On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

12 Drummers Drumming
11 Pipers Piping
10 Lords a-Leaping
9 Ladies Dancing
8 Maids a-Milking
7 Swans a-Swimming
6 Geese a-Laying
5 Gold Rings
4 Calling Birds
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
1 Partridge In A Pear Tree

Day of Christmas Total Gifts Given That Day Running Total Grand Totals of Each Gift
1st 1 1 12 Partridges In Pear Trees
2nd 3 4 22 Turtle Doves
3rd 6 10 30 French Hens
4th 10 20 36 Calling Birds
5th 15 35 40 Gold Rings
6th 21 45 42 Geese a-Laying
7th 28 84 42 Swans a-Swimming
8th 36 120 40 Maids a-Milking
9th 45 165 36 Ladies Dancing
10th 55 220 30 Lords a-Leaping
11th 66 286 22 Pipers Piping
12th 78 364 12 Drummers Drumming

So, on the twelfth day, we receive 78 gifts and we have a grand total of 364 gifts.

The above table summarizes the total gift giving.
Let’s analyze the third day of Christmas.
As we know from the song, on the third day you will receive:

  • 3 French hens
  • 2 Turtle Doves
  • 1 Partridge in a Pear Tree

That makes 6 as the number of gifts received on the third day.
We also know that you have received gifts on the previous 2 days:
second day

  • 2 Turtle Doves
  • 1 Partridge in a Pear Tree

first day

  • 1 Partridge in a Pear Tree

Making a total of 4 gifts received on those 2 days.
So, for those 3 days, that makes a total of 10 gifts received.
In the table above, looking at the 3rd row, second column we see that 6 is the gift total given on the third day.
Looking at the 3rd row third column we see 10 is the running total of all gifts received for those 3 days.

That fourth column is a little more difficult to explain.
Sure, we all know that we receive 5 gold rings on the 5th Day of Christmas, but how many do we receive in total?
We receive 5 gold rings on the 5th, 6th, 7th all the way to the 12th day.
That makes 8 days all together, making a total of 8 * 5 = 40 gold rings.