the pan, a penny or twopence to bury the wren.

and search for the wren. The people of this village would not give them any money if they had a wren with them. They put the wren into a box whey they catch it.
This is a rhyme which is said by the Wren boys.
The Wren the Wren the King of all birds
Saint Stephen's Day she was caught in the furs
Although she was little her family was great
Rise up young lady and give us a treat.
Up with the kettle and down with the pan
Please give us some money to bury the Wren.
We followed the wren three miles and or more three miles

wren.

hardly say that the Christmas dinner is the nicest dinner of the year, we do have turkey, goose, pudding, mashed potatoes, ham, and lemonade, with it and when the pudding is being shared out everyone gives a cheer. Then comes St Stephens day on which the big boys of the neighborhood join in bands, and go round with the Wren. Long ago the boys used to kill a Wren, and suspend it from a bush, but now that habit is not practised, the boys feathers from the bush instead. Here is the rhymes which the Wren boys chant.
The Wren, the Wren, the King of all birds,
On St Stephen's day he was caught in the furze
Although she is small her family is great

The blackbird is black with a yellow beak, lay eggs of skyblue colour, about four or five, and these eggs are sprinkled with little brown dots and, it builds it's nest in a hawthorn bush.
Thrush makes her nest in a very close whitethorn bush, lays not more than five whitish eggs with brown spots like the blackbird and is a great warbler. The lark is a great singer but is smaller than the thrush, and makes her nest in the long grass or corn.
The wren is the smallest of wild birds about the size of a pigeons egg of a brown colour, she is often captured by wren boys, on St Stephen days, a subscription is given at each house to help to bury the wren if this is refuse the wren boys

So up with the kettle and down with the pan.
And give us some money to bury the wren.

In was the custom in most places and in some places still is for the young men to dress up in fantastic clothes on St Stephen's day and get all the musical instruments they could find and go from door to doo singing songs and dancing in return for money or food.
They would carry a wren on a pole covered with rags. The hunted the wren that morning.
Some time before St Stephen's Day they stole a goat and killed it and made tambourines with the skin.
About five in the eveing they got ready and went from house to house collecting by singing or dancing. Each person had a special or dance to do by himself. When they were about to leave a house the person with the wren held it out and they all sang this song together.

proceed to bury it on the doorstep and bad-luck is sure to follow. It is sometimes called the king of all birds, the reason is, once the eagle and the wren had a bet as to which could fly the highest; off they started up, in the air and when the eagle could fly no higher he looked round to see the wren, but the wily wren was sitting on the eagles wings all the time and immediately set off to fly up, up, up higher as to the eagle had to admit defeat.
The crane if it crosses a house is the sign of a death in the house when building her nest she makes it in such a very funny way that when hatching her legs are out through the nest.
An old saying about a magpie is

On Sainty Stephens Day the young people used to go around trying to catch the wren and when they caught one, they would go to the public house and sing a song of the wren,"

will be put in jail.
The weather can be judged by the behavior of certain birds; when the rain is coming the swallows fly low, because the little insects they live on ar driven down in rainy weather.
The seagulls come inland, and the curlew cries loudly. It is said the wren is king of the birds, and how it came to be king was, the birds had a meeting as to who would be king. It was settled at last that what ever bird would fly the highest. The wren however got under the eagle's wing; when all the birds were tired the eagle who thought he was king shouted out, "I am king of the birds," the wren got from under the eagl's wing, went up a bit, and called out "No, you are not I am king of the birds."
From that day the wren is king of the birds.
It is said that when Our Lord was hanging on the cross the robin pulled out one of the thorns of the crown.
Some of Our Lord's blood got on it breast, and ever since it has a red breast.
I did not hear anything whith regard to the speech of birds.

St., Stephens Day falls on the twenty-sixth of December. On that day the boys and grown up men have great fun. Some of the boys and men go round with the wren and every house they go to they knock at the door and when it opend they sing the wren song.
The words of the song are,

There are many festivals in the year. I like St Stephen's Day best of all. St Stephen's Day always occurs on the 26th December. It is a day that young people look forward to with pleasure. Young people dress themselves in fancy attire, paint their faces, and go about in groups from house to house carrying sticks and musical instruments. They usually sing the wren-song, the words of which are as follows:-
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
On Stephen's Day was caught in the furze.
Although she was little her family was gay.
A treat, a treat for every man,
And give us some money to bury the wren.
Then they get some money which they share among themselves.
New Year's Day is another important festival. On that day people make resolutions for the New Year. Some people would not pay out money on that day, because they would be afraid that they would have to pay out money every day in the year. On New Year's Eve at midnight bands go out ringing the Old Year out and the New Year in. In some parts of the country people say that Christmas does not end until after the Twelfth Day. The period between the Twelfth Day and Ash Wednesday is called Shrove, and during that period more marriages take place than at any other time

Partridge; Grey; Waterhen; Woodquest; Pink. Wren.
The wren is the smallest bird to be found in our district. She is all brown and she builds her nest in the ivy or on a bank on the side of a river. She lays between sixteen and twenty-one eggs.

In some country districts St. Stephens Day is very popular. The boys dress themselves up in all sorts of funny clothes and hats. A few days before it they go to cut a fur bush and catch a wren. When St. Stephen's Day comes they kill the wren and put her in a match box and put it in the fur bush. They put false faces on them, and get all sorts of musical instruments and go from house to house and do a half set and play music. Then the people of the house give them money. The song that they sing is as follows:-

The birds seen around this district are, the robin, the wren, the blackbird, the thrush, the stair, the pigeon, the crow, the magpie, the snipe, the woodcock, the pheasant, the patridge, the oul, the curlew, the plover, the joy, the hawk, and the linnet, and during the Summer months there number is added to by the coming of the cuckoo, the swallow, and corncrake.
The wren builds its nest in a thorn bush, this nest has a roof, and two doors, then if anyone goes near the nest it can fly out the

On this day young men, and boys and girls dress up and go beating the bushes until they get a wren which they take with them, and go around from house to house singing songs, playing music and dancing.
They say:-

Magpie, Waterhen, Blackbird, etc.

and have brown dots on them. The robin is brown in colour and has a red breast and that is why it is called a robin red breast.
The Thrush.
The trush builds its nest in a bush. The nest is made of twigs, straw,and moss. The thrush lays four eggs. They are white with brown dots. The thrush is brown and is a good singer and is very large.
The Blackbird.
The blackbird is black and is about the size of a thrush and is a beautiful singer. She builds her nest in a bush and it is made of feathers, wool and moss in the inside. It lays about 5 eggs they are green in colour with white dots.
The Wren.
The wren builds its nest in a hedge. It is a very small bird. The nest is made of feathers and straw and inlaid with moss. The wren is brown in colour. The eggs are white speckled with brown and are

On St. Stephen's Day many boys go round from house to house requesting money to bury the wren. They carry a bush beautifully decorated with coloured streamers and old pots and pans. The boys recite this little ryhme when going from house to house?

St. Stephen's Day