On the twelfth day of Christmas . . .
Here we are, on Epiphany and the 12th day of Christmas.
What did our true love out here in the country send to us today?
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me . . .
- The Twelfth Day of Christmas
.Twelve peacocks prancing. . .
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- The Eleventh Day of Christmas
Eleven roosters crowing,
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- The Tenth Day of Christmas
Ten squirrels leaping,
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The Ninth Day of Christmas
Nine grandkids dancing,
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- The Eighth Day of Christmas
Eight maids a-cleaning,
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- The Seventh Day of Christmas
Seven EELS a-peeking,
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- The Sixth Day of Christmas.
Six Guineas Preening,
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- The Fifth Day of Christmas
Five canning rings!
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- The Fourth Day of Christmas
Four Calling Birds,
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- The Third Day of Christmas
Three Fat Sheep,
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- The Second Day of Christmas
Two Spitting Llamas,
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- The first day of Christmas!
… And a Parrot on a Fairrryyyyy!.
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New (Country) Style, cost of 12 peacocks prancing: $1,500.00
Old (Classic) Style, cost of 12 drummers drumming: $4,800.00
Here on the farm we enjoy watching our peacocks dance and drum on the ground for the lady peahens. And they rattle their feathers until it sounds like maracas. You can hear it in this video right at the beginning, and again towards the middle:
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It takes a couple of years before a peacock has big enough tailfeathers to make much of an impression on the ladies. So for our prancing peacocks, we need to buy adults, not chicks. I found some for sale at Legg’s Peafowl Farm for $125 each. We need 12, so that’s 12 x $125 = $1,500.00 total.
As for the drummers, once again I went to Gigmasters.com and looked for the appropriate performer. The drummers are listed under “Percussionists” and I was surprised to see how many there are. I was afraid it would be difficult to find solo drummers, but there are many Caribbean Steel Drummers.
Checking prices, I found to hire a steel drummer for a Christmas party costs $400, so for 12 of them it’s 12 x $400 = $4,800.00 total.
Here’s a rundown of the costs for the entire 12 days:
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| Day | Old Song Style | Cost | New Country Style | Cost |
| 1 | partridge in pear tree | $ 53.00 | Parrot on a fairy | $ 820.00 |
| 2 | 2 turtle doves | $380.00 | 2 spitting llamas | $400.00 |
| 3 | 3 French hens | $ 30.00 | 3 fat sheep | $750.00 |
| 4 | 4 calling birds | $ 0.00 | 4 calling birds | $ 0.00 |
| 5 | 5 gold rings | $1,070.00 | 5 canning rings | $ 1.70 |
| 6 | 6 geese a-laying | $ 52.74 | 6 guineas preening | $ 28.20 |
| 7 | 7 swans a-swimming | $7,000.00 | 7 eels a-peeking | $ 49.99 |
| 8 | 8 maids a-milking | $2,240.00 | 8 maids a-cleaning | $600.00 |
| 9 | 9 ladies dancing | $1,800.00 | 9 grandkids dancing | $3,996.00 |
| 10 | 10 lords a-leaping | $ 98.00 | 10 squirrels leaping | $ 0.00 |
| 11 | 11 pipers piping | $3,300.00 | 11 roosters crowing | $ 55.00 |
| 12 | 12 drummers drumming | $4,800.00 | 12 peacocks prancing | $1,500.00 |
| GRAND TOTAL OLD STYLE = | $20,823.74 | GRAND TOTAL NEW STYLE = | $8,200.89 |
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No doubt about it, the old style of doing things spoken of in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song is much more expensive than my new country style of things my true love has actually bought me here on the farm (just not so many of each item!).
So next year at Christmas time, you can tell your true love if you want the classic or the new country style gifts for 12 days!
I think I’ll stick with a country Christmas.
from Amazon.