y of her songs. This superstition has been
charmingly illustrated by Leyden, in his poem, "The Mermaid" (see
Scott's "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," vol. iv. p. 294):

"Thus, all to soothe the chieftain's woe,
Far from the maid he loved so dear,
The song arose, so soft and slow,
He seem'd her parting sigh to hear.

* * * * *

That sea-maid's form of pearly light
Was whiter than the downy spray,
And round her bosom, heaving bright,
Her glossy, yellow ringlets play.

Borne on a foaming, crested wave,
She reached amain the bounding prow,
Then, clasping fast the chieftain brave,
She, plunging, sought the deep below."

This tradition gave rise to a curious custom in the Isle of Man, which,
in Waldron's time, was observed on the 24th of December, though
afterwards on St. Stephen's Day. It is said that, once upon a time, a
fairy of uncommon beauty exerted such undue influence over the male
population that she induced, by the enchantment of her sweet voice,
numbers to follow her footsteps, till, by degrees, she led them into the
sea, where they perished. This barbarous exercise of power had continued
for a great length of time, till it was apprehended that the island
would be exhausted of its defenders. Fortunately, however, a
knight-errant sprang up, who discovered a means of counteracting the
charms used by this siren--even laying a plot for her destruction, which
she only escaped by taking the form of a wren. Although she evaded
instant annihilation, a spell was cast upon her, by which she was
condemned, on every succeeding New Year's Day, to reanimate the same
form, with the definite sentence that she must ultimately perish by
human hand. Hence, on the specified anniversary, every effort was made
to extirpate the fairy; and the poor wrens were pursued, pelted, fired
at, and destroyed without mercy, their feathers being preserved as a
charm against shipwreck for one year. At the present day there is no
particular time for pursuing the wren; it is captured by boys alone, who
keep up the old custom chiefly for amusement. On St. Stephen's Day, a
band of boys go from door to door with a wren suspended by the legs, in
the centre of two hoops crossing each other at right angles, decorated
with evergreens and ribbons, singing lines called "Hunt the Wren."[931]

[931] See "British Popular Customs," pp. 494, 495.

In "A Mids