The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)
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"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English
Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...
. A classic example of a
cumulative song A cumulative song is a song with a simple verse structure modified by progressive addition so that each verse is longer than the verse before. Cumulative songs are popular for group singing, in part because they require relatively little memoriza ...
, the lyrics detail a series of increasingly numerous gifts given on each of the
twelve days of Christmas The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In some Western ecclesiastical traditions, "Christmas Day" is considered the "First Day of Christmas" and the Twelve Days a ...
(the twelve days that make up the
Christmas season The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...
, starting with
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
). The carol, whose words were first published in England in the late eighteenth century, has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 68. A large number of different melodies have been associated with the song, of which the best known is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin.


Lyrics

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a
cumulative song A cumulative song is a song with a simple verse structure modified by progressive addition so that each verse is longer than the verse before. Cumulative songs are popular for group singing, in part because they require relatively little memoriza ...
, meaning that each verse is built on top of the previous verses. There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by "my true love" on one of the twelve days of Christmas. There are many variations in the lyrics. The lyrics given here are from Frederic Austin's 1909 publication that established the current form of the carol. The first three verses run, in full, as follows: Subsequent verses follow the same pattern. Each verse deals with the next day of
Christmastide Christmastide is a season of the liturgical year in most Christian churches. In some, Christmastide is identical to Twelvetide. For the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Church and Methodist Church, Christmastide begins on 24 December ...
, adding one new gift and then repeating all the earlier gifts, so that each verse is one line longer than its predecessor. * four calling birds * five
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
rings * six
geese A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...
a-laying * seven swans a-swimming * eight maids a-milking * nine
ladies The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...
dancing * ten
lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
s a-leaping * eleven pipers piping * twelve drummers drumming


Variations of the lyrics

The earliest known publications of the words to ''The Twelve Days of Christmas'' were an illustrated children's book, ''Mirth Without Mischief'', published in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1780, and a broadsheet by Angus, of
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, dated to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. While the words as published in ''Mirth without Mischief'' and the Angus broadsheet were almost identical, subsequent versions (beginning with
James Orchard Halliwell James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (born James Orchard Halliwell; 21 June 1820 – 3 January 1889) was an English Shakespearean scholar, antiquarian, and a collector of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Life The son of Thomas Halliwell, ...
's ''Nursery Rhymes of England'' of 1842) have displayed considerable variation: * In the earliest versions, the word ''on'' is not present at the beginning of each verse—for example, the first verse begins simply "The first day of Christmas". ''On'' was added in Austin's 1909 version, and became very popular thereafter. * In the early versions "my true love sent" me the gifts. However, a 20th-century variant has "my true love ''gave'' to me"; this wording has become particularly common in North America.For example, * In one 19th-century variant, the gifts come from "my ''mother''" rather than "my true love". * Some variants have "'' juniper'' tree" or "''June
apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
'' tree" rather than "pear tree", presumably a mishearing of "partri''dge in a pear'' tree". * The 1780 version has "four colly birds"—''colly'' being a regional English expression for "coal-black" (the name of the collie dog breed may come from this word). This wording must have been opaque to many even in the 19th century: " canary birds", "colour'd birds", "curley birds", and "corley birds" are found in its place. Frederic Austin's 1909 version, which introduced the now-standard melody, also altered the fourth day's gift to four "calling" birds, and this variant has become the most popular, although "colly" is still found. * "Five gold rings" has often become "five ''golden'' rings", especially in North America. In the standard melody, this change enables singers to fit one syllable per musical note. * The gifts associated with the final four days are often reordered. For example, the pipers may be on the ninth day rather than the eleventh. Annotations reprinted from ''4000 Years of Christmas'' by Earl W. Count (New York: Henry Schuman, 1948) For ease of comparison with Austin's 1909 version given above:
(a) differences in wording, ignoring capitalisation and punctuation, are indicated in ''italics'' (including permutations, where for example the 10th day of Austin's version becomes the 9th day here);
(b) items that do not appear at all in Austin's version are indicated in ''bold italics''.


