Little Robin Redbreast.

Little Robin Redbreast video courtesy of YouTube. To accompany the story Robin Redbreast.

The Storyteller.

 

The Storyteller.

There’s turf on the fire

There’s tea in the pot

Sunday’s here again

It’s been a good week

And now is the time

To hear the tale’s again

So pull up a chair and sit awhile

The clock is striking three

Tune in to WRFM

And join the Seanachái.

 

Welcome to my blog.

If you have any comments or requests for stories please leave them on here and I'll see what I can do.
I really appreciate any feedback and will try to respond as quickly as possible.

On behalf of myself and WRFM 98-2 I would like to thank you for taking the time to listen to my show and hope you enjoy it.

Join me on Sunday at 3-00pm until 4-00pm, pull up a chair and sit awhile.  You are never too old for a story.

 

 

Music play list 1st September 2013.

1.    Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum. Wmv Youtube alcolads.

2.    Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag Theme Song-Randy Dandy Shanty. Youtube.

3.    Horrible Histories: Literally: The Viking Song (Lyrics) Youtube.

4.    Black Magic Woman - Fleetwood Mac.

5.    Honey Bee by Blake Shelton. Youtube.

6.     Little Robin Redbreast by FullChordMusic. Youtube.

Rock With You by Michael Jackson

Gráinne Uí Mháille. Pirate Queen.

 

 

I’ll start off this week with a bit of a local flavour.

Irish Pirate Woman.

Gráinne Uí Mháille, 

Born in 1530 in County Mayo, possibly she grew up to become a famous and feared pirate, sea trader, and clan chieftain. She was the daughter of Owen O’Malley (Eoghan Dubhdara Ó Máille) and as a young child she always yearned to join her father at sea but he continually discouraged her as the sea was no place for a female. According to legend Gráinne decided to disguise herself by cutting off her long hair, dressing as a boy and boarding her father’s ship. This earned her the nickname of “Gráinne Mhaol”, in English that equates to Bald Grace. The nickname stuck and she has been known as Gráinne Mhaol ever since.

The O’Malley clan controlled all the area of Clew Bay and expected taxes to be paid to them by all who sailed or fished the sea around the coast off Mayo and they were generally left alone by the English and Anglo-Irish lords, however, under the rule of the Tudor crown this was to change. The O’Malley had built a line of castles along the west coast and this allowed them to keep an eye on their vast territory both on land and sea. The lord who was in nominal control, Mac William Lochtar Bourke’s (an Anglo-Irish family) left them alone, (by this time the Bourke’s had become more Irish then the Irish themselves).

Gráinne Uí Mháille was educated and could speak in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, English, Latin, French and Spanish. In actuality the greater majority of the Irish population spoke more languages and were better educated than those across the water due to the fact that the Irish were forbidden from speaking in Irish and the common person had better access to a basic education. However, as we know that was all to change.

She was to eventually build up a great deal of wealth and this together with her noble Irish blood earned her the title Pirate Queen and she was one of the last Irish rulers of the time to defend against English rule in Ireland. Over her lifetime the English took over most of Ireland piece by piece through a system known as “Sumit and Regrant” they either convinced or forced the Irish clan leaders to surrender their lands and titles to the English crown they would then be given English titles and control of territory, in this way they swore allegiance to the English crown. Some Chieftains submitted, some rebelled, and Grace was one of those who refused the English offer.

At 56 years old, Grace was captured by Sir Richard Bingham, a ruthless Governor appointed by the Queen to rule over the regranted territories. Soon after his appointment, Bingham sent guards to arrest Grace and have her hanged. Grace was apprehended and along with members of her clan, imprisoned and scheduled for execution. Determined to die with dignity, Grace held her head high as she awaited her execution. At the last minute, Grace's son-in-law offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the promise that Grace would never return to her rebellious ways. Bingham released Grace on this promise but was determined to keep her from power and make her suffer for her insurrection. Over the course of time, Bingham was responsible for taking away her cattle, forcing her into poverty, even plotting the murder of her eldest son, Owen.

During this period of Irish rebellion, the Spanish Armada was waging war against the English along the Irish and Scottish coastlines. It is not known whether Grace assisted the English against the Spanish or if she was merely protecting what little she had left-- but around 1588, Grace slaughtered hundreds of Spaniards on the ship of Don Pedro de Mendoza near the castle on Clare Island in Clew Bay. Even into her late 50's, Grace was fierce in battle.

In the early 1590's, Grace was still virtually penniless thanks to the constant efforts of Bingham to keep tight controls on her. There was a rather large rebellion brewing and Bingham feared that Grace would run to the aid of the rebels against the English. He wrote in a letter during this time that Grace was, "a notable traitor and nurse to all rebellions in the province for 40 years."

Grace had written letters to the Queen demanding justice, but received no response. In 1593, her son Theobald and brother Donal were arrested and thrown into prison. This was the final straw that prompted Grace to stop writing letters and go to London in person to request their release and ask for the Queen's help in regaining the lands and wealth that were rightfully hers.

Grace set sail and managed to avoid the English patrol boats that littered the seas between her homeland and London. The meeting took place in Greenwich Castle. Surprisingly the Queen agreed to a meeting and Grace explained, in fluent Latin, that she was not in fact rebellious in her actions but only that she was acting in self-defence, that her rightful inheritance had been withheld and that it should be returned to her. She also asked for the release of her son and brother and if the queen would agree to this then she would use all her strength and leadership to defend the Queen from her enemies whether on land or sea. Unbelievably the Queen agreed, Bingham was forced to release the two captives but in an act of outright defiance he never restored to Grace her possessions.

 There is an interesting story about the meeting of the two Queens,

It is said that during the meeting, Grace sneezed in the presence of the Queen and her lords and ladies. A member of the court, in an act of politeness, handed Grace an attractive and expensive lace handkerchief. She took the delicate cloth and proceeded to blow her nose loudly then tossed the kerchief into a blazing fireplace. The members of the court were aghast that she would be so rude to toss an expensive gift so easily into the fire. The Queen then scolded her and said that the handkerchief was meant as a gift and should have been put into her pocket. Grace replied that the Irish would never put a soiled garment into their pocket and apparently had a higher standard of cleanliness. There was a period of uncomfortable silence, during which the members of the court expected the Queen to have Grace executed for her rude behaviour. Suddenly nervous then roaring laughter followed and it is said that the Queen was amused.

Grace O'Malley died at Rockfleet Castle in 1603, the same year as Queen Elizabeth.

In a man's world, Grainne Uí  Mháille developed her own power base contrary to Gaelic and English law. She was a woman of singular strength of character and for that became, along with Roisin Dubh and Caitleen Ni Houlihan, a poetic symbol for Ireland:

The gowns she wore was stained with gore all by a ruffian band
Her lips so sweet that monarchs kissed are now grown pale and wan
The tears of grief fell from her eyes each tear as large as hail
None could express the deep distress of poor old Granuaile.

 

 

Anne Bonny.

Another Irish woman who set sail upon the high seas and took to the life of a pirate was:

Anne Bonny.                                    

Like Gráinne Uí Mháille, Anne Bonny was a strong independent woman, way ahead of her time. Her exact date of birth is unknown but most historians put it to be around 1697 in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. She was born into a man’s world, a world where men made all the decisions, women had very few rights. It was a time when women didn’t join a ship’s crew, let alone become a respected pirate considered equal by her peers.

She was born the illegitimate daughter of a lawyer, William Cormac and a woman in his employ, Mary Brennan. William’s wife was not very happy when she found out about his adultery so she made it public, and this caused him to lose his reputation.  He and his new partner and child decided to leave Ireland to seek their fortune in the New World. They settled in Charleston, South Carolina and here William started a successful legal practice and eventually became a plantation owner.

By the time young Anne had become a teenager she had lost her mother and had to take over the running of the household and care of her father. Stories began to spread about Anne during her teenage years, there was even a suggestion made that she had murdered a servant girl, stabbing her to death. There was also a story that was told about a young man who attempted to force himself on her sexually; she put him in hospital for several weeks.

When she was only sixteen she fell in love with James Bonny, a pirate who wanted to gain control of her father’s estate. Her father despised Bonny and forbid the relationship, this was enough for the rebellious Anne, and against her father’s wishes she married him. William Cormac was livid; he had wanted her to marry a respectful man not a rogue like Bonny so he turned her out of his home, cutting her off from all financial aid.

