‘If music be the food of love, play on!’ proclaimed Count Orsino as the opening line of Williams Shakespeare’s famous play ’Twelfth Night’.  But what is Twelfth Night and what are the origins, history and traditions of The Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas start with Christmas Day and end with the eve of Epiphany on 5^th December.  How The Twelve Days of Christmas are celebrated differs from country to country.  In some regions they give gifts on Christmas Day, in some they only give gifts on Twelfth Night and in some regions they give gifts on all of the twelve days.  In some parts of the world a candle is lit on each of the days, and there is also a tradition of lighting a Yule Log on the first night of Christmas and letting it burn until Twelfth Night.  Celebrating for twelve days at the this time of year, the time of the Winter Equinox, has its origins in pagan traditions and the Roman festival of Saturnalia.

During the middle ages the twelve days of Christmas was a time of great celebration and there would be feasting on every day.  The climax of the Christmastide celebrations was the festivities of Twelfth Night.  A Lord of Misrule may have been appointed and he was responsible for overseeing all of the feasting and revelries during the Christmas period.  The Lord of Misrule was generally a peasant, and was known as the Prince des Sots in France, the Abbot of Unreason in Scotland and a Boy Bishop was appointed for festivities run by the Catholic Church.  The celebrations held during the twelve days of Christmas were often drunken, wild affairs, and it was the job of the Lord of Misrule to try and disrupt the usual running of things.  The Lords and Ladies switched places with the servants and peasants, and they in turn had their chance of living the high life for a few hours!  A cake, known as the King cake, would have been specially baked for the Twelfth Night celebrations that contained a bean or a small bauble, and the reveller who got the piece of cake would have to do certain things and received various privileges.  The rule of the Lord of Misrule ended at midnight and normal service resumed!

A special alcoholic drink called wassail was prepared to be drunk during The Twelve Days of Christmas, and especially on Twelfth Night. Wassail was a hot, spicy punch and the practice of wassailing is the toasting to the gods asking for abundance and a good harvest. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the ingredients of the wassail would have included sugar, which was a rare and expensive commodity back then, nutmeg, ginger, ale and cinnamon. These would have all been put into a large bowl, heated up and then had ‘sops’ of toasted bread placed on top.

It is believed that the traditions of The Twelve Days of Christmas were taken to America by the early Colonists. They probably started the tradition of hanging Christmas Wreaths on the front door of the house during the Christmas Season. They would create a wreath from local produce and greenery on Christmas Eve, hanging it out on the first day of Christmas and bringing it back in on the morning of Epiphany. It is still the tradition in England and other parts of the world that all Christmas decorations and Christmas Trees are taken down on 6^th January, Epiphany, and any festive food is finished or put away. It is considered to be bad luck if they are left hanging after that date, and if they are not down by Twelfth Night they are supposed to be left hanging for the rest of the year to stave off that bad luck. In earlier times the Christmas evergreens put up as decorations would have been left in place until Candlemas which is the 2^nd January. The bad luck was supposed to stem from the spirits of the holly, ivy, mistletoe and other Christmas greenery. They were happy to be in the house during the harshest weather of the winter, but once the milder days returned they wanted to return outside. If they were not returned the plants and leaves would not start to grow again and the spring would not come back again, causing great hardship for all.

The celebration of Epiphany, where the Three Wise Men or ‘Magi’ arrived to give gifts of gold, frankincense or myrrh to the infant Jesus, is an important occasion in some countries.  In Spain they have processions with people dressed as the Three Kings who throw out sweets to the children in the crowd.

There is an English Christmas Carol called ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ that enumerates the gifts that someone received on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  It starts with a ‘Partridge in A Pear Tree’ on the first day and ends with ‘Twelve Drummers Drumming’ on the twelfth day.  In my experience most people know the words up until the fifth day, but once past the golden rings they tend to start getting their ‘Lords a-Leaping’ and ‘Maids a-Milking’ pretty mixed up.  It also depends how much wine was consumed with Christmas Dinner!  The carol may have been French in origin, and could date back until the 16^th century, but was first published in England in 1780. 

It is believed that it first started out as a memory game that was played by the revellers at Twelfth Night feasts.  The participants in the game would have to remember all of the earlier verses that had been sung and then add a verse on the end.  If they failed to remember the verses, they would most likely have to pay a forfeit, such as giving someone a kiss or give a sweet to another reveller. The lyrics of the carol is also said to have religious symbolism, such as the ‘Swans a-Swimming’ referring to the seven sacraments of the Church, or the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.  This may have originated from the time when the Roman Catholic Church was being suppressed in England, and needed to pass on the Catholic faith in a hidden manner, such as in the words of a popular song, although there is no evidence to support this

So when you find yourself singing this popular carol this Christmas season, or you start to get anxious about getting your Christmas Decorations down on time, stop and take some time out to remember the history of The Twelve Days of Christmas and where these seasonal traditions came from.

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