HUNTING the ‘WRAN’
"Well, will we go that road or over the bridge and up around and back down by the cross?" ‘Twas a tough decision to make. There we were on a frosty St Stephen’s Day about 2 o’clock. We’d been ‘on the road’ since after Mass and by now we had probably walked two or three miles.
We used do a bit of pre-planning of the route. If at all possible we’d try and avoid going the same road twice. This wasn’t always practical of course and sometimes we’d have to retrace our steps to get onto another road. Yes, ‘hunting the wran’ (I know 'tis spelled wren but we always said 'wran') on St Stephen’s Day was one of the highlights of the Christmas season of twelve days, indeed for youngsters in the 1960s ‘twas one of the highlights of the year!
The concept of ‘pocket money’ – free cash doled out by benevolent parents on a weekly basis, hadn’t yet become the norm. The summer and autumn provided some cash earning opportunities, snaring and selling rabbits and blackberry picking were welcome sources of revenue. I was never gone on the snaring business, but the blackberry season was always worth a good few quid. A John Fitzgerald from Fermoy used collect the fruit from us - I think he worked for Carrs of Curraglass.
The winter, however, was a cold, dark time and after buying a few little ‘presents’ in the run-up to December 25th, the money boxes and piggy banks were fairly depleted. The money raised “on the wran” was indeed welcome but I don’t think this was the main reason why we “went out on the feast of Stephen”. The tradition of wren boys was an ever-present one when I was growing up. It was especially strong in rural areas – maybe not so much in large towns and cities. It was generally, in our area anyway, a pursuit of national school-going children from about eight or nine to twelve.
Years later we heard about the different traditions in Kerry where large groups of adults with several musicians went ‘out on the wran’. In some cases the money they collected went to charity, but more often the cash accumulated ended up swelling the coffers of some local publican when a “wran ball” was held. Some of these groups even had a certain degree of competition between them, each trying to outdo the others in terms of costumes and musical instruments.
Down our way ‘twas much simpler, groups of two, three and maybe four usually from the same family went from house to house. Money was always very welcome but sweets, lemonade, sweet cake and fruit were also very acceptable. We’d always start our preparations a few days before Christmas. Old dresses, coats, shirts, jumpers and cardigans were brought out of retirement - don't think the word 'recycling' had yet been invented. These might have been stowed in an old cupboard or under the stairs, with moth-balls for years. Style or fashion wasn’t a priority – it was a case of anything goes really.
The most essential item of gear was the ‘face and eyes’ or mask. Nowadays these come in the shape of monsters, zombies and ghosts, but back then they were simply made of paper and paint with an elastic band at the back. Whatever way these were made, you’d sweat like a pig wearing them!
THE WREN ITSELF
We’ve a big holly tree growing up the road and from this, we’d cut a fine branch of holly. It never bore a berry but that didn't bother us at all! The holly was decorated with ribbons, rags and coloured crepe paper. Strictly speaking of course, one should have an actual wren hanging from the holly bush but we never went this far.
I always felt sympathy for the little wren and his reputed role in the death of St Stephen. After Christ had chosen his twelve apostles, a further seven deacons were chosen to help the apostles. Stephen was one of these seven. Stephen preached that disobedience to God was rife and that people should repent and keep the Commandments. He became a wanted man with a death sentence hanging over his head. Tradition tells us that Stephen was hiding in bushes from his persecutors. A wren landed on a bush near where Stephen hid and started twittering. The noise drew the attention of the mob. Stephen was discovered and immediately stoned to death. He was the first Christian martyr. Though the wren is often referred to as the “king of all birds”, it’s alleged treachery in betraying Stephen is commemorated on December 26th by “hunting the wren”.
The tradition of going from house to house on St Stephen’s Day all dressed up and disguised, singing a song and looking for ‘a few bob’, has come down from centuries ago. I can never remember anyone asking or telling us to go ‘on the wren’ – it was just the done thing at the time. We’d always have half nine Mass on St Stephen’s morning, the crowd wouldn’t be near as big as Christmas Day, but ‘twould be a good start to the ‘collection’ for the day. After that, ‘twas off on the roads and boreens of the parish on foot. The song we had was:
The wran, the wran, the
king of all birds, St Stephen’s Day he was
caught in the furze, We hunted him up and we
hunted him down, We hunted him into
Bartlemy town,
I have a little box under me
arm,
And a penny or two would
do it no harm,
So up with the kettle and
down with the pot,
Give us our answer and
leave us be off
Back in the 1960s we still had the ‘old money’ in Ireland, the woodcock was on the farthing, the sow and bonhams were on the ha’penny, the hen and chickens were on the penny. These were the copper coins and in many cases that’s what we’d get. We’d also get a few of the bigger denomination coins, the hare on the thre’penny bit, the wolfhound on the sixpence (tanner), the bull on the shilling, the salmon on the florin (the two shilling piece) and of course the pièce-de-résistance, the half-crown with the horse.
AN ENDANGERED SPECIES
As I said initially, you’d have tough judgement calls to make, hard decisions. You could walk in a long boreen, maybe half a mile and find no one at home. After a few years ‘on the wran’ we’d have a fair idea of the houses where you’d get a good ‘stand’, so if we though that a half crown might be on offer it might be worth tramping the long boreen! People were always very welcoming and loved to see the wrenboys coming. We often ventured nearly into Castlelyons parish 'cause we knew a few good 'safe' houses where we could be guaranteed 'twould be worth our while!
‘Tis a big change in the times surely, when one thinks that children of eight or nine or ten were safe as could be walking around the roads until dusk. St Stephen’s Day was only five days after the shortest day of the year, so by three or half past we’d be heading for home. The money would then be counted and divided up evenly. If we’d a ‘good’ day with plenty people at home, three of us might collect six or seven pounds. A dry day, of course, was a great bonus as the people would come to the door and talk and ask us who we were - after they had made 'a donation'!
‘Twas an enjoyable tradition and the few bob would keep us going ‘til Patrick’s Day at least – or to when we’d get the Confirmation money! Nowadays, apart from places like Dingle, the country wran boys and girls are like an endangered species. 'Trick or Treat' at Hallowe’en has become very popular, while the St. Stephen's Day tradition has largely faded.