Why all the birds?
After all this song has: a partridge, turtle doves, french hens, calling birds, geese, and even swans a-swimming. What does fowl have to do with Christmas...well, except for the turkey we're planning on inviting to dinner ;)
I've always wondered what the heck that song meant.
I'd heard that each gift was supposed to represent something from the Christian faith so I thought I'd look into it.
The song outlines gifts given for each of the 12 days of Christmas and some people say these gifts are only symbols:
1 partridge in a pear tree = Christ
2 turtle doves = The Old and New testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity
4 Calling Birds=the Four Gospels
5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, “Pentateuch”
6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming= the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the sacraments
8 Maids A-Milking=the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing=the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping=the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming=the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s creed
But snopes says nope.
Still, I think it's a fun song. What do you think?
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3 comments:
I love this song! But, yeah, that explantion sounded like a bunch of hogwash to me. :)
Merry Christmas, Kim and family!!!
Even if it's not true, I like the symbolism. But, that's just me.
I like the idea that it means something like that. Because otherwise, it's plain silly!
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