I have been asked why I called my garden and at one time my Garden Design work, ’Jenny Wren’s.’ The answer is simple and it is more than the history of a Jenny Wren. My Father called me Jenny Wren as a child although my name is Jennifer. My Mother called me Jennifer!
During the 15th Century it became common for birds to be given people names, Jackdaw, Polly Parrot, Robin Redbreast, Magpie (Maggy) and Philip Sparrow. Many of these nicknames have fallen out of favour but some have hung around including Jenny Wren.
Jenny Wren was also the subject of a well-known nursery Rhyme.
Nursery Rhyme
Little Jenny Wren fell sick,
Upon a time;
In came Robin Redbreast
And brought her cake and wine.
“Eat well of my cake, Jenny,
Drink well of my wine.”
“Thank you, Robin, kindly,
You shall be mine.”
Jenny she got well,
And stood upon her feet,
And told Robin plainly
She loved him not a bit.
Robin being angry,
Hopped upon a twig,
Saying, “Out upon you! Fie upon you!
Bold-faced pig*!”
‘Fie’ is an old word meaning disgust. I have a copy of the song in, ‘ Sing Hey Ho, A Song Book for Canadian Girls and Boys,’ published by Clarke, Irwin, and Company Ltd 1949
In Charles Dicken’s, ‘Our Mutual Friend,’ he writes about a teenage girl with a congenital disease who was a poor seamstress making doll clothes for the children of the rich, as a way to make a living. He calls her Jenny Wren.
Paul McCartney wrote a song about Jenny Wren, released in 2005 and he is apparently quoted as saying,
“A wren is one of my favourite birds, little English bird, it’s the smallest English bird and I always feel very privileged to see a wren because they’re very shy and it’s just, Ah! So a combination of all of that. It’s a favourite bird for me, and then instead of making it a bird, again like ‘Blackbird,’ only more definitely this time I made it a woman, you know, a girl.”
Like so many girls, Jenny Wren could sing
But a broken heart, took her soul away
Like the other girls, Jenny Wren took wing
She could see the world, and it’s foolish ways
How, we, spend our days, casting, love aside
Loosing, site of life, day, by, day
She saw poverty, breaking all the home
Wounded warriors, took her song away
But the day will come, Jenny Wren will sing
When this broken world, mends its foolish ways
Now we, spend our days, catching, up on life
All because of you, Jenny Wren
Rather poignant today.
There are many species of Wrens in the world but they nearly all have similar characteristics and are easily recognizable. Below is a Pacific Wren, Pacific Wren, Seattle, Washington. Photo by Tom Talbott (Creative Commons license 2.0).
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