‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ is one of the most famous Christmas songs. It is also, perhaps, the one that has attracted the most theories and origin-stories relating to its meaning and history. What each of the gifts given on the twelve days of Christmas might represent, for instance, has […]
Tag: Origins
Why the Trojan Horse Almost Certainly Wasn’t a Horse
In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle explores the origins of the story of the Trojan Horse If you had to name the famous work from classical antiquity which told the story of the Trojan Horse, which work would you name? The work of literature which […]
A Short Analysis of the Christmas Carol ‘Once in Royal David’s City’
What connects the popular Christmas carol ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and the popular hymn ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’? They both share an origin – but the origins of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ are not as famous as the words. And the words themselves deserve closer analysis… Once […]
A Short Analysis of the Christmas Carol ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks’
‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks’ is one of the most famous Christmas songs in the English language, and unlike many Christmas carols we know who wrote this one: a Poet Laureate, no less. So next time you’re singing ‘while shepherds watched their flocks by night’ (or, depending on company, washed […]
A Short Analysis of the ‘Little Boy Blue’ Nursery Rhyme
What are the origins of Little Boy Blue? Dr Oliver Tearle analyses this children’s rhyme ‘Little Boy Blue’ is a popular children’s rhyme, but as is the case with so many nursery rhymes (as we’ve been discovering in the course of researching these posts), the meaning of ‘Little Boy Blue’ […]