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Christmas Comes But Once a Year / King Christmas

Alice Jones and Bryony Griffith sang King Christmas in 2023 on their Selwyn album Wesselbobs. They noted:

This is from the Francis Collinson collection. Composed in Keighley sometime in the late 1800s and remembered by Thomas Place of Keighley 1864/65-1952, it was sent to Collinson by Thomas’ son, William Illingworth Place. It was sung widely in Keighley by Thomas’ family, neighbours and fellow Keighley residents, recalls William in his letter dated 7 December 1952. The song appears never to have been printed or published in the public domain and the composer’s name has sadly been lost over the passage of time.

Enoch Kent sang his satiric parody Christmas Comes But Once a Year in 1962 on the Folkways anthlology Revival in Britain Volume 1. This track was also included in 2002 on Greentrax’s “alternative Christmas album” Bah! Humbug, and in 2006 on the Fellside 4 CD anthology celebrating the folk music and tradition of Christmas and the turning of the year, Midwinter. The first album’s booklet noted:

Kent is one of the few song-writers working in Britain today who can write a parody without it sounding like an undergraduate joke. To take a sugar-coated ‘pop’ of yesteryear and give it guts and a spine is no mean task but it is well within the range of Kent’s sardonic talent.

Lyrics

Alice Jones and Bryony Griffith sing King Christmas

King Christmas comes but once a year,
Let’s give it heart and hand!
And may all trouble fly away
From this our honoured land,
Around our homes of happiness
With friends that we love dear,
And may we all be spared to live,
And meet another year!

Chorus:
Then let us sing our song and chant away,
All should be happy on this day,
Let’s give it hearty cheer.
For it comes but once a year,
The old King Christmas time!

King Christmas time has come again.,
Another year’s gone round,
Old friends will meet, each other greet,
And pleasure will be found.
May all our homes be happy,
And no distress appear,
And angels ever guard and guide,
Us through another year.

And when Winter has gone away,
And Christmas disappears,
Let’s try to live in harmony,
Until another year.
And when our time is ended,
Our last year we have seen,
Let’s try to leave a mark behind
Of honour and esteem!

Enoch Kent sings Christmas Comes But Once a Year

Christmas comes but once a year, so the holy bible says,
And man must stash his cash all year because of Christmas Day;
All the stores were gaily garnished, tinsel and imitation snow,
And we look forward to Christmas Day and we hope we have the dough.

Some people say it’s all because of a boy called Jesus Christ,
And not for making excess cash, those people are not very nice;
Ring the cash up, sing the praises, the saviour born to men,
He saved us all from bankruptcy, may he soon come round again.

Now Nina and Frederick and Gracie Fields are getting in the act,
For a Christmas song sells like a bomb and that’s a bloody fact;
Mary’s boychild, little donkey, Santa, kisses, Mum,
As long as you play on the theme, you’ll make a goodly sum.

So a Merry Christmas, everyone, although the greeting’s stale,
If you didn’t get the gift you wanted, then you’ll get it in our January sale;
Halleluya, line the pavements, cram the cash-desk with your pay,
Thank God for Christianity and rol on Christmas Day!