Today is the Fifth Day of Christmas. Your house is currently stuffed with; five golden rings, eight calling birds, nine French hens, ten turtledoves and five partridges in their respective pear trees (begin thinking preserves.) The official gift tally total (37 gifts)
Today is also the Feast of St. Thomas Becket who was the Archbishop of Canterbury and martyred on this date in 1170 AD.) The five golden rings represent the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
Speaking of poultry – we’ve all been misinterpreting the song all these years. The song’s seemingly bizarre switch from four birds, to five pieces of jewelry, and back to six birds actually makes perfect sense: The “five golden rings” is more likely a reference to ring-necked pheasants.
So the five golden rings in this stanza refer to five ring-necked pheasants, a dish that was sure to be served at some of the king or queen’s Twelfth Night feasts during their Twelve Days of Christmas celebrations.
Let’s hope your true love does not know this, you do not need to add avian flu into the mix at this time.
The Haus of Dcaligari 