Steve.
As always praying for Granny.
Merry Christmas
We had a tree like your Granny’s when I was growing up. It had a angel with a china head on top. I still have the angel, but it’s on the mantel with the manger.
Merry Christmas to everyone!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Thanks for sharing that beautiful Christmas song.
Merry Christmas Eve to the Wilson’s and Pressleys!
I had never heard this song before I started watching your channel and reading your blog. Love it and love hearing Paul and your dad sing.
Please pray for my two friends and old work colleagues. Tom has a widowmaker blockage and will be getting a bypass operation and Jerry has failing kidneys. Both are in the hospital. Thank you and all the other acorns for lifting my day each morning!
Linda I will pray for them. Thank you!
Good story! The song very comforting. We had a silver tree too. They are worth a lot today in vintage collecting. Merry Christmas!
Oh what a beautiful song with endearing words to think about! The animals saw what I’d give anything to have seen! Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord Of Lords! By Him I have been saved and for that I’m beyond grateful and humbled. He gave me life, true freedom and reason to live! Hallelujah I must shout! My life would be nothing without the LIVING WORD!!! Amen on Christmas and every day as we give GLORY AND HONOR to the one and only HOLY SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD!!! Pap and Paul truly sang and played a gorgeous Christmas song indeed! Oh what Christmases you must’ve had playing and singing with some of the best musicians right in your own house and family!!!! You’re a truly blessed lady, Miss Tipper!!! You’re a joy and a blessing to me, dear, always and forever. THANKYOU so much for the daily inspiration…God bless you all and especially your beloved mother…
Oh my, that was beautiful! Thank you for blessing us with that song!
Tipper,
Have a wonderful Christmas with you and your family. Please give Granny a hug and a big kiss. She is a wonderful lady to have such a caring family.
The picture of you and Steve when you were little at your Granny’s house is so much like Christmas at my Grandparents house only we didn’t have a tinsel tree we had the real thing that Mommy and Aunt Pauline got with us helping and Grandpa decorating. Grandpa always had the tree in a crock with rocks and gravel in it. It was either on the floor or on a wooden apple crate. Grandma was not left out of the action of the Christmas tree. She always had a stash of Christmas paper from last year from her gifts. She would take a brightly colored piece of the paper and wrap it around the crock and tie a piece of cow feed sack thread around it to hold it in place. Then she would water it every day. After the first of the year, Grandpa would carefully remove his decorations and the tree would go over the bank to rot. The rocks went in a bucket in the basement for next year along with the crock.
When I Iooked at your picture on the post your Granny’s house and my Granny’s house looked almost the same– Same style TV, same homemade chair, same style sofa, same style woodwork on the wall and same kind of curtains. Both our Granny’s had spotless houses too. I noticed that one of her curtains was not straight on the window sash. My Grandma had the same problem too. The cat got in the house and climbed the curtain knocking it down. Grandpa wasn’t there and she just stuck it back up hoping that no one would notice. Mommy saw it and didn’t say a word because she knew Grandpa didn’t like the cat in the house because she was “wild”. We would sneak it in the back room to play with it. Well, you guessed she got loose and created some problems to say the least. Only my brother, me of course, Aunt Pauline, and Grandma knew the truth about the curtain. No one said a word about it either. The poor cat was banished from the house. Thank-you for helping me remember a wonderful part of my life I had almost forgotten.
Take care and have a wonderful holy day.
I agree that this song made me just sigh at the end. It leaves you with a peaceful feeling. The silver Christmas tree in the picture makes me think of my Grandma’s white tree she had when I was a kid. I remember thinking she must be rich to have a tree like that.
Good morning and Merry Christmas!
