School: Carrowreagh (roll number 15220)
- Location:
- Carrowreagh, Co. Sligo
- Teacher: Elizabeth Benson
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0185, Page 0022
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- XML School: Carrowreagh
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- XML “Food in Olden Times”
- XML “Old Christmas Customs”
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- (continued from previous page)made from oat-meal which was slightly boiled
and sweetened with sugar.
- Of the many old Christmas customs of olden days the Wren Boys is one.
Even up till to-day this custom is carried on in the Carrowreagh district. A group of boys who disguise themselves by false faces old clothes turned inside out and tall hats with feathers in them go as Wren Boys. They also have a musical instrument a fiddle or a flute with them. They also carry a stick with them in case they would meet a cross dog or any other cross beast. When they come to a house the begin dancing outside. Then they come in and there is one that does the playing and the others dance. When they have finished they ask the house-wife for some money to bury the wren. The(y) generally get a few coppers in every house. When they get them they go away singing a rhyme called. The Wren the Wren the King of all Birds.
They travel miles and when nightfall comes they divide the money they have collected among themselves,(continues on next page)
