Most of you are familiar with the popular Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”:
On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the third day of Christmas
My true love gave to me…
And the song continues in like fashion for 12 verses, the last of which being the longest, incorporating each of the other gifts as well:
On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
I’ve known of and sung this song for years, and to be honest, I never really paid all that much attention to it. But this year, out of nowhere, it began playing around in my head: An ear bug! And when it was time to think about a devotional series for this Christmas, I couldn’t get the song out of my mind. And so I began doing some research, and what I found not only surprised me, but taught me a few lessons as well! And these I will be sharing with you over the course of the next two Fridays leading up to Christmas…
So where did this song come from anyway?
The song itself dates back to 1780. 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, England in 1780, and a broadsheet by Angus, of Newcastle, dated to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries.
As often happens when traditions are passed down through the generations, many variations have worked their way into the song. The words of Mirth without Mischief and the words of the Angus broadsheet were apparently almost identical; however subsequent versions, beginning as early as 1842 with James Orchard Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes of England have varied considerably.
For example:
— The first line of the original song was “On the first day of Christmas” and so on. subsequent versions have dropped the word “on” and the song begins with “The first day of Christmas”.
— The original song says “my true love sent to me”. Later versions have changed this to “gave”.
— One 19th century variant has the gifts given by “my mother”.
— The partridge is sitting in a Juniper tree in some versions, and a June Apple tree in others, rather than the traditional “pear” tree.
— the fourth day, the four “calling” birds, was originally “colley” birds, which meant black in colour.
— Some versions of the song have the final four days re-ordered.
Interesting, many other European cultures have their own versions of the song. It is interesting to think about these variations. Some of them don’t change much about the song, really. What difference does it really make that there is the word “on” in some versions and not in others?
However, other variations do make a difference. I mean, my mother is by far not the same person as my true love, and what kind of a tree the partridge sits in does make a difference!
As we think about the holidays, it would seem that there are a few variations to Christmas as well! Oh, it is supposed to be a celebration of the coming of the Christ child; but for many, Jesus has been removed from Christmas. So many variations of Christmas include santas and reindeer, elves on the shelves, snowmen, even grinches! This has got to be so confusing for people who might not have been brought up in church or who don’t have a close relationship with God. Just what is the real version of Christmas?
We can identify the real version of the Christmas story in much the same way we learn which version of Twelve Days of Christmas is accurate: We go back to the oldest known copy of the story, back to the Bible itself; and herein we find the only true story: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:11-12 NIV)
I would suggest that it doesn’t really matter what version of Twelve Days of Christmas you sing; but what does matter is the version of Christmas you celebrate. Will you run after Santa? Or will you follow the example of the lowly Shepherds that first Christmas? “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’” (Luke 2:15 NIV)
Want to celebrate Christmas the right way? Don’t get caught up in the newer “versions” of Christmas. Go back to the source of the first Christmas! Follow in the footsteps of the shepherds and go and worship Him!
But wait. Why does this song talk about “twelve” days of Christmas? There’s only one, right? December 25, right?
Join us next Friday for another lesson from The Twelve Days of Christmas!
Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries
(To access the entire, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” devotional series, please click here!)