12 days, twelve days, of Christmas, teachers, mening, lyrics, song, words

Lyrics, meaning, the words to the song the twelve days of christmas

MENU

Other pages

Introduction
Advent
Christmas Eve
Santa Clause
Christmas carols
Christmas cards
Christmas Day
Boxing Day
12 Days of Christmas lyrics
12 Days of Chrismas meaning
Secret Santa ideas

Christmas food
Christmas pudding / mince pies

Directory entries:
Photo cards
Advent calendars
Puddings recipes
Stockings / stuffers
Artificial Christmas trees

The Twelve Days of Christmas – December 25th to January 5th

For words to song 12 days of Christmas (click here).

The Twelve Days of Christmas start on Christmas Day and finish on the Eve of the Epiphany which is the 5th January. Traditionally all Christmas decorations must be taken down on this day. The 5th January is the "Twelfth Night" made famous by the Shakespeare play of the same name, the play was first performed in 1700 in the court of Elizabeth I.

Where the Advent leading up to Christmas is a very serious period, the Twelve Days afterwards are joyful. The Epiphany itself is to do with the appearance of Magi at Bethlehem – in the Western Church tradition. For the Eastern Church the Epiphany is about Jesus’s later life and his baptism in particular.

There are a huge number of traditions associated with the 12 Days of Christmas, far too many to list here.

However the perennial favourite is the Twelve Days of Christmas song. The earliest mention of it appears in the 1500s, the music itself may be French. However the first time the lyrics are known to have been written down is in the 1780s.

There is an irony to the popularity of the song. It is said that the song itself was written to help Catholics learn the rules about their faith when being a practicing Catholic in England was forbidden and could result in death.

In the song "True Love" refers to God and "Me" refers to every baptised Catholic, the gifts are:

The partridge is Jesus

The two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments

The three french hens are the Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity.

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

The five golden rings are the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, which describe man's fall from grace.

The six geese a-laying are the days of creation

The seven swans a-swimming are the Seven Sacrements.

The eight maids a-milking are the eight Beautitudes.

The nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Long-suffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control)

The ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments

The eleven pipers piping are the faithful apostles

And the twelve drummers drumming are the doctrinal points of the Apostle's Creed.