Fake News at Christmas

On the third day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Twenty-five years or so ago, a viral message began circulating and continues to circulate today about the origin and the secret meaning of the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” published around 1780.  This dubious Email message purports that the lyrics were composed as an “underground catechism song” for persecuted Catholics living under Protestant rule in England.  It claimed that the song had two levels (don’t you l0ve that “two level” stuff) a surface meaning plus a hidden meaning (that means, code words) “known only to young Catholics of the time:

  The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ.

The two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

The three French hens stood for faith, hope, and love.

The four calling birds were the four gospels…” etc.

This theory has been much disputed, found to be dubious if not spurious, and has been thoroughly debunked.  Yet the theory continues to circulate and many buy into it as truth.  Why?  I suppose it has to do with the fact that we don’t understand the words of the song in the first place, and since we are fascinated by “code words” and “hidden meanings,” and then someone comes along and explains it to us, we simply buy into it without checking it out for ourselves.  That is called letting someone else do not only our work, but our thinking as well.  A very dangerous place to put ourselves.

There are other explanations as to the meaning of “the partridge in a pear tree” and “two turtle doves” and “three French hens,” just like there are sound and responsible explanations for saying “Happy Holiday” at Christmastime.  When we don’t understand something in the first place and someone comes along to explain it to us, rightly or wrongly, we just buy into it without any thought at all.  We just buy into this dubious, spurious, even debunked stuff (in spite of evidence to the contrary) all the time these days.  It worries me on this Third Day of Christmas as I cluelessly sing:  “Three French hens, Two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear three,” and say with the deepest possible respect “Happy Holidays to you."