Search

Mar a fhuair dreathan-donn làmh an uachdair air madadh-ruadh...

Date June 1957
Track ID 34057
Part 1
Part 2

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1957.40.B8+A1

Original Tape ID

SA1957.040

Summary

How the wren got the better of a fox and a farmer.

One night during a blizzard a little sheep let a wren shelter in its wool. In the morning the sheep's throat was cut.

The wren decided to find the fox responsible and told a farmer if he caught the perpetrator it would give him a cask of wine that had come ashore. It showed him where the cask was and he got his horse and cart and went to fetch it. Once he got the cask he threatened to decapitate the wren with his finger.

The wren said it would empty the cask of wine and started pecking at it. The farmer took an axe from the cart and took aim. The wine cask smashed to smithereens. Next, the wren started pecking at the horse's head. The farmer swung the axe and killed the horse. The old man destroyed his cart and broke his own shin in the same way and he couldn't get up.

Boys came looking for him and eventually brought him up to the house. They put him to bed beside a window.

His cattle and bull were in the field. The wren told the bull to lift the barn door with his horns and he could eat his fill. The bull and the cattle ate everything in the barn until they burst.

There was a bitch with a litter of pups in the barn. The wren told her she could have plenty of meat if she killed the fox that had killed the sheep that had given it shelter. The wren fooled the fox into coming out of its lair and the bitch killed it. The wren told the bitch where to find the dead horse and she got plenty of meat.

One night during a blizzard the old man's window was open and the wren was blown in. The old man caught it. It promised him a lump of gold which it had under its wing and he let it go. It left droppings in his hand and jumped onto the dresser. The farmer got a crook and smashed everything in the house trying to hit the wren. He still hasn't caught it.

The contributor heard the story from his uncle and sister.

Recording Location

County - Sutherland

Language

Gaelic

Genre

Story

Collection

SoSS

Classification

AT248

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good