Poor Robin
Encyclopedia
Poor Robin was an English 17th and 18th-century satirical almanac
series, appearing as Poor Robin's Almanack from 1663. Other similar writings by the pseudonymous Poor Robin were published later, in American and into the 19th century.
, which is said to have been originally issued in 1661 or 1662. It was taken over by the Stationers' Company, and was continued annually by various hands, till 1776. The identity of its original author has been disputed, but is assigned as William Winstanley
by Sidney Lee
, in the Dictionary of National Biography
, who dismisses the claim that Robert Herrick
wrote it. He notes the discovery in the parish registers of Saffron Walden for 14 March 1646-7 relating to Robert Winstanley (a nephew of William and a younger brother of Henry Winstanley
) but argues that Robert would still have been a boy when the first almanacs were written; a listing for Robert's publications was given by H. Eckroyd Smith. On internal grounds, namely the verse style of William Winstanley in his known works, Lee argues for the latter, and mentions a 1667 portrait of William Winstanley with caption 'Poor Robin,' with verses by Francis Kirkman
, in a volume called Poor Robin's Jests, or the Compleat Jester'.
In the Dictionary of National Biography article on Robert Pory by Joseph Hirst Lupton, it is said that Pory, at the time of the first edition in 1663 archdeacon of Middlesex, had his name taken in vain with the claim that he had licensed the almanac.
Another volume in verse by 'Poor Robin,' in which the tone of John Taylor the water-poet is closely followed, was called Poor Robin's Perambulation from Saffron Walden to London performed this Month of July 1678 (London, 1678,); the doggerel poem deals largely with the alehouses on the road, and Lee assigns it to William Winstanley.
, reporting the trivial and inconsequential juxtaposed with the serious, in parallel chronologies—set in rhymed couplet
s—of the "Loyal" and the "Fanatic", which began in 1663 and became Old Poor Robin with the 1777 issue. Poor Robin offered deadpan prognostications of the obvious, and substituted parodic saints' days under the "Fanatic" rubric. From the turn of the 18th century, the satire becomes blunted and wise homilies of prudence take their place. It observes the continued use of cucking stool
s in 1746.
Almanac
An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...
series, appearing as Poor Robin's Almanack from 1663. Other similar writings by the pseudonymous Poor Robin were published later, in American and into the 19th century.
Origins
The earliest volume published under the pseudonym of 'Poor Robin' was an almanac calculated from the meridian of Saffron WaldenSaffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a medium-sized market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is located north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and approx north of London...
, which is said to have been originally issued in 1661 or 1662. It was taken over by the Stationers' Company, and was continued annually by various hands, till 1776. The identity of its original author has been disputed, but is assigned as William Winstanley
William Winstanley
William Winstanley was an English poet and compiler of biographies.-Life:Born about 1628, William Winstanley was the second son of William Winstanley of Quendon, Essex, by his wife Elizabeth. Henry Winstanley was his nephew. William was sworn in as a freeman of Saffron Walden on 21 April 1649. He...
by Sidney Lee
Sidney Lee
Sir Sidney Lee was an English biographer and critic.He was born Solomon Lazarus Lee at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London and educated at the City of London School and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in modern history in 1882. In the next year he became assistant-editor of the...
, in the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, who dismisses the claim that Robert Herrick
Robert Herrick (poet)
Robert Herrick was a 17th-century English poet.-Early life:Born in Cheapside, London, he was the seventh child and fourth son of Julia Stone and Nicholas Herrick, a prosperous goldsmith....
wrote it. He notes the discovery in the parish registers of Saffron Walden for 14 March 1646-7 relating to Robert Winstanley (a nephew of William and a younger brother of Henry Winstanley
Henry Winstanley
Henry Winstanley was an English engineer who constructed the first Eddystone lighthouse.-Early life and career:He was born in Saffron Walden, Essex, and baptised there on 31 March 1644...
