School: Loughill
- Location:
- Ballymunterhiggin, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Eibhlis Ní Mhathghamhna
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1026, Page 211
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- XML “Bird-Lore - The Riabhóg”
- XML “Bird-Lore - The Wren”
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On this page
- (continued from previous page)A young cuckoo. The riabhóg is the small bird which is supposed to follow the cuckoo. She is brown in colour.
- The wren does not migrate in the winter. She builds her nest in an ivy tree or in a thorny hedge. Her nest is made of fog and feathers and is very cozy and haped like a ball. It has two entrances, one by which the bird enters, and she leaves the nest by the other. They are both on the sides of the nest. The eggs which are about twenty in number are brown with red dots. She is sometimes called the “scutty wren”. In some parts the “wren boys” bring a wren round with them in a little box. If the people of the house refuge to give the “wren boys” money they threaten to buy the wren at the door. This is supposed to bring bad luck for the year. The wren is the bird that betrayed Our Lord. The “wren boys” used to say “The wren, the wren, the king of all birds(continues on next page)
