The “Twelve Days of Christmas” is nowadays a popular and funny Christmas song that most of us sing for a long time without really knowing its origin or its meaning. While many may consider it a nonsensical nursery rhyme, it is believed to have been written in England with hidden meanings to help English Catholic children remember different articles of faith during the persecution by Protestant monarchs in the 16th century. This was a time when being caught with something ‘written’ indicating adherence to the Catholic faith could not only get you jailed, but could hang you!

During this time in England, when it was a crime to be a Catholic, it was suggested that the song “Twelve Days of Christmas” had originally been an “Underground Catechism” used as an aid to understanding and disseminating the teachings of the religion. It was a way of camouflaging and defending their religion that was illegal to practice in public or in private!

Let’s take a look at the symbols. ‘True love’ does not represent a suitor, in fact, it represented ‘God’, it is suggested that the ‘me’ receiving the gifts is each baptized person. The gifts themselves represented different ideas as follows:

The “Partridge in a pear tree” was Jesus.

2 turtle doves = The Old and New Testaments of the Bible

3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity – the Theological Virtues.

4 Birdsong = the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

5 Gold Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch”, which tells the story of man’s fall from grace.

6 A-laying Geese = the six days of Creation.

7 Swans A-swimming = the seven sacraments – gifts of the Holy Spirit.

8 A-milking Maidens = the eight beatitudes (solemn blessings)

9 Dancing Ladies = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

10 Lords A-jumping = the Ten Commandments.

11 Piping Pipers = the eleven faithful apostles.

12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed.

However, not everyone believes that this version of the song’s story is true. In Leigh Grand’s book “A Celebration of History,” the song’s lyrics were written in the late 1700s and the music came some time earlier from France. He suggests that the song is nothing more than a memory game for children. According to Grand, the song has no religious significance! He says that the object of the song was to facilitate a game in which the boy had to remember which gift came next and lose a turn if he forgot.

No matter which version you believe, this song reinforces the idea of ​​gift giving associated with the history of the holidays. If a gift is given every day in this song, we can count a total of 364 gifts, of which 184 are birds. Birds must have been a prized gift in the old days!

In recent times, an economist calculates each year the cost of all the gifts of this song adjusted for inflation. In 2005, the calculated Christmas price index for all song gifts was $72,608. This is done purely for fun from an economist’s point of view!

If you would like to listen to this famous Christmas song, you can download or play it for free over the internet at: http://www.christmasgifts.com/music.html or you can buy a copy on Amazon.com – Enjoy, sing along – Go ahead , get into the festive spirit and see what a good memory you have!