The Twelve Days of Christmas

I think most English speaking people have come across the Christmas song in which the singer is offered by the beloved a whole series of different gifts over the twelve days of the festival, beginning with a single partridge in a pear tree. Here’s a list of those gifts:

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me .... (and so on, through to the last day of all)

A partridge in a pear tree
Two turtle doves
Three French hens
Four calling birds
Five gold rings
Six geese a-laying
Seven swans a-swimming
Eight maids a-milking
Nine ladies dancing
Ten lords a-leaping
Eleven pipers piping
Twelve drummers drumming

My Monochrome Madness Challenge to you is to illustrate this song, just choosing three or four of those gifts. I’m not going to be harsh. For instance. If you choose swans a-swimming , you really don’t have to have seven. One will do. If you’ve got ten or more French hens, who cares? Because I set the challenge, and in case I hear any more un-Christmas-y mutterings from those to whom I’ve already disclosed my theme, I’m going to illustrate all twelve to prove it can be done. And taking liberties is entirely acceptable. In fact, it’s to be encouraged. Here goes.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me – a partridge in a pear tree. ‘Ooops. The partridge seems to have flown off. He’ll be back in a minute. Bound to be.’
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me – two turtle doves.’We’re not turtle doves, just common-or- garden pigeons. But we’re related. We’re fine. Choose me! Choose me!.’
On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me – three French hens. ‘I don’t know whether we have French blood. Probably not. Does it matter?’
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me – four calling birds. ‘Just me at the moment. The others’ll be along soon.’
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me – five gold rings. ‘There’s just that one on top, mate. But there’s bound to be a few more if you take your time and look.’
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me – six geese a-laying. ‘They’re on their way to do just that, sir.’
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me – seven swans a-swimming. The others are over there – on the other side of the pond.
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me – eight maids a-milking. ‘Yep, that little maid was only born the other day. She’s milking her mum alright! Seven more calves due in the next few days. Just gotta be patient.’
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me – nine ladies dancing. ‘Just nine you want? Yes, we can do that for you, sir.’
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me – ten lords a-leaping. ‘We might find it difficult to supply the full set of ten sir. Most lords aren’t as young as they once were. But look at these two. Can’t fault their leaping.’
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me – eleven pipers piping. ‘If you think your young lady can take the noise, we can certainly do you the full eleven pipers.’
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me – twelve drummers drumming. ‘Easy. We’ve got at least eleven more on call just like this fellah. Would that suit you?’

There! Now just pick three or four of those days and show us what you can do.

Leanne and Elke have already beaten me to it ….

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

71 thoughts on “The Twelve Days of Christmas”

  3. Neatly done, but I have to Confess to being devoid of inspiration and will not be doing this challenge…. By the way, how do we said we might be speaking this week if we did I’ve forgotten when!

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    1. We had a lovely time, but home now, with the Christmas cake to ice, and dishes to prepare for a Bolton Christmas, and presents to wrap,,. and … and … Have fun yourselves, if you ever leave Chesterfield! xx

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  8. That was really fun to see and to read your captions to the photos! I probably could do the first few, but not so much the people ones. Maybe I’ll do the ones I can. Have a Merry Christmas! 🙂

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  13. Very clever and amusing too 🙂 I confess I prepared my post before you published (I had to – it took some time!) and I’ve gone down a different route from the one you suggest. While you have the right subjects but not necessarily in the right numbers, I have completely wrong subjects but in the right numbers! I always was contrary 😀Nevertheless, I had a great time putting this together, so I hope you’ll overlook the deviation from your guidance: https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/gallery-the-twelve-days-of-christmas-in-black-and-white/

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  16. Bung in a photo, match the theme, make up what’s missing and ta da, there you have it, a fabulous rendition.
    So cleverly done Margaret 😀 Enjoy doing all the Christmas prep so you can enjoy a wonderful family Christmas

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  19. ………. (¯ O´¯)…
    …….…… / | …………♫ Warmest wishes♫
    ……… …*•♥•*……………….♫ for a ♫
    …… … *♥♫♫♥*’………..♠♫ Merry Christmas ♫♠
    … …. *♥•♦♫••♥* …………….♥.. and a…♥
    ….. *♥☺♥☺♥☺♥* …….. ♠♫ Happy New Year♫♠
    …..*♥•♥#♠*♥#♥•♥* ‘
    ….*♥♫♥♥♫♥♥♫♥♫* ‘
    …*♥♥☺♥♫♥♫♥☺♥♥*’
    ..*♥♥♣♫♥♣♥♥♣♥♫ ♣♥♥*’
    ‘*♥♥♣♥♫♥♥♫♥♥♫ ♥♣♥♥*’
    ………. ╬╬╬╬╬………..

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  25. What a wonderful idea, Margaret. I heard this song for the first time when we worked with Englisch speaking colleagues. It has not been translated into German (or probably any other language), so is completely unknown here. I absolutely love it. I am sure you heard that it is supposed to be about the Roman Catholic church when it was forbidden?

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      1. I don’t know whether it’s true but I’ve heard it from various sides. The Partridge is God, the Turtle Doves the Old and New Testament etc. But you can interpret anything into it, if your want.

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  26. This was such fun and I liked all the apt and innovative photos! I still enjoy this old song.

    (Also it takes me back to to when I was a kid and our local ballet school did a Christmas show that included this song in the programme. There was a dance for each gift. I was one of the 8 maids a-milking and one of the 10 lords a-leaping. We had a super quick costume change during 9 ladies dancing 😊)

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  27. Pingback: The 12 days of Christmas – Geriatri'x' Fotogallery

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