Episode 34: Who Killed Cock Robin

Welcome to another episode of A Tisket-Tasket podcast with your host, Gina, as we explore the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin." This English nursery rhyme, possibly dating back to the 15th century, delves into the mysterious origins of the verse. It's been theorized to be connected to Norse mythology, the fall of a British Prime Minister, or even a symbolic representation of the changing seasons. The poem's intricate details, from blood collection to shroud-making, offer insights into how cultures processed death. We also hear haunting audio versions from folk musicians John Jacob Niles and Alan Mills, shedding light on the eerie tone of this timeless nursery rhyme. Dive deeper into the origins and symbolism of "Who Killed Cock Robin" on my blog. Stay tuned for more nursery rhyme explorations in the coming weeks! Find out how you can help me get out to Portland, Oregon - atiskettasketpodcast.com #NurseryRhymes #CockRobin #HistoryOfRhymes #Folklore #PodcastEpisode

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Task podcast. I'm your host, Gina, and today we are on episode number 34, where we will be talking about the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin."

First, I'd like to say, please check out my website with the link in the description below to see how you can help me get out to Portland, Oregon, and speak at the American Folklore Conference. It is coming up very quickly, and I'm still looking for some monetary donations to help me get out there and do what I love. So please, again, check out my website description in the link below to see how you can do that.

Secondly, on a Saturday, I dedicate this episode of my podcast to Jimmy Buffett. Those of you who don't know, Jimmy Buffett was an American singer-songwriter, most known for the songs "Margaritaville," "Five O'Clock Somewhere," "Cheeseburger in Paradise," but really, he was much more than that. He was a big influence in my life. He was known as a dreamer, a writer, and a traveler. When I learned about his death on Saturday, I cried a lot. I dedicate this to him because I definitely think his music and his way of life really influenced how I look at the world and helped me be the curious person I am today. So I just wanted to dedicate this episode to him. But with those few things being said, let's go ahead and talk about the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin."

Oh, "Who Killed Cock Robin" is an English nursery rhyme with a Ralph Folk Song Index number of 494. It first appeared in publication in "Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book" in 1744, but only the first four verses appeared there. The extended version, which I will read in a moment, was not published until around 1770. Historical evidence, as well as religious and mythological iconography, suggests that this nursery rhyme is probably much older than its first publication date. Like I've said in many episodes, nursery rhymes were passed down orally before anyone thought to research them or even write them down, and I really believe that this is yet another case of that. In fact, many scholars believe this nursery rhyme, because of the way the couplets rhyme, actually predated Middle English. For those of you who don't know, the biggest factor that changed Middle English to Modern English (and it didn't change overnight) is called the Great Vowel Shift. This shift happened between the 1400s and the 1700s. No one really knows why the shift happened, but some scholars have guessed it's because of conflicts with France and kind of an anti-French sentiment. The way French noblemen owned a lot of English lands changed the way we use language. So we had a big shift in language between the 1400s and 1700s, and nursery rhymes are a really great indicator of how language changed. Thus, we believe that nursery rhymes such as "Who Killed Cock Robin" may actually have appeared around the 1400s instead of its first publication date in the mid-1700s, which I just think is amazing. These rhymes can be passed down over hundreds of years, not just tens or a few generations, but we're talking about four or five, six generations that these nursery rhymes featured in children's lives. I think that's really cool.

