“On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree“
For no better reason that it is a song that features several birds and is sung at this time of year, I looked up the history of ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’. The carol was first published in 1780 and has appeared in several guises and languages (1). The one printed above is the modern English version.
While the carol lists swans, geese, French hens, turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree as gifts, it is the ‘four calling birds’ that caught my attention. The phrase suggests song birds of some sort, and so it proves. In the original version, they appeared as ‘four colly birds’ meaning coal-black birds, so most likely blackbirds (Turdus merula). However, Halliwell recorded it as ‘four canary birds’ in his Nursery Rhymes of England (1842), an interpretation that was endorsed by Rimbault in 1846.
That’s good enough for me. ‘Four canary birds’ is my version of choice, even if Halliwell reverted to ‘colly birds’ in his 1853 edition. Spoil sport.
My gifts are canaries too, or at least photographs of them. In keeping with the festive spirit, here are my twelve birds of Christmas (2). You can place them in any order you like.
A merry Christmas and a happy New Year to my readers.
Footnote:
- Most of the historical information is derived from the Wikipedia page on The Twelve Days of Christmas.
- I don’t breed birds in large numbers. The twelve Lizard canaries you see above represent over half of my 2021 crop.
Twelve birds, twelve pearls …
Congratulations, Huw and Merry Christmas
Feliz navidad Huw un abrazo desde España
Twelve Christmas Crackers.
Very very nice birds Huw, congratulations and Merry Christmas
Congratulations, you must be a very happy man Huw with these extreme nice birds. Merry christmas to everyone, hope too see more breeders in 2022, stay negative!
Great, great birds…
Thank you Huw for these twelve wonderful Iizards!
Merry Christmas for you and your family
Cheers
Excellent quality, Merry Christmas!
FELIZ NAVIDAD para ti y para tu familia HEW!!!!
Great Birds Huw, have a Merry Christmas and New year
Exceptional bloodline Huw,
is the winner natural lizard 2021 at Roade LCA classic amongst them?
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New year.
According your previous post on the 2021 classic the winner wouldbe 2021-012, Gust.
Correct. Unfortunately she didn’t like the photo cage and refused to relax in front of the camera.
Whatever the origin of this carol, these 12 photos of your 2021 lizard canaries are like 12 Christmas gifts for our eyes.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you & your family
Thank you Danielle and everyone else for their kind greetings.