The Twelve Days Of Christmas

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

Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree. On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

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

Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

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

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

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.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree. On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree. On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens,

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me 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. On the tenth day of Christmas,

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

Two turtle doves,

Eight maids a-milking,

Eleven pipers piping,

Twelve drummers drumming,

Five golden rings,

A partridge in a pear tree.

Four calling birds,

Nine ladies dancing,

Six geese a-laying,

Three French hens,

Ten lords a-leaping

Seven swans a-swimming

The Twelve Days of Christmas FACTS ABOUT THIS XMAS CAROL Religious symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas) 1 True Love refers to God 2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments 3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues 4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists 5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace. 6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation 7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments 8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes 9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit 10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments 11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles 12 Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed Origin The twelve days of Christmas in the song are the twelve days from the birth of Christ (Christmas, December 25) to the coming of the Magi (Epiphany, January 6, or the Twelfth Day). Thus, the twelve days are December 25 through January 6. Although the specific origins of the chant are not known, it possibly began as a Twelfth Night "memories-and-forfeits" game, in which a leader recited a verse, each of the players repeated the verse, the leader added another verse, and so on until one of the players made a mistake, with the player who erred having to pay a penalty, such as offering up a kiss or a sweet. This is how the game is offered up in its earliest known printed version, in the children's book Mirth without Mischief (c. 1780), which 100 years later Lady Gomme, a collector of folktales and rhymes, described playing every Twelfth Day night before eating mince pies and twelfth cake. Twelfth Night is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking."[3] The song apparently is older than the printed version, though it is not known how much older. Textual evidence indicates that the song was not English in origin, but French, though it is considered an English carol. Three French versions of the song are known, and items mentioned in the song itself—such as the partridge, which was not introduced to England from France until the late 1770s —are indicative of a French origin. Variations There are many variations of this song in which the last four objects are arranged in a different order (for example — twelve lords aleaping, eleven ladies (or dames a-) dancing, ten pipers piping, nine drummers drumming). At least one version has "ten fiddlers fiddling," and another has "nine ladies waiting." Still another version alters the fourth gift to "four mockingbirds." The authoritative, traditional version of the chant in England appears in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, as follows: The twelfth 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 dove, and | A partridge in a pear tree. There are some regional variants of the verb in the opening line of each verse. In the United States the true love "gave" the gifts to the singer. In the British version, the true love "sent" the gifts to the singer. It has been suggested by a number of sources over the years that the pear tree is in fact supposed to be perdrix, French for partridge and pronounced per-dree, and was simply copied down incorrectly when the oral version of the game was transcribed. The original line would have been: "A partridge, une perdrix." Some misinterpretations have crept into the English-language version over the years. The fourth day's gift is often stated as four calling birds but originally was four colly birds, using another word for a blackbird. The fifth day's gift of golden rings refers not to jewelry but to ring-necked birds such as the ring-necked pheasant. When these errors are corrected, the pattern of the first seven gifts all being birds is restored. There is a version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" that is still sung in Sussex in which the four colly birds are replaced by canaries. In Australia, a number of versions are sung, all of which replace the traditional gifts with items (mainly native animals) more likely to be found in that country.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

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