The 12 days in the song reference the 12 days that follow Christmas, which is also called Twelvetide in Christianity.
Although some historians believe the Twelve Days of Christmas song is French, the first printed version of the tune can be traced to an English children's book called "Mirth With-out Mischief," published in 1780. A first edition of the book sold at auction for $23.750 in 2014!
The original lyrics are slightly different than the version of the song we are all familiar with today, written by British composer Frederic Austin in 1909. For instance, originally, the fourth day with "four calling birds" were actually “four colly birds" as the word colly is old English slang for blackbirds. Additionally older versions of the song had "a very pretty peacock upon a pear tree."
Historians also believe that the song began as a "memory-and-forfeit" children's game in 17th century England. School children played this type of game that had the simple rule that when it was your turn, you repeated all the previously sung lyrics and added the next one. If you couldn't remember the verse, you owed your playmate a forfeit, often a kiss or piece of candy.
Hope you enjoy the Perfume Passage daily collection photos of our 12 days of Christmas, vanity style!
