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Advent & Christmas

Day 9 of 12 Days of Christmas: Nine ladies dancing

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Advent & Christmas, Home, Weekly MeditationsTagged , , , ,

Lady’s Boogie — Langston Hughes

See that lady
Dressed so fine?
She ain’t got boogie-woogie
On her mind—

But if she was to listen
I bet she’d hear,
Way up in the treble
The tingle of a tear.

    Be-Bach!

SONGS about LADIES:

CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM applied to LYRICS (or not)

The symbolism associated with the nine ladies dancing are the nine characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit.  They are found in Galatians 5:22-23.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  (23)  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” — https://kscnewmancenter.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/twelve-days-of-christmas-day-9-nine-ladies-dancing/

Jolly News — Dayton Daily News: https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/opinion/jolly-thoughts-the-days-christmas/idfbtmBoOnw95HiAoa31GI/

There is no firm consensus, but two conflicting theories dominate.

The religious theory stems from the suppression of Catholicism during the reigns of certain British Protestant monarchs and Reformists. The theory is that each of these phrases were codes that referred to tenets of Catholicism that would be inadvisable or dangerous to proclaim publicly, but could be used to teach and remind children. … This theory … is dumb. First, not all the things listed were prohibited by the reformists. Secondly, they seem really stretched; it would be much easier to make up a better, more meaningful code that would fit … And thirdly, they merely refer to things like the Ten Commandments, they don’t tell us what they are. That would have to be taught elsewhere … No, the religious connotation seems merely a poor attempt to force something to fit that just doesn’t fit, and long after the fact. Such attempts at religious meanings were not even published until at least 300 years after the song was popular.

It is much more probable that it is merely a child’s game or adult parlor game, similar to many of the “forfeits” games played in Victorian England. In such games, participants have to either have an answer (as in the game of similes) or be able to repeat what has been said before and add something, or the like, or be required to “forfeit” or otherwise be out of the game. This theory is borne out by the fact that there are many variations of the song, many changing the last verses (thus the more complicated ones in any game), so that there may be 12 lords a-leaping, 11 ladies (or dames) dancing (or waiting), 10 pipers piping, nine drummers drumming … even 10 fiddlers fiddling.

There were also many other gifts introduced, including hounds, pheasants, bells, badgers, ships (a-sailing), etc. Obviously the game wouldn’t be very exciting or challenging if everyone knew the phrases like we do today; variations were necessary to make a game of it.

COST of CHRISTMAS According to PNC (full article: https://www.pnc.com/insights/our-commitments/customers/pnc-s-christmas-price-index–soars-for-true-loves.html)

PNC has calculated the cost of true love’s gifts based on the holiday song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”  While the gifts of birds, precious metals and performers haven’t changed, the price to buy them all has soared this year, in line with what consumers are facing in the real world.

PNC’s Christmas Price Index (CPI), based on the price of the gifts in the song, grew by 10.5 percent in 2022, the third highest year-over-year increase in history of PNC’s whimsical holiday tradition. The overall cost to buy all 12 gifts in the song is a record $45,523.27 in 2022.

“True Love’s shopping tab reflects what’s happening in the broader economy this year as commodity and energy prices, along with supply chain disruptions, have driven the cost of goods and services up,” said Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for the PNC Asset Management Group.

Rising Costs Drive Growth

Birds comprise half of the gifts in the CPI and an overall increase in bird and feed prices are a factor in this year’s cost. Prices for the turtle doves ($600), French hens ($318.75) and geese ($720) all jumped by at least 9% in 2022. The partridge ($20.18) – and more pertinently – its pear tree home ($260) grew by nearly 26% this year, primarily due to increased costs of fertilizer for the tree.

Prices in the service economy also jumped in 2022, reflected in the cost of the performance-based gifts at the back half of True Love’s shopping list. Wage and labor cost growth drove prices higher for the Nine Ladies Dancing ($8,308.12), Eleven Pipers Piping ($3,021.40) and Twelve Drummers Drumming ($3,266.93.) The Ten Lords-a-Leaping – priced on the cost of hiring a ballet company – grew an astounding 24 percent year over year to $13,980, supplanting the swans as the most expensive single gift in the index.

The rising costs of goods and services due to inflation likely sent some investors seeking gold. That resulted in growing prices for the precious metal this holiday season and a 39% increase in the cost of the Five Gold Rings ($1,245) for True Loves – the largest year-over-year percentage increase for any of the gifts in the index.

“While it’s unlikely most holiday shoppers are looking to gift the way True Love does, the experience of a higher holiday bill is a reality,” Agati said. “Whether your shopping list includes birds and bands or something more traditional, the cost of production, shipping and labor is up this year, which means price tags follow suit.

Like the index, consumer behavior is the drumbeat for the U.S. economy,” Agati said. “With 70% of U.S. GDP tied to consumption, consumer financial health is key to future market performance. We will be keeping an eye on guiding stars like retail sales, savings rates and consumer sentiment as indicators of the success of this holiday season,” she added.

VARYING LYRICS — Wikipedia

The earliest known publications of the words to The Twelve Days of Christmas were an illustrated children’s book, Mirth Without Mischief, published in London in 1780, and a broadsheet by Angus, of Newcastle, dated to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries.

While the words as published in Mirth without Mischief and the Angus broadsheet were almost identical, subsequent versions (beginning with James Orchard Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes of England of 1842) have displayed considerable variation:

  • In the earliest versions, the word on is not present at the beginning of each verse—for example, the first verse begins simply “The first day of Christmas”. On was added in Austin’s 1909 version, and became very popular thereafter.
  • In the early versions “my true love sent” me the gifts. However, a 20th-century variant has “my true love gave to me”; this wording has become particularly common in North America.
  • In one 19th-century variant, the gifts come from “my mother” rather than “my true love”.
  • Some variants have “juniper tree” or “June apple tree” rather than “pear tree”, presumably a mishearing of “partridge in a pear tree”.
  • The 1780 version has “four colly birds”—colly being a regional English expression for “coal-black” (the name of the collie dog breed may come from this word).This wording must have been opaque to many even in the 19th century: “canary birds”, “colour’d birds”, “curley birds”, and “corley birds” are found in its place. Frederic Austin’s 1909 version, which introduced the now-standard melody, also altered the fourth day’s gift to four “calling” birds, and this variant has become the most popular, although “colly” is still found.
  • “Five gold rings” has often become “five golden rings”, especially in North America In the standard melody, this change enables singers to fit one syllable per musical note.
  • The gifts associated with the final four days are often reordered. For example, the pipers may be on the ninth day rather than the eleventh.

