ROBIN LORE 



ON seeing the suffering of our Lord on the cross, the 

 robin in pity plucked a thorn, which pierced his 

 brow, from the torturing crown. The blood from 

 the tender heart of the robin gushed forth as the sharp thorn 

 entered his own breast, producing a crimson stain that re- 

 mains to this day. 



^A Breton Legend. 



The robin, as well as the swallow and the woodpecker, 

 was classed as a fire-bringer. Each bears a red mark to 

 fortify the claim. A correspondent of iVof^es and Queries seat 

 this story told by a Caermarthenshire nurse to a child under 

 her care: "Far, far away in a land of woe, dwell darkness, 

 and spirits of evil and fire. Day by day does the httle bird 

 bear in his bill a drop of water to quench the flame. So near 

 to the burning stream does he fly, that his dear little feathers 

 are scorched, and hence he is named Bronrhuddyn (breast- 

 burned or breast-scorched). To serve little children, the 

 robin dares approach the infernal pit. No good child will 

 hurt the devoted benefactor of man. The robin returns from 

 the land of fire, and therefore he feels the cold of winter far 

 more than his brother birds. He shivers in the brumal 



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