Hunting the Wren

[Bill Hodghead]

Greetings all,

I'm looking for a period source for the song "Hunting the Wren".  I've 
heard rumor that this song which was popularized by Hart and Prior (on 
the album "Songs of Old England" I think) is actually period.  I've 
haven't been able to verify this - though the practice of hunting the 
wren is to mentioned in the Red Book of Hergest (see also: Tradition 
and Folk Life: A Welsh View, by Iorwerth C. Peate (London: Faber and 
Faber, 1972),  or  'The Wren in Welsh Folklore', MAN, 1936, same 
author).  Anyone got a source for this?

thanks,
- Liam Mac Mhuire