The Twelve Days of Christmas
Reprinted from a Dec 24, 2006 column in the Morgantown Dominion Post On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me. A partridge in a pear tree. And so begins the familiar Christmas song that we all know and love. And what does it have to do with an outdoor column? Well, there are some animals mentioned in this song and so I got on the Internet to learn more about it. I have found that Metacrawler is the best search engine and there was a lot on there about "The Twelve Days of Christmas." There are several theories about the origin of this song. One says that it was written in England in the 16th century as a secret way to help young Catholics learn some tenets of their faith. A secret because of religious wars at that time and to openly express ones religion led to prison. There is a lot of questioning about this theory. Many believe it originated in France and there are three versions of this song in French. One web site says that "what we do know is that the twelve days of Christmas in the song are the twelve days between the birth of Christ (December 25) and the coming of the Magi (Epiphany, January 6). Anyway, that theory states that "my true love" refers to God. The "me" refers to all Christians. The "partridge" is Christ. On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me. Two turtle doves. Under this theory, these are to represent the Old and New Testament. Three French hens. These may represent Faith, Hope and Charity. Four calling birds. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. However, the original text read "four colly birds" and the word "colly" means "black as coal", so the colly birds or calling birds as it became, really means "four black birds." (There, don’t you feel better already?) Five golden rings. The Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. However, the original French version refers to five ring-necked birds, such as our ring-necked pheasants, which are common in Europe. Ring-necks have a white ring around their neck rather than the gold, but as a birder and hunter, it sounds good to me. Six geese a laying. The six days of creation. Seven swans a swimming. The seven sacraments. However, it is interesting to note that the first seven gifts are all birds. How appropriate for my Audubon friends who will be out doing their annual Christmas bird count. Eight maids a milking. Supposedly referring to the eight beatitudes. Nine ladies dancing. The nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,self control. Ten lords a leaping. The ten commandments. Eleven pipers piping. The eleven faithful apostles. Twelve drummers drumming. The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed. As you study the various web sites on the history of this song, it becomes apparent that many do not believe it was written in order to teach basic tenets to those who had to hide their faith for fear of imprisonment. I found that theory to be a bit of a stretch as well. As one web site states, this song "is what most people take it to be: a secular song that celebrates the Christmas season with imagery of gifts and dancing music. One website of PNC bank, has established a Christmas Price Index based on this song. If indeed this song is a Christian teaching song, I don’t wish to belittle that. I’m only presenting what I found on the Internet, and the PNC price index puts a value on each day in the song, starting in 1984 and going to 2006. The value in 1984 was around $12,500. Today it has inflated to over $18,000. My guess is that "Six geese a laying" aren’t worth much more today then they were in 1984. But our Christian heritage is worth more to us every year, and on this eve of the day in which we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, let’s remember all the blessing that we have living in this country and remember to whom we owe that. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
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