Today marks the 'Twelfth Day of Christmas', the final liturgical day before the feast of Epiphany; more widely known as the day for taking down decorations and accepting that the season of joyful giving is over. It is January after all.
It's also the last day on which we could reasonably sing the classic carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. the quirky jingle that for some reason celebrates the advent of 'a partridge in a pear tree'. Many may sing it without wondering what it means, but some suggest it's really a secret Catholic code, replete with theological insight. Are they right?
The suggestion is that the 'Twelve Days' was actually a 'catechism song' that helped persecuted English Catholics learn the tenets of their faith – its coded nature meant they couldn't be punished (by the Protestants of the day) if caught singing it.
It goes like this: the partridge is Christ, and the pear tree is his cross. The first day of Christmas celebrates the central drama of the Christian faith, and 'my true love' is not a generic lover but God himself, and 'me' represents humanity. Christ is likened to a mother 'partridge' with reference to his words in Luke 13:34: 'Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but thou wouldst not have it so...'
The 'two turtle doves' represent Christ's two natures, human and divine. Alternatively, the Old and New Testaments. The 'three French hens' stand in for the three persons of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Spirit), or in other readings, the three theological virtues of Hope, Faith and Love.
The 'four calling (or 'colly' – meaning 'black') birds' are the four Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The 'five gold rings' are the five books of the Pentateuch – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
The 'six geese a-laying' are the six days of creation in Genesis, while the 'seven swans a-swimming' are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit – or the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church.
'Eight maids-a-milking' represent the eight beatitudes ('Blessed are the peacemakers' etc) as preached by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. The 'nine ladies dancing'? The nine fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23).
The 'Ten lords a-leaping': the 10 Commandments given to Moses. 'Eleven pipers piping' – the faithful 11 apostles. Lastly, today: 'Twelve drummers drumming' represent the 12 points of doctrine from the Apostle's Creed.
It seems to give purpose and meaning to what can otherwise seem quite random. But there may be reasons for scepticism.
Factchecking authority Snopes.com is having none of it, rating it 'FALSE'. Some of the 'coding' makes sense (the partridge analogy works quite well) but others are tenuous at best, and multiple interpretations also raise suspicion.
Snopes' David Mikkelson also finds the persecution explanation dubious. As he writes: 'Trying to discern the usefulness of a Christmas song as a method of preserving tenets of Christianity in a society where the practice of Christianity itself was outlawed is truly a mind bender, since in such a society all facets of Christmas celebrations would surely be banned as well.'
This catechism is also not that Catholic: if its aim was to reiterate Catholic faith in a time when punitive Protestants ruled, then the theological tenets of the song aren't that helpful, since they're nearly all common to both denominations (bar the seven sacraments).
The narrow window of Christmas also means this 'secret code' could only have be used once a year, giving it limited utility. The myth, Mikkleson suggests, may have been mixed up with another Christmas song A New Dial which does ascribe explicit Christian meaning to the 12 days of the season, albeit with some alternative readings.
But whatever its origins, reading spiritual truths into The Twelve Days is surely still legitimate. It makes for a fun reading, especially for theology nerds, and it certainly makes you sound smart at the festive season.
Believers shouldn't indulge in 'fake news' of course, but it can't be too wrong to let Jesus into this children's tune. It is (just) Christmas, after all.
