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In 16th century England, Catholics were forbidden by royal decree to teach the catechism to their children, so they disguised their teachings in metaphors and put them to music. The popular holiday song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is said to have come about during this time. According to tradition, in the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a partridge, a bird that was known to fight to the death to defend its young, and the pear tree represents the cross.