Huntingthe Wran Arklow

Hunting the ‘Wran’ with a ‘Hern’ - PURE Gold from 1930's Arklow
Today I recorded one of the best ever accounts that I've ever recorded of Hunting the Wran on St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland. By chance this woman Éini Jeffereys (nee Byrne) was at my talk on Christmas Folklore in Arklow Library and herself and a few other people in the crowd started to share their accounts with me as the talk went on.
When we started to talk about St. Stephen’s Day Éine recalled to me how in the 1930s they would Hunt the Wran but INSTEAD of a little bird or a feather for the wren (wren) they would bring a salted hern (herring) on a stick complete with a sprig of holly from house to house. Not only did they have a lovely little local version of the Wran poem they ended it these four lines:
The head of the Hern (Herring)
The King of the Say (Sea)
Put your hand in your pocket
And let us away!
The visual here is just amazing and a sign of how rich the traditions are in this part of the country - a part of the country that always gets overlooked. Éini lived in England for years but her memory is crystal clear and to me, this account is pure gold.
You won't find this on Google.
Text: Michael Fortune