Christmas E-Cards
my true love sent to me
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
Ok, time for a language update. Today's verse four calling birds is a corruption of the English word colly or collie. So, we are referring to "four colly birds" or four collie birds (the words to the song were probably written before the invention of the dictionary so the spelling of old words tends to be flexible). What is a colly bird? It is a black bird. In England a coal mine is called a colliery and colly or collie is a derivation of this and means black like coal. For a long time in England, blackbirds have been referred to as both blackbirds (as in the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence) and colly birds as in The Twelve Days of Christmas.
In addition to colly birds there is the reference to the five golden rings in tomorrow's verse. The five golden rings are not jewelry for the fingers of the giver's true love, but five golden ring necked pheasants. In other words the five golden rings are five pheasants ring necked pheasants whose golden rings are the ring of gold colored feathers on their necks.
Below is a version of the carol that is much like the one that appeared in the book Mirth Without Mischief which was published for children in 1780. It is in this book, published in England, that the carol The Twelve Days of Christmas first appears in print.
A parteridge in a pear tree.
The second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves
And a parteridge in a pear tree.
The third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French Hens
Two turtle doves
And a parteridge in a pear tree.
The fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Four Colly birds . . .
The fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Five gold rings . . .
The sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Six geese a-laying . . .
The seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Seven swans swimming . . .
The eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Eight maids a-milking . . .
The ninth day of Christmas my true Love sent to me
Nine drummers drumming . . .
The tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Ten pipers piping . . .
The eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Eleven ladies dancing . . .
The twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Twelve lords a-leaping,
Eleven ladies dancing,
Ten pipers piping,
Nine drummers drumming,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four Colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a parteridge in a pear tree.
Copyright © 2005-2006 by Charles J. Nugent Jr. and Victor L. Nugent.
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