Twelve Days of Christmas.

For the past couple of centuries the tradition associated with Christmas was that the season runs from the 25th December for twelve days. Under that tradition Christmas decorations were put up at some point between Advent Sunday (four Sundays before 25th December) and Christmas Eve and then removed by midnight on Twelfth Night (5th January.)

Traditions evolve and change: more than one person said to my wife this morning that they had already taken down their Christmas decorations, in one case on Boxing Day (26th December, also known as the Feast of Stephen.)

If that's what people want to do, good luck to them, but having had such a long wait for Christmas I would like to continue to celebrate the season of Peace and Goodwill for a while longer while it is still officially here. And in that spirit my music spot for today is the Twelve Days of Christmas.

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