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We cherish our favourite Christmas stories and revisit them every year, but rarely do we take a moment to consider their origins.

The likes of Ebeneezer Scrooge, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Grinch are fixtures of the festive season, and the circumstances surrounding their conception are frequently fascinating.

Here's how some of our most-loved Yuletide tales were spun.

'A Visit from St Nicholas' (1823)

More popularly known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas", this poem by Clement Clarke Moore, a professor of Oriental and Greek Literature and Divinity in New York, did much to establish American Christmas traditions and the mythology of Santa Claus.

The verse - giving an astonished father's eyewitness account of Santa's arrival by flying sleigh and delivery of presents by easing himself down the chimney - was first published in the state newspaper The Troy Sentinel after a friend of Moore's submitted it without his knowledge.

Printed unattributed, there has been some debate about whether Moore really was the author. Henry Livingston Jr, a farmer and poet, also has a strong claim to be its originator.

Whatever the truth, the result owes a debt to Washington Irving's earlier book A History of New York (1809), which set down the seasonal traditions of the state's Dutch settlers, Santa Claus an anglicising of "Sinterklass".
A Christmas Carol (1843)
Charles Dickens' story of miserly moneylender Ebeneezer Scrooge, visited by ghosts on Christmas Eve urging his moral awakening, first went on sale on 19 December 1843.

The novelist was motivated to write it by a deeply felt outrage at the hardships of the urban poor he saw every day on the streets of Victorian London and the unfeeling avarice of the arch-capitalists of his age.

The author had known poverty himself as a child after his father, John, was incarcerated in the Marshalsea Prison in Southwark for debt, forcing the young Charles into hard labour at a boot-blacking workhouse.

In the winter of 1843, Dickens had visited Clerkenwell's Field Lane Ragged School, a recently founded charitable institute for urchins. The deprivations of the pupils he encountered there only stirred his indignation.

Resolved to address his concerns in fiction, Dickens returne​d to an idea he had first touched upon in The Pickwick Papers (1836): the sinner shocked into a change of heart by supernatural intervention. In that novel, Mr Wardle tells the story of Gabriel Grub, a church sexton visited by goblins, who show him his past and future and inspire a more charitable attitude.

The tale of Scrooge's conversion from penny-pinching humbug to zealous altruist provided a cheering moral, but also set in stone our popular conception of the Victorian Christmas, a time of candlelight and plum pudding, undoubtedly two central reasons for its enduring popularity.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1939)
According to the custom established by "A Visit from St Nicholas", Santa's sleigh is pulled by eight reindeer. Not so, this charming story by Robert L May informed readers.

Rudolph is the ninth, overcoming mockery at his unusual glowing red nose to play a vital role in guiding the carriage through the murky night skies.

May worked as an advertising copywriter for the Chicago department store chain Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression and was assigned to develop a character that would help sell colouring books in December.

He was inspired by his four-year-old daughter Barbara's love of deer at the city zoo and conceived the idea for the nose by watching mist rise from Lake Michigan from his office window. Tragically, the author's wife Evelyn died of cancer during the writing of Rudolph but he pressed on, taking solace in his confidence that the story would bring pleasure to children.

Rudolph's commercial origins were quickly forgotten and he was soon absorbed into Christmas lore, the subject of a favourite nursery rhyme.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Frank Capra's seasonal drama sprung from an unusual source: a Christmas card itself.

Philip Van Doren Stern, a historian of the American Civil War, had written a 21-page, 4,000-word short story, "The Greatest Gift", to amuse himself in November 1939 and sent it on to a number of magazines for publication, all of whom rejected it. Coming across it again four years later, he decided to include a copy in the greetings cards he was sending out to friends.

One found its way into the hands of Cary Grant's agent, Frank Vincent, who proposed it as a vehicle for his client. RKO snapped up the rights for $10,000 but failed to develop it into a workable screenplay, passing it on to Capra's new production company, Liberty Films.

Nine script doctors - Capra, Dalton Trumbo, Dorothy Parker and Clifford Odets among them - would work on it before the draft was deemed satisfactory.

James Stewart, rather than Grant, ended up playing the part of George Bailey, a bank lender who wishes he'd never been born until angel Clarence Oddbody (Henry Travers) shows him a nightmare world without him.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957)
Stewart had returned from the Second World War where he had distinguished himself as a bomber pilot in the US Air Force and resolved to give up acting to dedicate himself to more "worthwhile" causes. Capra, though, persuaded him that storytelling provided an invaluable public service and the conviction Stewart brought to the part of Bailey proved to be among his very best work.

Dr Seuss had first conceived of the Grinch two years before he was given a solo story.

The character had appeared in a 32-line fable, "The Hoobub and the Grinch", which was printed in Redbook magazine and is now collected in Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories (2014). In it, the Grinch takes advantage of a good-natured creature by selling him a piece of string, having persuaded the Hoobub the yarn is worth more than the sun.
'Fairytale of New York' (1987)
Following the completion of The Cat in the Hat, Seuss (AKA Theodor Geisel), revisited the villain as a Christmas-loathing cynic, embodying some of the worst aspects he saw in his own character. The author was 53 when he wrote the book and the Grinch complains of having put up with the Whos for precisely the same number of years. Seuss would later drive a car with the personalised plate "GRINCH".

