If ever a man completely changed from being a mean, miserable old miser to the merriest man of any Christmas day, then it must surely be Ebenezer Scrooge.
   When Charles Dickens brought this eccentric character to life in his book A Christmas Carol, he unleashed on the world a story that is as fresh and meaningful today as it was when he wrote in nearly 150 years ago. Although Scrooge starts off claiming that Christmas is 'humbug' and a poor excuse for a day's holiday with pay, he soon sees the error of his ways after a succession of improbable ghosts have haunted him through the night of Christmas Eve. Not even Tiny Tim is as excited to see the arrival of Christmas Day as Scrooge himself. His hard shell of bitterness has been shattered at last by the unqualified love of others and his own remorse. With the sparkle of yuletide cheer freely kindled within him, Ebenezer Scrooge greets the dawn of his brightest, most magnificent Christmas morning.
   Charles Dicken wrote: "It was always said of Scrooge that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!"
   This is David Winter's first sculpture in his Christmas Collection. Each year he will sculpt a new special piece for Christmas with the year clearly marked.
   The sculpting is up to David Winter's usual standard and picks out several of the details from the Dickens' book such as the door handle that turns into the face of Jacob Marley. The hands of the clock point to one o'clock, the hour at which the first ghost appears.