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The Forty Eight Days of Christmas – and Counting
The twelve days from December 26 through January 6 are sometimes called Christmastide, and encompass the Christian Christmas festivities. The big party night used to be the eve of The Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, also known as the Twelfth Night.
As a game of memory, “The 12 Days of Christmas” challenged its performers to remember the existing verses in each round and then add a verse of their own for the next player. Failure to remember the verses resulted in fun party penalties. That party song evolved into today’s version.
Although the English claim the song as theirs, there is strong evidence that it is French in origin. This all dates back to verbal games in the 1500′s or earlier, so there’s nobody around who remembers for sure. One thing that is certain is that the lyrics are not in any way cryptic references to Catholic practices, as a certain viral email claims.
Here are some variations of the gifts mentioned in “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” in descending order, starting with the accepted Traditional gifts:
| Traditional | Common Variant | Western France | Scotland |
| 12 lords a-leaping | 12 drummers drumming | 12 musketeers with their swords | 3 stalks o’ merry corn |
| 11 ladies dancing | 11 pipers piping | 11 beautiful full-breasted maidens | 3 maids a-merry dancing |
| 10 pipers piping | 10 Lords a-leaping | 10 full casks | 3 hinds a-merry hunting |
| 9 drummers drumming | 9 Ladies dancing | 9 dishes for a chapter of canons | an Arabian baboon |
| 8 maids a-milking | 8 maids a-milking | 8 plates of salad | 3 swans a-merry swimming |
| 7 swans a-swimming | 7 swans a-swimming | 7 spitted rabbits | 3 ducks a-merry laying |
| 6 geese a-laying | 6 geese a-Laying | 6 partridges with cabbage | a bull that was brown |
| 5 gold rings | 5 golden rings | 5 legs of mutton | 3 goldspinks |
| 4 colly birds | 4 colly birds (or calling birds) | 4 pigs’ trotters | 3 starlings |
| 3 French hens | 3 French hens | 3 joints of beef | a goose that was grey |
| 2 turtle doves | 2 turtle doves | 2 breasts of veal | 3 plovers |
| a partridge in a pear tree | a partridge in a pear tree | a good stuffing without bones | 3 partridges |
|
a popingo-aye (parrot) (I know, the Scots have 13 – weird, huh?) |
O.C. DeeDee
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