Twelve Days of Christmas begin

When do the Twelve Days of Christmas actually begin and end, and why?

The Romans may have celebrated Saturnalia from December 17 through December 24, but when are the Twelve Days of Christmas? We say they are from December 26 till January 6 inclusive.
Many people believe they are the twelve days preceding December 25, and certainly it’s during this period that the famous Christmas song will most often be heard. However, the Twelve Days commence after Christmas and not before.

There seems to be, however, some confusion in books and the mass media and on the Internet as to the precise days on which the festival actually falls, even allowing for the Twelve Days to follow Christmas. Here are some differing conceptions of the dates: “The twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas Eve and end on the eve of the Epiphany (January 5th).” Source

“The twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas day and end on January 6th, which is called the Epiphany, the day we remember the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus.” Source: Dovedale Baptist Church

“ … the days between Christmas Day and the morning of January 6.” Source: Give Us Back Our Twelve Days of Christmas!

“Many of the Christmas festivities used to commence on St. Thomas's Day, December 21, and end on Twelfth Day, or Epiphany, January 6, so-named because it was twelve days after Christmas. Incidentally Twelfth Day is Old Christmas Day.”
Source: The Cheshire Magazine

“ … the Twelve Days of Christmas which end on January 6th with Twelfth Night.” Source: School of the Seasons

The last of these suggestions is the one that Wilson’s Almanac also follows. The Twelve Days go from December 26 until January 6 inclusive, for the simple reason that January 6 (Epiphany) has always been known in the English tradition as Twelfth Day. Counting back, Eleventh Day must therefore be January 5 (qv for more), and so on to First Day, December 26. No other explanation that I have seen seems as persuasive. Similarly, we propose that Twelfth Night customs take place on the night of January 6, not on January 5 (Twelfth Day Eve, or Twelfth Eve) as some suggest (read the reasoning behind this).

Tagged: christmas, calendar+customs, folklore