I've been asking questions about the Twelve Days of Christmas on my Facebook slot as they occur and thought about writing more down here, so here goes...Oh, if you're interested in the religious significance of the Twelve Days, I addressed it in Post #292 "Twelve Days of Christmas" from November 29, 2008. Anyway, here's the 'low road' of humor to which I referred...Oh, Segue #2... the 'low road/high road' of the song, 'Loch Lomond' which happens to be playing on my computer right now is addressed in Post 2:176, #480, "Scottish Sexton" from October 9, 2009.NOW that my A.D.D. moments have subsided...
Didja ever figure out what the lucky guy had at the end of the Twelve Days? Twelve pear trees... hopefully balled and burlapped so he could start his own fruit farm. Twelve partridges (would that be a Partridge Family?), 22 turtle doves, 30 French hens, 36 calling birds (did they use cell phones? Have a family plan? All talk at the same time?), 42 geese and 42 swans...do you know how NOISY THAT would be?!! I'm wondering if this guy had a lot of acreage out in the boondocks with at least one lake so his made-to-order poultry farm could thrive?!
And just what did he do with the 40 milkmaids (not to mention the 40 cows or goats that went with them so they were 'a-milking'), 36 dancing ladies, 30 leaping lords (were they leaping over the cow patties, duck squats and goose poop?), 22 pipers, and 12 drummers? One hundred and forty people now on his payroll needed food, clothing, shelter, and a viable IRA plan, didn't they? I'm guessing the pipers and drummers organized into some Highland Band and had the dancing ladies and leaping lords as part of the entourage, went on tour, and helped finance the Lucky Guy Commune with proceeds from their gigs.
Now, the Five Golden Rings...were they knock-offs from Sauron's One Ring that was designed to 'rule them all and in the darkness bind them?' Just how much were the 40 total worth?
Did Lucky Guy hock them to pay for building materials and or real estate to deal with this generous gift from his true love? Oh, and was it Lucky Guy or Lucky Gal who got the stuff?
One thing, at least, the milk and eggs gotten from a 40-cow herd and 112 laying fowls...assuming the hens, geese, and swans were all female...would have been a start on food supplies for The Community Players. Hmmm, where'd they get the feed for all the different animals? Can you eat partridge, turtle dove, and calling bird eggs? Just exactly what ARE calling birds? Googling 'calling birds' indicated it was originally 'colly birds'...colly meaning coal, which made them blackbirds!! OK, so, would 36 blackbirds get 'baked in a pie' as another tale tells, or would Lucky Guy/Gal be smart enough to cage them up and breed them for future pie making cottage industry? Hey, maybe they could be sent out to gather 'meat' the way the ravens did for Elijah?
Well, I think it's time to wrap this up...we both have other things to do.
Got Twelve Days of Christmas tune in your head?
No comments:
Post a Comment