A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1990 (DOST Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Robin in the box. [Robene n.1] Equivalent to e.m.E. Jacke of the boxe (1555), ‘applied contemptuously to the consecrated host, with an allusion to its reservation in the pyx’ (OED, s.v. Jack-in-the-box 2. Also, in the same source, called ‘round Robin’. Cf. Jak in the bokis Jak n.1 3 c, = ‘a name for a cheat or sharper’). —1581 Hamilton Cath. Tr. 81b.
The Caluinolatre Knoxistis … calling Christis precious bodie … Robin in the box