Scotland

A similar cumulative verse from Scotland, "The Yule Days", has been likened to "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in the scholarly literature. It has thirteen days rather than twelve, and the number of gifts does not increase in the manner of "The Twelve Days". Its final verse, as published in Chambers, ''Popular Rhymes, Fireside Stories, and Amusements of Scotland'' (1842), runs as follows: "Pippin go aye" (also spelled "papingo-aye" in later editions) is a Scots word for peacock or parrot. Similarly, Iceland has a Christmas tradition where " Yule Lads" put gifts in the shoes of children for each of the 13 nights of Christmas.


Faroe Islands

In the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
, there is a comparable counting Christmas song. The gifts include: one feather, two geese, three sides of meat, four sheep, five cows, six oxen, seven dishes, eight ponies, nine banners, ten barrels, eleven goats, twelve men, thirteen hides, fourteen rounds of cheese and fifteen deer. These were illustrated in 1994 by local cartoonist Óli Petersen (born 1936) on a series of two stamps issued by the Faroese Philatelic Office.


Sweden

In
Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's secon ...
and Småland, southern Sweden, a similar song was also sung. It featured one hen, two barley seeds, three grey geese, four pounds of pork, six flayed sheep, a sow with six pigs, seven åtting grain, eight grey foals with golden saddles, nine newly born cows, ten pairs of oxen, eleven clocks, and finally twelve churches, each with twelve altars, each with twelve priests, each with twelve capes, each with twelve coin-purses, each with twelve daler inside.


France

"Les Douze Mois" ("The Twelve Months") (also known as "La Perdriole"—"The Partridge") is another similar cumulative verse from France that has been likened to ''The Twelve Days of Christmas''. Its final verse, as published in de Coussemaker, ''Chants Populaires des Flamands de France'' (1856), runs as follows: According to de Coussemaker, the song was recorded "in the part of
rench The Rench is a right-hand tributary of the Rhine in the Ortenau ( Central Baden, Germany). It rises on the southern edge of the Northern Black Forest at Kniebis near Bad Griesbach im Schwarzwald. The source farthest from the mouth is that of the ...
Flanders that borders on the
Pas de Calais The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...
". Another similar folksong, "Les Dons de l'An", was recorded in the Cambresis region of France. Its final verse, as published in 1864, runs:


History and meaning


Origins

The exact origins and the meaning of the song are unknown, but it is highly probable that it originated from a children's memory and forfeit game. The twelve days in the song are the twelve days starting with
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
to the day before Epiphany (5 January).
Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "the evening of January 5th, the day before Epiphany, which traditionally marks the end of Christmas celebrations". The best known English version was first printed in ''Mirth without Mischief'', a children's book published in London around 1780. The work was heavily illustrated with woodcuts, attributed in one source to
Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...
. In the northern counties of England, the song was often called the "Ten Days of Christmas", as there were only ten gifts. It was also known in
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
,
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
, and elsewhere in England. The kinds of gifts vary in a number of the versions, some of them becoming alliterative tongue-twisters. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was also widely popular in the United States and Canada. It is mentioned in the section on "Chain Songs" in Stith Thompson's ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' (Indiana University Studies, Vol. 5, 1935), p. 416. There is evidence pointing to the North of England, specifically the area around
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, as the origin of the carol. Husk, in the 1864 excerpt quoted below, stated that the carol was "found on broadsides printed at Newcastle at various periods during the last hundred and fifty years", i.e. from approximately 1714. In addition, many of the nineteenth century citations come from the Newcastle area. Peter and Iona Opie suggest that "if ' e partridge in the peartree' is to be taken literally it looks as if the chant comes from France, since the Red Leg partridge, which perches in trees more frequently than the common partridge, was not successfully introduced into England until about 1770".Opie and Opie (1951), pp. 122–23. Some authors suggest a connection to a religious verse entitled "Twelfth Day", found in a thirteenth century manuscript at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
; this theory is criticised as "erroneous" by Yoffie. It has also been suggested that this carol is connected to the "old ballad" which Sir Toby Belch begins to sing in Shakespeare's ''
Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
''.


