#Wrenboys

[stairnaheireann]

Wren Day, also known as Wren's Day or the Day of the Wren (Lá an Dreoilín), celebrated on St Stephen's Day.

The tradition is very much on the wane now but in some few localities Wrenboys still go out in Ireland on St. Stephens Day. The central theme of the wrenboy visit is the wren, an effigy of which is carried about in a holly branch or in a box or cage. Previously it was hunted and killed prior to St. Stephen’s Day and a matter of honour for groups to have a real bird. Why, of all birds, is the…

[theatre-in-ireland-moodboard]

Wrenboys: Wren Day is an Irish and Manx tradition with roots in Paganism, taking place annually on the 26th December. A group of men and boys "hunt" a wren. Once killed, the wren is affixed to a decorated staff (fig. 2) and paraded around the neighbourhood by "Wrenboys" in conical straw masks (fig. 3 & 4). He who kills the wren is thought to have good luck for a year. Money is collected and songs are sung, such as "the wren, the wren, the king of all birds".

[jtl-art-gallery]

"Wren Day In Dingle" acrylic painting by Joe Lytle

[elsewhereuniversity]

ok the wren faire pun reminded me that in Ireland there's a celebration called Wren Day and its a festival where the mummers, wrenboys, parade around in costumes playing music in exchange for money to hold the Wren ball. It's exactly the kind of thing that would happen at Elsewhere. ADDITIONALLY, its also called the Hunting of the Wren so I imagine its a dangerous time for wrens on campus

[ratmancerr]

DICTION OF THE DEAD (I)

CITADEL OF THE SPEAR

ALT. The 1st (First) House / Tower Dragon

The Dragon, Second of his Kin, took the bent spines from the ruined copse-trees encircling The Kiln, and bent their wrecked bodies so that their steaming trunks formed the foundations of a winding tower.

When mortality sprung and The Dragon claimed war and its victims, each spear forged in the dark heart of the living came to rest in the wicked walls of the ever-expanding tower.

Still it grows. A great and terrible tower to reflect the violence, the ever-violence. Supposedly, The Second Wyrm’s truest form lazes at the very top.

SADRITH NAI

ALT. Hooded Hunters / The Black Trail

Clad in robes of void-black topped with a hood fashioned after an upsided guillotine, these inhuman hunters are called upon by the Alter Guild when a broken contract is officially recognised.

Rumours abound that the Sadrith Nai were, in fact, once human. Many insist children stolen in the night are taken somewhere unknown, trained in the art of the hunt and subjected to alkhemic trials. Perhaps the honour of The Divine She is granted to the Sadrith Nai as recompense for such a horror.

All their prey hear is rhythmic clicking, echoing from behind, before languid forms of falling midnight silence them.

WRENBOYS

ALT. Prentice-birds / Associate of the Hunt

Nightmares often revel in the chase, but their hunters suffer from an inability to dream-walk.

Children aspirant to the Second House may don straw cloaks and guide their adult mentors across the veil, waving a staff topped with a petrified wren.

Associates of the Hunt may, in time, become Aspirants.

[7whistlepig7]

Ancient Celtic Custom

Wren Day (December 26) is a widespread tradition in Europe, especially in Ireland where Wrenboys (Mummers, strawboys) go door-to=door singing, collecting tips for charity. Once, live or sacrificed wrens were paraded about, nowadays effigies are used. Nobody knows the origins of these customs or even the word’s origin. I suspect a Celtic origin to the word and Druidic origin to the custom. (A…

[bebemoon]

“. . . amongst the mesmerizing visuals—the delicate blue and white ruffles, the echoes of starchy tablecloths, net curtains and doilies—there were hints of something raw and ritualistic: blasts of folk music, straw sashes, crocheted raffia, a peculiar woven 3D symbol hanging from girls’ shoulders.

Come showtime, one never has to hunt too far to feel the shadow of something dark amongst the prettiness at Simone Rocha. On the surface, this was truly one of her prettiest collections, what with its trapezoid volumes, sheer leg o’ mutton sleeves, shirting smocks and eyelet-edged cuffs. Lovely palette, too: after the china prints, sugar pink, dark red, faded chintzy antique prints. Shown in the round—the stage of a flaking theater at Alexandra Palace—you caught the profiles of bubble dresses, new silhouettes ballooning outward to be gathered in at knee level.”

