A horse called Dobbin

December 1, 2007 5:49 AM

Does anyone remember a children's book or story or nursery rhyme with a horse called Dobbin in it?
posted by robotot to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/my_dobbin/index.htm
posted by TheRaven at 5:59 AM on December 1, 2007

Slight detour: there's a character so named in Thackeray's Vanity fair, noted for his steadfastness. It may be that his name was inspired by your horse or vice-versa.
posted by londongeezer at 6:04 AM on December 1, 2007

Dobbin is sort of a generic name for a workhorse, isn't it? The example that comes to mind for me is "Put on your old grey bonnet, with the blue ribbon on it/and I'll hitch old Dobbin to the shay" from the 1910 song.
posted by nonane at 6:12 AM on December 1, 2007

Fisher Price had a ride-on Dashing Dobbin toy in 1938
posted by Gungho at 6:17 AM on December 1, 2007

Up the hill to blanket fair,
What shall we have we get there,
A bucket full of water,
A penny worth of hay,
Gee up, dobbin, all the way.

From my son's My Very First Mother Goose.
posted by mollweide at 6:38 AM on December 1, 2007

Actually, it's "up the wooden hill". So much for my memory.
posted by mollweide at 6:39 AM on December 1, 2007

Yeah, "Dobbin" is definitely a generic horse name in England, like "Fido" is in the US for dogs.
posted by LairBob at 7:20 AM on December 1, 2007

OED:

[the proper name Dobbin (dim. of Dob, altered forms of Robin, Rob, dim. of Robert) as a pet name.]

An ordinary draught or farm horse; sometimes contemptuously, an old horse, a jade.
1596 SHAKES. Merch. V. II. ii. 100 Thou hast got more haire on thy chin, then Dobbin my philhorse has on his taile. 1862 SALA Accepted Addr. 229 The dappled dobbins wink lazily. 1871 MISS MULOCK Fair France 5 Bits of shiny brass.. jangling about their fore legs, in a fashion which British Dobbin would never submit to.
posted by languagehat at 7:40 AM on December 1, 2007

Dobbin is the standard traditional name for Pantomine Horses in British Pantomimes
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:05 AM on December 1, 2007

There's a Dobbin in The Tomten, I believe.
posted by yogurtisgenocide at 9:40 AM on December 1, 2007

Now here is to Dobbin and to his right eye
May god send my master a good Christmas pie
A good Christmas pie that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl we'll drink to thee.
posted by nax at 9:56 AM on December 2, 2007