the partridge in the pear tree

[neilred24]

what is the symbolism of the partridge in a pear tree in the 12 days of Xmas?

[Quizmonster]

The phrase 'a partridge in a pear-tree' is a corruption of the Latin words 'apertuit in aperto', which mean 'she gave birth in the open'...ie in an exposed place, the stable. When medi�val monks chanted these words in church, the native peasantry in the congregation misheard them as the phrase we are now familiar with. There is, therefore, no real 'symbolism' involved at all.

[firefly]

The original lyrics involved things of much more religious significance. One was the baby Jesus, two was Mary and Joseph, but I'm not sure about the rest.

[Cetti]

'The 12 Days of Christmas' was supposedly written to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith when it was outlawed from 1558 - 1829.

The symbolism makes interesting reading whether it's true or not.

http://www.newyorkancestry.com/12_days_of_xmas.htm

[FredPuli]

I wouldn't be too sure of the Latin QM ! It could be either 'parturit in aperto' or 'parturit aperte'. The first in classical Latin means in the wide open spaces, the wide outdoors. The second means 'gave birth without secrecy, openly, without seeking to hide, unashamedly' My vote is for the second! Mary was not in an open field but she certainly did not seek to dissemble or hide her mysterious conception and the birth It would read better if the word order was reversed 'aperte parturit' but as none of the rest of the lines are anything like Latin it may be a fanciful schoolboy's or non-classicist's supposed 'explanation', not the church's words.