The Twelve Days of Christmas

The song - The Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas carol, which my students love and we always start singing it twelve days before Christmas. In fact the song says about twelve days of celebrating Christmas from 25th December till Epiphany on 6th January.

I used to think that it was a kind of  a scout song created to have fun during Christmas dinner but one of my student with American Mum told me that it's a secret song with a hidden meaning of  the characters that appear in the lyrics.

 I decided to check it and  discovered an extra-ordinary history of this carol. From the year 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. That's because someone wrote this carol as a  secret - catechism song for young Catholics. 

The "True Love" one hears in the song is not a handsome boy or girlfriend but God, because truly Love was born on Christmas Day. The partridge in the pear tree  represents Jesus Christ because that bird is willing to sacrifice its life if necessary to protect its young by feigning injury to draw away predators. 

The two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments 

The three French hens stood for faith, hope, and love. 

The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

The five golden rings rerepresented the first five books of the Old Testament, which describe man's fall into sin and the great love of God in sending a Savior. 

The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation. 

Seven swans a-swimming    represented the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution,  Leadership, and Mercy. 

The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes. 

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Forbearance, Kindness,  Mildness,  Fidelity,  Modesty, Continency and Chastity. 

The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments. 

The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful Apostles. 

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in The Apostles' Creed. 

P.S.  I do recommend practising the song with your students before Christmas. Here you can find a karaoke version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtAa3klQNk

My youngest son  loved and love the song so much that when we were in Scotland he spent all his pocket money on the advent calendar which you  can see in the photo.