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Robin Hood and the Beggar

January 01, 1970

"Robin Hood and the Beggar" is a story in the Robin Hood canon which has survived as, among other forms, a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad, and is a pair out of several ballads about the medieval folk hero that form part of the Child ballad collection, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of traditional English ballads. These two ballads share the same basic plot device in which the English folk hero Robin Hood meets a beggar.

Ballad I edit

"Robin Hood and the Beggar, I" is Child Ballad 133.[1]

One day, Robin Hood sets off on his horse wearing his green mantle, intent on adventure. On his way to Nottingham, he meets a "jolly" beggar wearing a patched coat and with many bags on his person, which especially attract Robin's attention (5.4). The beggar begs, but Robin refuses to offer him charity because, he explains, he is Robin Hood the outlaw and has no money himself. Robin offers to fight him, and the beggar agrees to the fight and lays into him, hoping to injure him and steal his purse. They fight until the blood trickles down Robin's head. Eventually, Robin calls for a truce in which Robin agrees to give over his mantle and horse, and the beggar his coat and bags. They exchange clothing, and Robin, now in the guise of a beggar "brave and stout" (II.7.5), approvingly examines the bags and their contents: "For now I have a bag for my bread, / [...] / So have I another for Corn, / I have one for Mault, and another for salt, / And one for my little Horn" (II.8.1-5). Robin goes to Nottingham as a beggar, where he hears three yeomen are sentenced to hang for poaching the king's deer. He begs their lives from the sheriff, but the Sheriff refuses to release the men, disregarding Robin's plea because he appears as a beggar. Just as the men are about to be hanged at the gallows, Robin blows his horn, summoning his hundred archers. They rescue the three through violence and return to the green wood, celebrating the yeomen's entrance into Robin Hood's band.

Ballad II edit

"Robin Hood and the Beggar, II" is Child Ballad number 134.[2]

Robin Hood meets and demands money from a beggar. The beggar refuses, and Robin Hood goes to shoot him, but the beggar strikes a blow that breaks both bow and arrow. They fight, and the beggar wounds him, leaving him unconscious. Three of Robin Hood's men find him and manage to revive him. He sends them after the beggar. They know the country and are able to catch him. The beggar offers them money. They decide to take it and kill him, so that Robin Hood would not know. He opens a bag of meal and throws it in their faces. Though Robin Hood would have preferred revenge, he found his men's fate amusing.

Historical and cultural significance edit

This ballad is part of a group of ballads about Robin Hood that in turn, like many of the popular ballads collected by Francis James Child, were in their time considered a threat to the Protestant religion.[3] Puritan writers, like Edward Dering writing in 1572, considered such tales "'childish follye'" and "'witless devices.'"[4] Writing of the Robin Hood ballads after A Gest of Robyn Hode, their Victorian collector Francis Child claimed that variations on the "'Robin met with his match'" theme, such as this ballad, are "sometimes wearisome, sometimes sickening," and that "a considerable part of the Robin Hood poetry looks like char-work done for the petty press, and should be judged as such."[5] Child had also called the Roxburghe and Pepys collections (in which some of these ballads are included) "'veritable dung-hills [...], in which only after a great deal of sickening grubbing, one finds a very moderate jewel.'"[6]

However, as folklorist and ethnomusicologist Mary Ellen Brown has pointed out, Child's denigration of the later Robin Hood ballads is evidence of an ideological view he shared with many other scholars of his time who wanted to exclude cheap printed ballads such as these from their pedigree of the oral tradition and early literature.[7] Child and others were reluctant to include such broadsides in their collections because they thought they "regularized the text, rather than reflecting and/or participating in tradition, which fostered multiformity."[7]

On the other hand, the broadsides are significant in themselves as showing, as English jurist and legal scholar John Selden (1584–1654) puts it, "'how the wind sits. As take a straw and throw it up in the air; you shall see by that which way the wind is, which you shall not do by casting up a stone. More solid things do not show the complexion of the times so well as ballads and libels.'"[8] Even though the broadsides are cultural ephemera, unlike weightier tomes, they are important because they are markers of contemporary "current events and popular trends."[8]

It has been speculated that in his time Robin Hood represented a figure of peasant revolt, but the English medieval historian J. C. Holt has argued that the tales developed among the gentry, that he is a yeoman rather than a peasant, and that the tales do not mention peasants' complaints, such as oppressive taxes.[9] Moreover, he does not seem to rebel against societal standards but to uphold them by being munificent, devout, and affable.[10] Other scholars have seen the literature around Robin Hood as reflecting the interests of the common people against feudalism.[11] The latter interpretation supports Selden's view that popular ballads provide a valuable window onto the thoughts and feelings of the common people on topical matters: for the peasantry, Robin Hood may have been a redemptive figure.

