🎄What are the Twelve Days of Christmas?🎄

The following video provides a short explanation of the phrase "the twelve days of Christmas" and the song which shares that name. Get the Christmas workbook

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In this video:

At one time, Christmas was not celebrated as a single day. In fact, it was a celebration which lasted twelve days. So, why were there once Twelve Days of Christmas? Where did this tradition go?

In more modern times, December 25th is Christmas Day and is commonly thought of as the end of the Christmas season. However, there was a time when Christmas Day marked the beginning of the Christmas season. The day was known as Christmastide, marking the start of the Twelve Days of Christmas. December 26th, known as Boxing Day or St. Stephens Day, was the official first day of the twelve.

The Twelve Days of Christmas were celebrated in various ways. In some regions, it was traditional to only give presents on Christmas night. Others exchanged gifts on the final night of the twelve. A few even held gift exchanges on every night of all twelve days!

There were other traditions associated with the Twelve Days of Christmas. In the Middle Ages, it was a time of yearly feasts and merrymaking. The feasts would become more elaborate each night before climaxing on the final night. In some places it was traditional to make a Christmas wreath which was hung on the door throughout the twelve days.

The final day of the Christmas season, or twelfth night, was January 6th (or in some places, January 5th). This day was known as Epiphany or Three Kings Day, in honor of the Wise Men or Magi. It became a tradition in some cultures that all decorations should be removed by this day and all Christmas edibles eaten.

Many of these traditions have been lost, but some remain. Many European nations still recognize the holidays of Boxing Day and Epiphany. Also, the term “Christmastide” still lingers with us in the term “Yuletide” (as in “Yuletide Greetings”).

By far, the most recognizable remnant of the Twelve Days of Christmas is the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. The song describes an elaborate set of gifts given to the singer by their “true love” on each of the twelve days. The gifts include: 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a-milking, 7 swans a-swimming, 6 geese a-laying, 5 golden rings, 4 colly birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree. (A colly bird is an old term referring to a black bird, but the line is often mistaken for “calling birds”).

Many suggestions have been made as to a hidden significance in the meaning of these lyrics, but sadly, if there was a deeper meaning, it has been lost over time, just as most of the traditions associated with the Twelve Days of Christmas have been.