Oops! A Hoax? The Twelve Days of Christmas.....
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
The song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is actually Christian Doctrine in
Code-Fiction!
This email says that the popular Christmas song "The 12 Days of Christmas"
was actually written as a memory device for Christians to remember and
recite doctrine. It says that beginning in the 1500's, Catholics in
England were not allowed to practice their faith openly, so "The Twelve Days
of Christmas" became a secret catechism. Several suggestions are listed as
to what doctrines the verses actually represented.
The Truth:
TruthOrFiction.com has not found any Catholic or non-Catholic historical or
scholarly reference that supports this allegation. None of the hundreds of
emails or citations of this story on the net that we've seen includes any
credible source. Most have no source at all, but those that do most often
cite an article published on the Catholic Information Network in 1995. It
was authored by Fr. Hal Stockert of Fishnetsite and appears to be the spark
of the eRumor.
On the other hand, there are several sources that list the song as being of
probable French origin. The most notable is the prestigious New Oxford Book of Carols which not only cites the French roots of the song, but says it is based on a game that children would play on the Twelfth Night, the eve of
Epiphany. In the game, each child would have to try to remember and recite
the objects that were said by a previous child. If successful, the child
would add another object to the list for the next contestant to recite. If
not, the child dropped out. The game would continue until there was a
winner.
There are also other problems with the catechism theory. The assumption
behind it is that the song allowed Catholics to secretly embrace their
beliefs behind the backs of non-Catholic Christian leaders during a time
when being a practicing Catholic was against the law, for example under
Anglican rule. None of the doctrines said to be represented in the Twelve
Days of Christmas, however, was different from the beliefs of Anglicans or
even Presbyterians. There is also the question that if the song was that
important for teaching or remembering doctrine, why was it associated only
with Christmas? One final note is that the first printed version of the
song is said to be in the children's book "Mirth Without Mischief" published
in 1780 and that describes the song in similar terms as the Oxford Book of
Carols.
Thank you so much for the time that you take to encourage so many of us. 🙂 I appreciate your writings and insight.
I wanted to let you know that the piece on the "Twelve Days of Christmas" is not true according to an urban legend site that I often go to. My husband sent me this same piece, not sure if it was true, and this was what I found when I looked for the answer.
http://www.snopes.com/index.html
This is a good site for confirming or denying the truth in legends and stories that get passed around on the internet. I'm sure that you weren't aware of this being a legend ~ and also thought you would want to know of it.
I hope that your family has a wonderful Christmas,
Blessings,
Leslie