The longest traditional Christmas carol is The Twelve Days of Christmas, with its laundry list of gifts given by a true love to the song's singer. But there is still a lot of confusion surrounding the 12 Days, and we hope we can help clear that up here.     

When are the 12 Days of Christmas exactly?

The 12 days begin December 25 (Christmas) and run through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings’ Day). The 12 days of Christmas is the period in Christian theology that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men.

The four weeks preceding Christmas are collectively known as Advent, which begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on December 24. The 12 days of Christmas begin right after Advent. 

What are The 12 Days of Christmas gifts?

There have been some variations over the years (at first, the calling birds were sometimes canary birds or Colley birds, meaning blackbirds). Still, the traditional list of gifts includes: Day 1: A partridge in a pear tree, Day 2: Two turtle doves, Day 3: Three French hens, Day 4: Four calling birds, Day 5: Five golden rings, Day 6: Six geese a-laying, Day 7: Seven swans a-swimming, Day 8: Eight maids a-milking, Day 9: Nine ladies dancing, Day 10: 10 lords a-leaping, Day 11: 11 pipers piping, and Day 12: 12 drummers drumming.

What do the 12 Days of Christmas gifts mean?

There have been theories that the gifts in the song correspond to different parts of the Catholic tradition (i.e. the two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments). Still, other historians have debunked that—especially as the earliest claims of this tie-in date back to the 1990s. 

Half of the gifts described are birds (and some historians believe that the “five golden rings” may also reference the golden rings around a pheasant’s neck). 

And the other half of the gifts? It’s a lot of people prepping (or performing) at a celebration. Edward Phinney, a professor of classics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, points out that the song is technically a love story. “If you think of all the things being presented, they’re all gifts from a lover to a woman,” Phinney said in a 1990 interview in the LA Times.  They’re all things that could be useful at a wedding.”

How many alternative versions of the 12 Days of Christmas are there?

A lot—as this is a song that’s ripe for parody. The Muppets version (with John Denver!) is a classic, along with the SCTV parody by the McKenzie Brothers, which gives turtlenecks and beer instead of turtle doves and partridges. And there’s always The 12 Pains of Christmas, by Bob Rivers, which chronicles all the issues with putting together a modern Christmas—like batteries not included and rigging up the lights.  

How much would giving someone the Twelve Days of Christmas gifts cost?

Also, a lot! Every year for the past 38 years, PNC Bank has released its Christmas Price Index, which tallies how much it would cost to give your true love the full “Twelve Days of Christmas” experience. Giving them just as they appear in the song will cost you nearly $200,000 to wow your true love—or $41,000 if given as a one-off gift. (That made Andy Bernard’s attempt to provide Erin Hannon with the complete Twelve Day treatment on the 2009 "Secret Santa" episode of The Office exceptionally generous—if incredibly ill-advised!)

The above post is an excerpt from Realsimple.com, a magazine and online forum featuring articles and information about homemaking, childcare, cooking, and emotional well-being.