Its critique of the commercialisation of the season is among the most pointed in his output.

This undying classic from The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl is probably Britain's favourite Christmas song and has deservedly kept songwriters Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer in pints of stout since 1987. The unnamed characters given voice by MacGowan and MacColl are an integral part of modern tradition.

Touchingly frank about lives as they are actually lived - spinning from disappointment to resignation to acceptance to consolation - the duet recounts the love-hate relationship between a pair of washed-up Irish-American immigrants, helplessly bound together, no matter how much they might resist it.

Actually recorded at the height of summer at RAK Studios in Regent's Park, London, the barstool romance was written after producer Elvis Costello challenged MacGowan to compose a festive duet to be sung with bassist Caitlin O'Riordan, his wife and the latter's bandmate.
Krampus (2015)
"I sat down, opened the sherry, got the peanuts out and pretended it was Christmas," MacGowan recalled in a contemporaneous interview with Melody Maker.

MacColl, married to producer Steve Lillywhite, was brought in to sing on the demo and the rest is history, the finished work lifting its title from a 1973 novel by JP Donleavy.

A comparatively recent addition to the Christmas canon, this inspired film from director Michael Dougherty follows in the tradition stretching from the Victorian ghost story to Gremlins (1984) in introducing horror to the hearth.

When a boy is driven to lose his Christmas spirit by the teasing of his dysfunctional family, he tears up his letter to Santa and a heavy blizzard descends. The weather heralds the arrival of Krampus, a horned goat demon in the service of Saint Nick, sent to punish the naughty by dragging them to Hell.

Just as Washington Irving had invoked Dutch festive folklore in their writing, Krampus takes its inspiration from the superstitions of Old Europe.

Krampus is part of the seasonal mythology of Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia.

Revellers dress as the figure in the Alps on 6 December to this day but his origins are mysterious. Some folklorists date the spirit back to pre-Christian ritual but the chains he is often seen to wear have been interpreted by many as an allusion to the Christian concept of "binding the devil".

The controversial Dutch character Black Pete is a loose equivalent, although a far more benign presence.

The film conjures Krampus as a timely response to the rampant commercialism of Christmas, opening with a brilliant satirical montage of deranged Black Friday shoppers competing for bargains.

Modern American interest in Krampusnacht has been credited to YouTube and an increased global awareness born out of internet culture, with the monster now regarded as an antidote to the sentiment of the season for contrarians.

Only Donald Trump in Home Alone 2 (1992) casts a more sinister shadow.

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From Scrooge to the Grinch: The inspiration behind our favourite Christmas stories

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We cherish our favourite Christmas stories and revisit them every year, but rarely do we take a moment to consider their origins. The likes of Ebeneezer Scrooge, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Grinch are fixtures of the festive season, and the circumstances surrounding their conception are frequently fascinating.

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A leading human rights lawyer has warned a no-deal Brexit would be be illegal because of the "real and immediate risk to life".

Jonathan Cooper, who was awarded an OBE for his work in 2007, says the government would be knowingly putting the British public in danger if the UK crashes out of the EU without an agreement.

Citing threats ranging from a shortage of medicines to a breakdown in law and order, he argues the result will be unlawful under the Human Rights Act and the international human rights treaty obligations.

"As a matter of human rights law, as well as the common law, the UK Government cannot deliberately expose people to policies that risk a loss of life," he argues in an article for The Independent.

"The fact that a no-deal Brexit will mean deaths that would not have occurred otherwise, demands that the UK Government cannot contemplate no deal.

"The Government knows that there is a real and immediate risk to life by pursuing no deal. As a matter of the UK's constitutional framework, no deal is simply off the table. No deal breaks the law."

Mr Cooper, a member of Doughty Street Chambers, says that litigation to stop a no-deal Brexit will be "inevitable" and cases may end up before the European Court of Human Rights.

"The prospect of British cancer patients standing before the European Court simply pleading to stay alive and to put a no-deal Brexit on hold will be the ultimate indignity for Theresa May's Brexit strategy," he adds.

"Worse still for the prime minister is that, in the event of no deal, investigations into the loss of life under these circumstances will be carried out in public and responsibility for deaths will be attributed."

He also claims that the UK could be held to account at the UN and before the European Court of Human Rights - even if an act of parliament was passed mandating a no-deal Brexit.

"Human rights laws would not prevent Brexit, but they do require a human rights-compliant Brexit," he writes.

The warning came as the government began testing its contingency plans to ease congestion on roads to Dover in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Police are preparing for disorder and protests and defence secretary Gavin Williamson has said 3,500 troops will be on standby in the event of a crisis.

Plans to stockpile vital blood products and medicines were announced last year but last month health secretary Matt Hancock said there could be up to six months of drug shortages.

The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.

