Description
Book Synopsis In the whole body of Christmas carols sung in English, among the most famous and beloved is a song universally called The Twelve Days of Christmas. Although its association with the holiday remains unquestioned, the tune was originally a raucous drinking song with wildly different connotations. This book documents the unfamiliar and distant history of one of the world''s most well-known holiday songs, inextricably linked to the earliest celebrations of a festival suppressed by the Church itself.
The rowdy and mischievous tone of traditional Christmas has vanished, as have the songs that accompanied the festival of drinking, gambling, fighting, feasting and sex. Modern participants of Christmas may be either embarrassed or pleased to discover the scandalous roots of a beloved holiday classic.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments vi
- Preface 1
- Chapter 1 7
- Chapter 2 15
- Chapter 3 28
- Chapter 4 37
- Chapter 5 45
- Chapter 6 51
- Chapter 7 61
- Chapter 8 67
- Chapter 9 71
- Chapter 10 91
- Chapter 11 101
- Chapter 12 109
- Chapter 13 125
- Chapter 14 136
- Chapter 15 143
- Chapter 16 150
- Chapter 17 154
- Chapter 18 170
- Chapter 19 176
- Chapter Notes 187
- Works Cited 217
- Index 221
