On the First Day of Christmas

Why a partridge in a pear tree? A partridge is not a small bird that can be easily placed in a cage in the kitchen. And the song pre-dates dwarf fruit trees so we are talking about a good sized tree which makes for a rather large and bulky gift.

Like other songs and art in general, the gifts in this song could have been chosen for symbolic reasons or possibly because they fit into the rhyme of the song. The twelve days of Christmas were a time of feasting and the partridge is a game bird that would have been a popular main course at one of the feasts. In fact, the first seven stanzas of the song involve different types of birds that would have been served during the feasts. Similarly, the pear was a common fruit which would have been available for the feasts. Thus, the song could easily be about the feasts during the English Twelfth Night Celebrations.

Three other theories have also been advanced regarding the origin of this stanza, which, like the other stanzas, could have originally been a part of another song or rhyme. One theory is that the partridge symbolizes Christ and the pear tree the cross. This fits with the hypothesis that the song was originally a mnemonic used by English Catholics to secretly teach the faith to their children during the period when the Catholic faith was illegal in England.

A second theory, is that the English word for partridge may have come from the Greek word Perdix which was the name of one of the kings in Greek mythology. This king, along with the Goddess Athena had sacred links to the pear tree in some parts of Eurasia and, according to legend, when King Perdix was cast from a tower into the ocean, he emerged as a bird and was carried to heaven by by the goddess Athena. Thus, Athena represents the pear tree carrying the bird, Perdix, to heaven. Following the introduction of Christianity, the partridge was sometimes used as a symbol for Christ and, in this light, it makes sense having it as a part of a Christmas carol.

However, others have pointed out that the French word for partridge is perdix (same Greek origin but, more than likely, the word came from Greek to French then to English rather directly from Greek to English). Further, in French the word is pronounced as pear dree. The monarchy in England traces its origins from William I, Duke of Normandy in France, who defeated the Saxon King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and became King of England and founder of the Norman dynasty in England. In the centuries that followed, French was the language of the nobility while Anglo Saxon remained the language of the common people. In time the two languages merged into what we now know as the English language. The song itself has strong French connections and it is quite possible that some early versions had a pear tree as the gift and others a partridge and, because the names for both were so close in the two languages, the partridge ended up in the pear tree. As will be seen later, in recent times the four colley birds in the fourth verse have become four calling birds in many places and the five golden rings in the fifth stanza are now visualized by many as five pieces of jewelry rather than five ring-necked pheasants.

In conclusion, it must be remembered that this song evolved out of the popular culture of the Middle Ages and Tudor England. Various versions of it were sung for two or more centuries before the words were recorded and published. Despite the fact that the words have been preserved in written form for over two centuries, the song continues to evolve and the words and symbols continue to change. The one constant is that it remains a popular song and people continue to enjoy singing and listening to it.

Below are the words to each verse of the Twelve Days of Christmas Song - Click on the gift in each verse to go to an article on the history and meaning of that verse.

On the first day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

A partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Five golden rings,

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Twelve drummers drumming,

Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four collie birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree!