Listening to some Christmas Carols last night a serious question popped into my mind.

Do or did one horse sleighs actually have jingling bells?

If so, why? A one horse sulky has never had bells jingling or otherwise in my experience, so why sleighs.

Hopefully someone from a cold climate such as Foxy can answer this very serious & important question.

Meanwhile Merry Christmas & a happy new year all.

Merry Christmas Hasbeen,

My ancestors did come from a cold climate. I didn't.
And until now I didn't really know all that much
about the story of "Jingle Bells." But Thank You for
your question and including me in it. Here's what I
found. I hope it helps answer it.

The following link explains:

http://americanmusicpresentation.com/jinglebellssong.htm

Here's another: link that gives fun-facts of sleigh bells:

http://blog.oup.com/2014/12/fun-facts-sleigh-bells/

Apparently centuries ago sleigh bells were fastened to horses to signal the
approach of someone important or to warn pedestrians of an
approaching vehicle. Sleighs were unable to stop quickly enough
so they needed a warning sound.

It seems that small bells existed even in ancient times. In Sumer,
Babylonia, Assyria, and Egypt and were commonly suspended
from the trappings of horses, mules and camels.

My apologies. I seem to be having problems with my first
link so here's another one:

http://kusc.org/culture/arts-alive-blog/the-history-of-jingle-bells/

Hassy Complements of the Season,

The only cold climate I believe Foxy comes from is the occupational trip through the refrigerated section of her local 'Woolies' or 'Coles' supermarket. Foxy being as Australian as you and me, perhaps more so with her compassion for ALL AUSSIES, something some of us lack. You must be referring to her Lithuanian ancestry. I'm not surprised it took a whole year for you to come up with your most intelligent question for the Forum in 2022. The answer is obvious, even to a genius such as yourself. Snow storm - white out - bell, that may baffle you, but so does most science, including Climate Science.

and just for you Hassy;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjjIAGYf9FY

I was glad to hear Nursy down at the R.I.P. Retirement Home, was kind enough to put the Xmas pud and custard through the blender for you old guys so you could top off yourXmas lunch of ham and turkey broth with a side of mashed vegies. Very traditional!

Dear Paul and Hassie,

You both will enjoy the Aussie version.
Here's just a few verses:

Dashing through the bush in a rusty Holden ute
Kicking up the dust esky in the boot
Kelpie by my side singing Christmas songs
It's summer time and I am in my singlet, shorts and thongs

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summer's day Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden ute!

Hi Foxy,

Love Bucko and Champs, got their Xmas CD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnJ8jsw4BSo

Dear Paul,

Thanks for Bucko and Champs. They're absolutely great!
I love their "Six White Boomers." My grandkids love theme well.

It's been one heck of a Christmas this year. I'm only just now
getting over it.

I'm already thinking about Easter. And my daughter-in-law is
planning - "Christmas-in-July."

On the flip-side - we've just received some sad news.
Two of our close friends have died. Both very fit men
who exercised daily and were healthy - both suffered
strokes. One complained of dizziness, had a biopsy
done, and they could stop the bleeding - which resulted
in a massive stroke. Both in their late 60s galloping towards
seventy. Is it an age thing? It came as a shock.

I guess if you've got any symptoms - have them
checked out - quickly.

That's true Foxy,

I wished a lady a "Merry Xmas" the other day, and she started bawling her eyes out. I apologised for causing such hurt, it seems her much loved husband of many years passed at Xmas, some time back, and she is still grieving his loss. She did say; "No no, it me, not you."

Buddha told us that death and suffering are part and parcel of life. None can avoid this truth. One has to meet one's destined end one day. (But there is no need to bring it on unnecessarily).

For without death there cannot be life.

I don't get the importance of the question, but the post seems to have given the loony left practitioners an opportunity to have a two way conversation on matters relevant only to them.

Look, the Xmas Turkey is over here now, nothing better to do ttbn.

Dear Paul,

ttbn must be feeling excluded.

Poor thing needs a hug but he won't get it
with his attitude.

Dear Paul,

You notice that Hasbeen asked me a question and invited
me into this discussion which I have tried to maintain
for him. ttbn instead of contributing to the discussion
(or any other for that matter) will always find fault.
That man has serious issues and needs help. He must be
a joy to live with.

Given that Hasbeen once said that he didn't mind the subject of threads being changed when I complained about it once, he should be OK with me switching from a horse drawn vehicle to military ones. And the usual two are having a private conversation anyway.

I refer to an article 'Childish China threatens Taiwan (again)', which reports that Communist China had sent "71 planes and 7 military ships…. toward …… Taiwan inside 24-hours between Sunday and Monday". Taiwanese air space was violated again.

A lovely Christmas present! Nicely wrapped in the usual lies about Taiwan belonging to China, and U.S "aggression" - and the hypocrisy of yapping about America "interfering" in China’s "internal" affairs and their "intolerance".

Ah … who does that remind me of …

In South Vietnam there was no Christmas Day as far as my group were concerned. Before that, we always celebrated Christmas with the Commissioned Officers serving all us troops in our mess Christmas Dinner. But Malaya & SV knocked all that crap right out of my thinking, and as far as I'm concerned, Christmas is both a delusion and a mythical ideology together with a great waste of time and money.

For what it's worth, and for those who believe, I wish everybody on 'The Forum and theirs' a belated happy Christmas and a healthy 2023.

Maybe Santa should give poor old Rudolph and his overworked reindeer mates a break and upgrade to something with a little more poke.

Santa Claus and his Rocket Sleigh!
http://youtu.be/yDRJItKqClk

Oh no! It's the Grinch!

Rocket Sled Grinch stealing Christmas!!
http://youtu.be/dhhCVbMwraY

Hey Hasbeen,

I found this info for you.
http://network.land.com/lifestyle/culture/one-horse-open-sleigh-a-history-of-jingle-bells/

"The jingling bells now forever remembered in Pierport’s catchy chorus describe the bells that lined leather harnesses or sleigh shafts of the time. It was custom—and in some cases local law—to drive with bells as a precautionary measure. Sled runners glided smoothly over the ground and snow muffled the sounds of horses’ hooves, making horse-drawn sleighs a nearly silent form of transportation. As such, clinking bells helped drivers avoid collisions at intersections and alerted passersby to a sled’s approach."

Hassie, here's another one for you:

http://billingsfarm.orge/machine-of-the-month-sleigh-bells/#

Oooops. Here 'tis again:

http://billingsfarm.org/machine-of-the-month-sleigh-bells/#

Thanks for all the answers.

Hope you all have a jingly new year.