Life

Take On Nature: Christmas song might be even more for the birds than you thought

A red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) in a pear tree. Yes, really...
A red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) in a pear tree. Yes, really... A red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) in a pear tree. Yes, really...

AS WE hurtle towards Christmas, it’s difficult not to notice the various birds and animals which adorn cards and form part of the festive trappings.

As with many religious festivals, elements of the natural world are intricately woven into the celebrations, particularly in our traditional carols. With the ‘running deer’ in the The Holly and the Ivy and the gift-bearing animals in The Friendly Beasts, nature permeates much of the verse and visual decor around the festive period. This is especially evident with the well-known Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, a song which, though not as solemn as others, is still a favourite for many.

The title refers to the period between Christmas Day and the feast of the Epiphany, or 12th Night, celebrated on January 6. An old English carol which first appeared in written form around 1780, it has fascinated singers and audiences for centuries, given the frivolous and nonsensical nature of the words.

Although the song only appeared in print around this time, like many songs and poems, its origins probably go back much further. Many theories exist about the song’s origin and meaning with some believing it was simply a humorous memory game where revellers had to remember all the items in the correct order.

Another more sober theory argues it originated during the 16th century Protestant Reformation in England when Catholics were prevented from openly practising their faith and that it was written as a coded catechism song enabling children to remember key aspects of their faith.

The Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments, the Three French hens, the Holy Trinity, the Four calling birds, the four gospels, and on through to the ‘lords a-leaping’, the Ten Commandments and the ‘drummers drumming’, the 12 Apostles.

In his new book, The Twelve Birds of Christmas, naturalist and broadcaster Stephen Moss poses the question "might the real meaning behind the song actually turn out to be not sacred, but avian?" He admits he has "no definitive proof" but suggests that given the first seven verses all refer to birds, he can make a case for linking the remaining verses to birds.

He explains that in the original version line four is ‘Four colly birds’ with colly an old word for the colour black, coming from ‘coaly’, making these blackbirds. For line five he points out that the ‘Five gold rings’ are more likely to be five ‘yoldrings’, a long forgotten folk name for the yellowhammer, which listeners assumed to be ‘gold rings’.

Looking at the last five verses, he makes the case for the ‘drummers drumming’ and the ‘pipers piping’ as woodpeckers and sandpipers respectively. The long-lost crane, once a familiar wetland bird in Ireland is matched to the ‘Nine ladies dancing’ because of the bird’s extravagant and magical courtship dance, often performed in synchrony by large flocks.

The ‘Eight maids a-milking’, Moss believes, could be the nightjar, a nocturnal feeder of insects, also known as the ‘goatsucker’, with myth telling of how it stole milk from the udders of domestic animals including goats.

The reality, however, is that the bird catches moths and insects around animals' feet and udders. English naturalist JE Harting wrote of this mistaken belief in 1875, "Being detected in this act by unobservant persons, the story has gone forth that the goatsucker steals milk".

Finally, the ‘Ten lords a-leaping’, Moss says, could refer to a flock of lekking male black grouse dancing and leaping to impress onlooking females.

Just enough space to finish with Beannachtaí an tSéasúir. Season's Greetings to you all.