James Bonny took his new wife to the pirate’s hideout in New Providence, he found it difficult to support her and in the end in order to make money he became a pirate informer for the governor, Woodes Rogers. When Anne found out about his betrayal she was extremely upset, most of her friends were pirates and so with the help of one of these friends, Pierre, a celebrated homosexual who ran a popular ladies establishment, Anne left her husband. She ran off with Calico Jack Rackam, he was a pirate captain and a great romantic. It was even said he offered to buy Anne from James Bonny, You see there you were thinking romance was dead. Calico Jack sounds a bit like Jack Sparrow.

Now Calico Jack was only a small time pirate and he plied his trade along the Caribbean coast attacking small merchant ships but was not really all that successful. However, he certainly knew how to spend money. He never made his relationship with Anne public knowledge but on board ship everyone knew she was “the captain’s woman”. When Calico Jack found out Anne was pregnant he left her on Cuba to deliver the baby. There’s no record of what happened to the baby, some say Anne abandoned the child, some say Calico Jack gave the child away to friends on Cuba and some even suggest that the child died at birth, but we’ll never know. After a few months Anne returned to Calico Jack’s ship. By now the infamous Mary Read was also on board and it did not take long for the two women to become very good friends, some suggest that their friendship was a lesbian relationship.

In October of 1720, Captain Barnet, an ex-pirate who now commanded a British Navy ship attacked Calico Jack’s ship (the “Revenge”) as it lay at anchor. Almost the entire crew was drunk at the time, celebrating the capture of a Spanish commercial ship, so the fight was a short one and although Mary and Anne resisted they were eventually overpowered and put in chains.

The crew of the “Revenge” were taken to Port Royal, there to stand trial. The trial was sensational and everyone was found guilty of the crime of piracy, a crime that carried the death sentence, but Anne and Mary were both spared because they both claimed to be pregnant and a pregnant woman could not be hanged, It’s recorded that Mary Read died in a Jamaican prison but the fate of Anne Bonny is unknown. One theory is that Anne Bonny’s father managed to pay a ransom for his daughter’s release and that he took her back to Charleston and that she married a Joseph Burleigh going on to have eight children. It’s also said that she died on April 25^th, 1782 in South Carolina.

Irish Caves/The Cave of The Seven Sisters.

Now we will leave the pirates for a little while but we will return. However, here’s something a wee bit different.

Irish Caves.

Folklore traditions reveal that caves were seen as places of ghosts and ghouls, gateways to the Otherworld or a home for a supernatural woman that preyed on mortal men. 

With uses varying from burial chambers to places to live, caves in Ireland have a diverse history and usage. People have been using caves around Ireland for almost 10,000 years.  In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, some were documented by antiquarians looking for bones of extinct animals such as woolly mammoth, bears and Arctic lemmings.  They also turned up human bones and artifact’s many of archaeological significance.  More recently, cavers have discovered and explored caves all over the country.  These caves open up for us a cultural, religious and physical history dating back through prehistoric, medieval and modern times.’

Evidence indicates that for about 8,000 years, caves were used mostly for religious activities.  These deep dark, often sacred, places were associated with death and the ‘Otherworld’.  They were used for excarnation, where a corpse was left to fully decompose prior to the bones being removed for burial.  Often small bones and beads were left behind, to be found thousands of years later. Caves were also used for burial, with extensive finds already documented in Co Waterford. 

During the Bronze Age, caves were used for burying high ranking individuals.  In 1805, a skeleton covered in small sheets of gold was discovered in a cave in Co Cork.  Burial traditions with offerings continued into the Iron Age. At caves in Co Sligo, human teeth were placed in the caves, possibly associated with the annual harvest festival of Lughnasadh.

The coming of Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century AD saw major changes   in how caves were used and perceived. For the first time, there was extensive occupation of caves, as they became home to individuals, possibly travelling labourers or craft workers. It’s likely that the association between caves and death and the Otherworld was largely destroyed by the Church.

Anyway here follows an old Irish story about a cave in County Kerry. Love, betrayal, and vengeance.

