The Twelve Days of Christmas: What They Mean

When are the Twelve Days of Christmas?

In the Western Christian tradition, the twelve days start on Christmas Day and end on January 5. That evening is called Twelfth Night. The next day, January 6, is the Feast of the Epiphany.

Some traditions count from December 26, which makes the twelfth day January 6. Both counts are used, but the most common church reckoning treats December 25 as the first day.

• Day 1: December 25, Christmas Day
• Day 2: December 26, St. Stephen's Day (Boxing Day in the UK and Commonwealth)
• Day 3: December 27, St. John the Apostle
• Day 4: December 28, Holy Innocents
• Day 8: January 1, New Year's Day
• Day 12: January 5, Twelfth Night

In other words, the twelve days begin, rather than end, on Christmas. The weeks before Christmas are the season of Advent.

Where the twelve days come from

The early church celebrated both Christmas and Epiphany, and the period between them gradually became a single festive season. In 567 AD, the Council of Tours declared the days between Christmas and Epiphany a sacred, festive season.

In medieval and Tudor England the twelve days were a long holiday of feasting, games and visiting. Servants and farm workers often had time off, and households appointed a Lord of Misrule to lead the fun. Twelfth Night was the grand finale, with Twelfth cake, wassailing and plays. Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night takes its name from this celebration.

What is Epiphany?

Epiphany, on January 6, marks the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus, described in Matthew 2:1 to 12. The word comes from Greek and means "appearance" or "manifestation," referring to Jesus being revealed to the wider world. In many Eastern churches, the feast focuses on the baptism of Jesus instead.

Epiphany is a major celebration in many countries. In Spain and much of Latin America, children receive gifts from the Three Kings, and families share a ring-shaped cake called roscón or rosca de reyes. In France, people eat galette des rois, a pastry with a small figure hidden inside. Whoever finds it becomes king or queen for the day.

The song: The Twelve Days of Christmas

The song's earliest known printed version appeared in England around 1780 in a children's book called Mirth Without Mischief. It was a memory and forfeit game: players recited the growing list, and anyone who made a mistake paid a forfeit, such as a kiss or a sweet.

The tune most people sing today was arranged by English composer Frederic Austin in 1909, who added the stretched-out "five gold rings" line. Because the words are well over a century old, they're in the public domain.

The gifts, in order, are a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese a-laying, seven swans a-swimming, eight maids a-milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming. Counting every repeat, the singer receives 364 gifts.

Older versions used "colly birds," an old word for blackbirds, instead of "calling birds." Some historians also suggest "five gold rings" originally referred to ring-necked birds such as pheasants, which would fit the bird theme of the first seven verses, though this isn't proven.

The catechism theory: an unproven claim

A story spread widely online says the song was a secret code that helped Catholics in England teach their faith when it was outlawed between the 1500s and the 1800s. In this theory, the partridge is Jesus, the two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments, the four calling birds are the four Gospels, and so on.

There is no historical evidence for this. The idea seems to date from the late twentieth century, especially articles published in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and no older source supports it. Historians also point out that every "secret" belief it lists, like the Ten Commandments or the Gospels, was shared by Protestants too, so there would have been no reason to hide it.

It's a lovely way to reflect on faith if you enjoy it, but it should be treated as a modern interpretation, not the song's origin.

How to celebrate the twelve days

• Keep the tree up until Twelfth Night. In many traditions, decorations come down on January 5 or 6, and taking them down earlier is considered bad luck.
• Give small daily gifts. Some families give a little treat or note each day from Christmas to Epiphany, which spreads the fun out.
• Bake a Twelfth Night or Kings' cake. Hide a bean or figure inside and crown whoever finds it.
• Chalk your door. A Christian custom on Epiphany is blessing the home by writing the year and the initials C+M+B over the door, for the traditional names of the wise men and the Latin blessing Christus mansionem benedicat.
• Plan a party. A Twelfth Night party on January 5 is a fun way to end the season. Our Christmas party games will keep it lively.