Manner of performance

Many early sources suggest that ''The Twelve Days of Christmas'' was a "memory-and-forfeits" game, in which participants were required to repeat a verse of poetry recited by the leader. Players who made an error were required to pay a penalty, in the form of offering a kiss or confection.
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, writing in 1842, stated that " ch child in succession repeats the gifts of the day, and forfeits for each mistake." Salmon, writing from Newcastle, claimed in 1855 that the song " adbeen, up to within twenty years, extremely popular as a schoolboy's Christmas chant". Husk, writing in 1864, stated:
Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. ...
, in a short story published in 1864, described a fictional game of Forfeits involving the song: Barnes (1882), stated that the last verse "is to be said in one breath". Scott (1892), reminiscing about Christmas and New Year's celebrations in Newcastle around the year 1844, described a performance thus: Lady Gomme wrote in 1898:


Meanings of the gifts


Partridge in a pear tree

An anonymous "antiquarian", writing in 1867, speculated that " pear-tree" is a corruption of French ''perdrix'' (, "
partridge A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perd ...
"). This was also suggested by Anne Gilchrist, who observed in 1916 that "from the constancy in English, French, and
Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
versions of the 'merry little partridge,' I suspect that 'pear-tree' is really ''perdrix'' (Old French ''pertriz'') carried into England". The variant text "part of a juniper tree", found as early as c. 1840, is likely not original, since "partridge" is found in the French versions.In a manuscript by Cecily Baring-Gould, dated "about 1840", transcribed in ; note that the linked webpage misidentifies the book in which this melody was published. It is probably a corruption of "partridge in a pear tree", though Gilchrist suggests "juniper tree" could have been ''joli perdrix'', retty partridge Another suggestion is that an old English drinking song may have furnished the idea for the first gift. William B. Sandys refers to it as a "convivial glee introduced a few years since, 'A Pie .e., a magpiesat on a Pear Tree,' where one drinks while the others sing." The image of the bird in the pear tree also appears in lines from a children's counting rhyme an old Mother Goose. : A pye sate on a pear tree, Heigh O : Once so merrily hopp'd she; Heigh O : Twice so merrily, etc. : Thrice so, etc.


French hens

Gilchrist suggests that the adjective "French" may mean "foreign". Sharp reports that one singer sings "Britten chains", which he interprets as a corruption of " Breton hens". William and Ceil Baring-Gould also suggest that the birds are Breton hens, which they see as another indication that the carol is of French origin.


Colly birds

The word "colly", found in the earliest publications, was the source of considerable confusion. Multiple sources confirm that it is a dialectal word, found in Somerset and elsewhere, meaning "black", so "colly birds" are blackbirds. Despite this, other theories about the word's origin are also found in the literature, such as that the word is a corruption of French ''collet'' ("ruff"), or of "coloured".


Gold rings

Shahn suggests that "the five golden rings refer to the ringed pheasant".
William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
and Ceil Baring-Gould reiterate this idea, which implies that the gifts for first seven days are all birds. Others suggest the gold rings refer to "five goldspinks"—a goldspink being an old name for a goldfinch; or even canaries. However, the 1780 publication includes an illustration that clearly depicts the "five gold rings" as being jewellery.


General

According to ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'', "Suggestions have been made that the gifts have significance, as representing the food or sport for each month of the year. Importance ertainly haslong been attached to the Twelve Days, when, for instance, the weather on each day was carefully observed to see what it would be in the corresponding month of the coming year. Nevertheless, whatever the ultimate origin of the chant, it seems probable
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
the lines that survive today both in England and France are merely an irreligious travesty." In 1979, a Canadian hymnologist, Hugh D. McKellar, published an article, "How to Decode the Twelve Days of Christmas", in which he suggested that "The Twelve Days of Christmas" lyrics were intended as a catechism song to help young English Catholics learn their faith, at a time when practising Catholicism was against the law (from 1558 until 1829). McKellar offered no evidence for his claim. Three years later, in 1982, Fr. Hal Stockert wrote an article (subsequently posted on-line in 1995) in which he suggested a similar possible use of the twelve gifts as part of a catechism. The possibility that the twelve gifts were used as a catechism during the period of Catholic repression was also hypothesised in this same time period (1987 and 1992) by Fr. James Gilhooley, chaplain of
Mount Saint Mary College Mount Saint Mary College is a private Catholic college in Newburgh, New York. It was founded in 1959 by the Dominican Sisters. The campus overlooks the Hudson River, halfway between New York City and Albany. More than 2,700 men and women are ...
of
Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...
. Snopes.com, a website reviewing urban legends, Internet rumours, e-mail forwards, and other stories of unknown or questionable origin, concludes that the hypothesis of the twelve gifts of Christmas being a surreptitious Catholic catechism is incorrect. None of the enumerated items would distinguish Catholics from Protestants, and so would hardly need to be secretly encoded.


