The Twelve Days of Christmas (song) facts for kids

The Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas carol which was published around 1780, and it is said that it was written by Catholics in hiding during the days of Queen Elizabeth I of England's persecution. It was invented to help teach children articles of the Catholic faith without drawing attention from government officials, using imagery as a tool to help the children remember. The song represents increasingly grand gifts given during each of The Twelve Days of Christmas. The partridge in a pear tree symbolizes Christ on the Cross. The two turtledoves represent his Human and divine nature, the two books of the Old and New Testament, and the two tablets the Ten Commandments were carved on. The three French hens symbolize the Trinity of the Catholic faith: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, as well as the three Cardinal virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. The four calling birds were the four Evangelists who wrote the gospels, etc. This Christmas song has been subject to parody numerous times and has been covered by multiple musicians, including though not limited to Connie Francis, Natalie Cole, and the Muppets over many years.

Images for kids

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  Anonymous broadside, Angus, Newcastle, 1774–1825

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  Mirth without Mischief (1780). London: Printed by J. Davenport, George's Court

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  One of the two "Twelve Days of Christmas" Faroe stamps

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  Illustration of "five gold rings", from the first known publication of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (1780)

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  Melody of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", from Austin's 1909 arrangement

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  Flourish on the words "Five gold rings" in the final verse of Austin's 1909 arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

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  Melody of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", "recorded about 1875 by a lady of Providence, RI, from the singing of an aged man."

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  Members of the Navy Sea Chanters sing their comedy version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" on 4 December 2009, at the Wallace Theater, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia

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  Musical setting from Edward Rimbault's Nursery Rhymes, with the Tunes to which They Are Still Sung in the Nurseries of England (c. 1846).

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  This melody for "The Twelve Days" was published in 1888. It was "collected by the late Mr. John Bell, of Gateshead, about eighty years ago" [i.e. around 1808]

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  This melody was current in "country villages in Wiltshire", according to an 1891 newspaper article.

See also

In Spanish: The Twelve Days of Christmas para niños