Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas (15 page)

F
or millions, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is nothing more than a novelty song. Most link this old Christmas carol with other nonsensical numbers such as “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” or “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” Yet even though this song seems to make little sense now, there was a time in England when “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was once one of the most important teaching tools of the Catholic church.

Beginning in the sixteenth century, British Catholics were forbidden by law to practice their faith. The only legal Christian denomination in the British Empire was the Church of England. Those Catholics who spoke or wrote of their faith were arrested and tried under the laws of the time. If their violation was considered severe enough, they were either hung or drawn and quartered. Children as well as adults were subject to the same laws, and age did not prevent the state from dealing harshly with even a young practitioner of the faith.

In the face of persecution and death, millions refused to abandon the religion of their ancestors. So, much like the early Christians in Rome, Catholics in England went underground. They held secret masses, studied their doctrine behind closed doors, and hid all signs of their faith at home. They were an almost secret society.

One of the most severe problems the Catholic underground faced was in teaching their children the doctrine of the church. Since writing down anything dealing with the Catholic faith could cost both writer and reader their lives, the messages of doctrine and faith had to be reproduced in secret code. One of the most successful codes ever invented by the Catholic underground during the period was a Christmas carol that on the surface appeared to make no sense at all. Ironically, this rather strange ode became so popular that it found its way into pubs, concert halls, and even the royal palace. Few, certainly not the king or the head of the Anglican church, suspected that the meaning behind the song’s lyrics included some of the most important elements of doctrine of the outlawed Catholic church.

When it first became popular, many in England tried to explain that the meaning of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” could be found not in the presents, but in the days. There were several theories based on this explanation, ranging from the theory that the verses represented the days leading up to December twenty-fifth to the explanation that the words embraced a gift-giving celebration lasting a dozen days after Christmas Day. During discussions in regard to which days the song referred, the meaning of the unusual gifts were most often passed off as the fancies of a young man sick with love—the argument being that the gifts made no real sense because men in love rarely thought or acted logically. Yet nothing could have been farther from the truth; the gifts were the clue to unlocking the code.

The days were a simple mark of the time between Christ’s birth and the Epiphany, the time when the wise men came to honor the newly born king. They were nothing more. The secret meaning for Catholic boys and girls was found not in the dozen days, but in the very special gifts. As the children sang, they weren’t to think of the actual gifts, but of something much different.

Every Catholic child was taught that only pure and true love came from God. So from the beginning of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” each singer understood that this song was about a heavenly love, not about a boy’s crush on a girl.

The importance of Christ’s death and resurrection was the anchor to the faith—and to the song—and was therefore repeated with each new verse. The single partridge in a pear tree represented courage and devotion above what man ever showed on earth. A mother partridge lures enemies away from her defenseless chicks in order to protect them. Just as she sacrifices her own life for her children, so did Christ for us. Add to that image a pear tree that symbolized the cross and, together, this first gift represented the ultimate gift given by the Babe born on Christmas Day.

The second gift, two turtle doves, stood for both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Doves were also symbols of truth and peace, once again reinforcing the tie to Christ and Christmas.

Today three French hens mean nothing, but in the sixteenth century they were very expensive food items reserved for only the richest homes. If a banquet served French hens, then it was truly a meal fit for a king. In the song, the hens symbolized the expensive gifts brought by the wise men. When Catholic children sang the third verse of the song, they pictured not chickens, but gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The four calling birds stood for the authors of the Gospels that trumpeted the story of Jesus and told about his life and
ministry from birth to death. In a very real sense, the birds’ names were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

In keeping with the biblical theme, the five rings stood for the five Old Testament books that Christians knew as the “law of Moses” and Jews refer to as the “Torah.” These gifts were to remind the singer of not only man’s fall from grace due to sin, but the fact that a Savior would come to offer salvation and a path back to God.

“Six geese a-laying” might have seemed comical to those who sang the song without knowledge of the phrase’s true meaning, but to underground Catholics this symbolic code was easily understood and incredibly logical. The Lord made the world in six days. Just as eggs are the symbol for new life and creation, so the geese laying eggs presented the whole story of God moving his hand over the void to create life.

“Seven swans a-swimming” would have been a huge mystery to the uninformed as well. Paul’s writing in Romans 12:6-8 speaks of the “gifts of the Holy Spirit.” These gifts—prophesy, service, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, and mercy—were linked to the lyrics’ symbol of the swans, birds considered by many to be the most graceful and beautiful fowl in England. Catholic children were thus taught that when you walked with God, the gifts of the Spirit moved in your life as easily as a swan on water.