—sarah mower, vogue .

[michellehartonart]

"The Straw Boys Stop The Wedding", a painting of mine from my folklore collection is still on show @signalartscentre in Bray until this Sunday at their annual open exhibition. #strawboys #wrenboys #irishtraditions #irishfolkart #signalarts #wicklowireland https://www.instagram.com/p/CD0woR_HEKp/?igshid=1em1k6urnd1cp

[fabianhirose]

Wren girl romanticism at Simone Rocha. Who referenced the ancient Irish tradition of Wren Boys in a stellar show inside the beautifully decayed Alessandra Palace. See my bio for my review... @simonerocha_ #simonerocha #londonfashionweek #lfw @lfw #wrenboys (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2dmYDLFnGf/?igshid=z2blzn5j46ol

[i-am-worm]

12 Days of Creatures - Day 7

Years ago I made a reindeer worm. Just a long reindeer with teeth really. Last year I updated the design to including Robin and Wren makings- creatures more attuned with the festive season here in the UK. This year I finalised the idea a bit more with a ‘Wrenboy’ keeper. You can read more about Wren’s and the festive season and Wrenboys here:

https://www.doolin2aranferries.com/blog/the-day-of-the-wren-la-an-dreoilin/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wren_Day

Robins are more to do with Christmas cards but is still a staple creature with its distinctive red breast. You can read about it here:

https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/2019/12/why-do-we-associate-robins-with-christmas/

I kept the teeth. Winter has a bite after all.

[kentrix11]

Post about real life things that look like cool videogame characters.

Danish special forces Frogmen.

Medieval beekeepers.

IDK what this one is but it’s from a festival at the south of France.

Wilder mann.

Tschaggatta.

Nuuttipukki.

Irish wrenboy.

Gallarones from Spain.

Anybody got more?

[stairnaheireann]

Christmas in Ireland

The greeting for ‘Happy Christmas’ in Irish is Nollaig Shona Duit or Nollaig Shona Daoibh (plural), the literal translation of this is ‘Happy Christmas to you’. If ‘Nollaig, Shona, Duit/Daoibh’ was literally translated, word for word, into English, it would be “Christmas, happy, to you”. Christmas is also a time for remembering the dead in Ireland with prayers being offered for deceased at…

[theatre-in-ireland-moodboard]

the Armagh Rhymers peforming for Washington DC's Library of Congress.

From the video's description:

"The Armagh Rhymers are one of the most celebrated traditional music and theatre ensembles on the island of Ireland. Since a group of talented actors and musicians founded the Rhymers in the 1970s, they have delighted audiences at festivals, arts centers, theatres, and schools, throughout Ireland and around the world. Through music, storytelling and drama, they provide an experience that is entertaining, educational and cultural. Their colorful costumes evoke a sense of tradition and history and encapsulate the spirit of the “wren boys,” young people who donned traditional disguises and went from house to house, entertaining their neighbors. In these ancient house-visiting traditions of Ireland, the kitchen floor became the stage. The Rhyming tradition is a form of folk drama, often called “the theatre of the people.” The Armagh Rhymers draw on the rich history of this traditional Irish culture, which has inspired generations of poets such as Seamus Heaney, Brendan Kennelly, John Montague, John Hewitt, Michael Longley, and Patrick Kavanagh."

[pagan-stitches]

“Lights appeared at cottage doors and moved through the narrow streets, clustering by the well.  The lights were cressets--small oil lamps shielded from the night wind by lantern frames of iron and horn--and the people who held them were young men, walking in Christmas guise: Their faces were blackened with soot, their bodies were bundled against the cold, and along with their lanterns, they carried poles and cudgels.  Jostling and laughing they left the well and trudged through the snow, past the houses, past the church, past the sheepfolds and cow byres huddled at the edge of the village, onto the path that led to the empty winter fields. 

By the time morning’s first light shone red on the hills, the men were far from their houses.  They could be seen as dark figures moving in the hedgerows, beating at the bare branches of hawthorn and blackthorn with their poles, so that the small birds hidden within the tangle tumbled frantically up in an effort to escape.

