And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

[maggiebee]

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me.
What in the world do leaping lords, French hens,
swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?
This week, I found out.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning
plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit - Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'
Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone - and, remember, the Twelve Days of Christmas are the 12 days following December 25th. The Christmas Season runs until Epiphany, January 6.

[Buenchico]

Sorry, Maggie. You shouldn't believe everything you're told!

Wikipedia might be imperfect but I suspect that its description of your explanation as "a bit of modern folklore" is likely to be correct. Indeed, Wikipedia actually gives the name of the guy who first put forward those associations for each day (as recently as 1979):
http://en.wikipedia.o..._Christmas_%28song%29

Chris

[MarkRae]

Agreed, Chris - total nonsense.

[Caran]

What an amazing coincidence. We had our U3A meeting today and our guest speaker was a lady who has a Victorian Tearoom, she described the history of Christmas and this twelve days was exactly what she quoted. I found it was very loose around some of the things.

[maggiebee]

Really don't care if it's just a load of tosh, it's still a nice story. Why are so many people on this site so reluctant to suspend belief for even 5 minutes. Always have to run away and google everything to prove things wrong. Get a life!

[rowanwitch]

As Murph would say..looking up from the menu. I'll have the seven swans, the six geese, four calling birds, three french hens twoturtle doves but can I have gravy rather than a pear tree with the partridge...

[maggiebee]

Sure they would be absolutely delicious Rowan!

[RATTER15]

>>Why are so many people on this site so reluctant to suspend belief for even 5 minutes.<<

Lol, why would any sensible person suspend belief for even 5 seconds!!?

How exactly does one suspend belief?

[netibiza]

I also think it is a lovely story. Thank you.

[RATTER15]

This is the best version, lol

[maggiebee]

Thanks Ratter, have heard it before but still makes me chuckle.