Who Killed Cock Robin? A Mystery

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European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), on the bank of the Lauch, above Herrlisheim, near Colmar: photo by Katz, 2007

European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), Milton Country Park, Cambridgeshire: photo by DemonTraitor, 2007

Who killed Cock Robin?

I, said the Sparrow,

with my bow and arrow,

I killed Cock Robin.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), male, Kolkata, West Bengal, India: photo by J. M. Garg, 2010

Who saw him die?

I, said the Fly,

with my little eye,

I saw him die.

Fly: photo by Hedwig Storch, 2009

Who caught his blood?

I, said the Fish,

with my little dish,

I caught his blood.

Blue Betta (Betta splendens): photo by Editor at Large, 2007

Who'll make the shroud?

I, said the Beetle,

with my thread and needle,

I'll make the shroud.

Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis): photo by Thomas G. Moertel, 2006

Who'll dig his grave?

I, said the Owl,

with my pick and shovel,

I'll dig his grave.

Tawny Owl (Strix aluco): photo by K.-M. Hansche, 2006

Who'll be the parson?

I, said the Rook,

with my little book,

I'll be the parson.

Rook (Corvus frugilegus): photo by AndronovIN, 2007

Who'll be the clerk?

I, said the Lark,

if it's not in the dark,

I'll be the clerk.

Rufous-Naped Lark (Mirafra africana athi), Sweetwaters Game Reserve, Kenya: photo by Jerry Friedman, 2007

Who'll carry the link?

I, said the Linnet,

I'll fetch it in a minute,

I'll carry the link.

Linnet (Carduelis cannabina): photo by Pawel Kuzniar, 2006

Who'll be chief mourner?

I, said the Dove,

I mourn for my love,

I'll be chief mourner.

A pair of White-Winged Doves (Zenaida asiatica), considering a nest site near a Yucatán cenote: photo by Jim Conrad, 2008

Who'll carry the coffin?

I, said the Kite,

if it's not through the night,

I'll carry the coffin.

Black Kite (Milvus migrans): photo by Ferdinand Grossman, 2005

Who'll bear the pall?

We, said the Wren,

both the cock and the hen,

We'll bear the pall.

Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris), Iona, Scotland: photo by Greg7, 2008

Who'll sing a psalm?

I, said the Thrush,

as she sat on a bush,

I'll sing a psalm.

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus): photo by Dave Menke, 2008 (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

Who'll toll the bell?

I said the bull,

because I can pull,

I'll toll the bell

Bull (Bos primogenius taurus), Oostvardersplassen, The Netherlands: photo by Rex, 2005

All the birds of the air

fell a-sighing and a-sobbing,

when they heard the bell toll

for poor Cock Robin.

British Robin (Erithacus rubecula melophilus), Merrion Squre, Dublin: photo by David Jordan, 2008

Is the sad tale of Cock Robin a murder archetype in a nursery rhyme, a kind of children's story employed by a culture to resolve issues symbolically through catharsis, so that violence and danger, while recognized as real, may be moved off, in the child's mind, from the world of humans, where evil exists, to that of nature, where there had previously been an innocence that would, in a world like this one, be perhaps too much for a grown person to bear?

European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), on the bank of the Lauch, above Herrlisheim, near Colmar: photo by Katz, 2007

Who Killed Cock Robin? origin unknown, first published in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, c.1744, extended version first published c. 1770