St Stephen's Day

St Stephen's Day draws together a number of solstice traditions. We have already learned of the ancient practice of hunting the wren, the King of all birds (see King Wren), and of displaying the tiny corpse around the villages throughout Britain and Ireland. The origins of this custom probably date back to the time when kings were slaughtered after a year in office - and in France up until the seventeenth century the first person to kill and display the body of the wren was chosen king for a day at the time of the Feast of Fools.

The association of the wren killing with St. Stephen's Day may well derive from a legend of the saint's visit to Scandinavia.

I'm so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: St Stephen's Day