Origin Of The Twelve Days Of Christmas

Only a little over a week to Christmas and I still much to do before the Holy Day arrives. The time draws nigh. . . or does it? Christians have long celebrated Christmas for twelve days, from the day marking Christ's birth to the 12th day on which the western branch celebrates Epiphany and the eastern branch celebrates Christ's birth. So, why must I follow the commercial ways of the world?

Speaking of the Twelve Days of Christmas, here's a little piece I wrote a few years back about them. When most people hear this phrase, they think of the song. Do you recall or have you ever heard about its origin. Here's what I found out.



Some folks have mistakenly suggested that the song itself had its origins as a teaching tool to instruct young people in the meaning and content of the Christian faith. From 1558 to 1829, goes this explanation, Roman Catholics in England were supposedly not able to practice their faith openly. So they had to find other ways to pass on their beliefs. To do that they invented "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song as an allegory. Each of the items in the song thus represented something of religious significance. The song became a kind of catechism.
According to that interpretation the song goes:

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..." The "true love" represents God and the "me" who receives these presents is the Christian.

The "partridge in a pear tree" was Jesus Christ who died on a tree as a gift from God.

The "two turtle doves" were the Old and New Testaments - another gift from God. 

The "three French hens" were faith hope and love - the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (I Corinthians 13).

The "four calling birds" were the four Gospels which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.

The "five golden rings" were the first five books of the Bible also called the "Books of Moses."

The "six geese a-laying" were the six days of creation.

The "seven swans a swimming" were "seven gifts of the Holy Spirit."(I Corinthians 12:8-11, Romans 12:1-10, Ephesians 4:1-16, 1 Peter 4:10-11)

The "eight maids a milking" were the eight beatitudes.

The "nine ladies dancing" were nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The "ten lords a-leaping" were the Ten Commandments.

The "eleven pipers piping" were the eleven faithful disciples.

The "twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed. 

The Twelve Days of Christmas is in fact a children's rhyme first published in a book called Mirth without Mischief in London around 1780. Originally a memory and forfeit game, a circle of players gathered to play and each person took turns to say the first line of the rhyme. When it was the first player's turn again he said the second line of the verse and so on until someone missed his or her verse and had to pay some kind of forfeit or penalty.

100 years later the game and rhyme were adopted by Lady Gomme as a rhyme that "the whole family could have fun singing every twelfth night before Christmas before eating mince pies and twelfth cake."

Many other theories have been put forward to explain the strange collection of gifts catalogued in this carol, and various attempts have been made to explain them as symbolic of something or other. It has been suggested, for instance, that 'pear tree' is a corruption of perdrix (pronounced 'pair-dree'), French for partridge. What is a calling bird? Not, as some people think, a bird calling or singing, but rather colly bird, an old popular name for a blackbird - colly being a dialect word for coal dust. Five golden rings refers not to five pieces of jewelry, but to five ring-necked birds (such as pheasants). When these errors are corrected, the pattern of the first seven gifts becomes types of birds: partridge, turtle doves, French hens, pheasants, geese and swans.

There are many other explanations for this most familiar song. Few seem to agree. Even though I've studied the explanations I've not mastered the words and have to peek.

On the nth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: 

Twelve lords a-leaping, 

Eleven ladies dancing, 

Ten pipers piping, 

Nine drummers drumming, 

Eight maids a-milking, 

Seven swans a-swimming, 

Six geese a-laying, 

Five gold rings, 

Four colly birds, 

Three French hens, 

Two turtle doves, and 

A partridge in a pear tree.

Christmas is a time for singing, sharing gifts and remembering with joy the Father's precious gift to us all. Perhaps the best thing for all of us is to forget about all the explanations and simply enjoy singing during these upcoming twelve days. We have many songs and hymns to enjoy. "God rest ye merry," one and all.