The clue to Cheryl’s Mystery Lyric for Monday has prompted me to start a new series on Mystery Lyrics: “The Story Behind The Songs”, or as in this case, the origin of the band’s (or artists) name. I will be adding to this as I see fit, or whenever any interesting stories appear.

Cock Robin is not only the name of a band that produced a string of fine singles, but also an english Nursery Rhyme which dates back to the 18th century at least. Some sources think it could be older than even that. The first 4 verses of the song were first published in 1744 in Tom Thumb’s Pretty Song Book, the others appearing in 1770.

As is often the case with english nursery rhymes, “Who Killed Cock Robin” would appear to point to some incident in history.  The most credible meanings cited by Wikipedia are:

A parody of the death of William Rufus, who got killed in the new forest by an arrow in the year 1100.
William Rufus was King of England from 1087 until 1100, so called because of his ruddy face. It seems that he was a ruthless ruler, little liked by his people. The story of his death in the New Forest in 1100 is documented on the wikipedia page. The supposed place of his death is marked today by the Rufus Stone. It was erected in 1865

The Fall of The Government of Robert Walpole in 1742.
After the Battle of Carthagena de Indias, where the British suffered a massive defeat at the hands of the Spaniards (18.000 casualties), Robert Walpole, Britains first prime minister, was forced to resign his post.
The fact that the rhyme was first published shortly after the collapse of the government of course adds credibility to this interpretation.

There is, however, evidence that the rhyme could be much older than what it is generally considered to be

The death of a robin by an arrow is depicted in a stained glass window at Buckland Rectory in Gloucestshire.

“The gentry house that became the old rectory at Buckland has an impressive timbered hall that dates from the fifteenth century with two lights of contemporary stained glass in the west wall with the rebus of William Grafton and arms of Gloucester Abbey in one and the rising sun of Edward IVin the other light; birds in various attitudes hold scrolls In Nomine Jesu”; none is reported transfixed by an arrow in Anthony Emery, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500: Southern England, s.v. “Buckland Old Rectory, Gloucestershire”, (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 80.

And the rhyme also bears resemblance to a story by John Skelton from 1508 called Phylyp Sparow. “Whan I remembre agayn How mi Philyp was slayn, Never halfe the payne Was betwene you twayne”

There is, however, no factual evidence to support any of the above theories.