12 Days of Wordlady: Nine Ladies Dancing (full article: https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-nine-ladies-dancing.html)

I have already discussed the interesting story of “dance”, but what about “lady”, a word obviously close to my heart?

It is derived from an Old English word, hlæfdie, a compound of hlæf (bread) and dige (kneader). From its earliest appearance in written records, this “bread kneader” was the woman in charge of a household.

The second element of the compound, dige, is related to the word that gave us “dairy”, as we saw in our last post. The first element, hlæf, evolved into “loaf”, its place as the collective word for the staff of life usurped by “bread”, which started out meaning “a piece of food”. “Give us today our daily loaf” and “I am the loaf of life,” said Anglo-Saxon Gospel translations.

Lady Day — J. Patrick Lewis

for Billie Holiday

Lady could pour you a song,

Coffee and a little cream.

Stir it the whole night long

Into a brown-sugar dream.

Lady could wrap you a note

Up in a velvet night—

Sometimes Manhattan satin,

Always Harlem delight.

Lady Day could sing it

Like nobody ever has

At the Shim Sham Club, Hot Cha Cha,

Joints that swung on jazz.

Her bittersweet songs told Heartbreak,

Meet your sister Pain,

But Lady melted yesterdays

Into beautiful rain.

Lady Birds’ Evening Meetings — Tacey M. Atsitty

After Sylvia Plath’s bee poems

Why am I here again with all of them flittering about? Just to be alone—

It’s what I tell myself, that I too bear black spots on red skin,

It’s how we scamper about before flowing off with our chiffon wings ready to take flight

At a moment’s notice, I am against the wall once again, wainscotting.

The girl on my soccer team leans over to me as I ready to take the seat next to her.

I don’t want no dirty Navajo sitting next to me, she says with her foreleg atop the cold metal chair.

So I take a seat in the row behind before leaving to find an empty room upstairs.

That day the leaders made us binders, wrapped in cotton filling, fabric, and lace.

I got the last pick; well, it wasn’t a pick at all. It was an ugly bright yellow calico print with thick white cotton lace. No one wanted it.

Why did no one tell me to wear a dress?

It’s my first time to this edifice, and I come without—

The girl down the street, the nice one, offers to buy me a white dress with pink florals from Kmart with her credit card. I accept.

This is an emergency, she declares with her card held high in the air.

I am 13 and she 17. Her parents say she can only use it in the event of—

The fabric hugs my ladybug rolls snugly as I step my way to the temple door.

It’s where we learn to really spread our wings in worship, tune our antennae like aluminum to the heavens.

Earlier I said, I could marry anywhere—that it didn’t matter none to me.

I didn’t know it yet, but I was a bug amid blossoms and their vines, winding through unnoticed and unaware

Until a knock came to my door: a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies sits on the welcome mat,

The girls giggling behind the trees, and there in the starlit night, we became a bloom.

bag lady, boxed — Emily Carney

there is a plasticity to the soul that can fit inside

sweaters but not inside drawers. how many times

can one watch the same porn video before one

feels that they have become that porn video. how

many times can you attempt to untangle a cross. i

bought a black dress today — long, and covered with

sequins in the timorous shapes of stars. when i paid for it i

imagined myself sitting in it on a curb drinking beer with you,

so tell me what came first, the beer or the dress. you put

my broken buddha lamp in the hall today because it

“just didn’t fit.” i put you on the right side of my neck

during a sex dream for the same reason. pisces

is the blue cheese of the zodiac signs. are you a gemini?

rose-covered curtains give me anxiety and black gauze

has the polar-opposite effect. does styrofoam turn you

on? it is narcissistic to assume that anything likes to be liked by

you. it is narcissistic to assume that anything matters if

you don’t. i would like to be a man ray photograph

more than i would like to be a person. i would like to

be the glass carnival wallpaper at your lips more than

i would like to be a person. would you fuck me against

your window, even though it is phobic to be naked

in public? i have a feeling that although you are a poet,

you think that poets are phony. i have a feeling that it’s

all a joke to you and i like it, but i am not similar.

your lips came to me in a dream, red and shiny like

cartoon wool. your lips came to me in a honda

and i loved them away, and i pushed them anyway.

i wanted to be a porn star, your father wanted you to

make boxes. we both felt upset about the wanting. we both

learned that it is important to feel guiltless about smashing guitars.

i am a 5 p.m. person who buys cardigans to look like

trash. you are a 9 p.m. person who likes both

kinds of nylon against your fingers. i couldn’t

concentrate in yoga because i was fixated

on how much you’d like the ass of the

girl in front of me. i’m starting to believe that purple

hair is cliché and i don’t like it. i let myself get wet in the

rain today because i wanted you to be proud of me. when are my

poems going to stop you.

this is just the long string of molecules.

this is just the long.

Day 8 of 12 Days of Christmas: Eight maids a-milking

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Advent & Christmas, Home, Weekly MeditationsTagged , ,

MILKMAID (excerpt) — Thomas Hardy

Under a daisied bank
There stands a rich red ruminating cow,
   And hard against her flank
A cotton-hooded milkmaid bends her brow.

   The flowery river-ooze
Upheaves and falls; the milk purrs in the pail;
   Few pilgrims but would choose
The peace of such a life in such a vale.

