12 days of Christmas Day 2

 Two turtle doves…

African Ring-Neck Doves

Photo credit: J. Washington

‘On the second day of Christmas

My true love gave to me -

Two turtles doves…’

Painting by Kerri Kimbriel

Doves have been mentioned in literature since ancient times. King Hezekiah talks of them in early Judean literature. King Solomon and King David wrote poetry in the Old Testament that included comparisons with doves.

Courtesy stampscoinsnotes.com

Doves were used as sacrificial offerings 

because they were considered pure.

Shakespeare even featured a turtle dove in his poem ‘The Phoenix and the Turtle’.

It wasn’t a reptile he was referring to,

but a turtle dove!

Courtesy Monjuri Jannat

So what is the history of this favorite Christmas-time song?

For sale on Etsy

I was surprised after doing some research.

I had always heard that it was a song to help children remember Catholic catechism during a time of Catholic persecution in England.

Partridge in a pear tree stood for 

Jesus on the cross,

2 turtle doves stood for 

the Old and New Testaments,

Etc.

By NVillustration on DeviantArt

Wrong!

Let’s think about it.

Protestant and Catholic believe in many similar theologies.

They both believe in:

1) Jesus on the cross

2) Old and New Testaments

3) Faith, hope & love

4) Apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke & John

5) the Torah or the Pentateuch

(first 5 books of the Old Testament)

Etc.

Why make a hidden meaning rhyme?

Courtesy: Not On The High Street

Let’s enjoy it for what it most likely started out as -

A children’s ‘Memory-and-Forfeit’ game.

This game was played in 1800’s England.

Everyone sits in a circle.

The first person starts with up to 3 verses.

The next child repeats the 3 and adds 1 more.

Each person recites the verses before and adds one more, until someone forfeits-

(Messes up a verse!).

Then it’s either give a kiss

or give a piece of candy!

Here are some fun things to do with two turtle doves -

Doodle away inside this simple line drawing and create a masterpiece!

Thomaslefever, Pinterest

Here’s another one:

GZ blog

Why not trace it onto a piece of clear plastic, like the front of ornament boxes.

Then glue on squares of colored tissue paper. Punch a hole in the top

and hang in a window.

Pretty!

Here’s a cute cookie idea:

By Little Wonderland, Pinterest

Like to play with felt? Here you go!

From Etsy

Let’s take a few drawing lessons:

Courtesy HOWTODRAWFORKIDS.COM

Courtesy ActivityVillage.co.uk

Turtle Doves have many symbolic meanings. Just a few are love,

friendship, loyalty, loving kindness,

fidelity and trust.

Let’s make some origami doves

and give one to someone who has one of the above characteristics.

Courtesy tavinsorigami.com

If those directions are too confusing, just type in ‘dove origami’ into your search engine and there are many similar instructions out there.

Courtesy PheeMcFaddell.com

That’s all for now!

‘Til next time,

inkspired

In addition to the last blog’s credits,

here are a few more sites I checked out:

ChristianityToday.org

Coleswildbird.org

Operationturtledove.org

12 days of Christmas Day 1

 Welcome!

Posted by BuzzFeed on Pinterest 

‘On the first day of Christmas

My true love gave to me -

A partridge in a pear tree.’

The song ‘12 days of Christmas’

has been around for a long time.

I thought it would be fun to feature 

one day in its’ own blog.

thequiltrat.blogspot.com, 2013

Let’s start!

Day 1:

A partridge in a pear tree

But wait! Is that really what it is?

Early versions say

‘A sprig from a juniper tree’!

And

the earliest written version is from 1780

found in a children’s book

‘Mirth With-out Mischief’.

Courtesy HOWTODRAWFORKIDS.COM

In the 1780 version it says

‘A very pretty peacock upon a pear-tree’.

Found on Pinterest

Oh no, that’s just wrong!

Fortunately in 1909 British composer 

Frederic Austin 

wrote the version we use today.

Red-legged partridge

Photo credit Rene’ Grillot

Oh, and partridges are NOT quails!

Partridges are larger than quails, and have stronger feet and bills.

Photo credit: Murray McMurray Hatchery

The first partridge above is a 

red-legged partridge.

The one right above is a 

Chukar partridge.

Chukar partridges are known for their 

agility in the air!

CalifDFW, Flickr, Pinterest

Partridges are native to Europe,

Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Photo credit: G Fairhead, Pinterest

The Grey Partridge was brought to North America

and is the most common found in the USA.

They are known to be skittish and very secretive.

A good thing I think if you are being hunted!

All kinds of critters hunt these partridges -

Skunks, raccoons, foxes,

Great Horned Owls,

Red-Tailed hawks, prairie falcons

and domestic cats and dogs.

Whew!

Grey partridges

Photo credit: James Harley Photography 

Sometimes they are called

Hungarian Partridges.

Here is a vintage book page

that shows how to draw a partridge

(in French!)

Are you starting to see what partridges look like?

The thing that struck me the most is…

No plume curled over the head!

Photo credit: Athar Javed 

While there are a couple kinds with head feathers , they are more slanted to the back.

So what we see a lot in art is actually a quail!

This artist got it right -

If you are stuck at home,

or need a break at the office,

why not try a couple of these?

Practice drawing trees and leaves,

or

Draw in some pears (see above)

Courtesy okuloncesietkinligim.com, Pinterest

The next 2 are adaptations I made 

of a photo on Pinterest

for European Pear Tree seeds,

sold on Etsy.

The 1st one you can finish drawing the pear,

filling in as you want.

The 2nd one is to be colored with milky gel pens!

Or

You can print, and cut out the parts you want using either one sheet of paper or several different colored sheets. Glue onto a card and you have a great homemade card to give someone.

Here is a simple pear shape that is perfect for filling in with Zentangle designs.

I find Zentangle-type drawing to be very relaxing. Maybe you will too.

*don’t know what Zentangle is? Do a search on my past blogs and you will find many examples!

Courtesy coloring page.eu

Here’s another simple activity:

Sewterific.com

This is a type of embroidery called redwork.

(Done entirely in one color thread- red).

Place a small piece of fabric in a small hoop.

These are made of 2 parts and the fabric is held tight between the 2 hoops.

Trace the pattern onto fabric with a fabric pencil (washes out) or something similar.

Now grab a few minutes at a time and chain stitch the design on with red embroidery thread.

*tip- red may not be colorfast which means it could run and leak if it gets wet. Choose your thread accordingly to how you want to use the finished piece.

Here is another design to do -

Why not try fabric paint with this one?

I loved the ball-point paint pens I used when younger.

Oregon Patchworks, Inc.

That’s it for today!

Next blog I will delve into more of the history of

12 Days of Christmas,

and 2 Turtle Doves.

til then,

Inkspired

p.s. you know how hard it was to find activities and designs that had a partridge shown, 

instead of a quail?!

Here are some of the websites I checked for information used in this blog:

Britannica.com

wildlife trusts.org

En.Wikipedia.org

unireadinghistory.com

Pinterest.com

allaboutbirds.org

GoodHousekeeping.com