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Quiz

Quiz: How much do you know about the 12 days of Christmas?

Who among us hasn’t put eleven pipers piping on their Christmas wishlist.
10.01pm, 24 Dec 2025
7.3k
12

ON THE TWELFTH day of Christmas, my true love sent to me…

Look, a gift a day for 12 days is a TERRIBLE precedent to set, especially if half of the gifts in question are birds.

But we all still love the festive carol.

Our question is – How well do you know the gifts from the 12 days of Christmas?

As you’re aware, the festive gift giving begins with a partridge in a pear tree. In earlier versions of the song the bird presided in a different place… but where?
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An oak tree
A juniper tree

A fig tree
A cherry tree
Two turtle doves... The turtle dove is not some horrible hybrid experiment gone wrong, but a type of pigeon. But what does the "turtle" part refer to?
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Their colouring
Their beak shape

Their birdcall
Their habitat
The gift on the third day is three French hens - which is not a specific breed of chicken, but France does love poultry. How much poultry meat does the average French person eat in a year?
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22.5kgs
27.8kgs

29.6kgs
31.6kgs
The four calling birds were originally four 'colly' birds. But what does the old dialectal word 'colly' mean?
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Black
Small

Caged
Calling
Five gold rings next - scholars have claimed that this originally did not refer to the jewllery, but rather the the ringed markings on the neck of which bird?
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Duck
Pheasant

Pigeon
Turkey
Next up is six geese a-laying - what's the term for a group of geese in flight?
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A skein
A squadron

A unit
A gabagool
Seven swans a-swimming next. The UK takes swan ownership very seriously - reigning monarch King Charles legally owns all swans in open UK waters. What is his official 'king of the swans' title?
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Warden of the swans
Swan viscount

Seigneur of the Swans
Trumpter Swan
Eight maids a-milking... milkmaids, undoubtedly more than eight, were vital in the discovery and eradication of a devastating disease - but which one?
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Tuberculosis
Polio

Leprosy
Smallpox
The gift on the ninth day is nine ladies dancing - how much did the 2010 film Black Swan gross in the global box office?
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$230 million
$330 million

$430 million
$530 million
Ten lords-a-leaping next - no doubt a reference to Michael FLatley, the Lord of the Dance. What year did Flatley hang up his dancing (leaping?) shoes?
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2016
2017

2018
2019
The penultimate gift of the carol is eleven pipers piping. Which of these is NOT a part of a set of uilleann pipes?
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Whooper
Chanter

Regulator
Drone
Last up is twelve drummers drumming. Which famous drummer's drumset sold for a record $2.1 million at auction in 2015?
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Phil Collins
John Bonham

Ringo Starr
Dave Grohl
Finally - if the gifts in the 12 Days of Christmas are cumulative, how many birds would your true love have gifted you by the twelfth day?
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86
108

162
184
Answer all the questions to see your result!
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You scored out of !
Christmas genius
Your true love sent you those gifts for a reason, you deserve it
Share your result:
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You scored out of !
Gift-savvy
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You scored out of !
Carol singer
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You scored out of !
Return those gifts
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