   The maid breathes words–to vent,
It seems, her sense of Nature’s scenery,
   Of whose life, sentiment,
And essence, very part itself is she…

SONGS about MILKMAIDS:

SYMBOLISM THEORIES for Eight Milkmaids

On the Eighth Day of Christmas…Eight Maids A-Milking — Chuck Nugent, ttps://discover.hubpages.com/holidays/On_the_Eighth_Day_of_Christmas
The eight maids a-milking addresses two of the major themes of fifteenth and sixteenth century English celebrations and parties during the Christmas holidays – food and romance. What is a feast or party without food? Especially foods that are not common and are reserved for special occasions.
      Until the advent of refrigeration, milk was not a common drink because it spoiled quickly. However, milk based products that did not spoil, such as cheese, sour milk (which is actually a cultured milk much like yogurt and is neither sour tasting nor spoiled) and custards were prized treats. Cheese and sour milk are the result of processes that expose milk to so called friendly bacteria which convert the milk to a state where it can be preserved for a longer period and is also tasty. Custard is similar but this involves the cooking of the milk, which kills the harmful bacteria thereby extending the period during which it can be safely consumed.
     The maids, of course, refer to the women who would milk the cows to obtain the milk in the first place. In times past milking of cows or goats was typically a job for women. However, the term maid is also the shortened form of maiden which is a young, unmarried, woman. By combining the images of maiden and milk (which can also bring to mind a woman’s breasts), it is easy to get the idea that this particular gift has more to do with sex and romance than with cows.
“Maids A-Milking” Can Refer to Both Dining or a Sexual Encounter
     The term eight maids a-milking evokes images of the food, especially the special holiday foods, to be enjoyed at this festive time of year as well as the possibilities for romance, both licit and illicit.
      While the people of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were not as prudish as the nineteenth century Victorians, there was still pressure, especially for women, to maintain a somewhat chaste image in public. Young upper class (both merchant class and nobility) women were usually chaperoned when in public and when being courted by young men.
     However, during the Twelfth Night celebrations not only were many of the rules of behavior relaxed but the environment in which the parties were held provided opportunities to escape the watchful eyes of the public. In the midst of a large group of people, many of them strangers, who were busy drinking, dancing and having a good time, it was easy to slip away from one’s chaperon or spouse.
      Masked and costumed balls increased the opportunities for secret liaisons as well as providing additional means of denying your actions the next day. With candles and torches the sole source of lighting, it was often difficult to identify people across the room let alone in the numerous rooms and darkened alcoves found in the castles and large manor houses where the parties were held. The opportunities offered for some passionate time alone with a lover or a quick one night stand with a stranger were a major attraction of these parties.
    Further evidence of the sexual connotations of this stanza is the fact that during this time period in England the term to go a-milking had strong romantic and sexual connotations. It was a term that men used when they wanted to ask a woman to marry them or to have a simple sexual encounter.
     Like similar expressions people use today, asking a woman to go a-milking was a code used by men to test a woman’s response to their intentions. Words have meaning and they carry emotional impact. Requests also require a response. Will you marry me and will you go a-milking with me may convey the same message but the nonsense phrase go a-milking does not carry the emotional impact of marry me or come to bed with me.
     Coded phrases like this allow people to converse more freely while at the same time allowing them to retract a statement more easily. When a man asks a woman to marry him and she says no what can he respond back with without looking desperate and/or foolish? But, when he asks a woman to go a-milking with him and she replies with a no he can easily come back with something like “well, I just thought you would like to help me with the cows.” In this case his proposal was received and understood but rejected, at least temporarily. However both are able to dismiss it as a misunderstanding of what he really meant. Both laugh and can proceed without loss of dignity on either side.

Healthful Living – MidPhase: full aarticle: https://www.midphase.com/blog/twelve-days-of-christmas-eight-maids-a-milking/
On the eighth day a true love gifts eight maids a-milking to his one and only. A somewhat strange gift, we know, but we have formed a hypothesis for exactly how this strange present could have been a lifesaver from the phrase “smooth as a milkmaid’s skin.”
This story actually harks back to the days before vaccinations were invented in the late 18th century. Some began to notice that milkmaids always had vibrant skin, clear of any dangerous pox that plagued the era. During this time, the country had been afflicted from the deadly disease known as smallpox. An English physician by the name of Edward Jenner took notice of the milkmaids’ beautiful skin and began to research this strange occurrence.
The answer amounted to another disease called cowpox. Milkmaids were exposed to cowpox during the milking process when the cows’ udders became infected. Jenner discovered that milkmaids who had been infected with cowpox didn’t show symptoms of smallpox. Although very similar to smallpox, cowpox was much milder and rarely resulted in death.
Jenner experimented with the relationship with the two diseases by extracting fluid from a cowpox sore and injected the fluid into an eight-year-old boy (not very ethical by today’s standards, but we will let it slide). A week later Jenner exposed the boy to smallpox and waited for a result. Amazingly, the boy didn’t get sick and was completely resistant to smallpox for the rest of his life. Jenner had succeeded in his fight against smallpox. Through this process a cure was discovered and countless lives were saved.
Medicine over the years has built upon Jenner’s early experimentation with diseases. You could safely say that without his somewhat risky research we might not have the life-saving vaccinations we do today. Through Jenner’s work smallpox was eradicated from the world.
So, the next time your true love offers you eight milkmaids to show you that he cares – be glad, for you never know the secrets that milkmaids hold!

ALTERNATE IDEAS about Eight Maids A-Milking

Servant Leadership
Representing the common man whom Christ had come to serve and save. When the song was written, no job in England was lower than working in a barn, and for a female servant to be used in this way indicated that she was worth little to her master. Christ was the true servant, even giving His life for His people. The number eight also represents the beatitudes listed in Matthew 5: 3-10 Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemaker, and the righteous. — Hampshire Pewter

The 8 Maids-a-milking & the 8 Beatitudes— Carolyn Cornell Holland, full article: https://carolyncholland.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/the-8-maids-a-milking-the-8-beatitudes/

The eight maids a-milking addresses two of the major themes of fifteenth and sixteenth century English celebrations and parties during the Christmas holidays – food and romance.

Typically, the work of milking cows (and goats) was a woman’s job. Although milk was not a common beverage during this pre-refrigeration time (it spoiled too quickly), milk based products did not spoil so rapidly. Cheese, sour milk, and custards—which were prized treats for celebrations.

And the word maid? It’s a shortened form of maiden, a young, unmarried woman.