“Eight maids a-milking” represented the common man whom Christ had come to serve and save. At the time the song was written, no job in England was lower than working with cattle or in a barn. For a female servant to be used in this way indicated that she was of little worth to her master. Yet Christ, the King of Man, served people without regard to status, race, sex, or creed. The number eight in this verse also represented the beatitudes listed in Matthew 5:3-10: blessed are the poor
in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemaker, and the righteous.

In the verse that followed, the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—were hidden by the image of nine ladies dancing. It truth, this dance taught the real joy and rewards of serving Christ.

“Ten lords a-leaping” represented the Ten Commandments. Since a lord was supposed to be a just and honorable man and the final voice of law in his domain, it was understandable why ten lords would represent the ten laws God gave his people through Moses.

There were twelve disciples, but in the end one of them did not embrace Christ or his message of salvation. The eleven pipers piping thus served as the image of the eleven apostles who took the message of Christ’s life and resurrection to the world.

The final gift, twelve drummers drumming, represented a very important confessional taught to all Catholics. Called the “The Apostles’ Creed,” the confession contained a dozen different elements. The drum was probably used as a symbol of the pace or rhythm that this creed gave each believer’s daily walk with the Lord. The Apostles’ Creed, familiar to even many non-Catholics, reads:

I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth, in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, descended into hell; the third day he rose from the dead,
ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. He shall return to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

It is doubtful that the English Catholics who composed and taught this song to their children would have wanted the true meaning of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” to be hidden forever. When the practice of Catholicism was no longer a crime in England, those who had created the song probably wished that its mysteries be revealed. Yet by the time Britain freed the Catholic faith, the words had taken on a life of their own and no one seemed ready to link the seemingly shallow song with other carols that spoke directly of the birth of the Savior. Even today, four hundred years later, though “The Twelve Days of Christmas” has been recorded hundreds of times and performed hundreds of thousands of times, few can sing the song without laughing at its unusual message and the air capacity it takes to get through it. Perhaps the fun that masked its original intent is why “The Twelve Days of Christmas” has survived for so long, as well as why the Catholic church survived oppression in merry old England.

I
n the second chapter of the book of Matthew there is a brief passage that reads, “There came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” Who were these men? Most, including King Herod, thought they were astrologers. That is how they are identified in the Bible. When they informed Herod they were looking for the “king of the Jews,” it caused panic in the royal court and ultimately led to the murder of countless baby boys throughout the land of Israel in an attempt to kill a future threat.

While Herod struck terror throughout the land in his search for the baby Jesus, the wise men found the child by following a star to Bethlehem. According to the gospel of Matthew, they threw themselves at the infant’s feet and worshiped him, presenting him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, without reporting back to Herod, they departed for home, never to be heard from again.

What many call the commercialization of Christmas—the practice of giving gifts—can probably be traced back to the
wise men’s presents that very first Christmas. Beyond that fact, nothing else is really known about the wise men. Still, despite a lack of concrete knowledge, a host of writers and theologians have drawn some very detailed pictures of the famous travelers over the past twenty centuries.

The consensus of opinion among most serious Bible scholars is that the astrologers came from Persia. The fact that astrologers in that land were often priests is probably why they are often called Magi. The Magi were, in fact, dream interpreters for the Persian royal family. Though they often worked within the confines of the royal palace with the kings of the country, these wise men were not of royal blood and not even members of the ruling caste. So if they were Persian star readers, they could not be kings.

How many wise men made the journey to Israel in search of Jesus is another question that has been answered more by imagination than documentation. No one really knows how many there were. Because the text in Matthew clearly records wise “men,” there were obviously at least two. The three wise men so often mentioned in stories and songs probably resulted in the fact that Matthew told of three gifts brought by the wise men to Jesus. The number of gifts, however, had nothing to do with how many wise men had brought them; the gifts were symbolic of the important three areas of Christ’s life—the gold representing his kingly reign, the frankincense symbolizing his ministry, and the myrrh foreshadowing his death and resurrection. There could have been as few as two wise men or as many as a dozen or more.

Writers of the Middle Ages not only extrapolated about number, but even made “educated guesses” at names. By 1500 millions of Christians could tell you not only that the three men’s names were Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchoir, but also
that this trio of gift bearers were actually kings. While from a historical perspective this made little sense, it did add something special to many of the imagined tales that sprang forth over the next four hundred years.

