The robin and the wren are coupled together also in the following rhyme from Scotland, which has found its way into some modern English nursery collections:—
The robin redbreast and the wran
Coost out about the parritch pan;
And ere the robin got a spune
The wran she had the parritch dune.
(1870, p. 188.)
The Robin's Testament already quoted concludes with anger on the part of the robin at the entrance of the wren, whose appearance heralds his death. Other pieces describe the inverse case, when the wren dies in spite of the robin's efforts to keep her alive. This conception forms the subject of a Scottish ballad called The Birds' Lamentation, which is included in the collection of David Herd of the year 1776. It contains the following lines:—
The Wren she lyes in Care's bed, in meikle dule and pyne, O!
Quhen in came Robin Red-breast wi' sugar saps and wine, O!
—Now, maiden will ye taste o' this?—It's sugar saps and wine, O!
Na, ne'er a drap, Robin, (I wis); gin it be ne'er so fine, O!
—Ye're no sae kind's ye was yestreen, or sair I hae mistae'n, O!
Ye're no the lass, to pit me by, and bid me gang my lane, O!
And quhere's the ring that I gied ye, ye little cutty quean, O!
—I gied it till an ox-ee [tomtit], a kind sweat-heart o' myne, O!
The same incidents are related of real birds in the toy-book called The Life and Death of Jenny Wren, which was published by Evans in 1813 "for the use of young ladies and gentlemen:—
A very small book at a very small charge,
To teach them to read before they grow large."
Jenny Wren fell sick upon a merry time,
In came Robin Redbreast and brought her sops and wine;
Eat well of the sop, Jenny, drink well of the wine.
Thank you Robin kindly, you shall be mine.
The wren recovered for a time, but her behaviour was such as to rouse the robin's jealousy. She finally died, and the book concludes with the lines:—
Poor Robin long for Jenny grieves,
At last he covered her with leaves.
Yet near the place a mournful lay
For Jenny Wren sings every day.