Mairi Robinson

Respected lexicographer who changed career to work in adult education

Helen Mairi Johnstone Robinson. Lexicographer and adult education worker. Born: 21 January, 1945 in Glasgow. Died: 17 June, 2020 in Edinburgh, aged 75

For a woman whose words were once her work, it might have been something of an offence to receive a ringing endorsement of her professionalism punctuated by the F-word.

But lexicographer Mairi Robinson could not have been happier: the approval came from a woman in the seriously deprived Cornton area of Stirling where Mrs Robinson had left the world of dictionary compilation behind to help disadvantaged adult learners.

And overhearing that conversation acknowledging that she was “Awright, that [expletive deleted] Mairi” was one of her proudest moments. She, too, was a straight-talking, sometimes formidable, woman who could appreciate the sentiment.

She was also a passionate believer in adult learning and had immersed herself in the cause – only after concluding a career that saw her become a key figure in Scottish lexicography, most notably as editorin-chief of the Concise Scots Dictionary.

Her own education had begun the best part of 10,000 miles away in Australia, where she emigrated as a three-yearold with her parents, the Rev John and Elma Macnicol, in the late 1940s.

However, by 1952 she and her mother were sailing back to Scotland following the death of her father and she would continue her schooling at Edinburgh’s Liberton Primary and George Watson’s Ladies College.

A bright youngster, she excelled academically, advancing two years ahead of her peers and becoming dux at 16. She went on to Edinburgh University to study Classics during the 1960s, embracing the era’s classic beehive hairstyle and miniskirts.

In 1963 she and her future husband, Greek Philosophy lecturer David Robinson, were both on a Classics department trip to Rome and Pompeii and married five years later.

Soon afterwards, they headed to the United States, where he worked for a year at the University of Illinois in Urbanachampaign and his new wife learned ten-pin bowling and the art of hosting Americanstyle dinner parties.

Quite what prompted her interest in the world of lexicography is not clear but from the mid-60s until 1973 she was an editor and senior editor on the Scottish National Dictionary. She then spent the following 12 years as editor-in-chief of the Concise Scots Dictionary, first published in 1985 and considered the definitive resource for readers, speakers and learners of Scots.

That role thrust her into the limelight on occasion, including an appearance on the presenter Russell Harty’s chat show.

Subsequent posts as a researcher on lexicography saw her work at Edinburgh University and contribute to the Edinburgh Edition of Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley Novels, when she was able to examine his original manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland.

She was also lexicographer and project manager at Chambers, Edinburgh and editor-inchief of its 21st Century Dictionary.

That volume and Scott’s Edinburgh Editions were published at roughly the same time and a delighted Mrs Robinson was pictured outside James Thin’s bookshop, opposite Edinburgh University’s Old Quadrangle, flanked by two large window displays, each showcasing the works.

She continued as a freelance copy-editor and lexicographer until 1998 but, as the demand for dictionaries and references declined with the internet age, she decided to retrain, initially studying computer science and helping to develop a computer database of language, the British National Corpus.

Returning to university, she gained a certificate in Community Education and moved into various community posts as a family learning worker in Craigmillar and council community worker in Stirling.

She also managed an adult education centre, Ace Cornton, and volunteered with Home-start Leith and Northeast Edinburgh, a charity helping struggling families with young children.

She and David, from whom she separated in the 1980s, had two children, John and Nicola, who accompanied her as she pursued another great interest – Scottish history.

She attended annual conferences of the Scottish Medievalists and introduced the children to Historic Scotland’s distant sites, including uninhabited Orkney islands. Latterly she was a member of the Damned Rebel Bitches, Scottish women’s history group.

Music was also a rich part of part of her life. She was an alto with the Sine Nomine Choir, Edinburgh University Opera Club and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and a regular opera and concert-goer.

She her saw her favourite tenor, Placido Domingo, perform Carmen at the Edinburgh Festival in 1977. They shared the same year and date of birth and when her daughter met him a few years ago he signed her mother a note inscribed with the words “Happy Birthday to us”.

Mrs Robinson, who was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in May, is survived by her children, her granddaughter Eleanor Mairi and brother Duncan.

She also managed an adult education centre and volunteered with a charity helping struggling families