Christmas Day 10

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me … ten lords-a-leaping.

Wow, the daily count has finally entered double digits. That means the end is near. Only two days remain in the Christmas season. I will be sad to see it go but, then again, Epiphany and Lent are on the way.

In reading about the Twelve Days of Christmas, I noticed something that was probably obvious to other people, but that only struck me this year. The first seven days are centered on some type of bird performing some passive/calm activity, such as sitting, calling, laying, or swimming (which in swans looks much more like gliding). The last five days are centered on the activities of people: milking, dancing, leaping, piping, and drumming. If you think about this in the context of a celebration of Christ’s birth, it seems that both the animals and the people are either observing the preparations for the party, providing food for the party, or celebrating at the party. That is what the twelve days of Christmas are supposed to be --- a party, a joyous celebration of the arrival of Christ. Unfortunately, in our 21st century culture, we do all our celebrating before Christ arrives. By the time the “Christmas season” truly begins on December 25th, we are all partied out, so we hang on until New Years Day and then sweep the Lord’s birthday celebration clean, right in the middle of the festivities. It is as if we invited Him to our home for His own birthday party and, then, threw Him out in the middle of it.

I am attempting to change this attitude at my house, difficult though it may be to swim against the cultural tide. For example, I tag my Christmas tree early, the day after Thanksgiving, but I don’t erect it until very close to Christmas, usually around December 18th-23rd. That way, it lasts until Epiphany. My new agreement with my husband, who is not a big fan of the tree, is that I will start dismantling the holiday evergreen (and other Christmas décor as well) on his birthday, January 3rd. Granted, this is a bit like cleaning up while the party is winding down, but I prefer to think of it as clearing the table of dirty dishes before the guests actually depart. It makes the end-of-celebration atmosphere a little less stressful for me and a little more appealing for the guests.

So, for me, the tenth day is still about celebrating (but with a bit of environmental maintenance). Theologically, the tenth day is about remembering the Ten Commandments. Depending on your denomination of Christianity, these can differ slightly. Even though I am a Lutheran, I actually prefer the “evangelical” version of these behavioral guidelines:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall make no idol or graven image for yourself.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not commit murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or property.

Historically, the tenth day is about leaping dances, as the name implies. Apparently, only for those of the male persuasion, this type of dancing was meant to “rile men up” for battle. Brownielocks.com has this to say:

The Roman god of vegetation and war was Mars. The Roman priests of their Salii ritual would leap as high as they could in the air in hopes of inducing the corn to grow. It was believed that the height of their leap would be the height of the corn. Swords were a part of their costume.

In Britain, the lords a-leaping are assumed to be morris dancers, highly costumed ceremonial folk, who performed between the courses of a Christmas feast. One form of morris dancing included swords also. In this dance, twelve men in two teams performed intricate patterns ending with the swords being braided together to form a Lock or Nut above the Lord of Misrule (during the Twelfth Night Celebration). In other morris dancing, instead of swords, antlers were worn.

By the end of the 18th century, this style of dance was no longer of interest to the upper classes for entertainment. It was being performed at festivals and fairs only.

Some believe that the lords a-leaping did a dance called the gavotte for the Twelfth Night celebrations because it was accompanied by a drum or bagpipe. The gavotte lasted until the end of the 18th century and then faded away in popularity.

Other than lots of leaping, and a reminder of what my behavior should be, today was about Christmas winding down and “real life” winding up. Being a Wednesday, the household schedule was full of weekly music appointments: piano lessons, music composition class, and handbell rehearsal. Being my husband’s birthday, the schedule also included a dinner date at our favorite pizza restaurant. Not extravagant, I know, but after twenty-one years of marriage, the simple things are often best.

As the season continues, Merry Christmas!

Photo of Ten Lords-a-Leaping Christmas ornament by artist P. Buckley Moss was taken from the website of the Finn Gallery in St. Petersburg, FL.