Did I ever tell you folks about that special Christmas Eve when Santa Claus decided to come t' my cabin, and trade a few fiddle tunes with me?

Well, it's a wonderful story, and here's how it all happened.....

Wintertime had settled on our village, and I was in me cabin the night afore the night afore Christmas, sawing happily on my fiddle, as always, enjoying the comfort of my music. Suddenly I heard a knock on my door. I knew who owned that knock all too well.

It was Ol' B'arbottom, my big ol' grizzly bear buddy. He'd come t' tell me that the time had come fer him t' hibernate, so I should come t' his cave and fiddle him a lullaby or two. So that's exactly what I did. It was a very sweet and joyous melody, just perfect fer th' holidays. It was, and B'arbottom didn't know it, none other than "Silent Night." When I was done, I whispered in the big bear's ear, "Merry Christmas, old friend," and then, I returned to the cabin.

Well, the next night, which, as I said, was Christmas Eve, I was settlin' down fer a snooze or two (for even fiddlers have to sleep sometimes, y'know!), when suddenly, I heard sleigh bells off in the distance.

Investigatin' the sitch'ation as best I could, I arose from my bed and noticed that there was an unexpected stranger in my yard! He was big, burly, and had a belly so huge, you could fit a hundred hazel nuts in him and he'd eat 'em all up right than an' thar! (Heh-heh!)

"Who are you?" I grunted, not takin' too kindly to the presence of strangers in my yard.

"They call you Old Man Fiddler, don't they?" said the stranger.

"How did you know my name?"

"Well," said the stranger, "let's just say I know a lot of things. Including how to play the fiddle!"

"WHAT?" I said, not darin' to believe this fella. "So you're a fiddler, too, huh?"

"Oh yes," said the stranger. "In fact, I've finished all my deliveries for tonight, and yours is the last house here, so ---"

And that's how I noticed that this gentleman had a long, flowing white beard --- not a long as mine, but long enough. "Deliveries?" I said. "Just a minute, you're not saying..... well, maybe you are sayin'...."

"Yes, my dear friend. Listen to what your heart is telling you," the big fella said.

And then, I finally blurted out the words."Why, consarn it --- you're Santa Claus!"

"I most certainly am, dear Old Man Fiddler," Santa said. "And you possess a kindly heart and a very jolly spirit --- so I was wondering if I could join you and play a few fiddle tunes with you?"

Well, this was something I hadn't expected. But then, Santa explained to me that he had his very own Music Room up at his North Pole home, where he had collected every single musical instrument in the whole wide world! And what's more, he knew how to play them all --- but he preferred to play the fiddle, mostly because it gave him a little bit o' peace, the same way I liked t' play.

"So you want to share a few fiddle tunes, huh?"

"Of course!"

"Did y' bring yer own fiddle?"

"Now you know better than to ask me that, Old Man Fiddler. When I ask someone if I can join in, I always come prepared!" So sayin', the Jolly Old Elf magically produced from the folds of his pockets his very own fiddle. And you can imagine how surprised I was to find out that it was a Stradivarius fiddle, too!

"So you play a Stradivarius fiddle, huh?" I said. "Well, well! In that case, Santa, I only got one thing left to say."

"And what's that?"

"What're we waitin' fer? Let's play!"

So there we were, Santa Claus and me, both of us playing in perfect unison, and in perfect harmony.... and, as you might expect, all my friends of the forest came by to watch the two of us fiddlin' the evenin' away. We played a few Christmas carols, and a few country tunes, and one or two merry little bluegrass melodies!

And high above my cabin, far up in the sky, the magic of the Northern Lights took hold, and its powerful aura began to dance and dance and dance! But Santa an' me, we weren't noticin'. The two o' us just kept on smilin' happily, and fiddled on and on, until the comin' of sunrise.....

And as that ol' sun did indeed begin t' show up, well, it did make me a little sad when I knew that Santa finally had t' leave, but I said to him afore he left, "You make a real good fiddler, y'know. Yer welcome in me cabin anytime!"

"Thank you, Old Man Fiddler," said Santa. "The reason I asked if I could fiddle with you was to give you a reward of sorts."

"Well, why reward me?"

"Because you've been so good and kind to others. Even the forest animals --- especially that big grizzly bear who almost tried to eat my reindeer!"

"Well, don't ye worry too much about Ol' B'arbottom," I said. "He just likes to play rough a lot sometimes, too." And we both burst out laughin', because that was so funny! "Well, Old Man Fiddler," said Santa, "thank you for a very merry evening. Maybe someday, you can visit me for once and teach Mrs. Claus how to play the fiddle, too!"

"Well, I'll look forward to it," I said. And with that, I waved him a fond farewell as he drove off in his sleigh. Then I went back to the cabin, and started to play once again! "Well, Santa Claus might be a wonderful fiddler," I said to myself, as I played a merry little holiday tune, "but o' course, we know who's the best durn fiddler of 'em all, now, don't we?" And I winked an eye at my feathered friends, who, of course, knew the answer to that question. But they just kept on a-chirpin', and I just kept on a-fiddlin'.

At least, though, we were all happy.... and, as always, that's just the way I like it! Yeee-ha!