thumb|A [[taxidermy wren used for Hunt the Wren Day in Douglas, Isle of Man]]

Wren Day (), or Hunt the Wren Day (), or Hunt the Wren (), is an Irish and Manx custom on 26 December, Saint Stephen's Day (known in most of Ulster as Boxing Day). Traditionally, men and boys hunted a wren, which was revered as the 'king of the birds'. They displayed it on top of a staff decorated with holly, ivy and ribbons, or in a decorated box on top of a pole. This was paraded around the neighbourhood by a group of 'Wrenboys'—typically dressed in straw masks, greenery and colourful motley clothing—who sang songs and played music in exchange for donations. This was meant to ensure prosperity for the coming year. Afterwards, the wren was buried. On the Isle of Man, they held a funeral for the wren and danced around a 'wren pole'.

There were similar New Year traditions in parts of western Britain and France until the nineteenth century. There are several folk tales about the origin of the wren hunt. It is speculated that the tradition derives from ancient Celtic paganism and was originally a sacrifice associated with the winter solstice. In most places, Wren Day gradually died out following industrialisation, but it has been undergoing a revival since the late 20th century. Today, the wren is no longer hunted, and a mock or stuffed wren is used instead. It is especially popular on the Isle of Man and in Kerry.

Irish tradition

thumb|Wrenboys on Saint Stephen's Day in [[Dingle, Ireland.]]

Historically, and up until the mid-20th century in many parts of rural Ireland, groups of men and boys hunted a wren (also pronounced wran) on Saint Stephen's Day. They beat the bushes and hedges with sticks, and when a wren flew out they tried to down the bird by throwing sticks, stones and other objects at it. Whoever killed the wren was believed to have good luck for a year. Sometimes the 'wren bush' was a wheel-shaped or ball-shaped frame of evergreen wreaths and ribbons. They usually collect money for charity or to host a dance or "Wren Ball" for the town. In a 1978 recording, the sean-nós singer Seosamh Ó hÉanaí discusses Wren Day activities and the lore behind the tradition. He sings a macaronic, English-Irish text: "Dreoilín, dreoilín, Rí na nÉan (Wren, wren, King of Birds)".

Manx tradition

thumb|Hunt the Wren on the sand at [[Port St Mary, 2016]]

Traditionally, a wren was hunted on the Isle of Man every Saint Stephen's Day, as in Ireland. Usually, the wren's body would be hung inside the 'wren bush' – a ball-shaped frame made from two crossed wreaths of holly or ivy, decorated with ribbons.

Origin

thumb|Wrenboys in [[Ramsey, Isle of Man, 1904]]

In regions where Wren Day was traditional, the wren was deeply revered; it was deemed a special bird, the "king of all birds", and harming it was taboo. However, on Wren Day this taboo was "replaced by highly complex rituals that grew out of ancient beliefs". The ninth century Cormac's Glossary derives the Old Irish word for "wren", drean, from druí-én, meaning "druid bird", and says it is "a bird that makes prophecies". Another early Irish text, the Life of Saint Moling, calls the wren "the magus bird, because some take auguries from it".

The origin of wren day and the wren hunt is obscure. According to Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence, "evidence suggests an origin in the far distant past". Many scholars believe that the wren hunt has ancient pagan origins and is related to animal sacrifice and the winter solstice. Edward Allworthy Armstrong says "there is much to suggest that the Wren Hunt was sacrificial. The bird was reverenced but killed at one season only, the feathers were regarded as talismans, the body was sometimes buried with respect, the chief human actor was regarded as in some sense a king, and the bird itself was given a royal title". In Celtic tradition, the king's rule was linked to the health and prosperity of the land. According to Lawrence, the belief may have been that at midwinter, "the faltering forces of nature" had to be renewed, by ritually killing the wren who represented the old king and the old year. Similarly, folklorist Sylvie Muller sees the wren as a stand-in for man, and sees the wren hunt as representing a sacrifice to ensure the bountifulness of nature. According to Muller, this comes from the pre-farming belief that mankind owes a life debt to nature in return for the life that we take from it.

Folk tales

There are several folk tales about the origin of the wren hunt. Armstrong wrote that the "multiplicity and inconsistency" of the stories "show that we are dealing with a very ancient ceremonial, the origin of which has been forgotten".

