These Post Office stamps were affixed to 12 specially designed envelopes and postmarked on the first day that the stamps were issued. 12 Days of Christmas, Postmarked at Bethlehem
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English Christmas carol that enumerates in the manner of a cumulative song a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas (the twelve days that comprise the Christmas season starting with Christmas Day). The song, published in England in 1780 without music as a chant or rhyme, is thought to be French in origin. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was a Roud Folk Song.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a cumulative song, meaning that each verse is built on top of the previous verses. There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by "my true love" on one of the twelve days of Christmas. There are many variations in the lyrics. The lyrics given here are from Fredric Austin's 1909 publication that first established the current form of the carol. The first three verses run, in full, as follows:
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 Tree.
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 Tree.
4 Calling Birds; 5 Gold Rings; 6 Geese a-Laying; 7 Swans a-Swimming; 8 Maids a-Milking;
9 Ladies Dancing; 10 Lords a-Leaping; 11 Pipers Piping;12 Drummers Drumming
in a Pear Tree.
Thank you Merja.
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