Christmas Price Index chose the items in the popular Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" as its market basket: a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold(en) rings, six geese, seven swans, eight maids, nine dancing ladies, ten leaping lords, eleven pipers, and twelve drummers. According to tradition, the purchasing of the items begins on December 26 and ends on January 6. PNC compiles both a "Christmas Price Index" and "The True Cost of Christmas." The "Christmas Price Index" is calculated by adding the cost of the items in the song. The "True
The Hundred Pipers known to exist previous to the date of Lady Nairne's song. In 1998, Scottish singer Isla St Clair recorded a version of "The Hundred Pipers" sung in the old style, for her album "When the Pipers Play". This version was also included in the film "When the Pipers Play", aired by PBS Television in the United States. In 1958 Lord Rockingham's XI had a Number One UK hit with "Hoots Mon!", a mainly instrumental rock 'n' roll tune (with Scots-inspired interjections including "Hoots mon! There's a moose... loose... aboot this hoose!") based on the melody of "The Hundred Pipers". These