A Partridge in a Pear Tree
A Birder's History of the Christmas Carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas once had birds as the gifts on each of first seven days, and may have started out as a game – but why a partridge in a pear tree?
Published in 1780, the book Mirth Without Mischief (author unknown) contained the first known printed version of the Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas.
A memory and forfiets game Imagine a group of friends gathered around to enjoy a "memory and forfeits" game. The leader of the game starts off with "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree." The others repeat the verse one after the other until it's the leader's turn again - he expands on the verse: "On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree." Around and around the ring it goes, with the leader expanding it each time until they reach the twelfth day of Christmas or someone says "three calling birds" instead of "three French Hens," or makes some other memory blunder. The first to falter forfeits a prize of some kind and the game is over.
Distant origins It isn't known whether this was the original use of the song's lyrics - it was around for a long time before it was printed in Mirth Without Mischief, and was apparently translated to English from French. Before that, it probably had its beginnings in Greek mythology. Alan G. Hefner, writing in Encyclopedia Mythica, suggests that the English word partridge came from the Greek Perdix, the name of a king in Greek mythology. Both Perdix and the Goddess Athena had sacred connections to the pear tree - when Perdix was cast into the ocean, he ascended into heaven as a bird in the arms of Athena; thus, he was a partridge in a pear tree. Later, Christian Europeans used the partridge as a symbol for Christ.
Lost in translation? Another author thinks it was all a big mistake: the French for partridge is perdrix (pronounced "pear dree"), making partridge and pear tree the English and French for the same thing. Wherever the pear tree came from, it is clear that the partridge wasn't alone - "calling birds" was originally "colley birds" or blackbirds, and the five golden rings were ring-necked birds (pheasants?). The first seven gifts of The Twelve Days of Christmas were our familiar partridge, two turtle doves, three French hens, four blackbirds, five pheasants, six geese and seven swans - quite a flock. The twelve days, incidentally, are the period of time between the birth of Jesus and the arrival of three wise men (January 6, or Twelfth Night).
Related Articles:
Read about a present day Christams activity for bird lovers: The Christmas Bird Count