But in any case, let me go ahead and read to you the extended version, which appeared around 1770. "Who Killed Cock Robin? I," said the Sparrow with my bow and arrow. I killed Cock Robin, who saw him die. "I," said the Fly with my teeny, I, I saw him die. "Who caught his blood?" "I," said the Fish with my little dish. I caught his blood. "Who will make a shroud?" "I," said the Beetle with my thread and needle. I'll make the shroud. "Who will dig his grave?" "I," said the Owl with my pick and trowel, I will dig his grave. "Who will be the Parson?" "I," said the Rook with my little book. I'll be the Parson. "Who will be the clerk?" "I," said the Lark. If it's not in the dark, I'll be the clerk. "Who will carry the link?" "I," said the Linnet, I'll fetch it in a minute. I'll carry the link. "Who will be chief mourner?" "I," said the Dove, I mourn for my love. I'll be chief mourner. "Who will carry the coffin?" "I," said the Kite. If it's not through the night, I'll carry the coffin. "Who will bear the pall?" "We," said the Wren, both the cock and hen, we'll bear the pall. "Who will sing the psalm?" "I," said the Thrush as she sat on a bush. I'll sing a psalm. "Who told the bell?" "I," said the Bull, because I can pull all told the bell. All the birds of the air fell a-sitting and a-sobbing when they heard the bell toll for poor Cock Robin.

Just a note here with a couple of things. When it references a bull, it might actually be referencing a bullfinch, which is a type of bird. And secondly, I don't have an English accent, and sometimes I mispronounce things because they are pronounced differently in British English than American English. I'm very sorry. So when I read this, some of the rhymes don't sound like they rhyme, and that could very well be for a couple of reasons. Number one, my accent is different, and number two, the Great Vowel Shift, as I mentioned before, really changed the way we said words. But I really love this nursery rhyme. It kind of reminds me of "Who Swallowed the Fly?" And it actually gained resurgence in the 1970s, around the time of "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly," because of folklorists and such. I'll talk about that.

Another thing to note is that the nursery rhyme had an alternative ending, and it might have alternative endings depending on where you read it. But one of the endings was that the Sparrow who killed Cock Robin was hanged for his crime. In several early versions, a stocky, strong, bold Bullfinch tolling the bell may have been the original intention for the rhyme, rather than a bull itself.

Now that I've read the nursery rhyme and talked a little bit about where it came from, let's go ahead and listen to the audio portion of this week's episode.

I'm going to go ahead and play two versions, well, really one and a half versions of the song. The first version I'm going to play for you is from around 1940 and was recorded by John Jacob Niles. When I listened to the song, I had a feeling that I had heard this name before, but I was unsure why. When I went to look him up, it clicked in my brain. John Jacob Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. He was born in 1892 and died in 1980. He was known for American folk music and Appalachian folk music. For those of you who are not Americans, the Appalachian Mountains are in the Eastern United States mountain range and are considered their own unique culture, the Appalachian culture. Some people might think of it derogatorily, but it's a very rich culture, and I'm actually from the Appalachian region, so it is near and dear to my heart. John Jacob Niles was one of the first people to collect ballads from that area. Like other contemporary singers and American singer-songwriters such as Burl Ives (known for "A Holly Jolly Christmas"), John Jacob Niles was part of the strong 1970s folklore era. He was a prominent figure in that era and was instrumental in collecting Appalachian folk music. He was one of the first people to transcribe traditional songs from oral sources, especially from itinerant employees, immigrants, or longstanding Appalachian folks who maybe didn't even read or write but had this rich oral tradition. Songs played an important part in Appalachian culture, just as they did in African-American slave culture. There was a very strong culture around folk music, oral tradition, and singing songs, so John Jacob Niles was one of the first people to understand that this was an important part of culture and literature in music. He wrote it down.

If you're interested in this kind of geographical area of culture, there's actually an entire journal of "Appalachia and Folklore," and it has a significant place in folklore studies. This Appalachian region is key, and John Jacob Niles was an important figure in it. We're going to listen to his version of "Who Killed Cock Robin" now.

[Audio clip]

Pretty eerie, right? It's just, I think, an excellent example of folk music and the recitation of nursery rhymes in a unique way. I noticed that when I was looking at audio recordings of this particular nursery rhyme, many came from the 1960s and 1970s. Although this one predates them, being from the 1940s. It was surprisingly popular around the same time as "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly." If you haven't listened to that episode, go ahead and do it because that nursery rhyme is actually much younger than this one. I'm curious to know why "Who Killed Cock Robin" gained a resurgence in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. What made it popular again? But that's just my own musings. Let's go ahead and listen to Alan Mills' version, which is in a similar vein, from 1956.

