The Twelve Days of Christmas Archives

The Twelve Days of Christmas

‘On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me’…The Star of Bethlehem and the Infant Christ

January 04, 2024

Today, astrology is big business. In 2021, the global astrology market size was valued at $12.8 billion, and it is projected to grow to $22.8 billion by 2031. Yet despite its popularity, I don’t expect governments to start depicting astrological events on their coins and banknotes anytime soon. But around the time of Jesus’s birth,

‘On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me…Robert Southwell’s poem ‘New Prince, New Pomp’

January 03, 2024

Behold, a silly tender Babe In freezing winter night In homely manger trembling lies, Alas, a piteous sight! The inns are full, no man will yield This little pilgrim bed, But forced he is with silly beasts In crib to shroud his head. Despise him not for lying there, First, what he is inquire; An

‘On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me’…A Wassail Cup for a party

January 02, 2024

Since the celebrations are still going on, the following beverage is drunk as part of the tradition of “wassailing”, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual that “has been practised in Britain for centuries”, notes the National Trust. Ingredients can be scaled down to suit numbers: 6 pints brown ale (3.4 litres) 1 lb (450 g)

‘On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me’…Mrs Hanrahan’s recipe for Christmas pudding sauce

January 01, 2024

There will be many readers who are still making their way through their plum puddings. The following recipe for Mrs Hanrahan’s Sauce for Christmas pudding comes from Darina Allen’s A Simply Delicious Christmas. This delicious sauce will give extra oomph to pudding served on the Ninth Day of Christmas. The following makes a large quantity,

‘On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me’…WB Yeats’s poem ‘The Mother of God’

December 30, 2023

The threefold terror of love; a fallen flare Through the hollow of an ear; Wings beating about the room; The terror of all terrors that I bore The Heavens in my womb. Had I not found content among the shows Every common woman knows Chimney corner, garden walk, Or rocky cistern where we tread the

‘On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me’…Antonia Fraser and Uncle John’s Trousers

December 29, 2023

“Christmas comes but once a year,” my mother was apt to sing out on St Stephen’s Day, “but when it comes, it brings good cheer!” We children (eight of us by the end) exchanged meaningful glances. Then Thomas, ever enquiring, spoke up: “Will Father Christmas come back next year?” Judith was more probing: “Where does

‘On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me’…St John, Apostle of the Word Made Flesh

December 26, 2023

O God, who through the blessed Apostle John have unlocked for us the secrets of your Word, grant, we pray, that we may grasp with proper understanding what he has so marvellously brought to our ears. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy

‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ and the ‘cheerful nonsense’ of English Christmas Carols

December 24, 2023

On the first day of Christmas, My true love sent to me A partridge in a pear tree. On the second day of Christmas, My true love sent to me Two turtle doves, and A partridge in a pear tree. On the third day of Christmas, My true love sent to me Three French hens, Two turtle doves, and A partridge in a pear