The twelve days of Christmas are supposed to start on Christmas Day... so this is a tad late getting started. Oh well.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Ten lords a-leaping
Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids a-milking
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five go-o-ooold rings
Four colly-birds
Three French hens
Two turtle-doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Eleven pipers piping
Ten lords a-leaping
Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids a-milking
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five go-o-ooold rings
Four colly-birds
Three French hens
Two turtle-doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drumming
Eleven pipers piping
Ten lords a-leaping
Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids a-milking
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five go-o-ooold rings
Four colly-birds
Three French hens
Two turtle-doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.
... And there we are.
The Twelfth Day is the final day of Twelvetide / Christmastide. Twelfth Night is also known as Epiphany Eve.
There are some intriguing customs associated with Twelfth Night - the singing of carols, the chalking of the door, a merry feast, the selecting of a Lord of Misrule (chosen by chance if his piece of cake had a bean in it, hence he's also known as King of the Bean), and of course the baking of that cake, Twelfth Cake.
May your Misrules and Revels be wondrous.
