The Hour

A festive treat is in store with a special performance of The Twelve Days of Christmas by Faryl Smith, The Drifters, Chrtopher Biggins, Vicky Lee, Michelle McManus and more....

After a slightly false start thanks to our very own Stephen Jardine, this star-studded rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas features everything you could need from a christmas song, from the operatic expertise of Faryl Smith through to the soulful stylings of The Drifters.

The Twelve Days of Christmas is one of the most recorded Christmas songs of all time and is a clear favourite of carol singers year in, year out.

The first well-known performance of the song was in the mid-19th century, although it has been considered traditional from as early as the 16th century.

The song has not stayed the same in all of these years however.  The famous "five golden rings" refrain was only added at the beginning of the 20th century, and the exact lyrics and order of the gifts within the song vary from place to place.

The song is considered by some to be of French origin, with pear tree actually being a mis-pronunciation of pardrix.  There is also claimed to be a Scottish version of the song dating from the 19th century, in which the gifts included three partridges, three plovers, a goose that was grey, and a bull that was brown.