Five golden rings

I took some photos the other day of some ring-necked turtle doves on top our blueberry enclosure.

But wait, are these Eurasian doves or ring-necked turtle doves? A comparison between the two species didn’t yield much insight. My bird books both favor ring-necked turtle doves.

At any rate, I happened to show these photos to Don. He chuckled and remarked, “Five golden rings.” This made me laugh.

Then he mentioned an article he had just read entitled “Are All Gifts Mentioned In ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’ Actually Birds?“

Everyone knows the lyrics to “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” the final verse of which lists everything:

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!

The song lists a lot of birds, but the author of the above-linked article argues that all the gifts were, in fact, birds. Since the song is Medieval in origin, these are birds that were likely commonly seen and/or eaten during those times.

She suggests the “five golden rings” are ring-necked pheasants. These are Chinese in origin, but had been introduced to Europe during the Roman times, and thus were common.

She speculates the “eight maids a-milking” were either pigeons (which feed “crop milk” to their young) or the elegant cattle egrets which, as the name implies, hang around with cows to eat the insects stirred up by their legs.

The “nine ladies dancing” might be the northern lapwing, the cormorant, or the Eurasian common crane, all known for their vigorous courtship dances.

“Ten lords a-leaping” might be grey herons, wading birds with long legs that were frequently eaten. “Eleven pipers piping” could be any number of shore birds in the sandpiper family. “Twelve drummers drumming” could be woodpeckers, grouse, or snipe.

While these are all mere speculations, considering how Medieval songs originated, none of these would surprise me. At any rate, it was certainly a new take on an old song.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!