What are the 12 Days of Christmas birds in this carol commemorating thedozen days from Christmas Day to Twelfth Nighton January 5 , the eve ofEpiphany(or Three business leader Day ) ?
This Christmas carol wasfirst publishedas a poem in the 1780 bookMirth Without Mischief(composer Frederic Austin only penned the music in the early 20th one C ) . Most of us can at least list several of the presents that our lawful love gave to us . And many of those were gifts of fowl !
Music historians believe that the partridges , turtle dove , French hens , anticipate birds , geese and swan cumulatively name in the song were not specify to be cosmetic , nor were they presented to a soulmate with a hefty barnyard . Back in Elizabethan times , the 12 day were the most anticipated and celebrated fete season , with much revelry includingwassailing(going from one house to another , caroling and crispen each other ’s health with mulled spiced wine , ale , or mead ) , dancing , and jokes and amusements overseen by the name Lord of Misrule .
How did all those bird fit into the jollification ? They were thehighlight of the banqueting . In other Book , they were dinner party .
These days , not many celebration call for a roasted swan or doves braised in wine . But geese and chickens decidedly do make the vacation dinner tabular array in many households . Here ’s a look at how the 12 day of Christmas birds were truly fete back in the days of Christmas past tense .
Partridge
ThisEuropean game birdwas introduce to the United States in the early 1900s . Unlike the drawing of large majestic birds perched atop a pear tree tree , partridges — both the chukar and gray varieties — are compact , reaching about 1 foot in length and weighing about 1 pounding .
scarce a mouthful individually ridicule , the partridge was typically servedboiledwith nutmeg , garlic clove , bread and either sack ( a fortified Spanish wine-colored ) or muscadine . Add Pyrus communis if you wish !
Turtle Dove
The tinyEuropean turtle doveis a harbinger of spring , its turr - turr - turr song consort with the return of sunniness and passion . Turtle squab mate for life , which is most likely the reason that our true love present us with a pair of these air hole - sized birdie .
Since two dove count in at around 10 Panthera uncia , Elizabethan cooks made the most of this ingredient by bake them in pastry dough . Doves are still upgrade as a food beginning today . Thismodern recipegives some insight into the peacenik - stuffed pastries from centuries ago .
French Hen
The trio of chickens memorialized in the 12 Days of Christmas birds lean were not necessarily French . France ’s historic geographical name was Gaul , and the people of France were call Gallic or Gauls ( consider France ’s darling 20th - century national leader , Charles de Gaulle ) .
The scientific name for crybaby , Gallus gallus , led people in past 100 to refer to these birds asGallic rooster and hensand , eventually , French , even if the birds in question did not spring up in France . During the Elizabethan flow , however , all things French were considered stylish , so it is quite potential that breeds of French crybaby were raised and serve up as part of the holiday fiesta .
Chicken was as various then as it is now . cook served it roasted , fried , fricassee andbaked in pies .
Read more : The Christmas Capricorn is a caprine - theme vacation tradition !
Calling Bird
When I was lilliputian , I thought calling fowl were raspberry that called , like mourn doves or finches . As an adult , I decided that bid birds were actuallycall ducks , the adorable little loudmouthed duck .
I was untimely on both count .
“ call ” is actually a twisting of “ colly , ” mean as black as ember . call razzing are in fact European blackbird , which we know from nursery rime werebaked into piesand present to royalty . These day , merle are protected migrant snort , but in Elizabethan clip they were but another plot fowl to catch and cook for dinner party .
Geese
While not as popular as crybaby with today ’s poultry keepers , geese were oncethe poultry of choiceamongst wealthy landowners and Lord . Cultivated since the twenty-four hour period of ancient Egypt , geese were inexpensive to elevate as they scrounge with skill and fattened quite easily .
In addition to their fat , flavorous meat , geese also grow sizable eggs , and their feathers were used to fletch arrow and to stuff pillows and mattresses .
Geese have a long association with Michaelmas , an autumnal holy day that scar the end of the stock - raising year . On Michaelmas , typically lionise on September 29 , debt were pay , retainer were hired at “ Goose Faires , ” and landlords hoard their snag , which often included one goose per renter . Feasting on roast goose became the custom on Michaelmas , weigh one of the English “ quarter days , ” marking the handing over of a poop of the class .
It made sense that the delicious bird roasted on autumn ’s quarter day would also be roasted on winter ’s one-fourth day , Christmas .
Swan
A symbolic representation of luxury and wealth , this beautiful waterfowlgraced the Christmas tables of British monarchsfrom the 1200s all the way through nineteenth - century Victorian times , when dining on them fell out of style . A fifteenth - C fiat destine that only landowner of a certain elevated income were let to keep swan . Owned fowl had to be mark with a specific , expensive and difficult - to - find beak mug . Anyone caught defacing a swan mug would be sentenced to one year in prison house , harmonise to the Order of the Swannes , a 1570 effectual text file .
British laws also proscribe the sale , search and driving off of any swan , with stiff penalty for lawbreakers .
All overlooked swans were designated property of the British milkweed butterfly , a law that remains in effect today . One of the titles of the British monarch is Seigneur of the Swans . A extremely trained squad , the King ’s Swan Uppers , patrol the River Thames , caring for overlooked swans and ensuring that the cygnet of unnoted females rest unmarked and property of the King .
As the traditional centerpiece of the Christmas feast , swans were served roasted whole , in their skin and feathering . record show that King Henry III order 40 swans for his Christmas celebrations in 1247 . Only royal house was allowed to feast on swan . The eating of swan by a non - imperial was look at an human activity of treason .
In 1998 , a law was passed that removed the penalisation of subversiveness , but it is still illegal to keep or kill a swan .
