On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
four colly birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
No, that's not a typo. You read that right. All these years I have been singing "four calling birds", but the truth is that the real line is "four COLLY birds". Colly birds are actually European black birds. "Colly" was the slang term for "coal-y", referring to the black as coal color of the birds. With the accent, "colly" sounded an awful lot like "calling", which is what we know it as today.
In Medieval times, blackbirds (crows) were considered a delicacy and only the wealthy could afford to eat them. Remember the song "Sing a Song of Sixpence"? The pie in that song was filled with 24 blackbirds. But who really wants four crows for their Christmas nowadays?
In Christianity, "four calling birds" refers to either the four gospels or four evangelists.
Come back tomorrow to learn about the five golden rings.
Heather Chavez, Real Estate Virtual Assistant - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!
Read more about the other days of Christmas here:
On the first day of Christmas - a partridge in a pear tree
On the second day of Christmas - two turtle doves
On the third day of Christmas - three French hens
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