238 PROTECTION OF ANIMAL LIFE 



Thou from out His crown, didst tear 

 The thorns to lighten the distress 



And ease the pain that He must bear, 

 When pendent from thy tiny beak 



The gory points thy bosom pressed, 

 And crimsoned with thy Saviour's blood 



The sober brownness of thy breast I 1 



Or that tale of his journeys to "the fiery pit" : 



He brings cool dew in his little bill, 



And lets it fall on the souls of sin : 



You can see the marks on his red breast still 



Of fires that scorch as he drops it in 2 . 



I do not doubt that these tales, carried through the ages, 

 have much to do with the origin of the schoolboy superstition 

 that groups the Robin with the birds which bring ill-luck to 

 their harriers: 



The laverock 3 an' the lintie 4 , 



The robin and the wren : 

 Gin 5 ye harry their nests 



Ye'll ne'er thrive again. 



It is strange that while in England, Ireland and the Isle 

 of Man, the "hunting of the wren" was a common and vicious 

 custom of Christmas Day or the day after St Stephen's 

 Day in Scotland the Wren was regarded almost as a holy 

 bird and was exempted from the ordinary rifling of nests. 



Malisons, malisons mair than ten, 

 That harry the Ladye of Heaven's hen ! 



The curious title here given to the bird is similar to that in 

 a widespread rhyme which links the Robin and Wren as a 

 sacred pair : 



The Robin an' the Wren 

 God Almighty's cock and hen. 



Another curious and interesting superstition saves the 

 Stone-chat, or Stane-chacker as it is called in Scotland, from 

 the rude hands of nest harriers; does not the bird itself, 

 its poor song being interpreted, call down maledictions 



1 Delle Whitney Norton. 8 John Greenleaf Whittier. 



3 Lark. 4 Linnet. 5 If. 



