The Cutty Wren - Survey of Mediaeval Literature

Some of you may think this wasn't worth doing, but it's as well to make sure. It would have been quite funny, really, if we'd had this debate only to find a 14th Century manuscript with the song on it! There seems to be no literary evidence for an early mediaeval song akin to "The Cutty Wren". The surviving mediaeval (pre-1500) literature contains numerous songs, short rhymes and references to songs none of which bear any resemblance to it, either in form or in subject matter. I have now spent some time looking at the extant literature base, both on the internet (of which there is a surprisingly large amount) and in the British Library, and I feel that I have covered more or less the whole corpus. I have also studied the contemporary literature of the Peasant's Revolt of 1381 (much of which is available on the internet) and can safely conclude that there is no mention of wrens, nor of anything which might possibly be associated with the song, with one very tiny parallel.

The single exception is a parallel which might be drawn of the character of "Hob the Robber" which appears in the John Ball literature. "Hob" is one of the derivatives of the name Robert, as is "Robin". Many of the "Cutty Wren" versions have the name of one character as "Robbin the Bobbin" or (in later sources) "Robbin a Bobbin" and some similarity is apparent.

There are a number of references to wrens in the pre-1500 literature and, almost without fail, these use the wren to symbolise weakness or poverty. Here is an example translated from The Owl and The Nightingale.

(owl to nightingale)
Tell me now, you miserable creature, do you have any use apart from having a musical voice? You're no good for anything apart from knowing how to warble, because you're small and weak and your coat of feathers is scanty. What good do you do for humanity? No more than a wretched wren does!

Curiously, this characteristic of weakness and poverty is in very close parallel to the vision of the church promoted by the followers of Wycliffe (Lollards) and their later counterparts (especially the various kinds of Franciscans). Compare this translation from Wycliffe's writings.

And of this gospel I take as believe, that Christ for [the] time that He walked here, was [the] most poor man of all, both in spirit and in having; for Christ says that He had nought for to rest His head on. And Paul says that He was made needy for our love. And more poor might no man be, neither bodily nor in spirit. And thus Christ put from Him all manner of worldly lordship. For the gospel of John telleth that when they would have made Christ king, He fled and hid Him from them, for He would none such worldly highness.

:-)
Ian

PS more on the modern mythology when I get a chance to compile it all. IVC