I am very sure the first several times I heard this carol as a little child, the line was “nine ladies waiting.” But then abruptly, I was informed that it was “nine ladies dancing,” and I’ve heard that version and only that version every time since.
I’ve only found a smattering of Google hits for “nine ladies waiting.” I know it isn’t a family tradition, because my grandmother made a beautiful tapestry of the twelve days of Christmas, and it shows a lady dancing.
Anyone else heard “waiting”? Any idea where it comes from?
Well if the lords get to leap, it seems fair that the ladies get to dance rather than wait. Maybe “nine ladies jumping” would provide true equality, but it does not sound quite right. Mind you, I think “nine ladies waiting” sounds the best of all. It is a bit of a guess that the preference for dancing is PC driven, but I can not think of another good explanation.
Since the “ladies dancing” version was extant in the 1950s when I was learning it, political correctness is hardly the cause. FWIW, I’ve always heard “ladies dancing”; “ladies waiting” makes little sense.
But with a song like this – that’s been around for a long time, and is sung by kids and other nonprofessionals – it is not unusual for there to be variants.
I heard it was nine ladies waiting as in ladies-in-waiting; noblewomen who were servants to royalty. It was a very prestigious job. But lately I’ve heard dancing.
I wonder if 9 ladies waiting was the original European version of this line.
Maybe at some point it was changed to “9 ladies dancing” here in the US, because of the lack of connection to the idea of ladies-in-waiting.
If you are so inclined, maybe a list of which version you hear most frequently, and where.
It could refer to “ladies in waiting” (a position in a European royal court), and therefore make sense that way. The royalty motif would go with the leaping lords in fact.
Nevertheless, I grew up with the ladies dancing, not waiting, and therefore that’s the Correct Version ™. Having said that, I can’t stand the song anymore as an adult. It just drags on far far too long. Perhaps from now on we could all agree to stop right after the seven swans?
We shouldn’t be giving away people as Christmas gifts anyway.
Here in england, where the song’s from it’s ladies waiting, and makes perfect sense to us. Ladies in waiting weren’t servants and would have been the female equivelent of the leaping lords.
In any case how happy would you be with the following gifts:
12 Partridges in pear trees.
22 Turtle Doves
30 French Hens (that’s a lot of birdshit so far)
36 Calling birds (enough with the birds already!)
40 gold Rings (now you’re talking!)
42 geese a laying (back to the bloody birds again)
42 Maids a milking (not much use without cows, they can’t milk the poxy birds now can they?)
36 Ladies waiting (they can wait with the milkmaids, not a lot use )
30 Lords a leeping. (just what you want - a bunch of etonians playing leapfrog. Keep them away from the biscuits - they’ll play that game!)
22 pipers piping (so with the calling birds french hens etc all cackling away we’ve now got 22 bagpipes added to the situation)
I think, with hindsight, regional mutation seems a better explanation than political correctness. A few more variations are described here together with some philatelic information for those interested.
Hm partridges and turtle doves, and laying birds [geese and chicken=)] I see a batch of bstilla in the making=) [is a morrocan dish of cooked dove or other birds and lightly scrambled eggs, with rosewater and sugar and other spices in filo pastry…/drool]
We can make the maids and ladys and lords all go sod off somewhere, though I dont mind pipes and drums, I love the Edinborough Tattoo on new years day=) and we can pay the band with the gold rings=)
Ok, mrAru wants to keep a couple ladies around to serve us the bstilla=)
ladies “waiting” makes good sense. To “wait” doesnt mean to “hand around bored and doing nothing”. Remember before the days of political-correctness, you used to know friends who worked as waiters and waitresses? To be a lady-in-waiting was a respected positiion in an aristocratic household.
And now–how 'bout that partridge in a pear tree?
a pear tree is not a tree–it was a type of bird cage used in Victorian times. Rich folk kept pet birds in “gilded cages”–made of expensive brass and metals, highly polished. Common folk had do make do with a cheaper wooden cage, often made from the wood of a pear tree.
(Source of my info: watching a BBC program on antiques )
Boston, USA. I’ve always heard “waiting.” I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of the “dancing” version until now, though it may be that I just haven’t paid close enough attention.
Rubbish all. This query serves as an example that things have not changed since the time of the song’s original composition.
Visit a concert, sporting match, or similar event and you’ll find that the lords have gone to the loo, attended to their affairs and are leaping back to their seats, while the ladies have formed a queue, and are indeed waiting.
