Lawrence, that is, from pimples on the face, legs, and so on. In
other parts of France it is thought that if a person kills a wren or
harries its nest, his house will be struck by lightning, or that the
fingers with which he did the deed will shrivel up and drop off, or
at least be maimed, or that his cattle will suffer in their feet.
Notwithstanding such beliefs, the custom of annually killing the
wren has prevailed widely both in this country and in France. In the
Isle of Man down to the eighteenth century the custom was observed
on Christmas Eve, or rather Christmas morning. On the twenty-fourth
of December, towards evening, all the servants got a holiday; they
did not go to bed all night, but rambled about till the bells rang
in all the churches at midnight. When prayers were over, they went
to hunt the wren, and having found one of these birds they killed it
and fastened it to the top of a long pole with its wings extended.
Thus they carried it in procession to every house chanting the
following rhyme:
"We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin,
We hunted the wren for Jack of the Can,
We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin,
We hunted the wren for every one.
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