Merry Christmas 2016
Enjoy this song while reading!
This familiar song, The Twelve Days of Christmas was one of my favourite Christmas carols (especially shouting out “Five Golden Rings” and then mumbling the rest of the song!) But have you ever wondered what the twelve days of Christmas were about?
From the 1500s to the early 1800s, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practise their faith openly. For the religious Catholics, this carol was a catechism song for young Catholics because of its ambiguous lyrics. Each element in the carol contains a code word representing a religious element of the Church (the generous “True Love” from the song is Jesus Christ, who was born on Christmas day).
The twelve days of Christmas starts on 25 December, and lasts until 5th January–known as the Twelfth Night. Each day is a different celebration, with most days celebrating a feast day for a saint. Come the Twelfth Night, the largest celebration of the twelve days, the Twelfth Night cake will be eaten. The modern day Italian Panettone is the closest equivalent of the Twelfth Night cake, made with eggs and butter, fruit, nuts and spices. A bean or some times a trinket was also cooked in the cake. Whoever found it was the King or Queen for the night.
Now that we know what the twelve days of Christmas is all about, we can celebrate the twelve days in our own way, making it a meaningful, personal journey of love, peace, and joy. Or you could use those twelve days to master this song on the piano:
Need some help? Then visit us at our studio to enquire about our instrumental courses, and Early Childhood music programmes:
On behalf of everyone at Bloom School of Music & Arts, here’s wishing you:
