School: Coill-Chéim (roll number 9044)
- Location:
- Calhame, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Seán Mac Cuinneagáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1038, Page 32
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: Coill-Chéim
- XML Page 32
- XML “Birds and Bird-Lore”
- XML “Story of the Robin”
- XML “A Story of the Wren”
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- (continued from previous page)When the swallow flies high fine weather is coming or expected to continue, but when they fly low and close to the ground wet weather and storms are approaching. When seagulls assemble on land storm and wet weather are approaching and the curlew with its peculiar cry foretells wet weather and storm. When the crows are lined along ditches and on the road it is a sign of wet weather too.
- Long long ago when Our Saviour died a robin saw him bleeding [and?] dipped its breast in His blood and since that all robins have red breasts.
It is said that another time when Our Lord was hiding from the Jews that the robin hid Him by covering Him with leaves. But the wren [give] gave the Jews some sign and the got Our Lord. - Some people would tell you that it is not right to let a wren build in the eaves of houses because when St. Stephen was going to be killed, he hid up in a tree but the wren [give?] gave some sign to his enemies telling them where he was and he was stoned to death, therefore it is said that the wren is a bad bird. It is said that if every egg that the wren (would) lays, if it were broken that it would lay and lay away until it would die.