The Cave of the Seven Sisters:

The origin of the following story is to be found in the small village of Ballybunion a few miles from Kerry Head. The cliffs rise up from the sea to heights well over a hundred feet and these are peppered with caves into which the sea rushes with a terrible fury in winter.  This coast line is open to the full force of the Atlantic storms and it’s not unusual to find the dead bodies of various unfortunate creatures washed up on the shore.

On the edge of one of these cliffs there stands the ruin of a castle. All that remains of it now is the basement standing against the force of the wind and waves like some lonely sentinel. It’s here that we begin our story.

According to local legend, once upon a time this castle was the home of a chieftain. It was around about the time when Ireland was under constant threat of attack and invasion by the Vikings.  The Chieftain was the father of seven beautiful daughters, and as any father will tell you he had his hands full what with defending his daughter’s honour and fighting off marauding Vikings. The poor man seemed to always have a sword in his hand

He was a brave warrior with a great hatred for these invaders from the sea and he swore he would kill every last one of those who would invade his land.  Night and day his ships patrolled the coast watching for any sign of the pirate Vikings who might threaten his people.

One day a sail was spotted in the distance and as it came nearer the chieftain saw that the vessel displayed the standard of a Viking marauder. Immediately it was surrounded by the Irish ships and despite putting up a fierce fight it was captured. As was the custom of the chieftain, he had the crew that had survived the initial attack killed and thrown overboard with the exception of the captain and his six brothers as he had a special more painful death planned for them.

They were brought to the castle and there they had their wounds dressed and as they had no way to escape they were allowed freedom within the castle walls.  Of course the seven captured men soon spotted the seven beautiful Irish maidens and as they were starved of male affection the beautiful Kerry maidens soon fell under the spell of the Vikings who were prancing around like male models with their long blonde hair and rippling six packs and they agreed to aid their escape and run off with them to their Viking homeland.

 All was set, it was a stormy night in winter, and there wasn’t a star in the sky. A cold wind blew in from the sea bringing with it a torrential rain so all the guards were sheltering under cover; the waves could be heard crashing against the rocks and caves below.  Using a rope ladder the girls had fashioned from old jumpers and smelly socks they all escaped over the battlements and down to the ground 100feet below. However, when they had all descended to their horror they were surrounded by armed men who had been hiding amongst the rocks.

 

It was a huge surprise, how on earth did they know. I mean fourteen people climbing down a ladder made from smelly socks and jumpers, standing on each other’s heads and shouting things like

“Stop looking up me skirt” and “Stop standing on me head”,

How were they caught, well to this day it’s a mystery, anyway back to the story.

No one said a word, they knew it was hopeless for it was obvious who these armed men were.  Taken back into the castle they came face to face with the chieftain.  With a look of anger and hatred he pointed to his seven daughters and gave a command to his captain of the guard. The man recoiled in disbelief his face had a look of horror, recovering, he whispered in the ear of his chieftain but the face of the chieftain told all there that his order would not be changed and with a look of hatred he repeated the order turned to the door and stormed out of the room without a backward glance.

Now we come to a fearful scene. The lovers were wrenched from each other’s arms and the daughters were dragged forward. The storm had grown more violent and the waves were crashing against the rocks.  Sea spray was carried over the top of the castle walls; lightning flashed and by its light a scene of pure horror was illuminated.  Dragging the women along the edge of the precipice the chieftains men came to a hole which resembled the crater of a volcano as it was completely closed with the exception of the opening at the top and a hole below through which the sea rushed in with terrific force and violence. The roaring of the sea was fearful and the lightning flashed and it was now that the seven sisters realised their fate.  There would be no escape, screaming and begging for mercy they were hurled into the boiling seas.  Their father’s orders carried out.

What happened to the seven Vikings isn’t known, this story isn’t for them.  Eventually, over time the castle fell into ruin. As for the chieftain, well he sleeps in an unknown grave his name forgotten, but the legend of The Seven Sisters remains.  The cave is now known locally as The Cave of The Seven Sisters.  If you stand on the seashore on a stormy night you may see the outline of a ghost ship in the distance as seven lovers search the waves. You may even hear the screams of the seven sisters as you look out over the seas. Or could it just be the sound of seagulls. I’ll let you decide.

