Reply #5: Maybe not Kipling

[LA lady]

The Gathering is my all time favourite Christmas movie.

Could this be it? Not Kipling but Sims.

It is Christmas Day in the workhouse,
And the cold, bare walls are bright
With garlands of green and holly,
Ad the place is a pleasant sight;
For with clean-washed hands and faces,
In a long and hungry line
The paupers sit at the table,
For this is the hour they dine.

And the guardians and their ladies,
Although the wind is east,
Have come in their furs and wrappers,
To watch their charges feast;
To smile and be condescending,
Put pudding on pauper plates.
To be hosts at the workhouse banquet
They've paid for — with the rates.

There's more:
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/lit/xmasday.html