Thirty years ago, my dad and my Uncle Doug wrote out the lyrics, which should of course be sung to the familiar tune… I did a little sketch to go with it, was going to do more and decided that would be too many images in one post! Enjoy! 
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Twelve huskies mushing;
Eleven trappers trapping;
Ten Bush planes flying;
Nine Natives dancing;
Eight moose in hiding;
Seven whooping cranes;
Six bears a-charging;
Five nugget rings;
Four ptarmigan;
Three spruce hens;
Two red squirrels;
and a cartridge in a bare tree!
By Doug Fales and Greg Sanderson
Feb. 1, 1988
Tok, Alaska
Prolly shouldn’t tell y’all any of the bawdy versions I have in stock over here.
Lol!
This came up in a conversation elsewhere, so I asked Mom for the lyrics, then posted it as people wanted to be able to share it. It’s not something I’d normally do on the blog, but it’s fun.
I don’t know if you remember what prompted them to come up with the lyrics — Northstar Cafe had a bare branch with a cartridge hanging from it set up just inside the door. That was the cartridge in a bare tree. The rest of it went from there.
I remember seeing that, I hadn’t remembered that was where the song came from. I suspect it’s an old, old joke.
What is ten?
Good question! Lol – Mom emailed it to me, I copied and pasted, and both of us missed that. It’s updated now with the missing line.
Thanks!
I’ll bet we could all come up with lyrics peculiar to our own regions — for me (Northern Virginia), maybe:
– Twelve Beltway Bandits
– Eleven Sluggers Slugging
Etc. Etc.
Haha! Very good. Such a flexible song. 😀
Back in the era of AOL-by-the-hour, I spewed forth a Randomly Misheard Lyrics version:
Twelve Rummers Drinking
Eleven Pikers Stabbing
Ten Lords a-Leaking
Nine Ladies Dangling
Eight Maids a-Shirking
Seven Swans a-Sinking
Six Geezers Slaying
Five Hours Online!
Four Falling Birds
Three French Men
Two Curdled Doves
and a Cartridge for my HP!
I keep meaning to make sketches for each line…
it is a flexible song! I like yours, very mayhem.
Competing cartoon versions could be hilarious. 🙂