WELCOME TO An Entertainment Site for Scottish Country Dancers - Enjoy the curated selection of theme-related dances for celebrations and holidays, or find a dance associated with a special calendar day, or EVEN your own birthday!
Illustration by Janice Gaynor
Twelvey Twelve Day
Dec 12
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"๐ถ The king sent his lady on the thirteenth Yule day,
Three stalks o' merry corn,
Three maids a-merry dancing,
Three hinds a-merry hunting,
An Arabian baboon,
Three swans a-merry swimming,
Three ducks a-merry laying,
A bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks,
Three starlings,
A goose that was grey,
Three plovers,
Three partridges,
A pippin go aye;
Wha learns my carol and carries it away?"
~ Chambers, Popular Rhymes, Fireside Stories, and Amusements of Scotland (1842)
Start your Christmas shopping early as Arabian baboons can be hard to find! This 40 bar reel contains a twelvesome, two 3 couple sets arranged side by side for a Christmas challenge dance! And although the Twelve Days of Christmas technically begin on Christmas Day and continues through Epiphany, it doesn't hurt to start shopping for those gifts on Twelvey Twelve Day! The lyrics for "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was first recorded in 1780 in England and wasn't set to the familiar tune until 1909, but there have been earlier Scottish variants with other interesting gifts! In fact, the Scottish variation, oftentimes known as "The Twelve Days of Yule" has 13 gifts! Instead of the familiar partridge in a pear tree, the song sometimes begins with "a guid white guse" (a good white goose). Other verses replace the English imagery with distinctly Scottish elements, such as "three plovers" (wading birds), "four curlews" (shorebirds), and "five gold spinks" (goldfinches)! Regardless of the choice of present, there is always a dance element! 'Tis the season! ๐ โค๏ธ ๐ ๐บ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐
Just a Dozen
The precise origins of The Twelve Days of Christmas remain unclear, but the song is thought to have emerged in England or France during the late medieval or early modern period. It may have started as a memory-and-forfeit game, where participants recited increasingly long lists of gifts and incurred penalties for forgetting or misordering the items. Such games were popular entertainment during Christmas feasts, blending wit, competition, and communal fun.
The song's structureโa cumulative rhyme where each verse builds upon the previous oneโfits this purpose perfectly. Early oral versions likely varied greatly, with gifts tailored to regional traditions or whims. The song as we know it first appeared in print in 1780, in a childrenโs book titled Mirth Without Mischief. This version included the familiar 12 days but described some gifts differently, such as "four colly birds" (a term for blackbirds) rather than the "calling birds" of modern renditions.
The title refers to the traditional Christian celebration of Christmas, which spans from December 25th (Christmas Day) to January 6th (Epiphany). Each day commemorates a specific feast in Christian liturgy, and the number twelve held symbolic significance in medieval culture, often associated with completeness and order.
Some have speculated that the gifts in the song carried hidden religious meanings, with interpretations arising in the 20th century claiming that it served as a coded catechism during a time of religious persecution in England. For example, the "two turtle doves" might symbolize the Old and New Testaments, while the "five gold rings" could represent the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible. However, historians generally dismiss these theories as modern inventions without historical evidence.
For an update of the true cost of the Twelve Days of Christmas, annually updated for inflation, click Thomas Little's Twelve Days of Christmas to see what strain will be on the pocketbook this year.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
