Cutty Wren, The

DESCRIPTION: Milder asks Malder questions ("Oh where are you going? says Milder to Malder"). Festle replies to Fose with a refusal to answer. John the Red Nose answers the questions. Most of the answers are extravagant ways of hunting the wren
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume1)
KEYWORDS: wren hunting questions talltale
FOUND IN: Wales Britain(England,Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland (78), "Helg yn Dreean/Hunt the Wren" (1 text, located in the notes)
Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume1 23, "Wise Willie" (1 text)
Greenway-AmericanFolksongsOfProtest, pp. 110-111, "The Cutty Wren" (1 text)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 91-92, "The Cutty Wren" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 347, "The Cutty Wren" (1 text)
Jack-PopGoesTheWeasel, p. 26, "The Cutty Wren" (1 short text)
DT, CUTYWREN*
ADDITIONAL: Bob Stewart, _Where Is Saint George? Pagan Imagery in English Folksong_, revised edition, Blandford, 1988, pp. 15-16, "The Cutty Wren" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #236
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wren (The King)" (subject)
cf. "Billy Barlow" (form)
cf. "Cricketty Wee" (form)
cf. "Hunt the Wren" (form, subject)
cf. "The Green Bushes" [Laws P2] (tune)
cf. "Ribbins O'Robbins" (probable variant)
NOTES [137 words]: Although widely popular in revival circles, "The Cutty Wren" has not been all that popular in tradition, being confined to places such as Wales, the Isle of Man, and northern England. The style (of distinct speakers carrying a conversation in order) is more common; see the cross-references.
Many have identified "Billy Barlow," "Cricketty Wee," or (especially) "Hunt the Wren" with "The Cutty Wren," but while the form is similar, and in the latter case even the subject is the same, the plot is distinct enough that the Index splits them.
For a little information, and a lot of speculation, on the history of wrenning, see the notes to "The Wren (The King)." - RBW
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 447, "We will go to the wood, says Robin to Bobbin" [also] gives background references about hunting the wren. - BS
Last updated in version 6.7
File: DTcutywr

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography