Twelfth Day of Christmas

"On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...twelve drummers drumming"...and so we come to the last  of the set of Christmas ornaments. Today, Christmas Day, would actually be the first day of Christmas with Twelfth Night being Epiphany. For the party, these are twelve musicians to join the pipers. In the religious interpretation, they stand for the twelve points of the Apostle's Creed. However,  it seems highly likely that the religious interpretation is a much more modern idea - sort of an Urban Myth that keeps getting repeated. So let's look at the accumulated goodies- 12 partridges - no doubt some for the feast, 12 pear trees for a small orchard,  22 turtle-doves as symbols of romance- in 11 cages. No mention of a maid to clean all those cages. 30 French Hens and innumerable eggs. 36 "colly" birds ready to be baked into pies.  40 gold rings- 4 for each finger? Or-  as another interpretation has it, 40 golden ring -necked pheasants -which would have the first seven gifts all birds. The pheasants would be roasted for the feast too.  42 geese and more eggs again. 42 swans and at least a small lake. We hope a swan-keeper  was part of the deal. 40 milkmaids with 40 cows - and possibly some spoiled milk.  36 dancing ladies- maybe a corps de ballet or maybe a chorus line.  30 lords doing a lot of leaping. 22 pipers with a lot of wailing pipes - and 12 drummers trying to keep the pipers and dancers to a a beat.....and so to all... Merry Christmas!

Eleventh Day of Christmas

"On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..... eleven pipers piping." I felt bagpipes was the obvious choice - and it probably was in the original days of the song too. The start of the song is mostly about food for the festivities - apart from those turtle doves cooing in their cage to set the scene for romance - but we add the celebrants and entertainment as the song moves along. In the religious interpretation - and more about that tomorrow- this represents the eleven true disciples.so goodwill to you for Christmas but don't expect much peace with all those pipers!

Tenth Day of Christmas

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me- ten lords a-leaping... - so here they are. Obviously having a great time at the festivities- perhaps leaping after the dancing ladies and asking if any wish to go a-milking... hmmm- we won't go there!  If I was doing an illustration, I could have fun with a variety of lords- tall, short, fat, old, thin, young, handsome and not so handsome- but on a bauble just a little bigger than a tennis ball,  they are basically all the same. At the festivities, it might not have been the lords who did most of the leaping- they probably hired Morris Dancers - and that too might have been interesting to paint -although a bit more complicated to fit ten of them, ribbons and all, on one small decoration.  In the religious interpretation, they stand for the Ten Commandments.

Ninth Day of Christmas

"On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - nine ladies dancing..." With the Twelfth Night festivities, the ladies would have been the guests at the banquet. My choice gives a nod to the more recent "tradition" of going out to the theatre for a musical, pantomime or ballet performance. Perhaps these dancers were part of the Nutcracker Ballet?  (hmmm- there is a theme for another set of decorations, should I ever see paper mache' baubles in a craft store....) The religious interpretation says they represent the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. I wrote these around the dancers on this decoration, Certainly the "fruits" could give many of us a list of traits to  aspire to - or a list of aims for the New Year.

Eighth Day of Christmas

"On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me- eight maids a-milking..." This is one that has a lot of possible interpretations beyond being a decoration based on a traditional song. In the religious interpretation, this refers to the eight Beatitudes (or "blessings") which were teachings of Jesus as set out in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The condition is stated and the result to make a teaching. We are told of the benefits of being a peacemaker, merciful or pure of heart, for example. If we are thinking of bestowing wealth through the gifts, then owning that many cows would really be a sign of wealth. On the feasting aspect, milk was not a common drink as it spoiled easily and there was no refrigeration in those days. So, it would have been a treat at a feast. Incidentally, the cows then might have been more likely to have been Jersey or Guernsey but I thought the Holstein was more decorative. If there was too much celebration, it is said that a bath in milk is an excellent way to overcome a hangover.  Then there is another possible meaning. Since the feast and festivities often led to romance, there was often a lot of hanky-panky away from the eyes of chaperones. So, conversations as to who was willing to do what were a bit discreet - even if the following actions weren't.  Propositions had to be presented in such a way that a turn-down did not give offense but could be tossed aside as a "Well, I didn't really mean that, just thought you night want to look at the cows!" The term "a-milking" can mean more than dealing with cows.  The eighth day interpretation  is up to you.

Seventh Day of Christmas

"On the Seventh Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me seven swans a-swimming.... " Swans have an association with royalty- even to today as there is a Swankeeper  (on the Thames, I think) for the British royal family.
The accumulated 42 swans by the end of the song would also have required a fairly sizable pond- unless some of them also became part of the feast! In the religious interpretation, they stand for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. I have written these around the swans- encouragement, teaching, service, prophecy, giving, leadership and mercy.  Sometimes "exhortation" is the gift, rather than encouragement, but I felt that exhortation was too strong an urging, more like a sermon and could include warning and admonishing. Encouragement  implies urging on toward success and gives hope, courage and confidence ... so "encouragement" was my choice for a more positive gift. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just give gifts like that- to individuals and also to the world.

Sixth Day of Christmas

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - Six geese a-laying. I Canadian-ized this with making the geese Canada Geese- and the eggs golden eggs for Christmas. The "original"- if the song is a folk song - would have been domesticated geese who were supplying eggs for the 12th Night banquet ---- and so continuing the accumulation of food for the festivities. In the religious interpretation, they represent the six days of creation . ( He rested on the seventh). Or a decoration is just a decoration!