This combination of milking and maid lends itself to the idea that a gift of eight maids-a-milking might have more to do with romance than with cows.

During this time period the term go a-milking did have strong romantic connotations. Men used the term when they wanted to propose marriage (or a sexual encounter) with a woman. It was a kind of a code word to test a woman’s response—if she reacts negatively, he can always say he thought she might like to help him with the cows, and they could laugh.

Remember, the gifts in the popular Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas each signify a Christian message.

So what do the maids-a-milking signify in the popular Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas?

Interestingly enough, it is a code word for the eight Beatitudes that introduce the greatest sermon ever preached: the Sermon on the Mount—Matthew 5:1-12.

The Sermon on the Mount, preached by Jesus, starts with a list of eight Beatitudes:

  1. v. 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit.
  2. v. 4 Blessed are those who mourn.
  3. v. 5.Blessed are the meek.
  4. v.6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
  5. v. 7 Blessed are the merciful.
  6. v. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart.
  7. v. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers.
  8. v.10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. (And v.11 Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.)**

Day 7 of 12 Days of Christmas: Seven swans a-swimming

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Advent & Christmas, Home, Weekly MeditationsTagged ,

Father, Where Do the Wild Swans Go? (excerpt)— Ludvig Holstein Father, where do the wild swans go?

         Far, far. Ceaselessly winging,

         Their necks outstraining, they haste them singing

         Far, far. Whither, none may know.

SONGS about SWANS:

SYMBOLISM THEORIES: Seven Swans

As you will recall—for by now it’s an ear worm that you can’t stop humming—the 12 days begin on Christams Day with the partridge. On 5 or 6 of the following days, the gifts are birds, interrupted musically, thematically and enigmatically by those 5 golden rings… There have also been many Christian interpretations of this song but really no evidence to support any of them. I find the secular interpretations to be far more interesting and valid.
      In the 237 years since the rhyme was first published in English, there have been at least 20 different versions of the words, especially with respect to the birds. Some of these variants are undoubtedly Mondegreens, but they were often probably just attempts to make the words more relevant to a contemporary audience…
    The birds of days 6 and 7—the geese and the swans—round out the culinary theme before the song turns to dance providing some exercise after all that feasting, and chores that may have been neglected. — Robert Montgomerie, American Ornithology, full article: https://americanornithology.org/four-calling-birds/

The Seven Swans a Swimming verse represents the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:6-8). Prophesy, service, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership & mercy. Children were taught that when you walk with God the gifts of the Spirit moved in your life as easily as a swan on the water.— Hampshire Pewter

Seven Swans — Brownielocks, full article: https://www.brownielocks.com/twelvedaysofchristmas.html

Because many water-fowl could both fly and swim, the ancients had a real fascination with them.  Many believed that these animals had a connection between natural and supernatural worlds.   The migrations of some birds (disappearing when days grew short and coming when they grew longer) also added to their beliefs.   Egypt Linked swans with immortality, just like they did the geese.   The Greek priests, who worship Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, are believed to be descended from swans.  Old Celtic and British myths believe that lost loved ones turn into swans, with gold or silver chains on their necks to symbolize their enchantment.  The transformation is believed to take place during their Samhain festival, where the gates of the other worlds open up and souls are free to pass.

King Edward of England, in 1304 took his vows of knighthood over two white swans decorated with gold nets and crowns.  Since then, the swans became associated with royalty; and, having swans was strictly exclusive to the monarchy.  In Britain today, the swan is still considered a symbol of royalty.

In 1697 black swans were discovered in Australia.  This caused a great stir in Europe, because  up until then, it was believed that swans were suppose to be white. At least, they were all white in Europe!

Seven Swans A-Swimming — Revkev43, full article: https://revkev43.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/seven-swans-a-swimming/

Few of God’s creatures are more graceful than a swan floating on the water. These majestic animals have always been associated with royalty. In fact, even to this day, all swans in England that are not marked by an owner belong to the crown. Throughout history, kings have given swans away as gifts. A gift of seven swans would be extremely generous.

“On the seventh day of Christmas my True Love gave to me, seven Swans A-Swimming…”
 

If the “True Love” in this famous song represents God, the King, what do the seven swans filled with grace and beauty represent? They represent the seven gifts of grace (or grace-gifts, or spiritual gifts) mentioned in Romans 12:6-8. These seven gifts are often referred to as “motivational gifts” or “creation gifts” and are supernatural endowments given to believers for purpose of serving God and serving each other. When followers of Jesus receive their gift, recognize their gift, exercise their gift, and grow in their gift, the body of Christ swims effortlessly and gracefully across the waters, drawing others to Jesus. All believers have received a grace gift. Sadly, many believers have never opened their gift to see what is inside.

Below are seven short definitions of the seven gifts of grace (“Swans A-Swimming”) mentioned in Romans 12:6-8…

  • Prophecy – The supernatural ability to expose sin by proclaiming God’s truth, righteousness, and warning of judgment to come. (The office gift of the prophet mentioned in Ephesians 4:11, and the manifestation of the gift of prophecy mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:10, go beyond this simple definition of the motivational gift of prophecy.)
  • Serving – The supernatural ability to meet practical needs, giving practical assistance wherever needed, becoming the hands and feet of Christ.
  • Teaching – The supernatural ability to clarify truth through in-depth bible study, and a deep desire to share what has been learned with others.
  • Encouraging – The supernatural ability to stimulate faith in others by giving counsel and guidance, helping others apply the Bible to their lives.
  • Giving – The supernatural ability to give generously (above the tithe) to tangible needs, and the supernatural ability to give generously (above the tithe) helping to support the ministries of the church.
  • Leadership – The supernatural ability to give oversight to the church, organizing ministries, achieving immediate goals of the group, enabling the church to run smoothly.
  • Showing Mercy – The supernatural ability to relieve embarrassment by reaching out to others, having concern for the precise and varying feelings of individuals with a readiness to meet their needs.