Three kings or not, the story of the wise men was the focal point of the post-Christmas celebration of Epiphany. In many places the holiday, observed on January 6, once rivaled Christmas. Since the celebration of Epiphany has declined over the past century, many today don’t know what it is. Literally, Epiphany is the last of the twelve days of Christmas, the day the wise men finally found Jesus.

The Episcopal Church celebrated Epiphany in both America and the United Kingdom. During the 1800s the special day was traditionally the day the Christmas tree was taken down and children received the gifts and treats that had been hanging on it since it had been cut, brought home, decorated, and had presents hung on the branches. Even then, as many little ones counted the moments until they could raid the evergreen, a great number of them didn’t know the symbolism behind Epiphany or why gift-giving was a part of it.

Though he had no children of his own, thirty-seven-year-old John Henry Hopkins Jr. enjoyed the childlike spirit of the Christmas season he saw in observing his nephews and nieces. A brilliant scholar, with degrees from the University of Vermont and a law school in New York City, he was still a child at heart. And as an ordained priest in the Episcopal church, he did not wear his clerical collar at the time, favoring his own writing over preaching from a pulpit. Upon graduating from seminary and law school, Hopkins picked up his pen to become a reporter for a New York newspaper. He then continued his
career as a scribe with the New York-based
Church Journal.
He was writing for that publication in 1857 when he confronted a special problem—the conundrum of what Epiphany gifts he should purchase for his brothers’ children. Ultimately, Hopkins decided to give a present that would both entertain and educate at the same time.

Having decided on his gift, Hopkins sat down at his desk with a single goal in mind: to write a moving tribute to the legendary visitors from the East described in the gospel of Matthew. To accomplish this mission, the writer imagined what it might have been like to be one of the wise men. A seminary graduate, he was aware that little was known about the travelers, so he combined the biblical record of the trip with the legends passed down over almost two thousand years.

Though largely a work of the imagination, the song that was produced as Hopkins’s gift to his nephews and nieces was instructive and worshipful. The cadence of his melody fully captured the image of a trip across the desert and plains on camels. The carol had an oriental, Middle Eastern feel to it and its rhythm reflected the beat of a march or the sway of a camel’s gait.

Hopkins’s words dramatically embraced the rich fabric of the trip, the gifts, and the birth of a Savior. Using simple, but inspired lyrics, the writer initially described the quest to find the king. Though the first verse contains only four short lines, they speak of a trip that was long and difficult: “bearing gifts we traverse afar.” The
chorus, with its powerful view of a “star of wonder, star of light” guiding the wise men onward, provided the inspiration the men needed to not give up during the arduous and perilous journey.

The second verse begins the tale of a “king forever ceasing never” born in Bethlehem. Hopkins’s wise men realized that this king has not been born to rule a short time but for eternity. The composer therefore reveals that the three men were as wise as they were strong and courageous.

In the last part of the second verse and the following two stanzas, the gifts presented by the wise men are fully covered. Each gift is identified and the meaning of the gift told with almost biblical eloquence. The gold is the crown that the king would forever wear. The frankincense is there to help worship the Son of God. The myrrh is the bitter perfume that would mask death but then blossom forth in a life unending.

In the song’s final verse, Hopkins assures the youngest members of his family that the three wise kings knew that the Christ child would die for our sins and then be born again. In the last stanza, the writer reveals that to these three kings the journey was truly divine, worth every effort, and the most glorious moment of their lives. It not only defined their lives and purpose, it made them an important part of the most amazing story ever told.

Hopkins’s “We Three Kings of Orient Are” was published in the writer’s own songbook,
Carols, Hymns, and Songs.
At the turn of the next century, when many churches decided that carols should be included in hymnals, this musical work, which defined the reason for the celebration of Epiphany, became one of America’s most popular Christmas songs.

John Henry Hopkins Jr. never married or had a family of his own. Yet because he loved children, he’d be pleased to know that his most famous Christmas song is one of the most
beloved children’s carols in the world. He probably wouldn’t even mind that on many occasions the lyrics to “We Three Kings of Orient Are” have been rewritten in several humorous ways. What he would surely want every child to know is that Christmas gifts began not in a department store or a catalog but on the twelfth day of the first Christmas, when three men from the East brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Though many have now forgotten the celebration of Epiphany, John Henry Hopkins Jr.’s “We Three Kings of Orient Are” will never allow us to forget what the wise men brought to celebrate the birthday of the King of kings.