The Twelve Days of Christmas are the days beginning on the evening of Christmas Day to Epiphany (the evening before is called Twelfth Night). These twelves days are still celebrated in some aspect in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, the traditions have almost completely dissappeared in the United States except with a few religious groups. These holidays have led to a famous holiday song sung in all English-speaking countries, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Versions of this song have existed since the XVI century but the version known today was arranged in the XX century by Frederic Austin.
VOCABULARY
partridge - pedrix
turtle dove - tourterelle
hen - poule
*calling bird - merle
ring - anneau, bague
goose (irregular plural form - geese) - oie
to lay (irregular verb - laid, laid) - pondre
swan - cygne
maid (archaic) - demoiselle
to milk - traire
to leap - bondir, sauter
piper - joueur de cornemuse
to pipe - jouer de la cornemuse
drummer - batteur
to drum - jouer de la batterie
*"colly" or "collie" means "black" and originates from an old English word for "coal." Apparently the sung was orignally sung with 'four collie birds.'
