What's the meaning of a "Calling Bird" and does it actually matter?
When singing the Twelve Days of Christmas, most people do not think about the meaning of the words or the interpretation of the song. For example, people interpret a calling bird as a song bird. However, the original song referred to “Four Colly Birds”. The word colly means “black as coal or soot” so it is likely that the gift was four blackbirds (Turdus merula). History tell us that blackbirds were eaten in the past, as referred to in the children’s nursery rhyme “Four And Twenty Blackbirds Baked In A Pie”.
The Importance of Words and How We Use Them
We communicate in a variety of different ways - words, actions, signs, silence, body language, - all communication is important to us. Yet it appears to be the spoken and written word that is crucial across so many cultures, the emphasis of both is so much more powerful, especially with the advent of the digital age. Whether through a video message or twitter feed, words can create havoc, despair, dialogue, laughter and start trends. Even though the old adage states that actions are stronger than words, “The pen and the written word wield a great deal of power.”