When I was growing up, my mother held to a firm tradition regarding the Christmas tree: it went up 12 days before Christmas and came down 12 days after.
Twelve is a recurrent number in Christianity: the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles, for instance. And, of course, the 12 days of Christmas, which most of us would know from the frankly annoying Christmas carol.
Why are there 12 days of Christmas?
Traditionally, the 12 days mark the span between the birth of Jesus and the coming of the magi. It thus begins on December 25 and ends on January 6, called the Epiphany or sometimes Three Kings’ Day.
We all (infuriatingly) know the lyrics of the carol:
On the first day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
a partridge in a pear tree.
The song then adds a gift for each day, building on the verse before it, until you’re reciting all 12 gifts together:
Two turtle doves,
Three French hens,
Four calling birds,
Fiiiiiive gold rings,
Six geese a-laying,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Eight maids a-milking,
Nine ladies dancing,
10 Lords a-leaping,
11 pipers piping,
12 drummers drumming.
What on earth does it all mean, though?
Contrary to some claims, the gifts are not a coded primer on Christianity. Historian William Studwell states that it is a “very secular” song. It has, Studwell says, “no depth in it at all. Every religious song, every religious carol has at least depth in it, something that has some spirituality in it. This is frothy, light and frothy.”
Although the earliest known version appeared in a 1780 children’s book, Mirth Without Mischief, it is believed that its origins are older and that it was designed as a memory-and-forfeits game, in which singers tested their recall of the lyrics and had to award their opponents a ‘forfeit’ – a kiss or a favor of some kind – if they made a mistake.
In case you’ve ever wondered, just how much would it cost to give such lavish gifts over the 12 days of Christmas? Believe it or not, there’s a pretty reliable answer. Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group has, since 1984, maintained an index calculating the cost of the gifts based on current market rates.
For 2024, PNC calculates the cost as $49,263.47 ($87,505.23 NZD). If you’re really lavish, and cumulatively count each repetition of the gifts as the song progresses, it comes to a whopping $209,272.00 ($371,723.60).