) but argues that Robert would still have been a boy when the first almanacs were written; a listing for Robert's publications was given by H. Eckroyd Smith. On internal grounds, namely the verse style of William Winstanley in his known works, Lee argues for the latter, and mentions a 1667 portrait of William Winstanley with caption 'Poor Robin,' with verses by Francis Kirkman
Francis Kirkman
Francis Kirkman appears in many roles in the English literary world of the second half of the seventeenth century, as a publisher, bookseller, librarian, author and bibliographer...
, in a volume called Poor Robin's Jests, or the Compleat Jester'.
In the Dictionary of National Biography article on Robert Pory by Joseph Hirst Lupton, it is said that Pory, at the time of the first edition in 1663 archdeacon of Middlesex, had his name taken in vain with the claim that he had licensed the almanac.
Another volume in verse by 'Poor Robin,' in which the tone of John Taylor the water-poet is closely followed, was called Poor Robin's Perambulation from Saffron Walden to London performed this Month of July 1678 (London, 1678,); the doggerel poem deals largely with the alehouses on the road, and Lee assigns it to William Winstanley.
Content
"Poor Robin" established a tradition of parodyParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, reporting the trivial and inconsequential juxtaposed with the serious, in parallel chronologies—set in rhymed couplet
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
s—of the "Loyal" and the "Fanatic", which began in 1663 and became Old Poor Robin with the 1777 issue. Poor Robin offered deadpan prognostications of the obvious, and substituted parodic saints' days under the "Fanatic" rubric. From the turn of the 18th century, the satire becomes blunted and wise homilies of prudence take their place. It observes the continued use of cucking stool
Cucking stool
Ducking-stools and cucking-stools are chairs formerly used for punishment of women in England and Scotland . The term cucking-stool derives from wyuen pine as referred in Langland's Piers Plowman.They were both instruments of social humiliation and censure, primarily for the offense of scolding...
s in 1746.
Further works
Other works purporting to be by 'Poor Robin' and attributed to Winstanley or his imitators are:- 'Poor Robin's Pathway to Knowledge' (1663, 1685, 1688);
- 'Poor Robin's Character of France,' 1666;
- 'The Protestant Almanack,' Cambridge (1669 and following years);
- 'Speculum Papismi' (1669);
- 'Poor Robin's Observations upon Whitsun Holidays' (1670);
- 'Poor Robin's Parley with Dr. Wilde,' 1672, sheet in verse;
- 'Poor Robin's Character of a Dutchman,' 1672; 'Poor Robin's Collection of Ancient Prophecies,' 1672;
- 'Poor Robin's Dreams, commonly called Poor Charity' 1674 (sheet with cuts);
- 'Poor Robin 1677, or a Yea and Nay Almanac,' a burlesque on the quakers (annually continued till 1680);
- 'Poor Robin's Visions,' 1677;
- 'Poor Robin's Answer to Mr. Thomas Danson,' 1677;
- 'Poor Robin's Intelligence Reviv'd,' 1678;
- 'Four for a Penny,' 1678;
- 'A Scourge for Poor Robin,' 1678;
- 'Poor Robin's Prophecy,' 1678;
- 'Poor Robin's Dream . . . dialogue between . . . Dr. T[onge] and Capt. B[edloe],' 1681;
- 'The Female Ramblers,' 1683;
- 'Poor Robin's Hue and Cry after good Housekeeping,' 1687;
- 'Poor Robin's True Character of a Scold,' 1688 (reprinted at Totham Hall press, 1848);
- 'Curious Enquiries,' 1688; 'A Hue and Cry after Money,' 1689 (prose and verse);
- 'Hieroglyphia Sacra Oxoniensis,' 1702, a burlesque on the frontispiece to the Oxford almanac;
- 'New High Church turned Old Presbyterian,' 1709;
- 'The Merrie Exploits of Poor Robin, the Merrie Sadler of Walden,' n.d. (Pepysian Collection; reprinted Edinburgh, 1820, and Falkirk, 1822);
- 'Poor Robin's Creed,' n.d.