When dinner is ended, what sound do we hear From holly-deck'd parlor ring merry and clear? 'Tis Uncle Tom's fiddle! the tune is a call To all the good people to come to our ball. They come, young and old, and partake of our cheer, For old Christmas comes only once in a year! Then hand up the holly, and let us prepare The house for the pleasure in which all can share. FOOTNOTE: [A] Nursery, Vol. XXIV. * * * * * Transcriber's Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. The original text for the January issue had a table of contents that spanned six issues. This was divided amongst those issues. Additionally, only the January issue had a title page. This page was copied for the remaining five issues. Each issue had the number added on the title page after the Volume number. End of Project Gutenberg's The Nursery, January 1881, Vol. XXIX, by Various