Music


Standard melody

The now-standard melody for the carol was popularised by the English baritone and composer Frederic Austin. The singer, having arranged the music for solo voice with piano accompaniment, included it in his concert repertoire from 1905 onwards. A ''
Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time speci ...
'' review from 1906 praised the "quaint folk-song", while noting that "the words ... are better known than the excellent if intricate tune". Austin's arrangement was published by Novello & Co. in 1909. According to a footnote added to the posthumous 1955 reprint of his musical setting, Austin wrote: A number of later publications state that Austin's music for "five gold rings" is an original addition to an otherwise traditional melody. An early appearance of this claim is found in the 1961 ''University Carol Book'', which states: Similar statements are found in
John Rutter John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...
's 1967 arrangement, and in the 1992 '' New Oxford Book of Carols''. Many of the decisions Austin made with regard to the lyrics subsequently became widespread: * The initial "On" at the beginning of each verse. * The use of "calling birds", rather than "colly birds", on the fourth day. * The ordering of the ninth to twelfth verses. The
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...
of this song is not constant, unlike most popular music. This irregular
meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...
perhaps reflects the song's
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...
origin. The introductory lines "On the 'n''thday of Christmas, my true love gave to me", are made up of two bars, while most of the lines naming gifts receive one bar per gift with the exception of "Five gold rings", which receives two bars, "Two turtle doves" getting a bar with "And a" on its fourth beat and "partridge in a pear tree" getting two bars of music. In most versions, a bar of music immediately follows "partridge in a pear tree". "On the" is found in that bar on the fourth (pickup) beat for the next verse. The successive bars of three for the gifts surrounded by bars of four give the song its hallmark "hurried" quality. The second to fourth verses' melody is different from that of the fifth to twelfth verses. Before the fifth verse (when "Five gold rings" is first sung), the melody, using solfege, is "sol re mi fa re" for the fourth to second items, and this same melody is thereafter sung for the twelfth to sixth items. However, the melody for "four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves" changes from this point, differing from the way these lines were sung in the opening four verses. In the final verse, Austin inserted a flourish on the words "Five gold rings". This has not been copied by later versions, which simply repeat the melody from the earlier verses.


Earlier melodies

The earliest known sources for the text, such as ''Mirth Without Mischief'', do not include music. A melody, possibly related to the "traditional" melody on which Austin based his arrangement, was recorded in
Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...
in 1870 and published in 1905.Barry (1905)
p. 58
See als
p. 50
Cecil Sharp's ''Folk Songs from Somerset'' (1905) contains two different melodies for the song, both distinct from the now-standard melody.Sharp (1905)
pp. 52–55
/ref> Several
folklorists Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
have recorded the carol using traditional melodies. Peter Kennedy recorded the
Copper family The Copper Family are a family of singers of traditional, unaccompanied English folk song. Originally from Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, England, the nucleus of the family now live in the neighbouring village of Peacehaven. The family first ...
of Sussex, England singing a version in 1955 which differs slightly from the common version, whilst
Helen Hartness Flanders Helen Hartness Flanders (May 19, 1890 – May 23, 1972), a native of the U.S. state of Vermont, was an internationally recognized ballad collector and an authority on the folk music found in New England and the British Isles. At the initiati ...
recorded several different versions in the 1930s and 40s in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
, where the song seems to have been particularly popular.
Edith Fowke Edith Fowke, ''(née'' Margaret Fulton; 30 April 1913 Lumsden, Saskatchewan – 28 Mar 1996 Toronto) was a Canadian folklorist.Nygaard King, Betty and Ruth Pincoe. Fowke was educated at the University of Saskatchewan. She hosted the CBC Radio ...
recorded a single version sung by Woody Lambe of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Canada in 1963, whilst
Herbert Halpert Herbert Halpert (August 23, 1911 – December 29, 2000) was an American anthropologist and folklorist, specialised in the collection and study of both folk song and narrative. Biography Herbert Norman Halpert's interest in folklore emer ...
recorded one version sung by Oscar Hampton and Sabra Bare in Morgantown,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
One interesting version was also recorded in 1962 in
Deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
, Arkansas, performed by Sara Stone; the recording is available online courtesy of the
University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
.


