Numbers

The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)

• A Partridge in a Pear Tree
• Two Turtledoves
• Three French Hens
• Four Calling Birds
• Five Golden Rings
• Six Geese A-Laying
• Seven Swans A-Swimming
• Eight Maids A-Milking
• Nine Ladies Dancing
• Ten Lords A-Leaping
• Eleven Pipers Piping
• Twelve Drummers Drumming

How It's Used

"Nathan Vasher said of an end-zone return that would require so many silly, fluky twists—a field-goal attempt kicked short, a returner fielding a ball cleanly, 11 tacklers missing, 10 blockers blocking, nine beer cups swirling, eight hot-dog wrappers flying, seven officials approving, six geese a-laying—that it never seemed to justify the bother.  ‘We practice that play on special teams,’ said Kyle Orton, the rookie, ‘and it looks like a waste of time.’”

“Newton was born in England on Christmas Day 1642 according to the Julian calendar—the calendar in use in England at the time. But by the 1640s, much of the rest of Europe was using the Gregorian calendar (the one in general use today); according to this calendar, Newton was born on Jan. 4, 1643.

“Rather than bickering about whether Dec. 25 or Jan. 4 is the better date to observe Newton’s Birthday, I think we should embrace the discrepancy and have an extended festival. After all, the festival of Christmas properly continues for a further 12 days, until the feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6. So the festival of Newton could begin on Christmas Day and then continue for an extra 10 days, representing the interval between the calendars…

“In honor of Newton’s Birthday festival, I therefore propose the following song, to be sung to the tune of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas.' For brevity, I include only the final verse. All together now!

On the tenth day of Newton,
My true love gave to me,
Ten drops of genius,
Nine silver co-oins,
Eight circling planets,
Seven shades of li-ight,
Six counterfeiters,
Cal-Cu-Lus!
Four telescopes,
Three Laws of Motion,
Two awful feuds,
And the discovery of gravity!

"Happy Newton, everybody!”

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