[Audio clip]

Again, I'm sorry I can only play 30 seconds of it, but you can find the link to the full song in my blog. You can also search for it on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. It might come up. It's a pretty notable song. There we have two audio versions of the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin," and its haunting tone is something you might sing to a child. Let's talk about the origins and meaning of this nursery rhyme.

As I mentioned, this nursery rhyme first appeared in publication around the mid-18th century, but there's a lot of evidence that it's much older. The death of a Robin by an arrow is depicted in a 15th-century stained glass window in Buckland Rectory, Gloucestershire (I apologize if I mispronounced that name). The rhyme is similar to a poem called "Philip Sparrow," written by John Skelton around 1508, in which the narrator laments the death of his pet bird. The use of the rhyme "owl" with "shovel" and various other versions could suggest that it was originally used in much older Middle English pronunciation. For those of you who don't know, the biggest factor that changed Middle English to Modern English is called the Great Vowel Shift. It happened between the 1400s and the 1700s, and no one really knows why it happened. Some scholars speculate that it was because of conflicts with France and an anti-French sentiment, as French noblemen owned a lot of English lands. This shift changed the way we used language. So, if we consider this rhyme from around the 1500s, right around when Shakespeare was living, it might make sense given the rhyme scheme.

Versions of the story also appear in other countries besides England, including Germany, which I think is kind of neat. However, a number of theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme.

First, the rhyme records mythological events, such as the death of the god Balder from Norse mythology. This theory comes from John Orchard Halliwell, who was obsessed with Norse mythology. When I read the Oxford English Dictionary comments on it, it's kind of like they're rolling their eyes, like, "Oh my gosh, there goes John Orchard Halliwell talking about Norse mythology again." So that theory seems a bit of a stretch, but the idea is that the poem seemed to be about a ritual sacrifice of a king figure, possibly related to paganism.

Another theory posits that the rhyme is connected with the fall of Robert Walpole's government in 1742, as "Robin" is a diminutive form of "Robert." The first printing of the rhyme is close to the time of the events mentioned. Robert Walpole was a strong British statesman and Whig politician known as the first prime minister of Great Britain. He dominated British politics for a significant period in the early 18th century.

Another theory suggests that, according to Celtic traditions, "Lugh" (or "Lug") the sun god, who dies as the nights get longer after the summer solstice, is marked in the old Celtic pictographic calendar with a bow and arrow shape. This could also be anglicized as "cock Robin" because of "cocker," which means red, being the leader and Robin being the sun. The Sparrow who kills him with a bow and arrow could represent Bron, the Blasted, the god of winter in the form of a raven.

So, there we have four very different theories about what this nursery rhyme means. But one thing I want to emphasize is that, regardless of whether it's about someone or some particular subject, this nursery rhyme is a fantastic teaching tool for understanding the steps and processes of death. It represents a step-by-step procession of how people mourn. If we take it at face value, we see steps such as the admission of death, what happens to the body, the collection of blood, the sewing of a shroud, the digging of the grave, the role of the Parson, the singing of a psalm, the pallbearers, and the bell ringing. I think it's an important nursery rhyme because, in 1744, people encountered death much more frequently than they do now, and this nursery rhyme would have served as a teaching tool for children to understand and process death.

One last note is that in the English Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, Peter Opie also points out that the existing rhyme could have been adapted to fit the circumstances of the 18th-century political events. It could have been changed from when it was first told orally to written down. Maybe it was originally about death or a Celtic tradition and was later rewritten to incorporate 18th-century British politics. Who knows? "Cock Robin" is a rich rhyme, and I wish I had more time to delve into its meaning, but it's important not to overlook the rich culture of death represented within it.

In any case, over the last few weeks, we've talked about nursery rhymes that included Robins, which was my theme. So stay tuned for next week, where we'll continue to explore the weirdness of nursery rhymes. Take care!