| "Who Killed Cock Robin" | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Death and Burial of Poor Cock Robin, by Henry Louis Stephens, 1865. | |
| Nursery rhyme | |
| Published | c. 1744 |
| Songwriter(s) | Unknown |
"Who Killed Cock Robin" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 494.
The earliest record of the rhyme is in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book , published in 1744, which noted only the first four verses. The extended version given below was not printed until c. 1770. [1]
The rhyme also has an alternative ending, in which the sparrow who killed Cock Robin is hanged for his crime. [2] Several early versions picture a stocky, strong-billed bullfinch tolling the bell, which may have been the original intention of the rhyme. [3]
Although the earliest known record of the song is from the mid-eighteenth century, [4] there is some evidence that it is much older. The death of a robin by an arrow is depicted in a 15th-century stained glass window at Buckland Rectory, Gloucestershire. [5]
A similar fragmentary rhyme appears in the collected grammatical miscellany of 15th-century schoolmaster, Thomas Schort, which reads: [6]
The rhyme is also similar to a poem, Phyllyp Sparowe, written by John Skelton about 1508, in which the narrator laments the death of his pet bird. [1] The use of the rhyme 'owl' with 'shovel' could suggest that it was originally used in older middle English pronunciation. [1] Versions of the story appear to exist in other countries, including Germany. [1]
A number of theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme:
All of these theories are based on perceived similarities in the text to legendary or historical events, or on the similarities of names. Peter Opie pointed out that an existing rhyme could have been adapted to fit the circumstances of political events in the eighteenth century. [1]
The theme of Cock Robin's death as well as the poem's distinctive cadence have become archetypes, much used in literary fiction and other works of art, from poems, to murder mysteries, to cartoons. [1]
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