Parodies and other versions

* Bing Crosby and
the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...
recorded the traditional version of this song on 10 May 1949 for Decca Records. *
The Ray Conniff Singers Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...
recorded a traditional version in 1962, appearing on the album ''
We Wish You a Merry Christmas "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is an English Christmas carol, listed as numbers 230 and 9681 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The famous version of the carol is from the English West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is ...
''. *
Jasper Carrott Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), best known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, actor and television presenter. Early life Born in Shaftmoor Lane, Acocks Green, in Birmingham, Carrott was educated at Acocks Gr ...
performed "Twelve Drinks of Christmas" where he appears to be more inebriated with each successive verse. This was based on Scottish comedian Bill Barclay's version. * Perry Como recorded a traditional version of "Twelve Days of Christmas" for RCA Victor in 1953, but varied the lyrics with "11 Lords a Leaping", "10 Ladies Dancing", and "9 Pipers Piping". The orchestrations were done by
Mitchell Ayres Mitchell Ayres (December 24, 1909 – September 5, 1969) was an orchestra leader, music arranger, composer and performer. He is best known for his many years of work with Perry Como on radio, records, and television and as the musical condu ...
. *
Allan Sherman Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...
released two different versions of "
The Twelve Gifts of Christmas "The Twelve Gifts of Christmas" is a song parody written and performed by Allan Sherman based on the classic Christmas song " The Twelve Days of Christmas". The song reached #5 on the Billboard Christmas Chart in 1963. A noted jukebox record suppl ...
". Sherman wrote and performed his version of the classic Christmas carol on a 1963 TV special that was taped well in advance of the holiday.
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
rushed out a 45 RPM version in early December. * Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their 1963 album '' Christmas with The Chipmunks, Vol. 2''. * The illustrator Hilary Knight included ''A Firefly in a Fir Tree'' in his ''Christmas Nutshell Library'', a boxed set of four miniature holiday-themed books published in 1963. In this rendition, the narrator is a mouse, with the various gifts reduced to mouse scale, such as "nine nuts for nibbling" and "four holly berries". Later released separately with the subtitle ''A Carol for Mice''. * Frank Sinatra and his children,
Frank Sinatra Jr. Francis Wayne Sinatra Group note. (; January 10, 1944 – March 16, 2016), professionally known as Frank Sinatra Jr., was an American singer, songwriter, and conductor. He was the son of singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy ...
,
Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatr ...
, and
Tina Sinatra Christina Sinatra (born June 20, 1948) is an American businesswoman, film producer, Hollywood agent, and memoirist. Early life Christina Sinatra was born on June 20, 1948, in Los Angeles, California, the youngest child of American singer and ac ...
, included their own version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" on their 1968 album, ''
The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas ''The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas'' is a 1968 Christmas album by Frank Sinatra and featuring his children, Frank Sinatra Jr., Nancy Sinatra and Tina Sinatra. The album was released on vinyl LP, reel to reel, and 8-track, and was ...
''. *
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
put out a special Christmas coloring book with Disney's
Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...
characters in 1973 featuring a version of the carol focusing on Pooh's attempts to get a pot of honey from a hollow honey tree, with each verse ending in "and a hunny pot inna hollow tree". *
Fay McKay Fay McKay (August 10, 1930 – April 4, 2008) was an American entertainer, best known as a singer of comedic songs. She spent the majority of her career in Las Vegas, Nevada. Born as Fayetta Gelinas in Manchester, New Hampshire, she won the 195 ...
, an American musical comedian, is best known for "The Twelve Daze of Christmas", a parody in which the gifts were replaced with various alcoholic drinks, resulting in her performance becoming increasingly inebriated over the course of the song.Obituary: "R.I.P. FAY MCKAY"
'' Las Vegas Review-Journal'', 5 April 2008.
* A radio play written by Brian Sibley, "And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree" was broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
on Christmas Day 1977. Starring
Penelope Keith Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, (née Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and '' To the M ...
, it imagines the increasingly exasperated response of the recipient of the "twelve days" gifts. It was rebroadcast in 2011. *
The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
and singer-songwriter John Denver performed "The Twelve Days of Christmas" on the 1979 television special '' John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together''. It was featured on the album of the same name. The song has been recorded by the Muppets five different times, featuring different Muppets in different roles each time. * A Māori / New Zealand version, titled "A
Pukeko The Australasian swamphen (''Porphyrio melanotus'') is a species of swamphen (''Porphyrio'') occurring in eastern Indonesia (the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands), Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, it is known as the pu ...
