Here is the 8th piece in my ongoing series for The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Fitting eight separate maids, each with their own cow, into one canvas felt a bit crowded! Instead, I painted one maid demonstrating while the other seven gather around.

Milking is incredibly hard work—something I know firsthand from doing it as a young man. It takes time to get the hang of it, and your hands will absolutely ache, so the maids in this scene would certainly have needed strong fingers.

There are so many wonderful histories tied to this verse. Some say the song originated as an old children's forfeit game, where a mistake meant paying a penalty (such as kissing your neighbour!). In religious symbolism, the eight maids represent the Eight Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. And historically, the phrase "going a-milking" was heavily associated with flirtation and romance—so perhaps I should have tucked a little mistletoe into the barn!