2-889-363 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Hunting the Wren at Christmas - Procession of the Wren Bush and Wren Boys, 1850. Annual tradition during the festive season, where a wren was chased and caught. '"The recollection of the cordial welcome with which the 'Wren boys, ay, and girls too,' were greeted in the farmer's yard or at the landlord's porch, where the 'drop just to drown melancholy' was given by the landlady, or some young damsel of the house, with a kindliness of spirit that drew around them for the coming year the warm affections of their dependants, is still dear to many a heart".' From "Illustrated London News", 1850.