in a Ponga Tree", written by Kingi Matutaera Ihaka, appeared as a picture book and cassette recording in 1981. * On the late-night sketch-comedy program '' Second City TV'' in 1982, the
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
-rustic characters Bob & Doug McKenzie (
Rick Moranis Frederick Allan Moranis (; born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, songwriter, writer and producer. He appeared in the sketch comedy series ''Second City Television'' (''SCTV'') in the 1980s and several Hollywood films, inc ...
and Dave Thomas) released a version on the SCTV spin-off album '' Great White North''. * ''The Twelve Days of Christmas'' (TV 1993), an animated tale which aired on NBC, features the voices of Marcia Savella,
Larry Kenney Larry Kenney (born August 5, 1947) is an American voice actor and radio personality. Early life Larry Kenney was born August 5, 1947 in Pekin, Illinois, the son of George and Joyce Kenney. He has a brother, Steven, and a sister, Jody. He graduat ...
, Carter Cathcart,
Donna Vivino Donna Marie Vivino is an American theatre, television, film actress and singer. She is well known for playing Elphaba in the Broadway production of ''Wicked'' and as the original Young Cosette in ''Les Misérables'' on Broadway. She was seen on ...
and
Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
. *
VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, computer generated musical children's animation, and book franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series sees fruit and vegetable characters retell ...
parodied "The Twelve Days of Christmas" under the title "The 8 Polish Foods of Christmas" in the 1996 album ''A Very Veggie Christmas''. It was later rerecorded as a Silly Song for the episode ''The Little Drummer Boy'' in 2011. * Christian rock band Relient K released a recording of the song on their 2007 album '' Let It Snow, Baby... Let It Reindeer''. This version known for its slightly satirical refrain: "What's a partridge? What's a pear tree? I don't know, so please don't ask me. But I can bet those are terrible gifts to get." * A program hosted by Tom Arnold, ''The 12 Days of Redneck Christmas'', which takes a look at Christmas traditions, premiered on CMT in 2008. The theme music is "The Twelve Days of Christmas". *
Shannon Chan-Kent Shannon Chan-Kent (born September 23, 1988) is a Canadian voice and stage actress. She is known for her roles as Silver Spoon and Smolder and the singing voice of Pinkie Pie in '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', Misa Amane in the English ...
, as her character of Pinkie Pie from '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', sings her own version of the song on the album ''My Little Pony: It's a Pony Kind of Christmas''. * Irish actor
Frank Kelly Francis Kelly (28 December 1938 – 28 February 2016) was an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best remembered for playing Father Jack Hackett in the Channel 4 ...
recorded "Christmas Countdown" in 1982 in which a man named Gobnait O'Lúnasa receives the 12 Christmas gifts referenced in the song from a lady named Nuala. As each gift is received, Gobnait gets increasingly upset with the person who sent them, as said gifts wreak havoc in the house where he lives with his mother. This version charted in both Ireland (where it reached number 8 in 1982) and the UK (entering the UK chart in December 1983 and reaching number 26). The song peaked at number 15 in Australia in 1984. * A special ''
Creature Comforts ''Creature Comforts'' is a British adult stop-motion comedy mockumentary franchise originating in a 1989 British humorous animated short film of the same name. The film matched animated zoo animals with a soundtrack of people talking about th ...
'' orchestral arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was made by British animator
Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is a British animator who created ''Wallace and Gromit'', ''Creature Comforts'', ''Chicken Run'', ''Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of ...
and
Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...
. Featuring different animals discussing or trying to remember the lyrics of the song, it was released on Christmas Day 2005. * New Orleans band Benny Grunch and the Bunch perform a "locals-humor take" on the song, titled "The Twelve Yats of Christmas". * The video game '' StarCraft: Broodwar'' released a new map named ''Twelve Days of StarCraft'' with the song which was adopted a new lyric featured units from the game by
Blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...
on 23 December 1999. In 2013, CarbotAnimations created a new web animation, ''StarCraft's Christmas Special 2013 the Twelve Days of StarCrafts'', with the song which was played in the map ''Twelve Days of Starcraft''. * In
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, ''The Twelve Days of Christmas, Hawaiian Style'', with the words by Eaton Bob Magoon Jr., Edward Kenny, and Gordon N. Phelps, is popular. It is typically sung by children in concerts with proper gesticulation. * A version by
Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylva ...
was made in 2008 titled ''The 64 Days of Crayola.'' * American rock and roll radio on-air personality
Bob Rivers Robert Rivers (born July 7, 1956 in Branford, Connecticut) is a retired American rock and roll radio on-air personality in the Pacific Northwest, as well as a prolific producer and songwriter of parody songs, most famous for his Christmas song ...
made a version of the song, ''The Twelve Pains of Christmas'' (from Twisted Christmas, 1988), replacing the traditional gifts with a list of hassles associated with Christmas, such as installing decorative lighting, or going shopping for gifts.


