| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1301.1 | St. Stephen's Day Murder | TOPDOC::AHERN | Dennis the Menace | Mon Dec 20 1993 09:08 | 3 |
| Find a wee bird, bash its skull in and then go 'round the neighbors
bragging about it.
|
| 1301.2 | and the lights from Xmas tree blew up the telly | POLAR::RUSHTON | տ� | Mon Dec 20 1993 10:55 | 9 |
| << -< St. Stephen's Day Murder >-
<<Find a wee bird, bash its skull in and then go 'round the neighbors
<<bragging about it.
Ah yes! The two sisters named Christmas, one named Dawn, the other
Eve...and the ghost of the beast is still haunting the kitchen.
Pat
|
| 1301.3 | A bit more? | NYOS01::WALKER | | Mon Dec 20 1993 12:25 | 6 |
| re .1 and .2
What am I missing here? I thought the Irish were supposed to be
garrulous and glib. The above is too terse for me!
Can someone elaborate?
|
| 1301.4 | | TOPDOC::AHERN | Dennis the Menace | Mon Dec 20 1993 13:21 | 10 |
| RE: .3 by NYOS01::WALKER
>What am I missing here? I thought the Irish were supposed to be
>garrulous and glib. The above is too terse for me!
>Can someone elaborate?
The wren the wren the king of all birds
St. Stephen's day was caught in the furze
|
| 1301.5 | Do you have trees... | NYOS01::WALKER | | Mon Dec 20 1993 16:15 | 1 |
| Is the furze a Christmas tree, perhaps?
|
| 1301.6 | The Christmas Candle | MACNAS::KELLY | Mike Kelly, 822-4175 | Wed Dec 22 1993 06:46 | 15 |
|
One Irish tradition is the placing of a lighted candle
in the window on Christmas Eve. This is intended as a
welcoming sign should Joseph and Mary pass by again...
...the youngest member of the household is supposed to
light the candle....
A more coherent exposition of the Wren Boy tradition would
be helpful given the request in .0......what I've read in
the last few replies hardly provides the info required.
Someone with a rural background like Gerry Coady should
be able to enlighten all of us... I think he was a "mummer"
in his day!
Mike.
|
| 1301.7 | | DELNI::JHORGAN | Craicailte indiadh damhsa | Wed Dec 22 1993 16:53 | 20 |
| These poor school kids. They're probably on vacation now.
The Wren Boys or the Straw Boys.
The wren the wren, the king of all birds
St. Stephens day got caught in the furze
So up with the kettle and down with the pan
Give us a copper to bury the wren.
The furze is some kind of a bush. I believe the tradition is that on
St. Stephens day, the local kids would hunt down a wren, kill it and
then go from house to house looking for donations. They would dress in
crazy clothes and wear straw hats that they made from hay. They would
have some musicians along, and perform some songs, dances, skits and
generally have a grand old time. The money they collected went
towards a few pints at the end of the evening.
|
| 1301.8 | | CUPMK::AHERN | Dennis the Menace | Wed Dec 22 1993 21:42 | 11 |
| RE: .7 by DELNI::JHORGAN
>I believe the tradition is that on St. Stephens day, the local kids
>would hunt down a wren, kill it and then go from house to house looking
>for donations. ...
>The money they collected went towards a few pints at the end of the
>evening.
The local kids having a few pints?
|
| 1301.9 | them were good days | EASE::KEYES | Technology Grp. 827-5556 | Thu Dec 23 1993 07:57 | 24 |
|
well we ever actually "kill" a wren...Maybe tear the head off a doll or
something that one of the younger kids got....-) -). and stuff it to
look like a bird.
You would grade the neighbours by how much they gave you..if you got
very little..well their cat would suffer for a Loooooonng time..They gave
you a good amount..well you changed costume and came back a couple of
hrs later..If you were lucky you hit a house where there wre alot of
visitors home for christmas...If you were brave enough you hit the
local pubs and sought out those that were most under the
influence...big time!
You had to have a young kid with you..prefereably about 4 years old.
If things were going bad well you got the kid to cry abit during the
song...(usually it was their doll you had tore the head of so "santa will
come back to fix it" or "santa won't come next year" was a good switch to
get tears flowing. Mighty craic
Mick
|
| 1301.10 | retribution | CUPMK::AHERN | Dennis the Menace | Thu Dec 23 1993 09:40 | 3 |
| This whole rap got started 'cuz it was a wren what blew the whistle on
St. Stephen's hideaway.
|
| 1301.11 | More verses... | NYOS01::WALKER | | Tue Dec 28 1993 11:22 | 3 |
| re .7
Does someone have the whole poem?
|
| 1301.12 | | POLAR::LARKIN | | Thu Jan 06 1994 13:06 | 10 |
| The rest of the story......
" I chased the wren from rock to rock,
I chased him into a public shop,
I dipped his head in a bottle of beer,
and I wish you all a happy New Year."
Gerry
|
| 1301.13 | | ACTHUB::BURNS | | Wed Jan 19 1994 15:23 | 28 |
| THE WREN SONG
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
St. Stephen's Day was caught in the firs
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
|
| 1301.14 | Playing by ear? | WREATH::AHERN | Dennis the Menace | Wed Jan 19 1994 23:27 | 8 |
| RE: .13 by ACTHUB::BURNS
>The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
>St. Stephen's Day was caught in the firs
^^^^
I think that's furze, keVin, not firs.
|
| 1301.15 | keVin was adapting it to N.H. | TALLIS::DARCY | Alpha Migration Tools | Wed Jan 19 1994 23:40 | 1 |
| Well there are no furze in live-free-or-die...
|
| 1301.16 | live-trees-and-flies | POLAR::RUSHTON | տ� | Thu Jan 20 1994 17:49 | 1 |
| There are no furze, firs or furs in the granite state.
|
| 1301.17 | | HILL16::BURNS | ANCL�R | Fri Jan 21 1994 09:18 | 10 |
|
I beg your pardon ..........
Our State Motto happens to be "Live, Freeze, and Die"
keVin
|