Read about the carol and then watch The Muppets and John Denver version.
Everything about the origins of this carol appear unclear.
When do the 12 days start? - Do they start on Christmas Day making the 5th January the 12th day or on Boxing Day making January 6th the 12th day.
Where did the words come from? They appeared in print for the first time in 1780 and were a chant or poem not set to music.
It is highly probable that it began as a memory and forfeit game for twelfth night celebrations, and would have been said and not sung.
A recent interpretation is that they were created to teach Catholic children the catechism in a coded way, as the first reference to this version is recent it seems unlikely.
The tune: The version we know best came from Frederic Austin, an English composer in 1909. He set the lyrics and added some flourishes including the part that everyone knows – the drawn out “five go-old rings”. It was based on a traditional English tune dating back to the 1700s .
What is certain is that it is a cumulative carol where a generous ‘true love’ gives a range of increasingly bizarre gifts and you’ll probably hear or sing it at some point this Christmas. It has also been recorded and parodied by numerous people.
This version was from John Denver and the Muppets show in 1979
John Denver & The Muppets 12 Days of Christmas
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