In the traditional song, the third day is devoted to hens, and while the Furkids don’t exclude them, they do disagree with the original lyricist about how many there should be (spoiler: it isn’t three; it’s just the one that appears in today’s feature image). Who wrote the words? Probably several folk contributed down through the ages to the version we have today.
Though it’s thought to be French in origin, it was first published in England in 1780 as a chant without music. But the innate musicality of the rhythm and rhyme meant it was often sung to an improvised melody. The tune enjoyed numerous variations for more than a century before a universal version was established in 1909. The standard tune now associated with the song is derived from an arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin. We hope you’re all singing along as each day unfolds.
If you missed the first two days, you can catch up with them here:
First Day of Catmas
Second Day of Catmas
We pause here to bring you some good news. Our weekly column regulars will know that two of our primary coin gatherers were detained when it was found that they were carrying a quantity of catnip that considerably exceeded accepted personal use. (It was a misunderstanding, obviously.) Fortunately, they were released last night and have enthusiastically returned to their monetary acquisition activities, thus ensuring a steady stream of coins for the Catmas jukeboxes.
Now it’s time to press play, scroll down and sing along to the Furkids’ third day lyrics!
Tune in tomorrow for the Fourth Day of Catmas!
Furkids would really appreciate some frothy milks from ko-fi.com/furkids for Catmas. They love licking up frothy moustaches. You can treat them for just $3/€3/£3. All proceeds go towards Loula’s healthcare, with our heartfelt gratitude to all contributors. 
You can now follow Furkids at Blue Sky: @thefurkids.bsky.social
and Michelle too: @michelleelle.bsky.social
