I know rabbits are for Easter, but the Twelve Days of Christmas have been a long-time source of questions for me, and I've spent a lot of time wandering around that particular rabbit hole. It started in grade school (do they still call it that?), when we learned the song in music class (do they still have that?). I wanted to know which twelve days they meant (starting or ending on Christmas?), why were there suddenly rings in the middle of all those birds (and other living beings), and what exactly were colly birds, anyway? As you can imagine, more than one grade school teacher, music teacher, or parent told me I asked too many questions. When I found other versions of the song with calling birds, I settled for that. And, I finally learned from a novel set in medieval England that the twelve days start on Christmas (and end on January 5, the day before Epiphany).
Then I tried to decide on a color for the calling birds on the card I was making for the Twelve Days of Christmas prompt at Jingle Belles. Cardinals are a popular Christmas icon, but the birds in my stamp set don't look like cardinals. So I thought I'd try an internet search. It turns out the use of "colly" in the song predates "calling" by about 100 years, and in the time the song first became popular, colly was a form of "coal-y" and referred to blackbirds. I wasn't willing to stamp black birds on my Christmas card, though, so I used the blue from the background designer series paper:
I added hearts as a way of hedging my bets - these birds are calling out true love.
While wandering around the rabbit hole this evening I saw a mention that "gold rings" may have referred to ring-necked pheasants. I didn't chase it down, but that makes so much more sense to my logic-loving mind!
3 comments:
ok so not only do i LOVE your perfectly charming card and those adorable calling/colly birds but also i have learned so much from your research! (the bit about the pheasants is especially interesting, i've always wondered how the jewelry would have snuck in when everything else is clearly food or entertainment??!?!) it's also comforting to know that other ppl sit down to make a card and wind up traveling the internet far and wide answering questions from fifth grad lol!!!! as always, it's a pleasure to have you join our JINGLE BELLES fun! ♥♥♥
I love how you thought through this and came up with your design. I love your bluebirds carrying their hearts. Wonderfully done!
I had never heard colly birds ... and I like the ring explanation ... thanks for taking us down the rabbit hole with you ... love your sweet little blue love birds ... so very glad you joined us for the 12 Days of Christmas at Jingle Belles.
Post a Comment