The Wren, the Wren, the King of all Birds

It’s that time of year again. I so love the Christmas season. One of my favorite things is the Christmas music. We have a large collection that we start listening to the day after Thanksgiving.

Again this year, while listening to The Chieftains’ The Bells of Dublin and the Wren in the Furze song, I wondered aloud how the wren became the king of all birds. My husband jumped on it and did an internet search. He found a site, The Little Brown Wren, which explains via folklore. It seems the world of birds decided they wanted to have a king same as the humans. But how should they choose who among them should be king. They decided to hold a contest…whichever bird could fly the highest would be the king of the birds. On the day the contest was held, the eagle climbed ever higher into the sky. After the other birds gave up and fell to the ground, he smugly began his decent, believing he was the king of the birds. But above him, a wee wren fluttered her wings and sang a beautiful song. Having hidden within his feathers, she’d ridden into the sky on his back and became king through cleverness.

There is more to the story. Check it out at The Little Brown Wren.

There is a tradition in Ireland to ‘hunt the wren’ on the feast of Saint Stephen, which is celebrated on December 26th. On Wren Day, the wee bird is secured to a decorated staff and paraded through the village with music and dancing and much celebration. Fortunately, in our modern times a fake bird is used.

I’ll think of this tale every time I watch the wren in our backyard flutter from the shrubs near the house to the suet feeder. Or when it sings its beautiful song mid-winter.

The Chieftains, The Bells of Dublin (1991)
Wren in the Furze

The wren, oh the wren; he’s the king of all birds,
On St. Stephen’s Day he got caught in the furze,
So it’s up with the kettle and it’s down with the pan,
Won’t you give us a penny for to bury the wren?

Well it’s Christmas time; that’s why we’re here,
Please be good enough to give us an ear,
For we’ll sing and we’ll dance if youse give us a chance,
And we won’t be comin’ back for another whole year!

We’ll play Kerry polkas; they’re real hot stuff,
We’ll play the Mason’s Apron and the Pinch of Snuff,
Jon Maroney’s jig and the Donegal reel,
Music made to put a spring in your heel!

If there’s a drink in the house, would it make itself known,
Before I sing a song called “The Banks of the Lowne”,
A drink with lubri-mication in it,
For me poor dry throat and I’ll sing like a linnet!

Oh please give us something for the little bird’s wake,
A big lump of pudding or some Christmas cake,
A fist full o’ goose and a hot cup o’ tay (Tea),
And then we’ll all be goin’ on our way!

The wren, oh the wren; he’s the king of all birds,
On St. Stephen’s Day he got caught in the furze,
So it’s up with the kettle and it’s down with the pan,
Won’t you give us a penny for to bury the wren?

Furse is another term for gorse; a yellow-flowered shrub of the pea family, the leaves of which are modified to form spines.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

~Dawn Marie

*images from Pixabay
**blog post originally shared at Supernatural Superlatives

Folklore Friday - Finvarra and Oonagh

Finvarra and Oonagh, High King and Queen of the Sidhe

 

"The king of the Sidhe will not let you go,
if you follow the music that round you flows...
...and enter the mound of the fairies."

—Coyote Run

 

Although I write Scottish inspired fantasy and paranormal romance, sometimes I borrow from Irish folklore, justified by the amount of migration and cultural interchange between Scotland and Ireland. 

The word for the fae in Scottish Gaelic is Sithichean, in Irish Gaelic, Sidhe. 

As legends are told, once upon a time the Tuatha De Danann resided in Ireland. These kings and queens and heroes of the past were thought to derive from pre-Christian deities. A magical race known as the Milesians defeated the Tuatha De Danann and drove them out of Ireland. Though some of the Tuatha stayed, and taking up residence in hollows beneath hillocks became known as the Daoine Sidhe. 

Finvarra is the High King of the Daoine Sidhe. Some also believe him the King of the Dead.

He is known as a benevolent monarch, ensuring plentiful harvests, horses of great strength, and riches to those he favors. Finvarra's fighting skills are legendary and he is a master at chess. 

I recognize him as the womanizer of his race. He is notorious for his lust of mortal females, which he often kidnaps and whisks away to his subterranean palace. Which is so wrong. His queen, Oonagh, is beautiful beyond measure. 

Oonagh is a secondary character in the Highland Gardens series. Centuries after banishing a halfling faerie princess—fearing the lass would attract Finvarra's attention—a fae prince convinces Oonagh to challenge the princess into making three unlikely matches. If the princess succeeds in joining the three couples, the queen will permit her, once again, to frolic in Tir-na-nog, land of 'hearts desire'.

 

~Dawn Marie

Folklore Friday -- The Fenoderee of the Isle of Man

Are you a lover of Celtic folklore? I've decided to move my folklore posts from Tuesdays to Fridays and call the posts Folklore Friday. This article was previously posted at Castles & Guns and Celtic Hearts.

The Isle of Man sits in the Irish Sea. With its Celtic and Norse origins, Manx folklore includes many stories of mythical creatures. One such creature is the Fenoderee.

Originally a knight of the Ferrishyn royal court, the faerie tribe of Man, the Fenoderee lost his status by falling for a mortal woman and missing the faerie's autumnal festival while courting his lover. In punishment, his handsome glamour was taken from him, and he became an ugly, satyr-like creature, covered with copious body hair. At least, that is what I believe.

Some compare him to the Brùnaidh, the Scottish brownie.

The Fenoderee prances about without clothing, complaining that trousers and coats and hats are naught but discomfort. He becomes offended if offered garments, and will vacate the area in a huff.

He is known as an able worker of considerable strength, offering services, such as the herding of animals, to the farmers of Man. He is well suited to performing quarry work, lugging loads of stone too heavy for mortal men. His favorite task is mowing, and for clipping the grass with incredible speed, he has been nicknamed 'the nimble mower.'

The Fenoderee is a creature of folklore I wouldn't fear meeting.

Who is your favorite creature of folklore?

 

~Dawn Marie