Fascinating Facts

December 12, 2012

Q. How many gifts are given in the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas"?

A. 364

It's not 78, as some people say. It's 364 because it's an accumulative song with each verse building on the last. The first verse has 1 gift; the second verse has 2 + 1 gifts. The third verse has 3 + 2 + 1 gifts, etc. until the last verse, which has 12 + 11 + 10 + 9 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 gifts.

If you received all of the gifts as stated in the song for each day, you would actually have 364 gifts:

Partridges: 1 × 12 = 12
(one each day for 12 days)
Doves: 2 × 11 = 22
(two each day for 11 days)
Hens 3 × 10 = 30
Calling birds: 4 × 9 = 36
Golden rings: 5 × 8 = 40
Geese: 6 × 7 = 42
Swans: 7 × 6 = 42
Maids: 8 × 5 = 40
Ladies: 9 × 4 = 36
Lords: 10 × 3 = 30
Pipers: 11 × 2 = 22
Drummers: 12 × 1 = 12
Total = 364

The Twelve Days of Christmas refers to the period starting on Christmas day and finishing with the Epiphany (January 6th, when the 3 kings from "the East" brought gifts).

Information found on the SquareCircleZ Mathmatics blog web site.

Sharon G.
Blue Springs South Branch