I always heard it “ladies dancing.”
BUT …
12 ladies dancing
Those items seem to get shifted around. Who’s heard what variations?
They shouldn’t be waiting or dancing. They should be in the kitchen cooking.
Just another song that succumbs from the very beginning to political correctness.
owlstretchingtime:
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)
12 drummers (it’s not helping is it?)
Perhaps he was trying to tell her something?
Hm…364 gifts, in palendrome fashion no less. Wonder what gift # 365 would be?
An_Arky
September 21, 2004, 8:28pm
24
I’ve only heard waiting…
Where the heck are y’all getting those weird-ass numbers? It’s “The 12 Days of Christmas”?!?
ouryL
September 21, 2004, 8:31pm
25
Of course the five gold rings are actually five golden rings - not jewelry but golden ring-necked pigeons.
The numbers are just if you add up all the gifts through the entire 12 days. I’ve always heard “ladies waiting” myself. I grew up in Michigan.
The assumption is that they get each gift again each day.
So the first day they get 1 Partridge in a pear tree. Day 2 they get “Two turtledoves AND a partridge in a pear tree”, added to the Day 1 Partridge, and so on down the line.
Unless I’m misunderstanding the question?
aktep
September 21, 2004, 9:06pm
28
Jenaroph:
I always heard it “ladies dancing.”
BUT …
12 ladies dancing
Those items seem to get shifted around. Who’s heard what variations?
My experience has been, once you get to the people presents, no one can keep them straight.
Now I’m totally confused about the numbers. But here is an amusing story of what the recipient went through.
