“The wren, the wren, the king of the birds,
On St Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze…”
An Nollaig, or Christmas is fast approaching, and bringing with it the most folklore-filled season of the year. On long, cold winter’s nights, with little to look forward to, the Christmas rituals from years gone by remind us who we are and where we have come from, shining a light that guides us through the darkness of the season until the new year brings hope again.
In Ireland traditions surround a tiny bird in winter – but does the Wren Hunt have much more ancient roots?
Read the Podcast Script
Sources and Further Reading
Useful Introductions
Ireland’s Birds: Myths, Legends and Folklore by Niall Mac Coitir
Hunting the Wren: Transformation of Bird to Symbol by Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence
Swallow by Angela Turner
Mudcat message boards on the Wren songs and traditions: 1, 2
The Bodhrán Makers by John B. Keane
Jimeen by Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (not cited, but this is a hilarious children’s book featuring a wren hunt)
An excellent video on The Manx Wren Tradition:
Pre-20thC sources
The Golden Bough by James George Frazer
Curiosities of popular customs and of rites, ceremonies, observances, and miscellaneous antiquities by William Shephard Walsh
Researches in the south of Ireland by Thomas Crofton Croker
Miscellanies upon various subjects by John Aubrey
Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes, Linda Eckelstein
The birth and life of St Mo Ling translated by Whitley Stokes
Sir Sop the Knight of Straw
An Historical Essay on the Irish Stage by Joseph C Walker
Heath’s Picturesque Annual, 1837
Music
Wexford Carol by Karianne Pasma
Auld Lang Syne by Dexter Britain
Sí Beag Sí Mór, Snowy Path by Sláinte
The Wren in the Furze, by The Chieftains, from The Bells of Dublin
Northern Lullaby by Sergey Cheremisinov
Song for a Winter’s Night by The Nancies
Unreal 