# The Twelve Days of Christmas

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-twelve-days-of-christmas/385347>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 23, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-twelve-days-of-christmas/385347 "2006-12-23T15:33:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-twelve-days-of-christmas/385347/1 "2006-12-23T15:33:36Z")

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Who wrote it? Do we know? Is it lost in the mists of time? Any information would be appreciated and met with a kiss even without mistletoe.

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**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-twelve-days-of-christmas/385347/2 "2006-12-23T16:39:42Z")

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It [appears](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas) to date back to the 16th Century.

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-twelve-days-of-christmas/385347/3 "2006-12-27T17:59:21Z")

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Here’s [Snopes’ take on it](http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/12days.asp), debunking the idea that it was originally a catechism song for persecuted Roman Catholics in England.