Seven Swans A-Swimming  — Julz, ful article: https://julzcrafts.com/2018/01/05/the-twelve-days-of-christmas-last-part-7-swans-a-swimming-all-the-rest/

Swans are one of the most charismatic birds. Their graceful flight and peaceful beauty as they glide across the water have inspired humans to find spiritual meaning in them. Iron Age Britons, eighth century BC and later, considered them supernatural. Mute swans are the traditional birds of folklore. Although migratory, they became semi-domesticated in Britain by the 10th century.

Richard the Lionhearted is often credited with bringing swans to England on his return from the Crusades in the 12th century, but some documentation shows swans being kept as far back as 966, during the reign of King Edgar.

It was in the 12th century that the Crown claimed ownership of all swans. In the 15th century, swan ownership was shared with the Vintners’ and Dyers’ Companies. That continues today, with an annual ceremony called Swan Upping, in which cygnets, baby swans, are captured, weighed, checked for health problems, banded and released.

So, the 12 Days of Christmas meaning behind Seven Swans-A-Swimming would have had royal as well as spiritual connotations.

In the 17th century, Mute Swans were semi-domesticated in England. In the Netherlands, they were farmed, for their down, their meat and as ornamental birds, according to Sylvia Bruce Wilmore, in her book, Swans of the World.  In the Netherlands, those practices continued until after World War II.  Because all swans in England belong officially to the Royal Family, swans given as gifts would have been marked on the upper part of their bills. Their markings identified the person who had responsibility for them and thus could benefit from them. Marks date back to 1370.

Today in the U.S., migratory waterfowl are protected by state and federal laws. Permits are required to keep wild birds legally. If you are in any doubt about birds you are considering acquiring, check with the state department of fish and game, parks and wildlife or natural resources.

STORIES about SWANS — Professor Kate Williams, full article: https://unireadinghistory.com/2019/12/19/twelve-days-of-christmas-seven-swans-a-swimming/

Seven swans a swimming – well, with giving this, our ‘true love’ was really buying us something rather expensive. Swans have always been luxury goods, a medieval Gucci handbag, if you will. In the medieval period, swans were status symbols, exchanged between noblemen as the centuries wore on, they became increasingly exclusive to royalty. Any top feast worth its salt had to have a swan as a centrepiece, especially at Christmas feasts. Ideally, you’d roast a few swans in their feathers and put a burning piece of incense in its beak. In 1251, Henry III ordered 125 swans for the Christmas feast for his court. Dining with the King in winter meant eating swan. Swans were so important to aristocratic and royal status that they had to be marked, usually on the soft skin of the beak. Notches would usually be cut in, but there could also be initials or even heraldic devices. These ‘swan marks’ became the property of the government; they had to be bought at great expense and, following the law that only wealthy landowners could own swans, their use was restricted. Essentially, from the late fifteenth century, only the Crown, the very rich and some wealthy institutions such as guilds, universities and cathedrals were lucky enough to have their own flock of swans. Any spare swans wandering around were automatically seen as the Crown’s – and picked up by Swan Collectors. Swanmoots were special courts to discuss ownership of swans. As you see, Swans were terribly sought after and often stolen.

In Horace Walpole’s astonishing collection of books at Strawberry Hill, were two books of ‘Swan Marks’, on vellum, probably dating from the sixteenth century. Still, now, we have the annual Swan Upping ceremony on the Thames in early July, when the ‘Swan Uppers’ of the Queen and two guilds, Vintners and Dyers, travel the Thames to count the swans.

Swans looked fabulous and denoted wealth and power, particularly on private estates. Whether the swan was worth eating was another question. One rather disgruntled commentator in 1738 complained that goose was much better – swan was ‘blacker, harder, and tougher’ and was hard on the digestion as well as having ‘melancholic juice’…but ‘for its Rarity serves as a Dish to adorn great Men’s tables at Feasts and Entertainments, being else no desirable Dainty’.[1] Indeed, full grown Swan was deemed so unappealing that baby cygnets were taken and bred separately in a fenced pen, fed on barley, purely so they’d be tastier to eat. When Christmas was restored after Charles II came to the throne, people’s minds turned to Christmas and the earliest Christmas menu – a huge feast of meat – lists a ‘swan pie’ along with ‘powdered goose’ and ‘six eels, three larded’. The Empress Josephine created a grand garden at her estate at Napoleon, a tribute to him, a claim of the glories of Napoleon, who was vaunted as taking anything from anywhere. She had a menagerie of foreign animals, including emus, kangaroos and an orangutan who ate carrots at the table with her guests. But her prize was her black swans, brought over from an expedition to map the coast of Australia from 1800-1803 – a prelude to empire. Over 200,00 specimens of plants were taken to the Museum of Natural History and Josephine got the animals, packed up in pairs and fed on water and bits of fruit on the way, including her beloved pair of black swans. Some of the animals died, but the swans settled in their pond on the outskirts of Paris. Josephine adored the swans and saw them as her symbol even on chairs!

The ‘Swan Song’ phrase comes from the notion, dating back to Aristotle and Socrates, that the swan sings better when it is nearing death. The Victorians were still eating swan, but it gradually fell out of fashion and now, of course, swans are protected. Until as late as 1998, killing a swan (that was not marked as your own) was still an act of treason. Now, it is simply illegal because they are protected. So, unfortunately, when your true love gives you seven swans, you probably should give them back. Along with everything else – the milkmaids, the dancing ladies and all of rest of it, as humans as gifts doesn’t really cut it anymore. But I think you can keep the geese …

12 days a (wildlife) Christmas – Seven swans a-swimming, full article: https://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/blog/lucy-shepherd/12-days-wildlife-christmas-seven-swans-swimming

Swans are one of our much loved birds and we are graced with three different species in the UK, mute, whooper and Bewick’s swan. Although easily identified as swans, telling them apart can be easier said than done. Mute swans help us out with an easily identifiable orange beak that has a black mass on top near the bird’s forehead, known as a knob, which is where mute swans get their other, perhaps less preferable name, of a knob swan from. Another way to tell them apart is that mute swans stay in the UK all year round with whooper and Bewick’s swans journeying huge distances to their summer breeding grounds near the arctic, so time of year might offer a helping hand.