Hope you enjoyed the tale.

By the way did you know that some Etymologists trace the word Viking to Anglo-Frankish writers, who referred to Vikings as those who came from the sea to raid and pillage.  So we didn’t get away from the pirate theme after all.

 

Mary Butters.

Mary Butters c. 1770-1850.

Mary Butters the Carnmoney Witch, was put forward for trial at the Spring Assizes in March 1808. It’s an instance of black magic versus white though it should be borne in mind that in the persecution of witches many women were put to death on the latter charge. It should be said at this point that it was the skill and knowledge of these same women in the use of herbs that benefited the population and added greatly to our present day pharmacology. The following story comes from the Belfast News-Letter for 21^st August 1807.

 One Tuesday night an extraordinary affair took place in the house of a tailor named Alexander Montgomery, who lived nearby Carnmoney Meeting-House. The tailor had a cow which continued to give milk as usual, but of late no butter could be produced from it. An opinion was unfortunately instilled into the mind of Montgomery's wife, that whenever such a thing occurred, it was occasioned by the cow having been bewitched. Her belief in this was strengthened by the fact that every old woman in the parish was able to relate some story illustrative of what she had seen or heard of in times gone by with respect to the same.

At length the family were informed of a woman named Mary Butters, who resided at Carrigfergus. They went to her, and brought her to the house for the purpose of curing the cow. About ten o'clock that night war was declared against the unknown magicians. Mary Butters ordered old Montgomery and a young man named Carnaghan to go out to the cow-house, turn their waistcoats inside out, and in that dress to stand by the head of the cow until she sent for them, while the wife, the son, and an old woman named Margaret Lee remained in the house with her.

Montgomery and his ally kept their lonely vigil until daybreak, when, becoming alarmed at receiving no summons, they left their post and knocked at the door, but obtained no response. They then looked through the kitchen window, and to their horror saw the four inmates stretched on the floor as if dead. They immediately burst in the door, and found that the wife and son were actually dead, and the sorceress and Margaret Lee nearly so. The latter soon afterwards expired.

 Mary Butters was thrown out onto a dung-heap, and a restorative administered to her in the shape of a few hearty kicks, which had the desired effect. The house had a sulphurous smell, and on the fire was a large pot in which were milk, needles, pins, and crooked nails. At the inquest held at Carnmoney on the 19th of August, the jurors stated that the three victims had come by their deaths from suffocation, owing to Mary Butters having made use of some noxious ingredients, after the manner of a charm, to recover a sick cow.

 She was brought up at the Assizes, but was discharged by proclamation. Her version of the story was that the devil in the guise of a black man had appeared in the house armed with a huge club, with which he killed the three persons and stunned herself. Regrettable though the whole affair was, as well for the gross superstition displayed by the participants as for its tragic ending, it seems to have aroused no other feelings amongst the inhabitants of Carnmoney and Carrigfergus than those of derision.

Mary Butters continued to practice her art for decades afterwards and was still consulted by the locals in the respect of bewitched cows. Thankfully the witchcraft act was repealed in 1821.

Bees.

I was sat in the garden the other day listening to the gentle hum of the bees and listening to birdsong so I thought I’d mention a few little superstitions and stories about some of the beautiful things that we may take for granted.

Bees.

Bumblebee nests can be found in the hedgerows.  The bees may be seen coming and going through a hole in the ground. The nest will be hard to see as bees are very private individuals but if you listen carefully you may hear them buzzing away quite happily.  Sometimes the Queen may decide to occupy an old abandoned mouse nest as these are usually warm and well insulated. She may also nest underneath sheds, decking, in compost bags, in hedge clippings or even in attics or under floor boards.  You could move a nest if it was causing you problems but it may not fully recover therefore leave it alone if it is doing you no harm. Like all bumblebees, they need to be greatly provoked before they sting.

As bees are becoming victim to an ever changing world that threatens their habitat you can do your bit to help them survive.  Plant suitable flowers in your garden, window boxes, containers or even along the hedgerow. Provide a nest box, these are now becoming increasingly available in any good garden centre or make your own, they are very easy and you can Google plans. Remember they are a gardener’s friend and we need bees to pollinate our plants.

