School: Doire na Groighe (B.), An Bhán-tír (roll number 7450)
- Location:
- Doire na Graí, Co. Chorcaí
- Teacher: Seán Ó Caisil
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0359, Page 222
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- On St. Stephen’s Day boys and men travel round gathering what is called “wren money” They disguise themselves with “high fiddles” or coloured faces and wear strange clothes. Sometimes they are dressed as girls or old women. They take with them a staff decorated with holly and ivy and many coloured ribbons or streamers of paper. Sometimes a dead bird supposed to be a wren reposes on this bush. The “wren boys” go in groups and each group marks out its route before hand so as to take the pick of the generous houses. They sing wren song and nowadays there is a musician in the group that plays national or popular tunes on a fiddle, pipe, melodean, or mouth organ. The wren song is.
The wran the wran the King of all birds
St. Stephen’s Day he was caught in the purge
Although he is little his family is great
Cheer up, landlady and give us a “trate”
From bush to bush to tree to tree
At Derinagree Chapel we broke his knee
At Drishane castle he had a great fall
And we brought him here to visit ye all
Up with the kettle and down with the pan
Give us our answer and let us begone.(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Dan Buckley
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- An Caol Thuaidh, Co. Chorcaí
