An article in the Washington Post caught my attention at the end of last year. It argues against open plan offices on a range of grounds. It points out that it allows greater management control, reduced costs, faster spreading of flue germs and various other ills. These, the author argues outweigh any benefit of new […]
Any mention of drums brings to mind the truly great Ginger Baker and some fond memories of more youthful days. It also brings back some pretty terrible memories of school concerns over the years. The drum is one of those instruments whose simplicity requires sophistication in the drummer or it is simply noise. In terms […]
We are probably still in the party theme section of the carol and destined to finish there with a dozen drummers tomorrow. However the Celtic approach references the noisy and shrill Green Sandpiper although why anyone would give that as a gift I can’t see. In some versions (but the number varies) it is cocks […]
So we have a choice between the ten commandments or a reference to cuckoos. As a symbol of immorality and disorder it fits with Christmas as a time of misrule and sexual license. It also carries a sense of reversal, for that period a labourer might be a lord. With Ladies, drummers and pipers you […]
From this point in the series continuity gets rather difficult. The various known versions of the carol have different variations from this point onwards. For the number nine a lot of the early versions have Drummers drumming which is line twelve in others. One version has Bears a Beating and others have Piper’s piping or […]
If we continue with the idea that every day is about a different bird then this one is about magpies. If you see the song providing guidance as to how to run an estate then we have now moved from food (the first seven being about birds) to the staff needed to manage said estates. […]
So far I have studiously avoided the usurpation of the carol as a catechism memory tool. But I am tempted to use it here as it is held to refer to the seven sacraments, or (and possibly more relevant) the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit namely wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety and wonder. […]
You know how images from some of those stories you read as a child never leave you? I have a persistent memory of an illustration from the story of geese saving ancient Rome from attack. Having spent most of yesterday in the Brecon Beacons I had my share of sheepdog equivalents, but when ever they […]
The first five books of the Old Testament, recording man’s sinful failure and God’s grace? Five ring-necked pheasants symbolising fire and sensuality? Five “goldspinks,” an old name for a the Goldfinch? Goldfinches appear in Renaissance art where they are said to symbolise the foreknowledge Jesus and Mary had of the Crucifixion (I got that from […]
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