I Know Why the Caged Turtledove Sings

I've sung the song since I was a child but never understood when and why Christmas turned into Hanukkah with its "12 Days" of celebration.  And on what planet is a child's first gift on it's list a Partridge in a Pear Tree?? Thank goodness for Snopes!

"What we do know is that the twelve days of Christmas in the song are the twelve days between the birth of Christ (Christmas, December 25) and the coming of the Magi (Epiphany, January 6). Although the specific origins of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" are not known, it possibly began as a Twelfth Night "memory-and-forfeits" game in which the leader recited a verse, each of the players repeated the verse, the leader added another verse, and so on until one of the players made a mistake, with the player who erred having to pay a penalty, such as a offering up a kiss or a sweet. This is how the song was presented in its earliest known printed version, in the 1780 children's book Mirth Without Mischief. (The song is apparently much older than this printed version, but we do not currently know how much older.) Textual evidence indicates that the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was not English in origin, but French. Three French versions of the song are known, and items mentioned in the song itself (the partridge, for example, which was not introduced to England from France until the late 1770s) are indicative of a French origin.

It is possible that "The Twelve Days of Christmas" has been confused with (or is a transformation of) a song called "A New Dial" (also known as "In Those Twelve Days"), which dates to at least 1625 and assigns religious meanings to each of the twelve days of Christmas (but not for the purposes of teaching a catechism). In a manner somewhat similar to the memory-and-forfeits performance of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," the song "A New Dial" was recited in a question-and-answer format:

What are they that are but one? We have one God alone In heaven above sits on His throne. What are they which are but two? Two testaments, the old and new, We do acknowledge to be true. What are they which are but three? Three persons in the Trinity Which make one God in unity. What are they which are but four Four sweet Evangelists there are, Christ's birth, life, death which do declare. What are they which are but five? Five senses, like five kings, maintain In every man a several reign. What are they which are but six? Six days to labor is not wrong, For God himself did work so long.

What are they which are but seven? Seven liberal arts hath God sent down With divine skill man's soul to crown. What are they which are but eight? Eight Beatitudes are there given Use them right and go to heaven. What are they which are but nine? Nine Muses, like the heaven's nine spheres, With sacred tunes entice our ears. What are they which are but ten? Ten statutes God to Moses gave Which, kept or broke, do spill or save. What are they which are but eleven? Eleven thousand virgins did partake And suffered death for Jesus' sake. What are they which are but twelve? Twelve are attending on God's son; Twelve make our creed. The Dial's done.

(Using ordinary objects to represent biblical concepts is a common device, as exemplified by the several popular recordings of Deck of Cards.)

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is what most people take it to be: a secular song that celebrates the Christmas season with imagery of gifts and dancing and music. Some misinterpretations have crept into the English version over the years, though. For example, the fourth day's gift is four "colly birds" (or "collie birds"), not four "calling birds." (The word "colly" literally means "black as coal," and thus "colly birds" would be blackbirds.) The "five golden rings" refers not to five pieces of jewelry, but to five ring-necked birds (such as pheasants). When these errors are corrected, the pattern of the first seven gifts' all being types of birds is re-established.

Nonetheless, plenty of writers continue to expound upon "the beauty and truly biblical and spiritual meanings locked away in this wonderful song that puts Christ into Christmas where he doesn't appear to be." Perhaps those who consider this tale to be "beautiful" and "inspirational" (despite its obviously dubious truthfulness) should consider its underlying message: That one group of Jesus' followers had to hide their beliefs in order to avoid being tortured and killed by another group of Jesus' followers. Of all the aspects of Christianity to celebrate at Christmastime, that doesn't sound like a particularly good one to emphasize."

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/music/12days.asp