There is a widespread folk tale about how the wren (or gold-crested wren) outwitted the eagle to become 'king of the birds'. This story has been recorded since ancient times and is found all over Europe. In some Irish versions, the wren must pay for having gained this royal title, or is put under a geis (a mystical taboo) that it must not fly higher than the top of a bush. This is explained as the reason the wren is hunted once a year. In Irish mythology, kings are likewise often put under a geis, and they mystically die or are killed when they break their geis.

Possibly the earliest written reference to a wren hunt is a medieval Irish legend about Saint Moling. It says that the saint cursed the wren to be hunted by young people because it ate his pet fly. Other legends say that Irish people hunt the wren once a year because it alerted their enemies as the Irish were about to ambush them; these enemies are variously said to be the Vikings, Cromwell's army, or the Williamite army.

In Welsh mythology, the hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes (Lleu of the Skilful Hand) gains his byname by striking a wren with perfect aim, "between the sinew and the bone".

Parallel traditions

The typical wren hunt occurred in Ireland, the Isle of Man, Wales, England and France, "areas where Celtic tradition was firmly entrenched". Although there was some regional variation, the basic pattern of the ritual was the same wherever it occurred. In Britain and Ireland, the wren hunt was usually held on Saint Stephen's Day, but wren hunts also took place on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and Twelfth Day (5 January). By the early 20th century, industrialization and changing beliefs had begun to erode the tradition.

The Wrenboys have some similarities with the skeklers of Shetland.

Wales

In Wales, the tradition of 'hunting the wren' () took place every Twelfth Day, and the practice continued in Pembrokeshire until the beginning of the twentieth century. Like in some Manx traditions, in Wales the dead wren was typically placed in a "Wren House" – a small wooden box with windows, decorated with greenery and ribbons – which was then carried around the neighbourhood by "wren bearers". In some cases, "wrenboys" caught a live wren and placed it in the Wren House, and then the wrenboys called on people to make offerings to the little "king" until the end of the day, when the bird was set free.

England

The tradition was found in parts of England, but it gradually died out or was put down by the authorities by the mid-nineteenth century.

France

There are similar mid-winter wren ceremonies in parts of France. James George Frazer describes in The Golden Bough a wren-hunting ritual in Carcassonne, held in early December. The Fête du Roi de l'Oiseau (festival of the king of birds) was first recorded in 1524 at Puy-en-Velay, and is still celebrated. In parts of France, whoever was first to strike, catch or kill the wren was honoured with the title of King. He led a torchlit procession around the town, carrying the wren on a pole. They stopped at each house, and wrote vive le roi! (long live the king) on each door.

The Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés has a document from 1663 in which the prior undertakes to give thirty pots of wine each year to the bacheliers, if they bring him a living wren as tribute at Christmas or New Year. A captured wren was also given as tribute to the priory of Châteauponsac each New Year's Day. The man who caught the wren became "King of the Fête" and the wren was paraded to the church accompanied by fife and drum. It is unclear which specific date this tradition was performed on; sources call it "New Year's Day", which may not refer to the New Year on the Gregorian calendar but instead to the day after Christmas, which at that time was considered the end of the year.

In 1955 Liam Clancy recorded "The Wran Song" ("The Wren Song"), which was sung in Ireland by wrenboys. In 1972 Steeleye Span recorded "The King" on Please to See the King, which also reflects the tradition; on their album Time they made another version, "The Cutty Wren", named after the traditional English folk song. "Hunting the Wren" appears on John Kirkpatrick's album Wassail!. The Chieftains made a collection of wrenboy tunes on The Bells of Dublin. In the song "The Boys of Barr na Sráide", which is based on a poem by Sigerson Clifford, the wren hunt is also a prominent theme. Lankum's 2019 album The Livelong Day includes a track called "Hunting the Wren" that references several of the legends and practices connected with Wren Day.

"The Wren [Wran] Song" is also on the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem's 1995 album Ain't It Grand Boys: A Collection of Unissued Gems, as the last song in "Children's Medley".

See also

  • Mummer's Day
  • The Armagh Rhymers

References

  • Archived audio recording of The Wren Song, sung by Will Murphy, Colliers, Newfoundland
  • Hunt the Wren in the Isle of Man
  • Hunting the Wren on the Dingle peninsula - An excellent account of the origins, history, contemporary aspects and international connections of the wren.
  • Hunting the Wren, bbc.co.uk, 23 Dec 2005