Partridge and Pear Trees

Most people know that the 25th of December was chosen by the church as the birth of Christ to counteract the drunken erotic Roman celebration of the winter solstice. Well things didn’t really go as planned. Instead, Christmas became a holiday of drunken brawls. It was far from a holy day. It was a day set aside for ignoring the law and even terrorizing the citizens. You all know the song about giving us some Figgie pudding. Well it goes on to say we won’t leave until we get some. And that was literally the case. If a person did not give the mob what they wanted, they would come into the wealthy homes and loot it. This went on for centuries. It was so bad, that churches closed their doors on the 25th, and good Christians stayed in doors hoping the holiday would pass without incident. Think of that Roman spring solstice we still celebrate as Mardi Gras only much worse. When the puritans landed in America, one of the first laws they passed was absolutely no celebrating of Christmas of any kind. Anyone celebrating this holiday would be jailed. Those laws stayed in place until the late 1700’s. The drunken brawls continued until the early 1800’s. Christmas as we know it is a relatively recent event.

The song 12 Days of Christmas was actually a song made as a code to worship the 12 days from Christmas to Three Kings Day. The true love is not a boyfriend, the true love is God. On the first day of Christmas God sent his Son, represented by the partridge, one of the few birds willing to die for their young. Two turtledoves represent the Old and New Testament. Three French hens represent faith, hope and charity. Can you guess what the four calling birds are? The four gospels calling Christians to repentance. Five golden rings represent the torah or first five precious books of the Old Testament. Six geese a-laying go back to the first six days of creation when the world was hatched. Seven swans a-swimming, a little more difficult. But since the swan is considered one of the most beautiful birds, they represent the seven gifts of the spirit. Eight maids a-milking. Being a milkmaid was about the lowest job one could have. Christ came for everyone even the lowest servant, and was mentioned in his very first sermon: Blessed are the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst, the merciful, pure in heart and the peacemakers. Yeah that is seven. Nine ladies dancing? Also a little more difficult, but it is the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness gentleness and self control. Ten lords a-leaping. This one is probably a little easier to figure out. Lords were the judges and in charge of the law; so the Ten Commandments. Eleven pipers piping. Kind of a trick question. It represents the eleven apostles spreading the gospel message. They didn’t count Judas because of the betrayal problem. The final 12 drummers drumming relate directly to the Catholic Church doctrine of the 12 points of the Apostles Creed.

No wonder this silly song has lasted for so long. So next Christmas when you sing this carol, you can think back on when Christmas was not a holy day and Christians had to hide their devotion through a coded song with silly lyrics. And on January 6th, if you haven’t taken your tree down, take a peek and see if the three kings left you anything.