The Twelve Days of Christmas is a classic festive song, but it turns out many people have been getting the meaning of one of the lines wrong
Social media users have been left stunned after discovering the true meaning behind a line in the classic Christmas song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’.
The song, which is played annually in homes and shops worldwide, was first published in the 18th century and details the gifts given on each day of Christmas – including turtle doves, maids-a-milking and pipers piping.
While many are familiar with the lyrics, it appears one specific line in the song has a completely different meaning than most believe. The ‘five golden rings’ line, often sung slower and louder than the rest, does not refer to five pieces of expensive jewellery as one might think.
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X, formerly Twitter, user @AnnaGHughes shared her revelation online, stating: “Learning that “five gooolden riings” is not in fact referring to 5 literal golden rings, but to five ring-necked pheasants, aka more birds”.
Given the song already includes numerous lines about gifting fowl, the ‘five golden rings’ line only adds to what must be a very bird-filled Christmas, reports the Daily Record.
Many were shocked to learn the true meaning of the line, with one person exclaiming: “Wait. What. How many damn birds are in this song???”
Another person chimed in: “I read this out loud to my partner and he shouted “No! as if I had just told him Christmas was cancelled forever.”
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A third individual questioned: “The one good present is actually birds? ” However, some were quick to debunk Anna’s theory as mere speculation.
One sceptic stated: “Doesn’t seem likely: the first illustration was of five gold rings, I can’t find any reference to pheasants with golden neck rings (they are white feathers irl) and ringnecked pheasants were only introduced to England shortly before that first illustration.”
Another theory posits that the five golden rings are a Biblical reference to the first five books of the Old Testament, also known as the Pentateuch.
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