I was emailed this and it made me wonder what the background was/is to the 12 Days of Christmas. I suppose this could be the basis, but I want da facts…
The “Partridge in a pear tree” is Jesus Christ.
“Two turtle doves” are the Old and New Testaments.
“Three French hens” are Faith, Hope and Charity.
“Four calling birds” are the four gospels.
“Five golden rings” are the first five books of the Old Testament.
“Six geese a-laying” are the six days of creation.
“Seven swans a-swimming” are the seven gifts of the Spirit.
“Eight maids a-milking” are eight Beatitudes.
“Nine ladies dancing” are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.
“Ten lords a-leaping” are the Ten Commandments.
“Eleven pipers piping” are the eleven faithful Disciples.
“Twelve drummers drumming” are the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.
The early bird gets the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese.
sigh Another UL. Please visit www.snopes.com for any questions about questionable stories. They have a special section just for Xmas legends.
To summarize, it’s ridiculous to think that someone would write a song that so cleverly hides the symbols of Christianity that you have to explain the symbols. Hidden meanings that stay hidden are pointless.
BTW, it’s four “colly” birds (an old term for blackbirds, and the 5 gold rings are ring-necked pheasants. Common usage has distorted their meaning.
I think this is a good example of someone adapting a well known idea (song, story, whatever) to make a different point than the original had. Nothing wrong with that. To find a list of twelve things that matches the song is clever and, my guess is, well-intentioned.
But then some other person, with a better-developed sense of drama than history, comes across the adaptation and needlessly leaps to the conclusion that the latter is the basis for the former. And e-mails all his/her friends and acquaintances. And swears it is God’s truth, it happened that way, it really did. And the legend is born.
All of which kinda spoils the good work the adapter did, which is unfortunate. It would have been nice to recieve an e-mail that said, “Did you ever think about the 12 Days of Christmas like this?” Instead you get just another piece of crackpot mail.
I don’t know where I’m going with this other than being grateful I have a resource in this message board to keep me out of that kind of trouble. Even though Shirley admits (sorta) to being asleep at the switch, she had the good sense to run it by the SDMB and get the straight dope before passing it on mindlessly.
Let’s see. I lathered and I rinsed. But did I repeat?
Everyone knows that the ten lords a-leaping ran away with the eight maids a-milking. (Leaving either two very frustrated leaping lords, or a couple of menage-a-trois’s.)
The truth, as always, is more complicated than that.
The Drummers and Pipers provide the music, we are only allowing the “lords” decaf so they don’t drop the plates when they wait the tables, and those “ladies” don’t seem to mind table dancing.
The maids do great work in the kitchen with beef and assorted poultry.
We hocked the golden rings to put a down payment on the restaurant/tavern. All in all a good holiday season.
‘This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it.’ cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. ‘Slander those who tell it ye. Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end.’
-C. Dickens