It's Good to Know: What, Exactly, Is a Calling Bird?
The song "The 12 Days of Christmas" is a staple of the Christmas season. Unfortunately, just about everyone has trouble keeping the lyrics straight. To make matters worse, inadvertent alterations to the song's lyrics have crept into many popular renditions over the years.
For example, the four "calling birds" that make up the fourth day's gift, should actually be four "colly birds." Colly means black as coal, making the actual gift four blackbirds. And the fifth day's gift of "golden rings" does not refer to jewelry, as many believe, but to ring-necked birds, such as pheasants. With these distortions remedied, you can see that the first seven gifts are all intended to be types of birds.
Although some have tried to ascribe religious symbolism to the imagery in the song, most experts say it is a secular work that originated in France and was later translated and adopted by the English. The first published version was in an English children's book in 1780, although the song is probably significantly older. It was part of a memory game in which players took turns reciting the verses. If a player forgot a line, they had to give out sweets or kisses.
(Source: Snopes and Wikipedia)
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Word to the Wise: Fealty
"Fealty" (FEE-ul-tee) - from the Latin for "to trust" - is faithfulness.
Example (as used by poet Joaquin Miller): "Tis morn. Behold the kingly Day now leaps / The eastern wall of earth with sword in hand, / Clad in a flowing robe of mellow light, / Like to a king that has regain'd his throne, / He warms his drooping subjects into joy, / That rise rejoiced to do him fealty, / And rules with pomp the universal world."
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2234, 12-25-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.
__________________________________________________
For all your Real Estate Interests look at The New Real Estate Source here.
The song "The 12 Days of Christmas" is a staple of the Christmas season. Unfortunately, just about everyone has trouble keeping the lyrics straight. To make matters worse, inadvertent alterations to the song's lyrics have crept into many popular renditions over the years.
For example, the four "calling birds" that make up the fourth day's gift, should actually be four "colly birds." Colly means black as coal, making the actual gift four blackbirds. And the fifth day's gift of "golden rings" does not refer to jewelry, as many believe, but to ring-necked birds, such as pheasants. With these distortions remedied, you can see that the first seven gifts are all intended to be types of birds.
Although some have tried to ascribe religious symbolism to the imagery in the song, most experts say it is a secular work that originated in France and was later translated and adopted by the English. The first published version was in an English children's book in 1780, although the song is probably significantly older. It was part of a memory game in which players took turns reciting the verses. If a player forgot a line, they had to give out sweets or kisses.
(Source: Snopes and Wikipedia)
______________________________
Word to the Wise: Fealty
"Fealty" (FEE-ul-tee) - from the Latin for "to trust" - is faithfulness.
Example (as used by poet Joaquin Miller): "Tis morn. Behold the kingly Day now leaps / The eastern wall of earth with sword in hand, / Clad in a flowing robe of mellow light, / Like to a king that has regain'd his throne, / He warms his drooping subjects into joy, / That rise rejoiced to do him fealty, / And rules with pomp the universal world."
__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2234, 12-25-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.
__________________________________________________
For all your Real Estate Interests look at The New Real Estate Source here.
posted by Oak Stone at 5:51 PM
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