The 12 days of Christmas - an encrypted counting song

Hello. Back blogging again.
Sort of faded off from spring, and through summer and autumn, and now it's Christmas!

So let me blog about one Christmas song that kind of 'haunted' me since childhood, "The 12 days of Christmas".

From Christmas, a person receives a gift from his / her true love every day until Epiphany, and the number of gifts builds up each day. It takes the form of a counting song, but the lyrics never really made sense to me. The gifts that the true love send are genuinely bizarre!

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Two turtledoves
And a partridge in a pear tree

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Three French hens
Two turtledoves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtledoves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

And it goes on and on and on. So far this person has received 20 birds:
4 partridges in a pear tree, 6 turtledoves, 6 French hens and 4 calling birds (I like to think that the person receives the new gift with the previous ones all over again, it adds more non-sensical fun to the song). This person or the true love must be infatuated with feathered creatures to receive or send so many, not saying any complaint and keep on singing.

Well, it goes on until the twelfth day, and here is the breakdown of the gifts sent:

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming
Eleven pipers piping
Ten lords a leaping
Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids a milking
Seven swans are swimming
Six geese are laying
Five golden rings
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtledoves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

The troop is fully armed, ready to make havoc on the twelfth night!

Recently I read somewhere that this innocent nonsense song was an encrypted counting song that started and became popular in England in the 18th century among the persecuted Catholics living under the Protestant society. The lyrics have a double meaning that remind the Catholics the important teachings of their belief.

Now, that is something worth digging into, isn't it?

Because Henry VIII split up with the Roman Catholic Church in order to split up his wives (and for some, to cut off their heads), the Catholics could not practice their belief openly, so they taught the Catholic teachings to their young children through this encrypted song.

"My true love gave to me"
Who is the true love in the Catholic context? God almighty.

God sends you messages every day, reminding you of the important doctrines of the Catholic church.



On the first day of Christmas, that's 25th December, you get "a partridge in a pear tree" which is "Jesus on the cross". God reminds you not to forget about Jesus who sacrificed himself to save us from our sins.

More to come tomorrow!