Christmas Price Index

Since 1984, the cumulative costs of the items mentioned in the song have been used as a
tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...
economic indicator An economic indicator is a statistic about an economic activity. Economic indicators allow analysis of economic performance and predictions of future performance. One application of economic indicators is the study of business cycles. Economic ...
. Assuming the gifts are repeated in full in each round of the song, then a total of 364 items are delivered by the twelfth day. This custom began with and is maintained by
PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of ...
. Two pricing charts are created, referred to as the Christmas Price Index and The True Cost of Christmas. The former is an index of the current costs of one set of each of the gifts given by the True Love to the singer of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas". The latter is the cumulative cost of all the gifts with the repetitions listed in the song. The people mentioned in the song are hired, not purchased. The total costs of all goods and services for the 2015 Christmas Price Index is US$34,130.99, or $155,407.18 for all 364 items. The original 1984 cost was $12,623.10. The index has been humorously criticised for not accurately reflecting the true cost of the gifts featured in the Christmas carol. John Julius Norwich's 1998 book, '' The Twelve Days of Christmas (Correspondence)'', uses the motif of repeating the previous gifts on each subsequent day, to humorous effect.


Computational complexity

In the famous article ''
The Complexity of Songs "The Complexity of Songs" is a scholarly article by computer scientist Donald Knuth in 1977, as an in-joke about computational complexity theory. The article capitalizes on the tendency of popular songs to devolve from long and content-rich balla ...
'',
Donald Knuth Donald Ervin Knuth ( ; born January 10, 1938) is an American computer scientist, mathematician, and professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is the 1974 recipient of the ACM Turing Award, informally considered the Nobel Prize of computer sc ...
computes the
space complexity The space complexity of an algorithm or a computer program is the amount of memory space required to solve an instance of the computational problem as a function of characteristics of the input. It is the memory required by an algorithm until it ex ...
of the song as function of the number of days, observing that a hypothetical "The m Days of Christmas" requires a memory space of O\left(\sqrt\right) as m\to\infty where n is the length of the song, showing that songs with complexity lower than O(\sqrt) indeed exist. Incidentally, it is also observed that the number of gift in m days amounts to m^3/6 + m^2/2 + m/3. In 1988, a C program authored by Ian Phililipps won the
International Obfuscated C Code Contest The International Obfuscated C Code Contest (abbreviated IOCCC) is a computer programming contest for the most creatively obfuscated C code. Held annually, it is described as "celebrating 'ssyntactical opaqueness". The winning code for the 27t ...
. The code, which according to the jury of the contest "looked like what you would get by pounding on the keys of an old typewriter at random", takes advantage of the recursive structure of The Twelve Days of Christmas to print the lyrics of the song. The code itself used to print the lyrics is shorter than the output compressed by standard algorithms.


Notes


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * Opie, Peter and Iona, eds. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, pp. 122–230, . * * *


External links

* * Free online simple melody score for all verses (as JPEGs or a PDF file) in English and Esperanto
"The Twelve Days of Christmas / La Dek Du Tagoj de Kristnasko"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twelve Days Of Christmas, The British Christmas songs Christmas carols Cumulative songs Christmas in England