Twelve days of avian acclaim
The extravagant suitor in that festive favourite The Twelve Days of Christmas must have been a birdwatcher.
Although theologians have long suggested the seasonal song is a religious work full of Christian imagery, you can argue it also glorifies the wonders of the avian world.
As we today celebrate the ninth day of Christmas, I have been delving into ornithological literature to explore associations between the gifts lavished by the lovestruck paramour and nature’s feathered wonders.
Most people can sing along word perfectly to the first few verses and pick out lines where birds are celebrated in all their splendid forms.
The first two gifts of a pear-tree loving partridge – no doubt the English or grey variety – along with a pair of turtle doves are species that would have been common sights in 1780 when the lyrics were published in the children’s book, Mirth Without Mischief.
Surely, the third day’s gift of three French hens relates to red-legged partridges, a game bird introduced from France to the English countryside in 1770 and, rather than four calling birds, the original song mentions colly birds, an old name for blackbirds.
Ring-necked pheasants are a good candidate for the five gold rings and the egg-laying geese and swans a-swimming delivered on days six and seven speak for themselves.
At first sight, the gifts arriving over following days appear to relate to people, but you can make a solid case they actually allude to birds.
The nightjar is a good candidate to represent the maids a-milking. Its old country name was the “goatsucker”, based on the legend it suckled livestock.
Cranes are renowned for the fancy high kicks they perform during their nuptials as do ruffs with their bouncing courtship displays. What better candidates for dancing ladies and leaping lords?
Finally, the musicians gifted over the two days before Epiphany can also symbolise birds. For the eleven pipers, read sandpipers, while the eerie sound the common snipe makes with its tail feathers during territorial spring flights is known as “drumming”.