There is a superstition that if a bumblebee buzzes at the window it is a sign of a coming visitor.

A servant girl was standing at the kitchen window, in flew a bumblebee ‘Oh!’ she said, ‘a visitor is coming! Has the bee got a red tail or white? Red for a man and white for a lady’.

Irish folklore tells us how easily the honey bees take offence and this will cause them to cease producing honey, desert their hives and die. You must treat them as you would a member of your own family. They must be told all the news, in particular births, deaths and marriages. In the event of a death their hive must be adorned with a black cloth or ribbon and they must be given their share of the funeral food. You may then hear them gently hum in contentment and they will stay with you. 

Other beliefs were that if the bees heard you quarrelling or swearing they would leave so you must talk to them in a gentle manner. They cannot tolerate the presence of a woman of loose morals they would sting her and drive her away (sounds like Christian influence here).  You must never buy bees with normal money, only with gold coin although you may obtain them through gift, loan or barter. It was also believed that if a single bee entered your house it was a sign of good luck on the way, usually in the form of wealth.

When bees swarmed, it was the women and children of the household that had to follow them, making a noise with pots and pans. This was supposed to make them settle or maybe it was really just to warn people to get out of the way? It was accepted that in these circumstances you could follow them onto someone else’s land without being accused of trespassing.  The law on bees (Brehon Law) was that bees taking nectar from plants growing on your neighbours land were guilty of grazing trespass in the same way a cow or sheep would be if they were on your neighbours land. They could even be accused of leaping trespass in the same way as poultry. The way this law was observed was that a beekeeper was allowed three years of freedom during which time the bees were allowed free reign, on the fourth year the first swarm to issue from the hive had to be given to your neighbour as payment. On the following years other swarms were given in turn to other neighbours, in this way everyone was happy.  From all accounts it seemed to work. Another issue the Bechbretha (Law governing bees) was enacted was in the event of stings. As long as you swore you had not retaliated by killing the bee you would be entitled to a meal of honey from the bee keeper.  However if the unfortunate person died from a sting then two hives had to be paid in compensation to their family.

It was a bad omen if a swarm settled on a dead branch for it meant death for someone in the bee keeper’s family or for the person who witnessed the swarm settling.  Popular folklore also suggested that bee stings aide in the relief of arthritis and rheumatism in much the same way as nettle stings and recently bee venom has been revived as a possible treatment for multiple sclerosis.

In Celtic myth, bees were regarded as beings of great wisdom and as spirit messengers between worlds.  Honey was treated as a magical substance and used in many rituals. It was made into mead and was considered to have prophetic powers and it may have been this that was called ‘nectar of the gods’. The rivers that lead to the summer lands are said to be rivers of mead.

“Telling the Bees” was extremely important, whether good news or bad or just everyday gossip. As stated earlier you had to tell the bees about a death in the family or the bees would die too. Bad news was given before sunrise of the following day for all to be well. You may even formally invite the bees to attend the funeral or you could turn the beehives round as the coffin was carried out of the house and past the hives. In ancient European folklore, bees were regarded as messengers of the gods and so the custom of “Telling the Bees” may be a throwback to the idea of keeping the gods informed of human affairs. 

Little Robin Redbreast.

Now for some superstitions and stories about the little robin redbreast.

Robin.

If you harm a robin's nest, you will be struck by lightning. There is also an old saying "Kill a robin or a wren, never prosper, boy or man.".  If a robin stays close to the house in autumn, a harsh winter can be expected. Robins are thought to be helpful to humans, occasionally granting favours. They are a sure sign of spring and if you make a wish on the first robin of spring before it flies off, you'll have luck throughout the following year.

Robins with their cheery red breasts adorn many of our Christmas cards and decorations, and there are several stories as to how the robin acquired its red breast feathers. In the Christian tradition, it is thought that a robin tried to remove the thorns from Jesus’ head during the Crucifixion, and that drops of his blood fell onto the bird and stained his breast feathers red forever. In another myth, the robin gained his red breast from flying into the fiery wastes of hell to carry water to the stricken sinners who were suffering there for all eternity. It’s enough to give you nightmares.

