"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a very well known song that is trotted out each year in honour of the festive season. We sang it at home while sat round the fire in the depths of winter and I well remember singing it at the Anglo-German Club in Bremen for sentimental ex-pats yonks ago. The version I sing can be found in Eleanor Franklin-Pike's
Easiest Tune Book of Christmas Carols.
Eleanor Franklin-Pike describes it as
"an ancient game, chant or rhyme for Christmas.. Interestingly, the
Northumbrian Minstrelsy also includes this song describing it as a forfeit game.