Wrenboys

Wren Day, also known as Wren's Day, Day of the Wren, or Hunt the Wren Day (Irish: Lá an Dreoilín), is celebrated on 26 December, St. Stephen's Day. The tradition consists of "hunting" a fake wren and putting it on top of a decorated pole. Then the crowds of mummers, or strawboys, celebrate the wren (also pronounced wran) by dressing up in masks, straw suits, and colourful motley clothing. They form music bands and parade through towns and villages. These crowds are sometimes called wrenboys.

In past times and into the 20th century, an actual bird was hunted by wrenboys on St. Stephen's Day. The captured wren was tied to the wrenboy leader's staff or a net would be put on a pitchfork. It would be sometimes kept alive, as the popular mummers' parade song states, "A penny or tuppence would do it no harm". The song, of which there are many variations, asked for donations from the townspeople. One variation sang in Edmondstown, County Dublin ran as such; "The wren the wren the king of all birds/ St Stephen's Day was caught in the furze/ Her clothes were all torn- her shoes were all worn/ Up with the kettle and down with the pan/ Give us a penny to bury the "wran"/ If you haven't a penny a halfpenny will do/ If you haven't a halfpenny/ God bless you!". Often the boys gave a feather from the bird to patrons for good luck. The money was used to host a dance or "Wren Ball" for the town on a night in January. Wrenboys would go from house to house in the countryside collecting money but in the towns the groups were more organised and there was often an element of faction-fighting. In both cases there would be a Wren Captain, usually wearing a cape and carrying a sword; musicians; strawboys and others dressed as old women or other things. It is a day of wild revelry and people usually conceal their identities so they can play tricks on their friends. This type of behaviour is typical of Celtic festivals as a sort of purge. The band of young boys has expanded to include girls, and adults often join in. The money collected from the townspeople is usually donated to a school or charity.

Similar traditions of hunting the wren have been performed in Pembrokeshire, Wales on Twelfth Day (6 January) and, on the first Sunday of December in parts of Southern France, including Carcassonne. The custom has been revived in Suffolk by Pete Jennings and the Old Glory Molly Dancers and has been performed in the village of Middleton every Boxing Day evening since 1994.

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