12 Blogs of Christmas – 2 Turtle doves

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love sent to me two turtle doves. Sadly, I didn’t get them until 17th January thanks to DPD’s terrible delivery service, but while I was waiting, I wrote this little poem to explain how the winged wonders got their peculiar name.

Turtle doves are not so called because they’re very slow
It’s not because they’re reptiles, they’re birds don’t you know

They do not get their name because they wear a big old shell
And I’m pretty sure they can’t swim underwater very well

Their discoverer did not believe it was a teenage mutant ninja
And they do not come from Turtle Island in North America

It’s not about feeling happy together or being in a band
Nor a mock Lewis Carroll character found in Wonderland

Their name is not derived from a fancy Latin word
They’re not evolved from turtles, that would be absurd

The reason, dear reader, for their awfully odd moniker
Is because of the noise they make…

Turtle doves go tur-tur

Check out our previous instalments to read our takes on the 12 gifts