The bold, red-breasted robin is an icon of Christmas in the British Isles and parts of Europe - but they also have a significant (and in some cases, rather surprising) presence in folklore. Let's take a look at...
- Robin Redbreast, Jenny Wren and Christmas
- How the Robin Got a Red Breast
- Babes in the Wood
- Harbingers of Doom or a Visiting Relative
- A Robin's Revenge
 |
| The European robin is bold, loud and deeply integrated into folklore... (Jan Meeus) |
Robin Redbreast, Jenny Wren and Christmas
Did you know that the European robin used to be called a rudduc (i.e. red or ruddy) in Old English, then ruddock, then redbreast, then Robin Redbreast before finally coming back down to a robin?
The "robin" element of their name seems to have been added in the late Middle Ages, when the English developed a habit of giving common birds human names. Robert, Robinet, Roberd and Robin were all used for the redbreast, but Robin was the one that stuck - possibly because Robin Redbreast flows well on the tongue. Other birds got the same treatment - for example, wrens became Jenny Wren.
There's actually a story detailing a marriage between Robin Redbreast and a wren, supposedly told by Scottish poet Robert Burns and passed on by his sister Isabella Burns and based on an old folk tale that the wren was the wife of the robin. The Burns version puts forward that the Robin Redbreast once sang for a King and Queen, who were so taken with the music that they gave the robin the court's wren to be his wife.
"Robin" was also used as a nickname for postmen in the UK thanks to their uniforms, which often included bright red components (in some cases they even wore a red frock coat.) It's thought that robins became an icon of Christmas thanks to Victorian Christmas cards using the birds to represent postmen delivering the Christmas mail!
There's actually an earlier folkloric connection between robins and wrens, where they serve as totems of the Oak King and the Holly King, respectively. On the solstices of each year, it was said that the kings would do battle - at the winter solstice, the Oak King would defeat the Holly King and winter would recede... but at the summer solstice, the Holly King would return and overthrow the Oak King, slowly returning the world to winter!
How the Robin Got a Red Breast
There's actually quite a few Christianity-linked stories about how the robin got its characteristic "red" breast.
One goes that, as Jesus died on the cross with a crown of thorns on his brow, the robin pulled a thorn from his flesh to ease his suffering - and the dripping blood dyed the robin's chest red.
There's another story (with two versions) that goes back to the infancy of Jesus. One begins with Mary becoming distracted while her baby is kept warm by a fire. The fire begins to burn out of control... but a robin steps between the baby and the flames, shielding the child from harm but scorching its chest feathers red in the process. Another version sees the fire slowly dying on an icy night, leaving the baby at risk of freezing to death... until a robin stands by the embers, frantically flapping his wings to fan the flames. Despite having his chest burned in the process, the robin's efforts revive the flames.
The robin's help didn't stop there. Mary sustained a large number of cuts from thorns as she fled the soldiers of King Herod, and the blood trail would have been easy for Herod's scouts to follow... if not for a robin that obscured their tracks with debris. The bird is known as Spideog Mhuire (Mary's Robin) in parts of Ireland as a result.
The folklore of Wales has yet another explanation. The story goes that the robin periodically collects dew and flutters over the fiery pits of hell, sprinkling water on the damned within to bring them some comfort. The red breast of a robin comes from the burns it endures during this daring act of compassion!
 |
| Folklore often claims the bird's breast was scorched red... (Tolga Ahmetler) |
Babes in the Wood
Harbingers of Doom or a Visiting Relative
Though the robin may seem like a cheerful visitor, folk belief often paints them in a more sinister light. A robin pecking at a house window or managing to gain access was a dire omen indeed, foretelling a death amongst the occupants - though some versions of the tale claim that this only applies outside the month of November. Interestingly, some people extended this belief to Christmas cards that featured a robin as well.
Chasing a robin out of the house could also be a problem, as an Irish folk belief suggests that this would give you terrible luck for the remainder of the year. All you could do was grit your teeth and hope it left... though some people sprinkled holy water around the visited house, or requested that the local priest came and blessed it!
Welsh mining folklore also had something to say about robins. Mining was a dangerous activity, with many workers keeping a wary eye for omens - one of the worst was a robin flying above the pithead (the surface area surrounding a mine entrance.) Known as corpse birds (along with pigeons and doves) their very presence foretold disaster. It's said that these birds were seen flying above the pithead prior to the Senghenydd colliery disaster of 1913, which claimed the lives of over four-hundred workers. Welsh folklore also viewed a robin singing close to a window as being an omen of sorrow.
Despite these evil portents, a visit from a robin (especially after a death in the family) could also be interpreted as the dead relative checking in with (and giving comfort to) their living kin - a belief that still seems somewhat popular!
 |
| Folklore claimed that there were consequences to harming a robin... (Graham Smith) |
A Robin's Revenge
"You must not take robin's eggs; if you do you will get your legs broken." That's a saying from Suffolk in England, according to the "County Folk-Lore" by the Folk-Lore Society of London. The admonition seems to have had an effect, as the local lads avoided stealing and blowing robin eggs for their collections.
Worse still was causing the death of a robin - there's even an anecdote about a boy who had a terrible shake in his hand, so much so that he couldn't hold a pen steady. When questioned about this, the boy claimed that he had been holding a robin in that hand when it died - and that the hand had shaken ever since.
The 19th century book "English Folk-Lore" also speaks of the retributive powers of robins. It mentions a Cornish saying that "who hunts the robin or the wren, will never prosper, sea or land."
More dramatic is a Yorkshire tale detailing the possible consequences of killing one of these birds - bloody milk from their cows. One story goes that a maid at a farmhouse observed that a cow began giving milk with blood in it after one of the farmer's family killed a robin. She relayed the story to her cousin, who (wanting to test the tale) went out and deliberately killed a robin himself. Sure enough, a healthy cow belonging to the family gave bloody milk for the next three days.
Some versions of these tales go even further, claiming that breaking the leg or wing of a robin will earn you a broken bone, while killing one will result in your property burning down. Another belief suggests that this doom could be mitigated by giving the bird a proper burial.
The belief that harming a robin came with a curse seems to have been present in mainland Europe as well. Because of this (and possibly because of its small size) hunters in Switzerland, France and the Alps were said to avoid harming the bird!
Thanks for reading - for more, try...