Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas are (depending on differing authorities and sources) either the days from December 26 to January 6, (January 6 being the Epiphany), or the days from Christmas through the eve January 5 of Epiphany. Arguing in favor of the latter is that it coincides more closely with the liturgical Christmas season. However, no less an authority than the 19th century folklorist Sir James George Frazer, favors the December 26 - January 6 interpretation: The last of the mystic twelve days is Epiphany or Twelfth Night ... (The Golden Bough, 1922)

Structure

"Twelve Days of Christmas" is a cumulative song, meaning that each verse is built on top of all the previous verses. There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by "my true love" on one of the twelve days of Christmas.

Related Topics:
Cumulative song - Twelve days of Christmas

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The first verse runs:

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:On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

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:A partridge in a pear tree.

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The second verse:

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: On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

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: Two turtle doves

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: and a partridge in a pear tree.

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and so on. The last verse is:

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: On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

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: Twelve drummers drumming,

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: eleven pipers piping,

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: ten lords a-leaping,

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: nine ladies dancing,

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: eight maids a-milking,

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: seven swans a-swimming,

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: six geese a-laying,

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: five golden rings;

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: four calling birds,

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: three French hens,

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: two turtle doves

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: and a partridge in a pear tree.

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