86 BIRDS OF THE WAVE AND WOODLAND 



man-ape, and besides, in our folk-lore the wren is a very 

 necromantic and wicked little person. The Evil One, it is 

 said, once took possession of its body to serve his evil ends, 

 and infamous enchanters have done the same. So it came to 

 pass that people said it was a good deed and pious to kill 

 wrens, and it is hunted to this day in many places : 



"The wren, the wren, the king of the birds, 

 St. Stephen's day was caught i' the furze, 

 Sing holly, sing ivy, sing ivy, sing holly. 

 Sing heigh ! sing ho ! to scare melancholv." 



This is the wren, troglodytes, in its "demoniacal aspect," to 

 use the language of Gubernatis. In its benign aspect, 

 "the tiny woodland dwarf" "the wren with little quill," 

 is a bird of some sanctity : 



" Malisons, malisons mair than ten 

 Wha harries the queen of heaven's hen." 



for, as everybody knows : 



" The robin and the wren 

 Are God Almighty's cock and hen." 



And it is in its connection with that other famous bird of 

 December, the robin-redbreast, that the wren, " Jenny 

 Wren," is, perhaps, most popular. 



Indeed, it is almost impossible to think of one without the 