Telling the difference between whooper swans and Bewick’s swans is where it gets a litter trickier. Although they both have yellow beaks, Bewick’s swans are much shorter than a whooper swan and their necks are straighter too. Another handy hint to help tell the difference is looking at the amount of yellow that the swans have on their beaks. The flatter slope of a whooper swan creates a triangle of yellow and is said to look like a wedge of cheese, with Bewick’s swans having more of a rounded curved beak, thought to be similar to a knob of butter. Sorry if these identifiable features have now made stomachs rumble.

Many years ago, swans were very valuable and receiving seven swans as told by our 12 days of Christmas song, would have been quite the Christmas treat. Swans were traded between nobility and owners of mute swans, the Vintners and Dyers were duty bound to mark them, with all unmarked swans being the Crown’s by default.

First started in the 12th century and a process that still continues today, mute swans were marked in a process called “swan-upping” carried out by the Queen’s Head Swan Master, (what a fantastic job title to have). Today, “swan-upping” is used as a conservation tool helping keep track of population numbers and allowing individuals to be monitored and health checks carried out. Since swan-upping began, only twice in its history has the census had to take a hiatus, once in 2012 due to extremely high water levels and this year due to COVID-19. 

So this winter whilst you’re out on your walks this winter, why not have a look to see if you can find any swans and see if you are able to spot those triangles of cheese or knobs of butter on beaks and tell the difference between our swan species.

The Wild Swans at Coole —  William Butler Yeats

The trees are in their autumn beauty,

The woodland paths are dry,

Under the October twilight the water

Mirrors a still sky;

Upon the brimming water among the stones

Are nine-and-fifty swans.

The nineteenth autumn has come upon me

Since I first made my count;

I saw, before I had well finished,

All suddenly mount

And scatter wheeling in great broken rings

Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,

And now my heart is sore.

All’s changed since I, hearing at twilight,

The first time on this shore,

The bell-beat of their wings above my head,

Trod with a lighter tread.

Unwearied still, lover by lover,

They paddle in the cold

Companionable streams or climb the air;

Their hearts have not grown old;

Passion or conquest, wander where they will,

Attend upon them still.

But now they drift on the still water,

Mysterious, beautiful;

Among what rushes will they build,

By what lake’s edge or pool

Delight men’s eyes when I awake some day

To find they have flown away?

Day 6 of 12 Days of Christmas: Six geese

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Advent & Christmas, Home, Weekly MeditationsTagged ,

Wild Geese — Frederick Peterson

How oft against the sunset sky or moon
I watched that moving zigzag of spread wings
In unforgotten Autumns gone too soon,
In unforgotten Springs!
Creatures of desolation, far they fly
Above all lands bound by the curling foam;

In misty lens, wild moors and trackless sky
These wild things have their home.
They know the tundra of Siberian coasts.
And tropic marshes by the Indian seas;
They know the clouds and night and starry hosts
From Crux to Pleiades.
Dark flying rune against the western glow—
It tells the sweep and loneliness of things,
Symbol of Autumns vanished long ago.
Symbol of coming Springs!

SONGS about GEESE:

Wild Geese — Mary Oliver
 
            You do not have to be good.
            You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
            You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
            Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
            Meanwhile the world goes on.
            Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers. 
            Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
            are heading home again.
            Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
                        the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

The Goose Explains — Amos Russel Wells

t was a goose who sadly cried,
“Alas! Alas! The farm is wide,
And large the barnyard company,
But no one ever looks at me;
There really seems to be no use,
Or praise, or glory, for a goose.

They pet the dog whose bark and bite
Scare tramps by day and thieves by night;
But when I bravely stand on guard,
And drive intruders from the yard,
They laugh at me. The kitten plays,
And all admire her cunning ways;
But when I venture in the room,
To play, in turn, some stick or broom
Soon drives me out. Those birds they call
Canaries cannot sing at all
In my sweet fashion; yet their lay
Is praised—from mine folks turn away.
They prize the horse who pulls the cart;
But when I try to do my part,
And mount the shafts to help him draw,
They whip me off. Last week I saw
Two stupid horses pull a plow,
I watched the work, I learned just how;
Then, with my bill, I did the same
In flower-beds, and got only blame.
It really seems of little use
To try to help—when one’s a goose!”

SYMBOLISM THEORIES: Six Geese A-Laying

As you will recall—for by now it’s an ear worm that you can’t stop humming—the 12 days begin on Christams Day with the partridge. On 5 or 6 of the following days, the gifts are birds, interrupted musically, thematically and enigmatically by those 5 golden rings… There have also been many Christian interpretations of this song but really no evidence to support any of them. I find the secular interpretations to be far more interesting and valid.
      In the 237 years since the rhyme was first published in English, there have been at least 20 different versions of the words, especially with respect to the birds. Some of these variants are undoubtedly Mondegreens, but they were often probably just attempts to make the words more relevant to a contemporary audience…
    The birds of days 6 and 7—the geese and the swans—round out the culinary theme before the song turns to dance providing some exercise after all that feasting, and chores that may have been neglected. — Robert Montgomerie, American Ornithology, full article: https://americanornithology.org/four-calling-birds/

One of the suggestions for the origin of The Twelve Days of Christmas is that it was intended as a ‘catechism song’, used by young Catholics to help them learn the tenets of their faith. … However, this theory has been widely refuted and although the origins of the song are unknown it’s likely that it is secular in nature, perhaps written as a memory game.
      If we continue with the medieval banqueting theme … Goose has been on the menu for Christmas dating back to the ancient Greeks. During the Middle Ages it was also the centrepiece of the feast of Michaelmas on the 29th September celebrating the end of the harvest.
      There is a legend that Queen Elizabeth I was dining on goose on the 29th of September when she received news of the destruction of the Spanish Armada and declared “Henceforth shall a goose commemorate this great victory!” therefore decreeing that goose should always be served at Michaelmas. However, the story is almost certainly apocryphal as a thanksgiving service had already taken place at St Paul’s Cathedral almost a month earlier.
     The goose referred to in this verse is probably the greylag goose, (Anser anser), and the ancestor of all domesticated geese. It was a favourite bird at medieval feasts and in Magia Naturalis, a work of popular science published in 1558, there is a recipe for a goose … — Birdspot.uk, full article: https://www.birdspot.co.uk/culture/the-birds-of-the-twelve-days-of-christmas

