22 DECEMBER 2021

THE HUNTING OF THE WREN

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL · PART III

This tale comes from Kingdom of Man , which lies between Wales and Ireland, they too have a story which reveals the low nature of the Wren.
For they say that when that famous Saint Maughold came to that Isle, it lay still within the power of the Faery Folk. From the moment he stepped upon the Northern shore of Mann, near Ramsey, he was met by the friars of the Island. And when they had nursed him back to health, Maughold told the other friars of the Island that it was in his heart to travel all over the Island tetsifying to the power of Christ, and calling all who would listen toward Salvation...

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Welcome to the 2021 Christmas Special! In this set of episodes, we return once again to the Christmas Court of King Arthur at Camelot. The Christmas Specials tell of the custom of King Arthur's Christmas Feast, where those in attendance must bring stories of marvellous wonders and great deeds, and often, marvels and deeds come to the very hall itself!

Tehi Tegi, St. Maughold & The Wren in the Isle of Man

In the Lore Post for the last episode, we talked about the Wren Day customs that exist across the British Isles. Of all those customs, none is more particular than that of the Isle of Man, where the Hunt of the Wren has become attached to a local legend about a powerful fairy or enchantress known as Tehi Tegi.

From the outset it should be said that if you have heard the story of Tehi Tegi before, you may not immediately recognise our version of the tale. This is because it weaves together the Manx folk figures of Tehi Tegi and St. Maughold, who do not appear together in the most common versions of this tale: but there stories are linked together by fragments which we have developed and expanded upon.

The story of Tehi Tegi, as an enchantress who bewitches and drowns the menfolk of the island of Man, is most probably best known from Manx Fairytales, written by Sophia Morrison and published in 1911, but earlier versions of the tale can be found in A Description of the Isle of Man from the 1730s, by an English visitor George Waldron, History of the Isle of Man by Hannah Bullock (1819), Legends of the north, or The feudal Christmas, Henry Rolls (1825), and a literary version of the story in The Royal Lady's Magazine, and Archives of the Court of St. James's (1832). The story was retold again in Mona Douglas' 'Ceremonial Folk-Song, Mumming, and Dance in the Isle of Man' (1928).

Waldron’s version of the story sees Tehi-Tegi turn into a bat: but later versions, like that in History of the Isle of the Man, specify the transformation is into a Wren, strongly suggesting a link with the Wren Day tradition, which has certainly solidified since. As this article on the Atlantic tells us, the name ‘Tehi-Tegi’ means ‘Fair Chooser’. Tei is the Manx verb ‘to pick, gather, collect’, Teg is a Brythonic Gaelic word meaning ‘fair’ or ‘beautiful’; it is suggested therefor that the figure of Tehi Tegi, whose legend is rooted in the Island’s rivers and the sea, and was often described as being a fairy queen, is linked to earlier mythic figures in Celtic ancestral folklore..

It is Legends of the north, or The feudal Christmas that stated:

‘The wren is still regarded by the Manx people as possessing supernatural intelligence. They say that when St Maghull (Ed: Maughold – the Manx ‘Saint’) came to the island and converted it to Christianity he banished all the fairies but their queen who assumed the form of a wren in which she at times still appears and that if in that shape she can be killed her power will cease for ever. They hate this bird but fear to destroy it as some dire calamity will befall the person and all his family who effects the destruction of the reign of the fairies in Man.’

St Maughold is an important figure in Manx myth and legend, an Irish pirate or brigand who was converted by St Patrick and became a spiritual shepherd to the people of the Island. There are many stories about Maughold, many of which differ in the details. He was said to have come to Man in a little boat or coracle (made either of wicker or leather) which St Patrick had chained to his foot as part of his acts of repentence. This chain was released either early or late in Maughold’s career on the Island, with the most interesting version saying that the key to the chain was discovered in the belly of fish prepared for his supper on the eve of his ordination as the new Bishop of the Island (taking over from a Bishop called Germanus, or a pair of Bishops called Conindrus & Romulus).

Following the assertion in Legends of the North that St Maughold ‘banished all the fairies but their Queen’, causing her to assume ‘the form of a wren’, I decided to write a verion of the tale in which Maughold is present in the story told by a succession of writers from Waldron to Morrison. This allows for a telling evoking an even broader sweep of Manx folklore, weaving in the story of Maughold’s conversion, penitence, preaching and eventual ascension to spiritual leader of the Island.