That is a pretty song. It made me think of the tale related to Christmas told to us when we were kids. It goes like this; “If you will go down to the barn at midnight on Christmas Eve, you can hear the animals speak.” It was older kids that told us this. When I was young enough to believe, I couldn’t stay awake to see if it was so or not and probably would have “got it” (whipping) if I had slipped down to the barn, especially on Christmas Eve. I had great Christmases as a young’un and still have some pretty gooduns! It was always about getting together except maybe when I was a small child. One of my grandmother’s birthday was today (December 24, 1920). Most of my life there was a gathering of lots of families, extended families and friends would gather at her house every Christmas Eve and I promise, “a fun time was had by all”. We “tagged all of the bases” so to speak, from eggnog to firecrackers to Jesus, deer or rabbit hunting, etc., etc. It was “our traditional Christmas”.
Jeffery, much of my past life seems to have been similar to yours, especially the last sentences you wrote. We didn’t have eggnog, firecrackers or deer. Now most of the family members we did this with have now passed on. My wife’s three remaining sisters and their grown children will get together tonight, one sister lives in their parents home. They still invite me to come, I am grateful for this, but it sure is not like it once was, my mind we be full of memories of all the family members that are no longer there and how it use to be. Tomorrow I intend to go visit my only sister that is in a nursing home and the graves of my wife and daughter.
Randy,
When our loved ones pass away it is sad. Be thankful you have wonderful memories of them. Also, be glad that your sister is receiving the care she needs. You are wonderful going to visit her.
My mother passed away a few years ago at home. My brother and I are not in the medical field and she needed more than what we could provide. We had a home health nursing assistant stay with her that specialized in geriatric hospice care. She was wonderful and incorporated her family into my mother’s life. Mommy’s last days were filled with new members of the family plus all of us and her friends from church complete with weekly doctor visits and physical therapy. Yes, it was like all the services she could receive in a nursing home in the familiarity of her sun room. My Aunt’s family choose to place her in a nursing home due their opinion it would be better for her. They visited her daily. Not only did she receive the care she needed but friends and family would visit her weekly.
This was so good for her to have the social stimulation she needed. Take care and give your sister a hug for me.
Your Daddy and Paul had such a beautiful blend in that sweet song. It must touch your heart to hear Daddy’s voice after all these years. You’re very lucky to be able have that recording. Blessings on this Eve of Christmas.
I loved the song. Look forward to each morning visiting with Tipper. We are beyond blessed.
Have a great CHRISTmas!
I must have been living under a rock but I’ve never heard that song before. It is beautiful.
We also had a tree just like the one in your picture when I was very young, that brought back some really good memories.
Merry Christmas to all
I enjoyed the song very much, happy Christmas Eve, God bless granny
Good morning Tipper. TY for the video. It is so lovely to hear your Daddy sing. I hope you have a Blessed day today. I have another Praise to share. For 2 years the woman that now owns the property we live on has tried to have us evicted. My prayers were answered Monday evening when a neighbor , her cousin, came by and told u he will buy the land from her and give us a legal Lifetime Trust to live here as we have for the past 30 years. I always said GOD sent me to this spot to stay till I die. Now finally man’s law will recognize GOD’s Will. PRAISE HIM. I am so not worthy but so grateful. I keep everyone here and up Wilson Hollow in my prayers. I love y’all dearly.
Barbara, that is wonderful!!
I’m so happy for you, Barbara! God has truly heard your cries and fought for you! Exodus 14:14. Praise Him! What a relief you must feel!
That song makes me cry ever time I hear it. Your daddy’s voice soothes and stirs my soul. He reminds me of my uncle whom I loved so dear. He was a gentle and kind man. Thank you for sharing this! Praying for Granny and praying for the Lord to ease her pain. God bless y’all on this Christmas Eve. May His name be glorified and lifted high.
Hi Tipper, I love that song, too, so looked it up on Wikipedia. “The Friendly Beasts” is a traditional Christmas song about the gifts that a donkey, cow, sheep, camel, and dove give to Jesus at the Nativity. The song seems to have originated in 12th-century France, set to the melody of the Latin song “Orientis Partibus”.[1]
Have a very merry Christmas full of love and joy!
Don’t remember the song but I remember when my family back in the 60’s having a silver tree like that one though I think it was taller.
Merry Christmas