12 Days of Christmas

Factual Questions
1

Just a quick question to see if the websites that explain that the “12 Days of Christmas” song was in fact a catechism song to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith, or is at just a theory?

For example :

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch”, which gives the history of man’s fall from grace.

Searched but found nothing on the board.

2

Snopes has set out in some detail the reasons for thinking that the theory is nonsense.

3

Even if the images in the song did have a basis as a religious mnemonic, (which is remotely possible), the idea that it would be particular to Catholic teachings when all the items listed are held in common by Roman Catholics, the Anglican communion, and even the Puritans, makes the “secret” portion of the story silly. Why make up special codes to tell the same story that the kid next door is getting in church each Sunday?

Here is another debunking with an alternative explanation (and a tiny bit of humor.)

This site produces a bit of history regarding the spread of the internet story. (So I wonder if Fr. Stockert simply conflated his discovery of references to that (or a similar) song in the sixteenth century with the persecution of the time and drew an incorrect inference that the song was symbolic (possible) because of persecution (rather less likely.)

4

The thing that always made me skeptical of this claim (as mentioned in the Snopes link) is that the objects in the song bear no resemblance to the corresponding tenets of the faith. So the song is no better a mnemonic than “1 2 3 4 5, 6 7 8 9 10, 11 12”, which I heard on Sesame Street.

5

Thanks for the fast response people it always seemed weird as far as storied went but finding out about the Father Harold Stockert link was interesting.