Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas are (depending on differing authorities and sources) either the days from December 26 to January 6, (January 6 being the Epiphany), or the days from Christmas through the eve January 5 of Epiphany. Arguing in favor of the latter is that it coincides more closely with the liturgical Christmas season. However, the 19th century folklorist Sir James George Frazer, favors the December 26 - January 6 interpretation: The last of the mystic twelve days is Epiphany or Twelfth Night ... (The Golden Bough, 1922)

History

These are the twelve days beginning on night of Christmas (December 25) and ending on Epiphany (January 6). In the Middle Ages this period was one of continuous feasting and merrymaking, which climaxed on Twelfth Night, the traditional end of the Christmas season.

Contrary to popular belief, Christmas is not the "first day of the Christmas." Instead, we might better describe them as the twelve days after Christmas. By ancient reckoning, days and nights were counted separately, and the important night was often the night before, not the night of, the celebration (hence modern traditions of Christmas Eve and All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween). The "twelve days" count actually begins with the eve of December 25, the "first night." The day of December 26 is the "first day," the eve of December 26 the "second night," and so on. The famous Twelfth Night is the eve of Epiphany, and the twelfth day is Epiphany itself.

During the twelve days of Christmas, traditional roles were often relaxed, masters waited on their servants, men were allowed to dress as women, and women as men. Often a Lord of Misrule was chosen to lead the Christmas revels. Some of these traditions were adapted from older, pagan customs, including the Roman Saturnalia. Some also have an echo in modern day pantomime where traditionally authority is mocked and the principal male lead is played by a woman, while the leading older female character, or 'Dame' is played by a man.

This period is referred to in the song Twelve Days of Christmas.

it takes its name from the season (which is also known as Twelvetide), "Twelve Days of Christmas" is a traditional English-language Christmas song, or Christmas carol.

The date of the song's first performance is not known, though it was used in European and Scandinavian traditions as early as the 16th century. An interesting fact about this song is that the total number of presents given (counting 12 partridges, 11 × 2 turtle doves...) is 364, one fewer than the number of days in a year.

Structure

Of the 364 total items, 100 of them are birds.

"Twelve Days of Christmas" is a cumulative song, meaning that each verse is built on top of all the previous verses. There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by "my true love" on one of the twelve days of Christmas.

The first verse runs:

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

A partridge in a pear tree.

The second verse:

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Two turtle doves

and a partridge in a pear tree.

and so on. The last verse is:

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Twelve drummers drumming,

eleven pipers piping,

ten lords a-leaping,

nine ladies dancing,

eight maids a-milking,

seven swans a-swimming,

six geese a-laying,

five golden rings;

four calling birds,

three French hens,

two turtle doves

and a partridge in a pear tree.

Symbolic interpretation

Some Christians assign symbolism to the gifts in the song. One version of these assigned meanings is:

The 'partridge in a pear tree' is Jesus
The 'two turtle doves' are the Old and New Testaments
The 'three French hens' are the three virtues, faith, hope, and love
The 'four calling birds' are the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
'Five golden rings' are the first five books of the Bible, or the Pentateuch
'Six geese a-laying' refer to the six days of the Creation
'Seven swans a-swimming' are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
'Eight maids a-milking' are the eight Beatitudes
'Nine ladies dancing' are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
'Ten lords a-leaping' are the Ten Commandments
'Eleven pipers piping' are the eleven faithful Apostles
'Twelve drummers drumming' are the twelve doctrines in the Apostles' Creed

This interpretation is usually taught with a story (widely considered to be apocryphal, as it is unsupported by any historical evidence) that English Catholics, suffering persecution in the 16th century, wrote the song with these hidden meanings.

Variations

Sometimes "gave to me" is used instead of "sent to me"; also "five golden rings" is sometimes "five gold rings."

The line four calling birds is an Americanization of the traditional English wording four colly birds, and in some places, such as Australia, the variation calling is supplanting the original. Colly is a dialect word meaning black and refers to the European blackbird Turdus merula.

The line four calling birds in some versions is four coiled birds.

The line nine ladies dancing in some versions is nine ladies waiting.

As well, the last four verses are sometimes interchanged, so that one version of the song may have nine pipers, ten drummers, eleven ladies, twelve lords, or any other combination.

Many parodies of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" (performed by the Bob Rivers comedy troupe) have been written. The version performed by the Canadian comedy team Bob & Doug McKenzie replaces the first gift with "a beer, in a tree" (awkwardly metered to match the traditional "a partridge in a pear tree"), substituting the other gifts on the list with other stereotypically Canadian items such as 8 comic books, 7 packs of smokes, 6 packs of two-fours, 5 golden toques, 4 pounds of back bacon, 3 french toasts, 2 turtlenecks, and a beer in a tree.

Jeff Foxworthy's "Redneck" version, which has become the most popular parody version heard on American radio as of 2004. The gifts include a 12-pack of Bud, 11 rasslin' tickets, a tin of Copenhagen, 9 years probation, 8 table dancers, 7 packs of Red Man, 6 cans of SPAM, 5 flannel shirts, 4 big mud tires, 3 shotgun shells, 2 hunting dogs, and some parts to a Mustang GT. Unlike most other versions of the song, Foxworthy's does not feature the characteristic numerical verses.

A popular parody in the United States, The Twelve Pains of Christmas, does away with numbering altogether and instead lists some of the activities that drive Americans crazy during the Christmas season from lighting, to gift-giving, to dealing with family members, even singing carols.

External links

Some sophisticated and funny parodies of the "12 days":