The gift of “six geese a-laying” represents another animal, food gift. While there are 30 species of wild geese in the world, the most likely bird to be this gift is the graylag goose (Anser anser). There are also more than 125 breeds of domestic geese that have been specifically bred for laying. While not as prolific as three French hens, each domestic goose can lay as many as 20 eggs per year. This gift, however, is more likely to refer to the meat, but could also be the feathers of the resulting flock, as goose down is particularly prized for winter wear and insulation, ideal for a holiday gift during the coldest season of the year. — Melissa Maentz, Farmer’s Almanac

The lyrics for the sixth day of Christmas take us back to the first story found in the Bible. Each egg is a day in creation, the time when the world was “hatched” or formed by God. The six days of creation are the first demonstration in the history of the world of God giving his people all the good gifts which they need. — Rev. Joel Gaertner

The Six Geese a Laying verse represents the fact that the world (and all that is in it) was made, by God, in six days. Just as eggs are the symbol for new life and creation, so the geese laying eggs presented the whole story of God moving His hand over the void to create life.  — Hampshire Pewter

This was not originally a Catholic song, no matter what you hear on the Internet. … Neutral reference books say this is nonsense. If there was such a catechism device, a secret code, it was derived from the original secular song. It’s a derivative, not the source. — William Studwell for Religion New Service

MORE about TWELVE DAYS of CHRISTMAS — Tanya Pai, vox.com, full article: https://www.vox.com/21796404/12-days-of-christmas-explained
To calculate the cost of all the gifts in “The 12 Days of Christmas,” I’ll turn to the PNC financial services group’s annual Christmas Price Index, which PNC has been putting out since 1984; it calculates the cost of all the gifts in the song based on current market rates. Given the current pace of inflation, this smorgasbord of gift-giving is extra-costly this year: The total for 2022 comes to a whopping $45,523.27, up 10.5 percent from 2021 prices, or $197,071.09 if you count each mention of an item separately (which would amount to 364 gifts in all) — a 9.8 percent increase from last year.
     The rising price of items like gold and fertilizer means those five rings ($1,245, a 39 percent increase) and the infamous partridge in a pear tree ($280.18, up nearly 26 percent) are costlier than ever. Some things haven’t changed at all, though — as the index points out, the federal minimum wage hasn’t increased since 2009, meaning the rate for eight maids a-milking is holding steady at a relative steal of $58.
     No matter the cost, though, actually giving someone all this stuff is probably not a great idea; just think of all the bird poo.

ALSO:

     If you ate all of the birds in one day, including the pheasant pie, but not including all the trimmings for the other dishes, and subtracted the energy you expended milking, dancing, leaping, and drumming, you’d have consumed 2,384 net calories. That’s really not bad, considering the average American Thanksgiving dinner adds up to about 4,500 calories.

Day 5 of 12 Days of Christmas: Five Gold Rings

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Advent & Christmas, Home, Weekly MeditationsTagged , ,

Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

The ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual bond, which unites two hearts in love. — Traditional blessing of wedding rings

Those made of common metals served for ornamentation or as keepsakes for their owners. Those made of iron may have served to ward off … malevolent spirits (as iron is shunned by evil in most northern European belief systems). Rings of silver and gold were portable wealth and wearable currency and could be worth a fortune. Rings boasted of the value of the wearer. They were also a constant reminder of obligation and oaths taken or rewarded. — Sons of Vikins (full article: https://sonsofvikings.com/blogs/history/history-of-viking-oath-rings)

We will have rings and things and fine array… ― William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew

The thought of a ring around my finger always made me feel tied tight, because rings had no openings to get out of. ― Shirley Jackson

Love may be a ring that has no end, but the logic is far from circular. — Amanda Mosher

I’ve found great lord thy ring of gold, thy fortune truly knows no bounds...— Friedrich von Schiller, The Ring Of Polycrates

And here is the ring she gave me with love’s sweet promise then. — Eugene Field

SONGS about RINGS:

12 Days of Christmas Background History — Brownielocks (full article: https://www.brownielocks.com/twelvedaysofchristmas.html)

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” first appeared in a children’s book titled, Mirth Without Mischief in England way back in 1780. In this book, it appears to be a memory game, rather than a  Christmas song. (But, then some could say that the song itself is like a memory game.) The object of the game is to have the first player start out reciting the first verse, with each of the following players repeating previous versed and then adding one. If a player missed a verse or made some kind of error, then he/she would have to give a kiss or some kind of food to someone else. This game soon grew to be very popular at Twelfth Night parties. 

Although the first published version of this song was in England, there are three older versions of the song in French, and one other version from Scotland. Therefore, with some people, there remains debate on the origin of the song not necessarily being English, but French.  

In 1842, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song was first recorded by James O. Halliwell.  Boys with blackened faces wearing animal skins accompanied him. (See Twelve Lords A-leaping to explain this dance.)

So, how did the idea of 12 days begin?   Why not the Ten Days of Christmas or the Fourteen Days of Christmas?  It all goes back to the early 4th century Christian church, which believed that January 6 (Epiphany) is the date that Christ was baptized, representing the birth of Jesus’ soul.  This was more important than December 25th to them, regardless of the Winter Solstice at the time.  It took a few hundred years; but, by the 6th century, the Christian emperor, Justinian, proclaimed Christmas as a public holiday, with 8 days of feasting.  Then, by the 9th century, King Alfred of England increased the celebration from 8 days to 12 days. He declared December 25th – January 6th, with the twelfth day falling on January 6. Note: This means the actual night would be the day before on January 5. Confusing, I know.

As with all cultures, as the king or society prospers, so do the celebrations. This held true for Christmas also.  The Middles Ages was the peak era for celebrating Christmas.  Then in 17th century England, Oliver Cromwell, under the Puritan Commonwealth, overthrew the king and totally abolished Christmas!

