BIRD LEGEND AND LIFE 



A somewhat similar custom of wren-hmiting followed 

 by conviviality prevails in France, where the youth who kills 

 the bird is dubbed king. 



To-day many Manxmen will not put to sea without a 

 dead wren to ward off storms and disasters, because once 

 upon a time a queer sort of a something called a Jes spirit, 

 which hunted herring and brought on storms, whisked herself 

 into a wren, when pursued, and flew away. So it is beheved 

 that when a dead wren is aboard, this Jes spirit is dead to 

 that part of the sea lying around about. 



It is a Gaelic belief that no house that the wren frequents 

 ever dies out. 



"He that hurts a robin or a wren. 

 Will never prosper, sea nor land." 



— YorJeshire Couplet. 



A 'Breton Legend: — The wren, being able to fly higher 

 than any other bird, secured the coveted fire from heaven and 

 started on her earthward journey, but in her descent her 

 wings began to bum, compelling her to intrust her precious 

 burden to the robin, whose feathers also burst into flames, as 

 his breast still shows. The lark, coming to the rescue, 

 brought the prize in safety to mankind on earth. 



In some parts of Brittany it is said that the wren 

 brought the fire from the lower regions, and that her feathers 

 were scorched as she passed through the keyhole. 



On this account the wren, together with the robin, the 

 lark and the swallow, as fire-bringers, are regarded as sacred, 

 and the robbing of their nests as acts of horror. In some of 



210 



