What is The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)?
[[File:XRF 12days.jpg|thumb|175px|The Twelve Days of Christmas]] '''The Twelve Days of Christmas''' is an [[English language|English]] [[Christmas]] carol which was published around [[1780]] but may predate the publication by centuries. It is a cumulative carol. It depicts a succession of gifts given (a variety of birds and five golden rings) and people and activities having to do with a Twelve Days of Christmas feast holiday (from Christmas Day to Epiphany), possibly in a royal court. (There have been claims on social media that) it was written by [[Catholics]] in hiding during the days of Queen [[Elizabeth I of England]]'s persecution. (The claim is that) it was invented (evidence needed of origin) to help teach children articles of the Catholic faith without drawing attention from government officials, using imagery as a tool to help the children remember. (However the articles of faith listed existed in both the Catholic faith and Church of England and this claim appears to be debunked.) The song represents increasingly grand [[gift]]s given during each of [[The Twelve Days of Christmas]]. In the claim the following meanings were attached: The partridge in a pear tree symbolizes Christ on the Cross. The two turtledoves represent his Human and divine nature, the two books of the Old and [[New Testament]], and the two tablets the [[Ten Commandments]] were carved on. The three French hens symbolize the [[Trinity]] of the Catholic faith: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, as well as the three Cardinal virtues of [[Faith]], [[Hope]] and [[Charity (practice)|Charity]]. The four calling birds were the four [[Evangelist]]s who wrote the gospels, etc. This Christmas song has been subject to [[parody]] numerous times and has been covered by multiple [[musician]]s, including though not limited to [[Connie Francis]], [[Natalie Cole]], and the Muppets over many years. == Collage == <gallery> File:Irish Guards Band Drummers.jpg|12 drummers File:Bagpipe performer.jpg|11 pipers File:Player's cigarettes 1