The robin is one of those birds where it is believed that if they are seen tapping on the window or flying into a room that a member of the household will soon be dead. However, we often have Robins flying into our cottage and we look on them as our friends not as harbingers of death.

If you break a robin’s eggs expect something important of yours to be broken very soon.

 If you see a robin singing in the open then good weather is on its way, but if the robin is seen sheltering among the branches of a tree then it will soon rain. Also, if the first bird that you see on St Valentine’s Day is a robin, it means that you are destined to marry a sailor!

It is said to be extremely unlucky to kill this bird. The hand that does so will continue to shake thereafter. In Irish folklore it was believed that a large lump would appear on the right hand if you kill one.  It was also said that whatever you did to a robin you will suffer the same tragedy. Some believe that the robin will not be chased by a cat.

It was widely believed that if a robin came across a dead body it would carefully cover the body with leaves and vegetation until it was completely hidden. This was illustrated in the traditional children’s story Babes in the woods, it was published in 1595 and told the story of two children who were abandoned in the woods by their cruel and wicked Uncle. They die there and are covered with leaves by the robins.

Robins were believed to provide a cure for depression. The remedy suggests a robin must be killed and its heart removed. The heart should then be stitched into a sachet and worn around the neck on a cord. I think that would give me depression rather than cure it.

In the south east of Ireland they believed that if a robin entered a house it was a sign of snow or frost.

A robin singing indicated a coming storm.

I’ve mentioned a couple of suggestions on how the Robin got its redbreast according to the Christian tradition but I think they are a little harsh so I’ll tell you a few other stories that also suggest how the Robin got its red breast.

How Robin got his Red Breast

One winter, a long time ago, Jack Frost was feeling very cruel. He made the snow fall thickly upon the ground, and he put ice on the ponds and frost on the window panes. The birds found it very hard to get food and soon they began to get hungry. One day, the birds were sitting in a ring under a hedge, trying to think what was to be done. After a while a little brown, bird, called Robin, got up to speak.

"I have an idea," he said. "I will go into the gardens and try to get people to give us a lot more crumbs, at least that way we’ll have something to eat".

Now Robin had a way all of his own of making friends.

He went along to the houses where people lived and in one of the gardens he saw a man clearing away the snow from a path, so he hopped up very close to the man. Most birds are afraid of people, but the Robin was brave. He had to be, if he was to help the other birds.

When the man saw how friendly Robin was, and how hungry he seemed to be, he went into his house and fetched a tray full of crumbs. The Robin was very happy and he flew off to fetch the other birds, soon there were crowds of them in the man's garden.

The best way they could say "Thank you" to the kind man was to eat the crumbs out of his hand. The Robin then flew away into other gardens, and wherever he went he made friends.

So, while the snow stayed on the ground the birds were able to feed after all. At last the sun came out and chased Jack Frost and the snow away. The happy birds wanted to thank Robin so they made him a little red waistcoat, which he still wears. That is why he is now called Robin Redbreast.    

OR

Once upon a time long, long ago on a cold and wintery night a father and his son were travelling along a lonely country road on their way home when a fierce wind began to blow. They were still many miles from home so they began to look for somewhere to take shelter, a cottage, a barn, even a group of trees. However, there was nothing to be found, nothing that is except for a bush.  The father built a little fire and told his son they would have to take turns to make sure the fire didn’t go out.

“Try to get some sleep and I’ll wake you when it’s your turn” he told his son.

When the father's eyes began to droop he woke his son and told him to watch the fire.

Well how the boy tried to stay awake! He hadn't really slept while lying on the frozen ground and he was still exhausted from the walk. His eyes got lower. His head got lower.  The fire got lower. So low in fact that a starving wolf began to inch nearer the sleeping pair.

However, there was one who was awake. There was one who saw everything from the middle of the bush; a little bird who was hidden in its branches. The bird hopped down and began fanning the flickering embers until the flames began to lick out hungrily.  The little bird was so close to the fire that it felt the heat of its flames but it didn’t stop, despite the pain on his breast, until the flames were burning brightly and they chased away that hungry wolf. It was because of this heat that the robins breast feathers changed colour and became as red as the flame and from that day onwards the robin has proudly worn his little red waistcoat.