The History of The 12 Days of Christmas.........This has always been one Christmas Carol that baffled me.
What in the world do Leapin Lords, French Hens, Swimming Swans, and especially the Partridge who won't
come out of the Pear Tree have to do with Christmas?
I have since read that from 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their Faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
01. The Partridge in a Pear tree was Jesus Christ.
02. The 2 Turtle Doves were the Old and New Testaments.
03. The 3 French Hens stood for Faith, Hope, and Love.
04. The 4 Callin Birds were the Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
05. The 5 Golden Rings recalled the Torah of Law, the first 5 books of the Old Testament.
06. The 6 Geese A' Laying stood for the 6 days of creation.
07. The 7 Swans A' Swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
08. The 8 Maids A' Milking were the 8 beatitudes.
09. The 9 Ladies Dancing were the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
10. The 10 Lords A' Leaping were the 10 Commandments.
11. The 11 Pipers Piping stood for the 11 faithful disciples.
12. The 12 Drummers Drumming symbolized the 12 points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlighting and now we know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol. So if you were mad at the previous pages making fun of the song, it was just meant to be fun. I hope this explanation will take the sting out of the madness.
NOTE: Since I posted the above information I came across another article that claims this is an Urban Legend. I'm not sure anyone really knows where this song orginally came about...BUT I still like the above explanation.
