Twelfth Night? Time to take down your Christmas decorations, January 5th

On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Twelfth Night

In 1775, William Snooke recorded in his diary, that he sat down to a fine dinner with:

‘Mr and Mrs William Clifford and their seven children (and maid), John Fox Snr. and Sally Twining, Mr and Mrs William Fox, and William Weale.’ To feed this crowd took “Ham, Greens, 3 fowls roasted, Soup, Leg of Mutton, potatoes, Boiled rump of beef (large)”

Dessert included pudding, mince pies and a forequarter of home lamb. For supper, the assembled party consumed tarts, stuffed beef, mince pies, cold mutton, oysters, cold sliced beef, cold lamb, apple pies and pears.

This is recorded in a fine Pinterest post about Twelfth Night. For Mr Snooke’s sedan chair read this post.

Twelfth Night Celebrations in Southwark

A recent ‘tradition’ for a Tweltfh Night procession has been established on the south side of the River Thames in London. The Lions Part Company begin their entertainments at the rebuilt Globe. The parade has all the traditional mummers characters, including the Green Man, and the Holly Man. They perform the Combat Play of St George. This involves the Old ‘Oss (which is the centre point of the May Day festivities at Padstow in Cornwall. They also have Twelth Night Cakes containing a bean and a pea. These are used to crown the King and Queen of the Day.

For the 2026 Celebrations, see this site here.

Confused by Twelfth Night?

I’ve posted about this before but just to make sure those who find themselves on this page understand the issue:

Many people start their count of the Twelve Days of Christmas on the 25th December. But some folklore sources going back in time count from Boxing Day. For example, Gervase Markham’s ‘The English Husbandman of 1635 counts it from Boxing Day.

The Daily Express reveals that the Protestants count from Christmas Day and the Catholics from Boxing Day. That maybe it, but I wonder if the confusion more complicated than that? The religious festival really makes sense if it begins with Christmas Day, and ends with the Epiphany. This is the day the Three Kings from the Orient come to worship Jesus. But Epiphany is on the 6th January, which is 13 days from Christmas. 13 days of Christmas would be ill-omened. So two solutions: make the end of the Twelve Days the Eve of Epiphany, i.e. the 5th, or start the 12 days from Boxing Day.

I suspect there is a fudge going on here. Twelve is the magic number, twelve Apostles, 12 months in the year, so twelve Days of Christmas. But clearly, for Christians it stretches from Christmas Day to Epiphany. Two ways to square that 13 day difference. One is to begin the twelve days on Boxing Day. The other is to end with a Twelfth Night party on the Eve of Epiphany. Have a look at Notes&Queries for different viewpoints.

Time to take your decorations down- January 5th or Candlemas

However, we currently all seem to agree that January 5th is the day to take down your Christmas decorations. If you fail to do it now, you have to keep them until Candlemas, which is at the begining of February. See my Candlemas post to see the official end of Christmas.

Toss your unwanted Christmas Tree on the Pavement Day

In London, today and yesterday have seen people throw out their unwanted Christmas Streets out on the street, for someone else to pick up and throw away. This became a thing a few years ago not. But, no, people you are supposed to take them to a Recycling Centre, or arrange to have them picked up. Not just throw them on the street.

Tomorrow I will look at Twelfth Night festivities.

On This Day

1753 People gathered around the Holy Thorn in Glastonbury. The Thorn normally blossomed on Christmas Day, but the Gregorian Calendar had been introduced the year before. Christmas Day was now 11 days earlier. on December 25th, it did not blossom. On the 5th, it blossomed, proving that the new Christmas Day was a fraud, From then on January 5th was called Christmas Day Old Style. Other festivals, and events thereafter kept their traditional slot in the year, by changing the date to the Old Style, and ignored the New Style.

Published 2024, revised 2025,2026