The Partridge in a Pear Tree
Not too long ago, J. Patrick Bradley, an economist with perhaps too much time on his hands decided to calculate what the 12 gifts described in the Christmas Carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” would cost in contemporary currency.
Here is what he found:
One partridge in a pear tree comes to $27.48
The partridge is $15.00. The pear tree is $12.48
Two turtle doves: $50.00 (I don’t know why a turtle dove costs more than a partridge).
Three French hens: $15.00
Four calling birds: $280.00
Five golden earrings $600.00
Six geese a-laying about $150.00
Seven swans a-swimming $7,000.00
Eight maids a-milking $30.40
Nine ladies dancing $2,417.90
Ten Lords a-leaping $2,686.56 – obviously a stronger union
Eleven pipers piping $947.70
Twelve drummers drumming $1,026.68
If you wanted to give all of those to your true love for Christmas, based on Patrick Bradley’s calculations, it would run you $15,231.72 (give or take some for inflation).
That is one way of determining the value of the gifts described in that carol. But it is not the only way.
The 12 Days of Christmas was written in the 16th century in England by Catholic Jesuits. If you know anything about the history of England in the 16th, you may know the Catholic church was prohibited at that time. You could lose your freedom or even your life for professing the Catholic faith. So the Catholic Church went underground. And not unlike other times in the church, like when the Book of Revelation was written, priests and other church leaders used code to teach the faith and that is how the 12 Days of Christmas came about.
It was written by Jesuits at that time to teach the Catholic faith. The 12 days of Christmas runs from Christmas Day to Epiphany. So it is a nice framework for the song.
The refrain, “My True Love Gave to me,” is God speaking to the Catholic who is learning the song. 12 drummers drumming are not as you might expect the 12 Apostles (and there is a reason for that), but the 12 teachings outlined in the Apostle’s Creed.
The 11 pipers piping are the 11 apostles, Judas having left, who piped the faith in an unbroken tradition.
The 10 Lords a leaping are the 10 Commandments.
The “nine ladies dancing” are the choirs of angels.
The “eight maids a-milking are the beatitudes.
The “seven swans a swimming” are the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church.
The “six geese a-laying” are the precepts of the church.
The “five golden rings” are the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible.
The “four calling birds” are the four gospels that sing the good news.
The “three French hens” are the gifts the magi brought to Jesus.
The “two turtle doves” are the Old and New Testaments.
And, finally, of course, the “partridge in a pear tree” is the glorious Christ reigning from the cross.
So while the Protestants in England at that time and afterwards have sung that song with no idea what it means, for the Catholics it was a way for them to be secretly formed in the faith.
We all have to decide how we are going to tell the Christmas story and how we will respond to the gift of the Christ Child….just as the angel told Mary and Mary told Elizabeth.
There is a legend from Russia about a grandmother named Babushka that expresses the heart of the Christmas story in a unique way.
It seems that just as the old grandmother, is about to retire for the evening on a cold winter’s night there was a knock on her door. It was the Wise Men, the Magi. The tell her excitedly about the king born in Bethlehem. They urge her to come and honor him. She peeks out the door. It is an awful night, cold and blustery. Babushka looks back at her warm bed, hesitates and says, ‘I will see the Christ child – tomorrow.”
Just as she is getting in bed, there is another knock on the door. This time it’s the shepherds urging her to come with them, and if not, to at least give them a basket of goodies to give to the Christ Child. Again, she looks out at the weather and at her bed, hesitates, and finally replies, “I’ll bring them myself – tomorrow.”
True to her word, the next day, Babushka packs some yummy food and heads off to Bethlehem. But the stable is empty when she gets there. She’s disheartened but determined. She keeps looking. In fact, she looks for the Child for the rest of her life.
In her endless journey she finds children, everywhere. She finds many a manager. She finds many a cradle. She finds many a baby nursing. She leaves gifts at each place, hoping it is the Christ Child. When she was very old and near death, the Christ Child appeared to her wearing the face of every child she has ever touched and offered gifts to. She dies happily, knowing that, in spite of her first hesitancy, she did indeed find the Child, not in the manger, where she expected him, but in the poor and needy where she never expected to find him. Babushka discovered the message of Christmas is all about love.
We all get to decide how we tell that story and to find ways to honor the Christ, the Partridge in a Pear Tree.