top of page

Let’s talk about The 12 Days of Christmas

Writer's picture: EliteLettingsEliteLettings


The longest traditional Christmas carol is "The 12 Days of Christmas," with its exhaustive list of gifts given by a true love to the singer of the song. During the holiday season, this song is heard everywhere from shopping malls to television commercials to church functions.


But what’s the origin, the story behind the song? And what does a song about doves, hens and geese have to do with Christmas? Hopefully within this article you will get the answers to the "12 Days of Christmas" mysteries you’ve been seeking.


The exact origin is unknown, but the words were first written down (without music) in the 1780 British book Mirth Without Mischief. The poem was likely a game for kids called a "memory and forfeits" game:  In the game, players had to remember all of the previous verses and add a new verse at the end until you made a mistake and it was paid in the form of a kiss, a piece of candy or a token to the others. Many historians believe the poem originated in France before transferring over to England, as evidenced by the inclusion of partridges (which were native to France, and didn’t arrive in England until the 18th century). Various melodies have been written for the poem, but the one we know best is by English composer Frederic Austin, who published his arrangement in 1909. He altered some lyrics; he was the one to write down "calling" birds instead of "colly bird” or "canary," for example.


The 12 days of Christmas, in fa­ct, are the 12 days from Dec. 25, celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ, to the Epiphany (The Epiphany is the celebration of when the three wise men visited Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in Bethlehem), celebrated on Jan. 6 as the day when the manifestation of Christ's glory was realised . Which historically were a period of rest, feasting, gathering with loved ones, and general merrymaking.


Does the song have a hidden meaning?

Many people see Christian symbolism in the lyrics, and there's a theory that the song was written to help Catholics learn about their faith during a time when the religion was banned in England, from 1558 and 1829. The carol, it is said, was a catechism song for Catholics to learn "the tenets of their faith," as they could not openly practice in Anglican society. The thinking is that gifts in the song secretly correspond to different parts of the christian tradition. Snopes and other historians have debunked that - especially as the earliest claims of this tie-in date to the 1990s. Still, you're free to interpret the words as you wish!


What are the gifts in "The 12 Days of Christmas"?

There have been some variations over the years (the calling birds were sometimes canary birds or colly birds, meaning blackbirds). The current common list of gifts along with their supposed symbolism are:


Day 1:   A Partridge in a Pear Tree - Jesus Christ

Day 2:  Two Turtle Doves              - The Old and New Testaments

Day 3:  Three French Hens            - The three virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity

Day 4:  Four Calling/Collie Birds   - Four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Day 5:  Five Golden Rings            - First five books of the Old Testament

Day 6:  Six Geese-a-Laying        - Six days of creation before God's rest on the 7th

Day 7:   Seven Swans-a-Swimming - Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

Day 8:   Eight Maids-a-Milking       - Eight Beatitudes

Day 9:   Nine Ladies Dancing        - Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit

Day 10: Ten Lords-a-Leaping           - Ten Commandments

Day 11:  Eleven Pipers Piping         - Eleven faithful disciples

Day 12: Twelve Drummers Drumming - Twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Cree


What do "The 12 Days of Christmas" gifts mean?

To the modern ear, these gifts seem very unusual: Half of them are birds (and some historians believe that the “five golden rings” may be a reference to the golden rings around a pheasant’s neck), and the other half are people.


If these gifts are taken literally (i.e., not as Christian symbolism), they seem to be the makings for a lively party. The birds may have not been intended as pets but rather food for a feast. A Tudor Christmas pie would have contained several of the "12 Days of Christmas" birds—the pie is a turkey stuffed with a goose stuffed with a chicken (a French hen?) stuffed with a partridge stuffed with a pigeon (a turtle dove?). And that was all encased in pastry and served with other roasted birds and rabbits surrounding it! Roast goose remained a popular Christmas feast (think of Ebenezer Scrooge’s goose gift to the Cratchits family in A Christmas Carol), and Queen Victoria was partial to roasted swans.


As for the people, they seem to be prepping for (or performing at) a celebration. Edward Phinney, a professor of classics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, theorises that the song is really a love story. “If you think of all the things being presented, they’re all gifts from a lover to a woman,” Phinney said in a 1990 interview in the Los Angeles Times. “It looks like a young man trying to impress his intended by wooing her with many gifts. They’re all things that would be useful at a wedding.”


How many gifts are given in total?

Over the course of the 12 days, the true love gives 364 gifts! That's because the gifts are cumulative, and each day, the singer gets a repeat of the gifts from the previous days. In total, the singer gets 12 partridges, 22 turtle doves, 30 French hens, 36 calling birds, 40 gold rings, 42 geese, 42 swans, 40 maids, 36 ladies, 30 lords, 22 pipers, and 12 drummers. Quite the haul!


How much would it cost to give someone the "12 Days of Christmas" gifts?

A lot. Every year for the past 40 years, PNC Bank releases its Christmas Price Index, which tallies up how much it would cost to give your true love the full “12 Days of Christmas” experience. If you give them all 364 gifts, it will cost you over £157,908.60 to wow your true love. Even if you give them as a one-off (without repeating gifts day by day), you'd spend almost £37,108.52.

The most expensive gift of the bunch is the lords a-leaping; 10 of them would cost you over £11,053.60. The cheapest? The maids a-milking, who, assuming they're earning the national minimum wage of £11.44 an hour, only cost £457.60 total.


How many alternative versions of "The 12 Days of Christmas" are there?

Too many to count! The lyrics have varied considerably over the years; 1840 version has "part of a juniper tree" instead of "partridge in a pear tree" and "eight hares a-running" instead of eight maids. Beyond that, this song is ripe for parody, and plenty of singers, TV shows, and comedians have had fun with it. Plus, this song has had international appeal for centuries, as people in Scotland, France, Sweden, and other places have had their own variations of the Christmas carol. (The French version featuring 12 good cheeses and 11 good hams sounds pretty delicious!)


Here are some of our favourite renditions:


The Muppets version of the Christmas carol (with John Denver) is an adorable, heartwarming classic take.

An a cappella version by Straight No Chaser is an expert mashup of the song with other holiday classics.

The SCTV parody by the McKenzie Brothers gives turtlenecks and beer instead of turtle doves and partridges.

And The 12 Pains of Christmas by Bob Rivers chronicles all the issues with putting together a modern Christmas—like batteries not included and rigging up the lights.


Check out  The Best Gift Ideas of 2024  according to real simple website.


Was the article helpful?

We would love to hear from you

Drop your question/opinion in the comments

Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating
logomark transparent light_edited.png
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Blogger
bottom of page