Deck The Halls...........

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Buffs... I am always up for a Pah-tay darling ..... we soo need the parties afterwards to wind down.... have a glass of champers with me (_) (_) (_)
 
Somebody sent me this info the other day & I found it interesting, thought I pass it along:

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness,

Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.


Merry Christmas everyone!
 
Here's a pic of my Grandmother and Grandfather from 1945. I think she is from Leicestershireshire.....

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Quite a few Christmas Carols are of pagan origin. This is why people had to "go caroling" in the Middle Ages, because these songs weren't allowed to be sung in church. "Deck the Halls" is one (also doubled as a happy drinking song, falalalalalalalala). Also in the category falls "Here We Come a-Wassailing" and "Wassail, Wassail."

"I Saw Three Ships" is another one of those symbolic songs, representing the Trinity

Though my family is Polish Catholic, the relatives that came over on the boat were respectively a heathen Gypsy and strictly reared convent-raised foundling so we never learned any Polish Christmas carols unfortunately, we just listen to polka versions of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic ones and of course the polka classics, "She's Too Fat for Me" and "Who Stole the Kiszka?"
 

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