Sign our petition here

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No-deal Brexit 'illegal because of imminent risks to life', says human rights lawyer

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A leading human rights lawyer has warned a no-deal Brexit would be be illegal because of the "real and immediate risk to life". Jonathan Cooper, who was awarded an OBE for his work in 2007, says the government would be knowingly putting the British public in danger if the UK crashes out of the EU without an agreement.

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Police are investigating a "disturbing" video that shows a man following Muslim schoolgirls and calling for them to be sterilised.

Footage circulating on social media shows the man filming as he gets off a bus in Bow, east London, while pupils including girls wearing headscarves leave a nearby school.

As he starts walking down the road amid groups of girls he is heard calling them "black c***s" who are going to "breed like f***ing rats".

"This was England," he says, while filming the girls. "We're going to be f***ed with this lot. I think what we might have to do is think of something like old doctor Mengele [...] so the c**ts can't f***ing multiply."

The man was apparently referring to Josef Mengele, a SS officer and physician in Auschwitz who performed deadly human experiments on prisoners and selected victims to send to the gas chambers.

Mengele tested tortuous methods of sterilisation on Jewish women, involving surgery, x-rays and chemicals.

Islamophobia monitoring group Tell Mama called the video "very disturbing", while viewers expressed shock and disgust on social media.

The pupils were from the Central Foundation Girls' School, a state comprehensive for 11 to 18-year-olds.

John Biggs, the mayor of Tower Hamlets, and local councillor Asma Begum said the school had been offered support.

A joint statement added: "We condemn the use of this inflammatory rhetoric. Tower Hamlets is home to people from all over the world and we are proud of our history, which has been enriched by migration.

"We will always challenge negativity like this and stand up for all our community."

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said police were investigating the origin of the video.

"On Friday, 25 January, police received reports of racist and abusive video footage posted online," he added.

"The footage is believed to have been captured in Tower Hamlets and shows schoolgirls, some of whom are wearing hijab head coverings.

"A male voice can be heard on the clip providing abusive and offensive commentary.

"The children appeared unaware of the filming and no allegations have been made to police. Enquiries continue."

It comes after religiously motivated hate crime rocketed by 40 per cent in a year across England and Wales.

More than half of recorded offences in 2017-18 targeted Muslims, with monitors warning that anti-Muslim bigotry was becoming mainstream.

The head of UK counterterror policing has warned that religious hate crime is a "proxy measure" for the increasing terror threat from the extreme right-wing, and research shows rising belief in Islamophobic myths.

Anyone with information is asked to call Tower Hamlets CID on 101, contact the safeguarding team direct on 0207 275 4766, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111

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Muslim schoolgirls filmed by man in 'disturbing' racist video being investigated by police

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Police are investigating a "disturbing" video that shows a man following Muslim schoolgirls and calling for them to be sterilised. Footage circulating on social media shows the man filming as he gets off a bus in Bow, east London, while pupils including girls wearing headscarves leave a nearby school.

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Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay has held talks with advocates of a second referendum, as they laid out their proposals should a "new direction" be needed in the coming days.

In a sign that Downing Street is taking the prospect of a fresh vote seriously, the Labour MP Peter Kyle said Mr Barclay was "engaging fully" with possibilities, but had remained "loyal" to government policy to oppose a second referendum at all costs.

Alongside his colleague Phil Wilson, Mr Kyle has outlined a plan to help the prime minister's Brexit deal get through the Commons on the condition of it then being put to the country in a second referendum.

A government source confirmed the 45-minute meeting went ahead when asked by The Independent, but insisted Mr Barclay regularly meets with MPs from all political parties.

The discussions come as Westminster prepares for yet another week of political turmoil with MPs gearing up to vote on the prime minister's Brexit deal.

On Friday, Ms May herself admitted: "Reject it and no one knows what will happen. We may not leave the EU for many months, we may leave without the protections that the deal provides. We may never leave at all."

Details of the meeting emerged as the shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said on Sunday that he expected there would be an opportunity for MPs to vote on a fresh referendum in the days ahead - either through a Labour amendment, or one tabled by backbenchers.

But Sir Keir made clear this will not happen on Tuesday when MPs vote on the prime minister's withdrawal agreement for a second time. "I think there is a growing feeling that this Tuesday should be a straight up-and-down vote on the deal," he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.

Sir Keir continued: "I don't know whether something dramatic will happen in the next 24 hours but unless it does, exactly the same deal is going to be put before parliament."

"It doesn't mean that a public vote is gone," he added. "It doesn't mean we won't come to it. We will have to work with others. There is going to be plenty of opportunities for amendments."

Mr Kyle, who revealed the meeting, told The Observer: "Clearly the Brexit secretary is fully engaged in the battle to deliver support for the vote on Tuesday.

"But that didn't stop him from engaging fully with the possibilities our compromise offers. We didn't enter the meeting with expectations of converting him to our cause but we hope that government now understands what our plan offers, should a new direction be demanded by parliament in the coming days."
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Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay held talks with pro-second referendum Labour MPs

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Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay has held talks with advocates of a second referendum, as they laid out their proposals should a "new direction" be needed in the coming days.