Posted on 12/20/2023 8:45:23 AM PST by Red Badger
I, Harambe, saw this viral video the other day about the "12 Days of Christmas" gifts ALL being birds and I decided I had to do a little digging because the Not the Bee folks need to know about this.
It's always been a joke about the song that after 4 days of birds, it must have been a relief to get the five golden rings.
Except, according to some theories, EVERY gift in the 12 days of Christmas is a different bird.
The song was originally written in a children's book called Mirth Without Mischief way back in the 1700s and some people believe that each day refers to a different bird that would be given to be prepared for a Christmas feast.
(SORRY, NOT SORRY, VEGANS!)
Obviously, you've got a partridge in a pear tree, 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens, 4 calling birds, all of which are (delicious) birds, but the first gift that isn't clearly ornithological are the five gold rings.
However, it's not certain whether the gold rings should be interpreted literally.
If we continue with the medieval banqueting theme, then they are most likely to be common, or ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) which were introduced to England from China in the Middle Ages.
Ringneck Pheasant
Then we get back to the obvious birds, geese a-laying, swans a-swimming, and we come to the 8 maids a-milking.
This is the most difficult of all the potential birds to figure out since the authors didn't really lay out exactly what they were referring to.
Some say this is the only gift that isn't a bird; however, others say that this could be referring to a number of different birds.
One theory is that these could be cattle egrets, since they are associated with milking cows. It may also be a nightjar, which is a nocturnal bird thought in ancient times to prey on and drain the milk from goats.
Another site simply asserts that the eight maids a-milking are magpies.
The "eight maids a-milking" line likely refers to magpies (pica pica) as they are black with milky white patches. These birds represent power and, in fortune-telling scenarios, offer a warning.
Pairing the magpies with the number eight offers a significant reminder to leave the old behind and start fresh. This meaning seems to be the most logical because the eighth day of Christmas falls on New Year's Day.
I gotta tell you, it may be weak and not based on any solid history, but I like this explanation.
But the remaining 4 days can't be birds, can they?
Can they?
The nine ladies dancing? Birds.
Specifically, probably, cranes.
10 Lords a-leapin'? Great Herons!
11 pipers piping? It's the sandpiper!
Sandpipers were available to medieval cooks as were other members of their family including woodcocks, whimbrels, curlews, godwits, and snipes.
The birds were often roasted and then had their long beaks pushed through the carcass so people could hold on to them as they ate them, a bit like a kebab.
That sounds awesome, tbh.
I'd gnaw on some pipers.
Then to round things out... the drummers drumming.
This could be one of two birds. A woodpecker, which drums its head into trees, or a snipe which is a real bird and not just a fictional creature for tricking youngsters at campouts.
Real snipes have unique tail feathers that make a drumming sound when they descend.
Either way: BIRD!
Yeah, a couple of these may be a stretch, but if the original theme of the nursery rhyme was to depict a medieval Christmas banquet it makes a lot of sense.
And, from now on, I'm going to believe these were all birds.
Delicious birds fit for a feast to celebrate the birth of the King of Kings!
“...and a beer, in a pear tree!”
Too funny!
Anonymous broadside, Angus, Newcastle, 1774–1825
This list the gifts in slightly different order.................
No, no. “A cartridge in a pear tree” refers to ammo.
The Eight Polish Foods of Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa-mHc51SJo
There are many variations of the song across the world and across time:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)
I like the religious explanation better, where each item is a part of Christian faith.
“The Twelve Gauge Of Christmas” is the only real one. “Five golden rings” refers to Leupold scopes. I’d love to get five of them for Christmas.
Eh, Hoser
There was a movie I saw on TV many years ago, set in the Victorian era, where this guy actually gave each and every gift to his ‘true love’. She was impressed at first, but as each day came and more livestock showed up at her door she eventually got fed up with the ‘gifts’ and had to dump the guy and sue him in court......
I haven’t ever seen it again.............
....3 French toasts,2 turtle necks, and a beer in a tree!
My dad sings it as 5 tubeless tires, 4 qts of gin, 3 cigars...some hair tonic. I forget the rest.
lol That was also in an old Archie comic from the early 70s. Archie, with the help of Sabrina, gave Veronica all the gifts. The full-page splash of absolute chaos (especially with the “lords a-leaping” going after the “maids a-milking”) was hilarious!
On the fifth day of truce time, old Ho Chi gave to me:
Five mortar rounds
Four Viet Cong
Three Chinese
Two booby traps
And a sniper in a palm tree.
Several years ago, a radio personality tried to calculate the cash value of all of the gifts. I believe they amounted to about half a million dollars. The most expensive gifts would have been the ladies, lords, pipers and drummers. Being union members, they would have cost beaucoup bucks.
Pairing the magpies with the number eight offers a significant reminder to leave the old behind and start fresh. This meaning seems to be the most logical because the eighth day of Christmas falls on New Year's Day.
I gotta tell you, it may be weak and not based on any solid history, but I like this explanation.
"Milk is approximately 87 percent water and 13 percent solids." (Univ of MD)
The Paradox of 8, because everyone can use a second opinion:
The number eight, however, is the power of holiness that is greater than nature. When we encounter the number eight in the Torah, the Torah is alerting us that the topic we are discussing is one that transcends the natural expectation. It is the power of infinity.
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/4704982/jewish/The-Paradox-of-Eight.htm
They milked it for all it was worth, so it's really the simple meaning. New Years, fresh wholesome milk.
Hebrew: chalav (milk) is a word play on ha-lev, "the heart".
~ EZ
Of course I could go on, specifically in how this breaks down with the 12 days of the song, as the sum of 1 thru 12 = 78, being 12 and 66.
1266, but who really cares to know what that means??
Oh but there's so much more, because the gifts themselves are packaged in multiples:
If we add all these together, we end up with an impressive 78 gifts. But, we can’t just add the numbers to get the total number of gifts. Remember that this is a cumulative song, so they don’t just get a partridge in a pear tree on the first day. They get one on all twelve days, two turtle doves for each of the next 11 days, and so on!That's 286 gifts beyond their lines, thereby transcending the natural expectation.So, to find the real answer, we need to do some more maths:
>>>
Add that all together, and we find that the singer gets a shocking total of 364 gifts.
https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/twelve-days-of-christmas
I could go on, and on, and on... ∞
Someone really should animate poor dead-on-the-ground infinity, because then it would be able to keep on turning, like an hourglass. 🤓
The sages say that Purim is forever.
Makes sense -- Purim got its name from Pur [פור]; i.e. from 286.
And not a turkey among them!
Whenever I hear that song, my brain goes to the Twelve Days of Clinton. I can’t remember what 12 was, but
Eleven Billion for Boris
at-TEN-tion to the deficit
Nein to German competitors
Eight (Aid) to Somalia
Seven days a week of health care
Six percent loans for students
Five folding wings (of the Air Force)
Four balanced budgets
Three percent loans for students
Two more million jobs
and a tax cut for you and for me.
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