FREETHE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS EBOOK Robert Sabuda | 14 pages | 02 Oct 2006 | SIMON & SCHUSTER | 9781416926382 | English | New York, United States The 12 Days of Christmas - Christmas Customs and Traditions - whychristmas?com The tunes of collected versions vary. The standard tune now associated with it is derived from a arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austinwho introduced the familiar prolongation of the verse "five gold rings" now often "five golden rings". There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by "my true love" The 12 Days of Christmas one of the twelve days of Christmas. There are many variations in the lyrics. The lyrics given here are from Frederic Austin 's publication that established the current form of the carol. On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me A partridge in a pear tree. On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me Two turtle dovesAnd a partridge in a pear tree. On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me Three French hensTwo turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree. Subsequent verses follow the same pattern, each adding one new gift and repeating all the earlier gifts so that each verse is one line longer than its predecessor:. The earliest known version of the lyrics was The 12 Days of Christmas in London under the title "The Twelve Days of Christmas sung at King Pepin's Ball", as part of a children's book, Mirth without Mischief. For ease of comparison with Austin's version given above: a differences in wording, ignoring capitalisation and punctuation, are indicated in italics ; b The 12 Days of Christmas that do not appear at all in Austin's version are indicated in bold italics. The king sent his lady on the thirteenth Yule day, Three stalks o' merry corn, Three maids a-merry dancing, Three hinds a-merry hunting, An Arabian baboon, Three swans a-merry swimming, Three ducks a-merry laying, A bull that was brown, Three goldspinks, Three starlings, A goose that was grey, Three plovers, Three partridges, A pippin go aye; Wha learns my carol and carries it away? Similarly, Iceland has a Christmas tradition where " Yule Lads " put gifts in The 12 Days of Christmas shoes of children for each of the 13 nights of Christmas. In the Faroe Islandsthere is a comparable counting Christmas song. The gifts include: one feather, two geese, three sides The 12 Days of Christmas meat, four sheep, five cows, six oxen, seven dishes, eight ponies, nine banners, ten barrels, eleven goats, twelve men, thirteen hides, fourteen rounds of cheese and fifteen deer. According to de Coussemaker, the song was recorded "in the part of [French] Flanders that borders on the Pas de Calais ". The exact origins and the meaning of the song are unknown, but it is highly probable that it originated from a children's memory and forfeit game. The twelve days in the song are the twelve days starting with Christmas Day, or in some traditions, the day after Christmas 26 December Boxing Day or St. Stephen 's Day, as being the feast day of St. Twelfth Night is defined The 12 Days of Christmas the Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking. The best known English version was first printed in in a book intended for children, Mirth without MischiefThe 12 Days of Christmas a memorization game to be played on Twelfth Night. Participants were required to repeat a verse The 12 Days of Christmas poetry recited by the leader. Players who made an error were required to pay a penalty, in the form of offering a kiss or confection. In the northern counties of England, the song was often called the "Ten Days of Christmas", as there were only ten gifts. It was also known in SomersetDorsetand elsewhere in England. The kinds of gifts vary in a number of the versions, some of them becoming alliterative tongue-twisters. There is evidence pointing to the North of England, specifically the area around Newcastle upon Tyneas the origin of the carol. Husk, in the excerpt quoted below, stated that the The 12 Days of Christmas was "found on broadsides printed at Newcastle at various periods during the last hundred and fifty years", i. In addition, many of the nineteenth century citations come from the Newcastle area. Halliwellwriting instated that "[e]ach child in succession repeats the gifts of the day, and forfeits for each mistake. Salmon, writing from Newcastle, claimed in that the song "[had] been, up to within twenty years, extremely popular as a schoolboy's Christmas chant". Husk, The 12 Days of Christmas instated: [40]. This piece is found on broadsides printed at Newcastle at various periods during the last hundred and fifty years. On one of these sheets, nearly a century old, it is entitled "An Old English Carol," but it can scarcely be said to fall within that description of composition, being rather fitted for use in playing the game of "Forfeits," to which purpose it was commonly applied in the metropolis upwards of forty years since. The practice was for one person in the The 12 Days of Christmas to recite the first three lines; a second, the four following; and so on; the person who failed in repeating her portion correctly being subjected to some trifling forfeit. Thomas Hughesin a short story published indescribed a fictional game of Forfeits involving the song: [17]. So the party sat down round Mabel on benches brought out from under the table, and Mabel began, The second day of Christmas my true love sent to me two turtle-doves, a partridge, and a pear-tree. The third day of Christmas my true love sent to me three fat hens, two turtle-doves, a partridge, and a pear-tree. The fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me four ducks quacking, three fat hens, two turtle-doves, a partridge, and a pear-tree. The fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me five hares running, four ducks quacking, three fat hens, two turtle-doves, a partridge, and a pear-tree. And so on. Each day was taken up and repeated all round; and for every breakdown except by little Maggie, who The 12 Days of Christmas with desperately earnest round eyes to follow the rest correctly, but with very comical resultsthe player who made the slip was duly noted down by Mabel for a. Barnesstated that the last verse "is to be said in one breath". Scottreminiscing about Christmas and New Year's celebrations in Newcastle around the yeardescribed a performance thus: [25]. A lady begins it, generally an elderly lady, singing the first line in a high clear voice, the person sitting next The 12 Days of Christmas up the second, the third follows, at first gently, but before twelfth day is reached the whole circle were joining in with stentorian noise and wonderful enjoyment. Lady Gomme wrote in [41]. The party was usually a mixed gathering of juveniles and adults, mostly relatives, and before supper — that is, before eating mince The 12 Days of Christmas and twelfth cake — this game and the cushion dance were played, and the forfeits consequent upon them always cried. The company were all seated round the room. The leader of the game commenced by saying the first line. This was continued until the lines The 12 Days of Christmas the "twelve days" were said by every player. For every mistake a forfeit — a small article belonging to the person — had to be given up. These forfeits were afterwards "cried" in the usual way, and were not returned to the owner until they had been redeemed by the penalty inflicted being performed. According to The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes"Suggestions have been made that the gifts have significance, as representing the food or sport for each month of the year. Importance [certainly has] long been attached to the Twelve Days, when, for instance, the weather on each day was carefully observed to see what it would be in the corresponding month of the coming year. Nevertheless, whatever the ultimate origin of the chant, it seems probable [that] the lines that survive today both in England and France are merely an irreligious travesty. An anonymous "antiquarian", writing inspeculated that "pear-tree" is a corruption of French perdrix partridgeand "colley" a corruption of French collet ruff, hence "we at once have a bird with a ruff, i. Cecil Sharpwriting inobserved that "from the constancy in English, French, and Languedoc versions of the 'merry little partridge,' I suspect that 'pear-tree' is really perdrix Old French pertriz carried into England"; and "juniper tree" in some English versions may have been "joli perdrix," [pretty partridge]. Sharp also suggests the adjective "French" in "three French hens", probably simply means "foreign". The 12 Days of Christmas to Iona and Peter Opiethe red-legged or French partridge perches in trees more frequently than the native common or grey partridge and was not successfully introduced into England until about William S. Baring-Gould suggests that the presents sent on the first seven days were all birds —the "five gold rings" were not actually gold rings, but refer to the five The 12 Days of Christmas rings of the ringed pheasant. Ina Canadian hymnologist, Hugh D. McKellar, published an article, "How to Decode the Twelve Days of Christmas", in which he suggested The 12 Days of Christmas "The Twelve Days of Christmas" lyrics were intended as a catechism song to help young English Catholics learn their faith, at a time when practising Catholicism was against the law from until Three years later, inFr.