The 12 christian days of Christmas

[SorasOathkeeper]

Bwahahaha This rocks, yet again another e-mail my dad sent me!^ ^

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, french hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do
with Christmas?

Today I found out. I always thought it was just a Christmas carol and accepted it at that until she sent this to us. So, here it is ....

From 1558 until 1829, Roma n 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.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke &
John.

The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of
the Old Testament.

The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy
Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution,
Leadership, and Mercy.

The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy,
Peace, ! Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self
Control.

The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve 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 enlightening.

[Ashley]

I had heard this before, but I didn't know beyond the partridge in a pear tree part. Thanks for sharing!

[Felix]

That's really cool.
I never thought about that before, thanks.

[Kisa]

Thats so cool! I never heard of that before ^^
Thanks for sharing!
*goes off to spread the cheer*
^_^

[termyt]

I've heard this before, and I'm not saying it isn't true - I have no idea. But, for some reason, I doubt it's veracity. It's true that Roman Catholics would have been persecuted in England since the Church of England was the official religion, but the tenants of both faiths are very similar.

It doesn't seem likely that Catholics would have to vale the message of Christ's birth in such a code as "A Partridge in a Pear Tree" since their neighbors would have been celebrating it as well, only as Anglicans in stead of Catholics.

Like I said, I don't know if the story is true or not, just some food for thought. Hope I didn't rain on anyone's parade.

[CobaltAngel]

Very neat! I did hear that somewhere before, but never knew what everything represented. Pretty cool stuff, thank you for sharing!

[Arnobius]

I've heard this before, and I'm not saying it isn't true - I have no idea. But, for some reason, I doubt it's veracity. It's true that Roman Catholics would have been persecuted in England since the Church of England was the official religion, but the tenants of both faiths are very similar.

It doesn't seem likely that Catholics would have to vale the message of Christ's birth in such a code as "A Partridge in a Pear Tree" since their neighbors would have been celebrating it as well, only as Anglicans in stead of Catholics.

Like I said, I don't know if the story is true or not, just some food for thought. Hope I didn't rain on anyone's parade.

It's true that the tenets are similiar. The ANglicans and Catholics had similar beliefs, but I suspect that how they were taught would be different. From my studies of the time, ANglicans would have considered Catholics traitors and Catholics would have considered Anglicans schismatics. But Catholics were forbidden to teach their faith, so they had to hold their classes on the sly. I believe they were called hedgerow schools. You could be executed for teaching "Popery." Probably helped to have some innocuous sounding material in case the wrong people happened by. It could also be a sort of thumbing of the nose, singing this in public.

Incidentally, As I understood it, the seven swans were actually supposed to be the Seven Sacraments (Baptism, Conformation, Reconcilliation, Marriage, Ordination, Annointing of the Sick and the Eucharist.) I know that Protestants have differing ideas on sacraments, some accepting the concept [with those that do accepting different numbers) and some rejecting the concept altogether. I don't remember where the Anglican church of the time kept all seven or got rid of a few. I vaguely seem to recall that they dropped mariage as a sacrament when Henry VIII wanted to allow divorce, but I might be mistaken on that.

[SorasOathkeeper]

Umm...right, i don't know, but i still thought it was cool! ^ ^

[CDLviking]

I also seem to remember that the five golden rings were the five wounds of Christ, which is why that part of the song sticks out from the rest.

[Arnobius]

I also seem to remember that the five golden rings were the five wounds of Christ, which is why that part of the song sticks out from the rest.

I guess without a written historical documentation, interpretation will be based on what we think fits in.

Also read somewhere that the pear tree was the cross, so the partridge in the pear tree would be Christ crucified.

Ah well, I don't know if the story is true or not (I've heard both the story and the rebuttal before), but at least it puts meaning into what would otherwise be a pretty dumb song.

Of course, with the stories in the news about schools forbidding the use of religious oriented Christmas Carols, maybe one with a hidden meaning like this has it's uses hmm?

[ZiP]

Excellent, I thought it was just about some dude who liked spoiling his love.

[SorasOathkeeper]

Lol!^ ^

[Arnobius]

Excellent, I thought it was just about some dude who liked spoiling his love.

I seem to recall something going around online about a girl writing letters to her boyfriend asking him to to stop, putting restraining orders etc. Nobody's e-mailed it to me this year which is a suprise, since it was practically an annual tradition...

[SorasOathkeeper]

OH YEAH!!! MY dad sent me that last year.

[Azier the Swordsman]

Interesting. Experience has personally taught me not to believe much of what is obtained online, so I do have some skepticism about the aformentioned origin, but nevertheless it's pretty interesting to think about. Thanks for sharing!

[termyt]

Ah well, I don't know if the story is true or not (I've heard both the story and the rebuttal before), but at least it puts meaning into what would otherwise be a pretty dumb song.

That alone is reason enough for me, too.

Of course, with the stories in the news about schools forbidding the use of religious oriented Christmas Carols, maybe one with a hidden meaning like this has it's uses hmm?

Except we can't say "Christmas" either. How about:

"At some time during the non-descript December holiday season, my significant other gave to/loaned to/showed to/went to see with me...

[blkmage]

The hidden meanings seem kind of random. Numbers makes sense, but the objects just don't connect.

I liked the Starcraft version anyway.

[rocklobster]

According to an article I read about the 12 Days thing, they were pretty horribly tortured. Some were literally "drawn and quartered". Remember, there are those out there, even today, who think Catholics like myself are evil.