Fun Facts about the Twelve Days of Christmas
They’re different from what you may think
Photo Credit: Studio Players
Issue #214 Friday Funday January 6, 2023
Many of us learned “The 12 Days of Christmas” song as children, and the secular main goal was to get through the fast countdown in one breath while not making a mistake.
Over the centuries, this song has had many versions and many interpretations, but the most common origin agreement is that it is designed to be a “memory and forfeits” game where the singers tried to get through the song without an error or they had to award their opponents a “forfeit”—usually a kiss or a favor of some kind.
When are the actual 12 Days of Christmas?
Although it seems like the Christmas season (especially the sales) starts earlier and earlier every year, December 25 is the date set by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 366 CE as Christmas or “Christ Mass.”
Some Orthodox and Coptic churches celebrate Christmas Eve on January 6, which is also the date of Epiphany in the Western church, the time when the Magi visited Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem.
Also in the West, the evening before Epiphany is called the Twelfth Night, and so the time between December 25 and January 6 is known as the Twelve Days of Christmas.
So although people often start singing the “12 Days of Christmas” song before December 25 Christmas Day, the song actually talks about the 12 days after Christmas.
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Today’s post continues:
What is the origin of the song?
The earliest version of the song was as a poem that first appeared in a 1780 children’s book called Mirth With-out Mischief. The poem was set to music by English composer Frederick Austin in 1909, who also added the drawn-out five gol-den rings.
A popular theory is that the lyrics of the song are coded references to Christianity, with each “gift” relating to the tenets of the faith.
As popular as this theory is, it is just not true. If Christians had to hide their faith in a song, how were they still able to celebrate Christmas in the first place?
What is the “cost” of those 12 gifts?
Since the 12 Days of Christmas start after you’ve given presents for Christmas Day, if you also then give 364 more gifts, you’ll really have to dig deep into your wallet.
Since 1984, the PNC Financial Services Group has issued its “Christmas Price Index, which calculates the cost of all the gifts in the song based on current market rates.
The total for 2022 comes to $45,523.27, a 9.8 percent increase from 2021. The five gol-den rings cost $1,245, a 39 percent increase, while the partridge in a pear tree will set you back $280.18, up nearly 26 percent.
However, as the index points out, the federal minimum wage hasn’t increased since 2009, meaning the going rate for eight maids a-milking is holding steady at $58.
While you are checking your bank accounts, here is a cute video of the late John Denver singing “The 12 Days of Christmas” along with the Muppets to lift your spirits.
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