Slowly, Christmas returned to society during the Restoration period, but not in such a gala manner as during the Middle Ages.  It wasn’t until the end of the 18th century in England that a growing interest developed for the past, one of them being the Twelve Days (of Christmas celebrations).  By the time the Industrial Revolution hit England, the Twelve Days came to a decline due to the increase in work days. No one had time for 12 days of celebration any more. Does anyone today for that matter?

SYMBOLISM of Five Golden Rings

About 5 Golden Rings — Revken43 (full article: https://revkev43.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/five-golden-rings/.

… The song, Twelve Days of Christmas, could have been titled, Twelve Fowls of Christmas. Through the first four days, birds have been used to symbolize Christian truths (partridge, doves, hens, ravens). The parade of birds continues on day five:

“On the fifth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me, five Golden Rings…”

Contrary to popular opinion, the five Gold Rings do not refer to jewelry, but to ring-necked pheasants, a favorite game bird and dinner feast of the day. (The use of fowls in the song will continue through day seven.)

What do the five ring-necked pheasants represent? The best guess is that they represent the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch or the Books of the Law or the Books of Moses. Those five books are (1) Genesis, (2) Exodus, (3) Leviticus, (4) Numbers, and (5) Deuteronomy. In these five books we learn the history of humanity’s sinful failure and God’s response of grace in the creation of a people (Israel) to be a light to the world.

Below is a very brief summary of each book:

  • Genesis – The word means “beginnings,” and comes from the first phrase in the book, “In the beginning…”(1:1). The book talks about the beginning of creation, of life, of sin, of family, of struggle, and of grace (just to name a few).
  • Exodus – The word means “exit.” The main focus of the book of Exodus is God’s deliverance of His people from Egyptian bondage, their disobedience, and their wanderings through the wilderness. The book of Exodus, while a historical fact, is also an allegory of our deliverance from sinful bondage, our continual struggle with disobedience, and our wanderings through this life. The book of Exodus is foundational to what is referred to as Black Liberation Theology.
  • Leviticus – The word means “pertaining to the Levites.” Leviticus is a manual for the priests (who came from the tribe of Levi); mainly dealing with the sacrificial system for sins. The theme of the book is the holiness of God.
  • Numbers – Twice in the book of Numbers (at the beginning and near the end) a census is taken of the people of Israel. Thus, the title “Numbers.” However, the Hebrew title for this book means “In the Wilderness,” and is a more appropriate title because most of the book records the history of the Israelites in their 40-years of wandering in the wilderness after their deliverance from Egypt.
  • Deuteronomy – The word means “second law-giving.” The Book of Deuteronomy is an expansive explanation of the Law (basically the Ten Commandments) that was first given in Exodus. Most of the books in the New Testament quote the Book of Deuteronomy at some point.

The True Meaning of the Holidays (And Those 5 Golden Rings)— Robert Jones for Chaplains USA, fulll article: https://chaplainusa.org/robert-jones-journal/the-true-meaning-of-the-holidays-and-those-5-golden-rings

… With partridges in pear trees, pipers piping, and lords-a-leaping, we sing along wondering what in the world it all means. Some say it represents secret Roman Catholic teaching during times of persecution. Whatever the origin, when we come to the fifth of those days, the true lover (God) brings the gift of five golden rings.

One explanation of this has stayed with me over the years. Bob Brown, a psychology professor of mine at Kishwaukee College used the metaphor to explain the relationship between our five basic human senses of touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste which allow us to better understand the world around us, and what King Henry VIII called the five “inward wits” of instinct, imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory. Bob taught that the five rings become golden when all ten senses are engaged, hence connecting our outer and spiritual selves. This, he maintained was the essence of a healthy psyche. He certainly had a good point. When we are completely in tune with physical reality and our deeper stirrings, we are likely to be quite well balanced. It could be that the Fifth Day is a gift which points us toward a more enlightened way of living in the coming new year and new decade.

Ring — Saddiq Dzukogi

I took a piece of chalk and drew a circle around my body.

In that ring, I engraved all the names of my loved ones

who are alive—until the only space left was under my feet.

Outside the circle, names of ones I lost.

We are eternal prey to the circle’s energy

looking to decongest its body from our own.

What I have is the beginning—in my hand,

it is what I can wield. Rubbing my palms on the ground

the white line of the circle became a mixture

of chalk and dirt on my skin—still the two worlds

stayed separated after my ritual collapsing their boundaries.

I unrolled my prayer mat on the melting snow,

sat facing a frozen lake, imagining the sun probing through

the ice, 4 inches thick. A man idling in the middle,

his machine drilling a wound in the solidified water,

ice fishing. I looked on, waiting for his hook

to find a trout. What if this is how death finds us—

by luring us with what we desire?

A Ring Presented to Julia —  Robert Herrick

Julia, I bring

To thee this ring,

Made for thy finger fit;

To show by this

That our love is

(Or should be) like to it.

Close though it be,

The joint is free;

So when Love’s yoke is on,

It must not gall,

Or fret at all

With hard oppression.

But it must play

Still either way,

And be, too, such a yoke

As not too wide

To overslide,

Or be so strait to choke.

So we who bear

This beam must rear

Ourselves to such a height

As that the stay

Of either may

Create the burden light.

And as this round

Is nowhere found

To flaw, or else to sever;

So let our love

As endless prove,

And pure as gold for ever.

A Marriage Ring — George Crabbe

The ring, so worn as you behold,

So thin, so pale, is yet of gold:

The passion such it was to prove—

Worn with life’s care, love yet was love.

Depose your finger of that Ring: Sonnet – I — Robert Lovelace
Depose your finger of that Ring,

   And Crowne mine with’t awhile

Now I restor’t.—Pray, do’s it bring

   Back with it more of soile?

Or shines it not as innocent,

   As honest, as before ’twas lent?

Half-Ring Moon — John Bannister Tabb

Over the sea, over the sea,
My love he is gone to a far countrie;
But he brake a golden ring with me
The pledge of his faith to be.

Over the sea, over the sea,
He comes no more from the far countrie;
But at night, where the new moon loved to be,
Hangs the half of a ring for me.

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