It was a small bird that the men hunted.  They were the Wren Boys of Christmas, seeking a wren for the village.  He who managed to flush one from its hiding place and break its fragile back with a blow of his staff became their King for that day.”

--The Enchanted World: The Book of Christmas

Wren day is celebrated on December 26th, the feast of St. Stephen.  In villages across Europe these days a fake wren is hunted and put upon a pole.  Then the crowds of strawboys or wrenboys dress up in masks, straw suits or colorful clothing and parade through towns and villages.  

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds

St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze

Although he was little, his honor was great

Jump up me lads and give us a treat

We followed the wren three miles or more

Three miles of more, three miles or more

Through hedges and ditches and heaps of snow

At six o'clock in the morning

Rolley, Rolley, where is your nest?

It's in the bush that I love best

It's in the bush, the holly tree

Where all the boys do follow me

As I went out to hunt and all

I met a wren upon the wall

Up with me wattle and gave him a fall

And brought him here to show you all

I have a little box under me arm

A tuppence or penny will do it no harm

For we are the boys who came your way

To bring in the wren on St. Stephen's Day

In the past a real wren was killed and put upon a pole or a pitchfork.  Feathers were handed out for luck and for payment in food and drink, or money for a wren ball in January.  These days though the wren is fake, the day is still celebrated in parts of Ireland and the Isle of Man.  In parts of Wales is it is celebrated on Twelfth Day and on the first Sunday in December in parts of France.

My husband I go out into the woods or a nearby bird sanctuary on December 26th, or whichever day I’m off work that is closest to the date, armed only with a camera and do our own wren hunt.  Last year I was lucky enough to find a wren that was probably left behind by a cat  on St. Stephens day and managed to harvest some feathers.  This year we had a lovely walk but weren’t lucky enough to “catch” a wren.  However, when we got home I took my feathers out of the amulet bag that I stitched last year, and made a bower of ivy and red berries to display them alongside a fake bird.  Then we listened to The Cutty Wren  and The Wren, The Wren.  This is one of my favorite traditions, regardless of whether the hunt is succesfull or not!

@graveyarddirt

[mercurygray]

Got any holiday headcanons for the paragals?

Doris, as the unit's Italian Catholic (TM) is used to helping her ma bake cookies for days, will have seven different kinds of fish for Christmas Eve and wouldn't miss midnight mass for anything. Christmas is A Big Deal, and she doesn't care who hears about it - especially when she’s far away from home? Christmas means family, and in the absence of her actual family, found family is just as good.

Connie's German Lutheran farm family's celebrations are much quieter, and usually done around a farm schedule - milking in the morning before going to church. Nothing fancy in the way of giving gifts, just one or two, and a roast for luncheon.

The only thing that will get Eileen to Mass on Christmas is the music - the time of year where they sing all the old songs that everyone knows.

Irene's Christmas traditions also involve music -  caroling around the neighborhood with the choir from church - an easy gift for a girl from a poor family to give her neighbors. The Christmas tree at the Henderson house doesn’t have any of those fancy storebought ornaments, but her father cut her some tin-can stars and strung them on twine, and they sparkle pretty nicely in the front room.

I've already talked about Ruth's Hanukkah observance - lots of family, lots of latkes, grudging synagogue attendance as a child that that she misses and longs for as an adult.

Joan's family isn't what one would call religious - church is somewhere you go to be seen. Her mother takes great pains to decorate the family Christmas tree so that it looks nice when the neighbors come for tea - all glass ornaments and tinsel and electric lights. But she does have fond memories of playing cards with her brother Frank, and cousin Warry on Christmas Eve, and going sleighing to see the neighbors when the snow is bad.

Julie's the only one of the Girl Gang asking about Boxing Day on December 26th, which earns her a lot of ribbing from the boys, while Niamh, one of the replacements, has very fond memories of getting up early on the day after Christmas to rattle around the neighborhood with a gang of  wrenboys to celebrate St Stephen's Day.

[tinyshe]

Photo: Wrenboys on St. Stephen’s Day in Dingle, Co Kerry

https://stairnaheireann.net/2016/12/26/wren-day-also-known-as-wrens-day-or-the-day-of-the-wren-la-an-dreoilin-celebrated-on-st-stephens-day/