The Twelve Days of Christmas is one of the most famous Christmas carols ever written. It has been sung for a great many years, and is known the world over. To most it is a delightful hymn, but it was originally created with a very serious intent. In England between the years of 1558 and 1829, it was illegal to practice Catholicism in public or private. It was essentially a crime to be Catholic in England during those years.
The Twelve Days of Christmas was written to help preserve the traditions of the Catholic faith during the years that Catholicism was banned in England. The song is steeped in symbolism, and the fact that it is so well known throughout the world is a testament to the faith of the followers of the Catholic doctrine. The symbols contained in the song are as follows:
1st verse – “True Love” refers to God.
2nd verse – “2 Turtle Doves” refers to the Old and New Testaments.
3rd verse – “3 French Hens” refers to Faith, Hope, and Charity.
4th verse – “4 Calling Birds” refers to the Four Gospels or the Four Evangelists.
5th verse – “5 Golden Rings” refers to the first five Books of the Old Testament.
6th verse – “6 Geese-a-laying” refers to the six days of creation.
7th verse – “7 Swans-a-swimming” refers to the seven sacraments.
8th verse – “8 Maids-a-milking” refers to the eight beatitudes.
9th verse – “9 Ladies dancing” refers to the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.
10th verse – “10 Lords-a-leaping” refers to the Ten Commandments.
11th verse – “11 Pipers piping” refers to the eleven faithful apostles.
12th verse – “12 Drummers drumming” refers to the twelve points of the Apostle’s creed.
I love this song. It is, by far, my favorite Christmas carol. I had no idea about the symbols contained in the song, until I googled the song lyrics one afternoon. I find it very interesting that a song we all know so well could contain so many hidden meanings. I would never have guessed that it was anything more than lovely Christmas carol. It’s always nice to learn something new, especially about the wonderful celebration of Christmas. I hope you learned something, too. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Tag Archives: Christmas
A Christmas History Lesson
On the 9th Day of Christmas
My name’s Gordon Bryan, and as I write this, it’s the 2nd January 2007.
That makes it the 9th day of Christmas.
According to THAT song, on the 9th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 9 ladies dancing.
Not forgettting the 8 maids a milking, 7 swans a-swimming, 6 geese a-laying, 5 gold rings, 4 calling birds, 3 french hens, 2 turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
In fact, the correct lyric should be that on the 9th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a note saying ‘Right, that’s it! Christmas over, everything back to normal!’
It gets me every year.
As much as seeing Christmas fare in the shops in sodding September makes me wonder, so does the fact that by now you won’t see any sign of Christmas in the shops.
In such a commercialised world, how is it that the last fews days of Christmas are completely ignored, as if they don’t exist?
For the shops to create a 3 month hype to Christmas, and then cut it short just seems ludicrous to me.
Can anybody please point out if I’m missing something here!
In fact on Sunday, 2 days ago, *New Year’s Eve!* I was in a shop and saw a big display of Easter Eggs.
I can tell you, I was THIS close to kicking the whole thing down, but I was stopped by the thought of some poor little 16 year old who didn’t go to school every day, and was turned down by McDonald’s, who had to create the display in the first which was bad enough, and would no doubt have to rebuild it on New Year’s Day if I booted it down.
Hmm, I can feel another letter to Tesco’s coming on. . .
So, here’s the point, c’mon you knew I’d get to it in the end.
It’s about seeing things through to the end.
It’s one of the things I talk about in my self improvement book ‘Transform Your Life’.
Starting on a course of action is often the hardest part of achieving anything, but then once we’ve started, it is unsurprisingly easy to stop before the end!
Stopping on the 8th/9th day of the 12 days of Christmas is just a great example.
The shops are leaving a lot of Christmas potential on the table after doing the hard work, it’s just waiting there to be had.
Don’t make this mistake in the things you do – see things through to the end, and take full advantage of the opportunities you create for yourself.