St. Stephen & The Wren

Maughold’s preaching also serves as the perfect vehicle to tell the story of St. Stephen and the Wren. The story that links St. Stephen to the wren and the wren day customs retells the episode of St. Stephen’s martyrdom - the first apostle martyred in the Acts of the Apostles - but inserts a curious episode in which the Saint attempts to escape his stoning by hiding in a bush; but is betrayed by the sing-song Wren..

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SOURCE MATERIAL

Texts
Manx Fairy Tales , Sophia Morrison (1911)
'Tehi Tegi: A Manx Fragment' in The Royal Lady's Magazine, and Archives of the Court of St. James's (1832), p. 106.
'Tehi Tegi: A Manx folktale told by David Fisher' on Culture Vannin (YouTube)
'Tehi Tegi' on W. T. Quirk – Manx Poet & Writer

Legendary fictions of the Irish Celts by Kennedy, Patrick, (1801-1873)
'THE LEGEND OF ST. MAUGHOLD' in A SELECTION OF PROVERBS, SAYINGS, BALLADS, CUSTOMS, SUPERSTITIONS, AND LEGENDS, PECULIAR TO THE ISLE OF MAN COLLECTED AND EDITED BY WILLIAM HARRISON
'THE CONVERSION OF THE MANX' in THE FOLK-LORE OF THE ISLE OF MAN, A. W. MOOD E, M.A. (1891)

Research Sources

"Tehi Tegi" October 25, 2013 on Atlantic Religion: A 'Prisca Theologia' of European Paganism

"Maughold." on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 Oct. 2021. Web. 12 Dec. 2021.'St Maughold, Patron Saint, Isle of Man' by Bernadette Weyde on As Manx As The Hills
'St. Romulus & Conindrus, and St. Maughold' on www.santosepulcro.co.il
'Saint Maughold'on Oxford Reference
'April 25, St. Macull, of Ireland, Confessor' in The Lives of the Saints (1866)
'St Patrick & Maughold' by Emmett McIntyre on March 17, 2017 on Transceltic
'Apr 27 – St Maughold (d. 498) bishop of the Isle of Man' on CatholicIreland.net

EPISODE CREDITS

Stories interpreted and performed by Rick Scott.
Sound editing, audio design and original illustrations by Rick Scott.
Lore & Legend Series Theme composed and performed by Robert Bentall.
Original incidental music and chords also by Robert Bentall.

Podcast hosting by Anchor. Video and audiogram creation using Headliner.

AUDIO CREDITS

'Christmas Day' by Derek Fiechter on Album: Winter Wonderland

'Winter Festival' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Christmas Land

'Santa's Elves' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Mists of Ice

'Unseelie Fae Lullaby' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Medieval Halloween

'Shadow Woods' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Treefolk

'King of the Pixies' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Treefolk

Brandon & Derek Feichter Music on:

Bandcamp

Spotify

Youtube

'Exploring at Dusk (RPG Music)' by Caleb Henessey on Album: V. Muse

'Lady Of The Lake' by Caleb Henessey on Album: Pendragon

Caleb Hennessy Compositions on:

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Additional incidental music, background ambience and sound effects by multiple authors sourced from Freesound.org.

See below for the full list of audio files and attribution credits for the 2021 Halloween Special Episodes:

Sound

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11896206_1155901677757253_74058739797073

RICK SCOTT
STORYTELLER

THE HUNTING OF THE WREN

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE ON YOUR PLATFORM

SOURCE MATERIAL

EPISODE CREDITS

​

Stories interpreted and performed by Rick Scott. Sound editing, audio design and original illustrations by Rick Scott. Lore & Legend Series Theme composed and performed by Robert Bentall. Original incidental music and chords also by Robert Bentall.

Podcast hosting by Anchor. Video and audiogram creation using Headliner.

​

|

Additional incidental music, background ambience and sound effects by multiple authors sourced from Freesound.org.

​

See below for the full list of audio files and attribution credits for the 2021 Halloween Special Episodes:

​

Stories interpreted and performed by Rick Scott.
Sound editing, audio design and original illustrations by Rick Scott.
Lore & Legend Series Theme composed and performed by Robert Bentall.
Original incidental music and chords also by Robert Bentall.