What Are the Twelve Days of Christmas?

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

For years, I thought the English Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” was about a girl with an incredibly long Christmas list, expecting her boyfriend or husband to gift her all those items. Turns out, I was mistaken!

The twelve days of Christmas instead refers to the period between December 25 and January 6. This is the traditional period marking Christ’s birth on Christmas Day to January 6, Epiphany, the arrival of the Magi.

What are the Twelve Days of Christmas

Click to tweet

Many Christian sources trace the song to biblical roots. Each gift in the song is thought to symbolize an aspect of the nativity and the Christian faith. According to the Lutheran Home Association, “The partridge in a pear tree represents Jesus, the Son of God, whose birthday we celebrate on the first day of Christmas. Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge, a bird that will die to protect its young.”

The song’s origins are believed to have originated from an English poem or chant, featured in a children’s book called Mirth Without Mischief. Just imagine the joy children must have felt learning this fun and festive poem! A Christmas with all these gifts would have been a grand celebration filled with food, laughter, and music.

An article titled “Everything About ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’ (Including the Gifts) Explained” offers an intriguing look at the English tradition of honoring Christ’s birthday over twelve days of merriment and gift-giving.

On each of the twelve days, the recipient received a gift—not just one for the day itself, but a repeat of all the gifts from previous days. Do the math: that’s 364 gifts! The giver must have needed a hefty bankroll to afford such a lavish Christmas celebration.

Here’s the list of gifts, as sung in the traditional carol:
  • Day 1: A partridge in a pear tree
  • Day 2: Two turtle doves
  • Day 3: Three French hens
  • Day 4: Four calling birds
  • Day 5: Five golden rings
  • Day 6: Six geese a-laying
  • Day 7: Seven swans a-swimming
  • Day 8: Eight maids a-milking
  • Day 9: Nine ladies dancing
  • Day 10: Ten lords a-leaping
  • Day 11: Eleven pipers piping
  • Day 12: Twelve drummers drumming

Over the years, the lyrics have been modified by different writers and performers, with some, like a famous female singer, even playfully “keeping” one of the drummers for herself!

No matter how the lyrics change or the meanings shift, we all still love singing along to “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

Are you ready to join in?

Comments 28

  1. Thanks for more insight into the song, I knew (no clue why) it was meant to celebrate those specific12 days. In fact, my sister’s family keeps their tree up until the 12th day.

    My family was wondering about the heavy focus on birds in the song the other day. I’ll have to look into this further now that I have a starting point.

    Reply

    1. Hi Barbara, great to hear from you. I’ve heard different meanings for the birds from a means to share the Gospel in the early days of the church to a lovers conversation. Let me know what you learn!

      Reply

  3. DiAnn,
    Thank you for sharing the history behind the 12 days of Christmas. I never knew the real meaning behind the song. Last year, my coworkers and I each dressed as the 12 days of Christmas. I was 8 maids a-milking. I had the candy (cow tails) to give out to the students from my milk bucket. After we were done, I thought milk duds would have been better. Thanks again for sharing. Have a blessed evening and a Merry Christmas.

    Reply

  4. Our Bible study class used this song in a fun party game. Each month was used for the 12 days. If your birthday was in January, all gathered in a group, February another group and so on. My birthday is May (5 golden rings) I was the only May birthday so I had to sing 🎵 5 golden rings🎵 by myself! It was fun though.
    I’ve read similar about the meaning of the song. Each gift mentioned was also a spiritual gift from the Bible.

    Reply

  5. DiAnn,
    I have never researched the 12 Days of Christmas, but have loved singing it with others or by myself! I’ll appreciate and enjoy it even more now!
    Have a wonderful Christmas—Happy birthday, Jesus. ❤️

    Reply

  6. Hello – who knew, I certainly didn’t. Thank you for engaging us with some interesting history and meaning. I’m sure there is more history out there waiting for eager minds to uncover.
    Your talent and research has enriched us. What a gift you are! Many blessings to you and your family this Christmas season. ( and a post script- #6. I wish we only had 6 geese a-laying. We have probably 40 over that 6! So- Got feathers? Yep😊

    Reply

    1. Joyce, I’m smiling. That you for your kind words. You reminded me of a Christmas poem I taught my boys and grandchildren.

      Christmas is coming
      The goose is getting fat (perhaps 46 of them)
      Please put a penny
      In the old man’s hat.
      If you haven’t got a penny
      A half-penny will do
      If you haven’t got a half-penny
      Then God bless you.

      Reply

      1. You’ll probably get a dozen different choices because they’ve been performing the song for over 20 years. I like the slightly slower pace of the first Utube performance (1998?).

        Reply

  11. A great song. When it is sung, the music goes faster and it gets harder to sing and remember all the words in the proper order. It is a lot of fun!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *