Robins

Mark Robins scored one of the more iconic goals in his career when he was playing for Manchester United in an away game against Nottingham Forest on the 7th January 1990 in an FA Cup third round tie. It was widely speculated that under-pressure United manager Alex Ferguson would have been sacked had United lost as they were 15th in the league and had been eliminated from the League Cup. Instead, Robins scored the winning goal. Ferguson kept his job and go on to achieve success at the club over the next 23 years. Which is more than enough about Manchester United.

But what about the name Robins? When I was thinking about it I wondered why any family would be named after the plural of a small bird. So, I had a look.

The surname Robins is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin. It is derived from the baptismal name Robin, which was a diminutive of the personal name Robert, and refers to ‘a son of Robin or Robert’. Variations of this name include: Robins, Robyns, Robbins, Robbings, Robbens, Robens and many more.

Surnames weren’t widely used until after the Norman Conquest in 1066. As the country’s population grew and to allow the new King William I to extract the relevant taxation, it became necessary to distinguish between people and so names began to include descriptions of the person, such as Thomas son of John, Peter the Baker, Richard the Whitehead, Mary Webster, etc.

These descriptions would grow to form the surnames we recognise today although they could change over time as a person changed his job. For example, John Blacksmith might become John Farrier as his trade developed. Today there are perhaps as many as 45,000 different English surnames.

That was about as far as I wanted to go on surnames as I had begun then to wonder about the small bird and what was the collective name for them. 

Well, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) did a survey in 2011 which found the following: the top three suggestions received were Round, Breast and Blush with Rabble, Bobbin, Red, Squabble, Rash, Hood, Riot and Reliance making up the rest.

I had no idea that there is an annual awareness day for robins. National Robin Day is on the 21st December, created by the charity Songbird Survival in 2016 as a way to raise awareness of not only robins but also all small garden birds who may struggle to survive the cold winter months.

I suspect that this date does not have any relevance to the invention of the Christmas card in 1843. Victorian postmen already wore bright red uniforms and had gained the nickname ‘Robins’. Many Victorian illustrators started to depict robins delivering Christmas cards in their beaks.

Royal Mail vans and post boxes are still painted red due to the original Victorian branding.

Robin Redbreast

Good-bye, good-bye to Summer!
For Summer's nearly done;
The garden smiling faintly,
Cool breezes in the sun;
Our Thrushes now are silent,
Our Swallows flown away, —
But Robin's here, in coat of brown,
With ruddy breast-knot gay.
Robin, Robin Redbreast,
O Robin dear!
Robin singing sweetly
In the falling of the year.

Bright yellow, red, and orange,
The leaves come down in hosts;
The trees are Indian Princes,
But soon they'll turn to Ghosts;
The scanty pears and apples
Hang russet on the bough,
It's Autumn, Autumn, Autumn late,
'Twill soon be Winter now.
Robin, Robin Redbreast,
O Robin dear!
And welaway! my Robin,
For pinching times are near.

The fireside for the Cricket,
The wheatstack for the Mouse,
When trembling night-winds whistle
And moan all round the house;
The frosty ways like iron,
The branches plumed with snow, —
Alas! in Winter, dead and dark,
Where can poor Robin go?
Robin, Robin Redbreast,
O Robin dear!
And a crumb of bread for Robin,
His little heart to cheer.

                                       William Allingham

The poem was first published in his collection of poetry, "Day and Night Songs" in 1855.

Thanks for reading, Terry Q.