What is Parson Brown?
1.
"Parson Brown" is the term used to talk about a typical angelican priest of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. "Parson Brown" is not an actual person (though he might have been at some time), but a figure of speech, like "John Doe" is an unidentified male and "Charley" is a watchman. "Parson" by itself means minister.
The classic line from Winter Wonderland:
"In the meadow we can build a snowman
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say 'Are you married ?', We'll say 'No man,
For you can do the job when you're in town.'"
Sure, it sounds like some kind of sexual reference, but its not. It's just a priest asking a couple if they are married. They reply that they are not and that they will wait for him to "do the job" of marrying them when he comes to their town.
See
2.
Parson Brown is the reference in the christmas song "Winter Wonderland". There is much controversy as to who this person is. Parson Brown is a distant relative to Charlie Brown, most unknown to the majority of Peanuts fans. There is a lost reel featuring Parson Brown in the holiday special "Charlie Brown and the great christmas tree caper". You can only find this episode on EBAY. So that settles the age old dispute as to who is Parson Brown and why are we pretending that he is our snowman??
...in the meadow we can build a snowman and pretend that he is Parson Brown...
See