Library/archival holdings edit

The English Broadside Ballad Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara holds seventh seventeenth-century broadside ballad versions of this tale: three in the Pepys collection at Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge (2.113, 2.102, and 2.104), three in the Roxburghe ballad collection at the British Library (3.20-21, 3.418-19, and 3.14-15), and one in the Crawford collection at the National Library of Scotland.[12]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Robin Hood and the Beggar, I"
  2. ^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Robin Hood and the Beggar II"
  3. ^ Watt (1993), pp. 39–40
  4. ^ Watt (1993), pp. 39–40, quoting Edward Dering, A brief and necessary instruction (1572), sig.A2v.
  5. ^ Child (2003), p. 42
  6. ^ Brown (2010), p. 67; Brown's italics
  7. ^ a b Brown (2010), p. 69
  8. ^ a b Fumerton & Guerrini (2010), p. 1
  9. ^ Holt (1989), pp. 37–38
  10. ^ Holt (1989), p. 10
  11. ^ Singman (1998), p. 46, and first chapter as a whole
  12. ^ "Ballad Archive Search - UCSB English Broadside Ballad Archive".

Bibliography edit

  • Brown, Mary Ellen (2010). "Child's ballads and the broadside conundrum". In Patricia Fumerton; Anita Guerrini; Kris McAbee (eds.). Ballads and Broadsides in Britain, 1500–1800. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company. pp. 57–72. ISBN 978-0-7546-6248-8.
  • Child, Francis James, ed. (2003) [1888–1889]. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Vol. 3. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
  • Fumerton, Patricia; Guerrini, Anita (2010). "Introduction: straws in the wind". In Patricia Fumerton; Anita Guerrini; Kris McAbee (eds.). Ballads and Broadsides in Britain, 1500–1800. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company. pp. 1–9. ISBN 978-0-7546-6248-8.
  • Holt, J. C. (1989). Robin Hood. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27541-6.
  • Singman, Jeffrey L. (1998). Robin Hood: The Shaping of the Legend. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-30101-8.
  • Watt, Tessa (1993). Cheap Print and Popular Piety, 1550–1640. Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521458276.

External links edit

  • Link to a facsimile sheet of an early modern version of this ballad at the English Broadside Ballad Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara: [1]
  • Link to an audio recording of this ballad: [2]
  • Robin Hood and the Beggar, I
  • Link to the website of The Robin Hood Project, a collection of webpages chronicling the development of Robin Hood from his medieval origins to modern depictions, at the Robbins Library at the University of Rochester: [3]
  • Link to a fairly comprehensive website on all things Robin Hood, including historical background on the real Robin Hood and other characters of the legend, texts and recordings of Robin Hood stories, resources for teachers and students, information about adaptations, and more: [4]

January 01, 1970
robin, hood, beggar, story, robin, hood, canon, which, survived, among, other, forms, late, seventeenth, century, english, broadside, ballad, pair, several, ballads, about, medieval, folk, hero, that, form, part, child, ballad, collection, which, most, compreh. Robin Hood and the Beggar is a story in the Robin Hood canon which has survived as among other forms a late seventeenth century English broadside ballad and is a pair out of several ballads about the medieval folk hero that form part of the Child ballad collection which is one of the most comprehensive collections of traditional English ballads These two ballads share the same basic plot device in which the English folk hero Robin Hood meets a beggar Contents 1 Ballad I 2 Ballad II 3 Historical and cultural significance 4 Library archival holdings 5 See also 6 References 6 1 Bibliography 7 External linksBallad I edit Robin Hood and the Beggar I is Child Ballad 133 1 One day Robin Hood sets off on his horse wearing his green mantle intent on adventure On his way to Nottingham he meets a jolly beggar wearing a patched coat and with many bags on his person which especially attract Robin s attention 5 4 The beggar begs but Robin refuses to offer him charity because he explains he is Robin Hood the outlaw and has no money himself Robin offers to fight him and the beggar agrees to the fight and lays into him hoping to injure him and steal his purse They fight until the blood trickles down Robin s head Eventually Robin calls for a truce in which Robin agrees to give over his mantle and horse and the beggar his coat and bags They exchange clothing and Robin now in the guise of a beggar brave and stout II 7 5 approvingly examines the bags and their contents For now I have a bag for my bread So have I another for Corn I have one for Mault and another for salt And one for my little Horn II 8 1 5 Robin goes to Nottingham as a beggar where he hears three yeomen are sentenced to hang for poaching the king s deer He begs their lives from the sheriff but the Sheriff refuses to release the men disregarding Robin s plea because he appears as a beggar Just as the men are about to be hanged at the gallows Robin blows his horn summoning his hundred archers They rescue the three through violence and return to the green wood celebrating the yeomen s entrance into Robin Hood s band Ballad II edit Robin Hood and the Beggar II is Child Ballad number 134 2 Robin Hood meets and demands money from a beggar The beggar refuses and Robin Hood goes to shoot him but the beggar strikes a blow that breaks both bow and arrow They fight and the beggar wounds him leaving him unconscious Three of Robin Hood s men find him and manage to revive him He sends them after the beggar They know the country and are able to catch him The beggar offers them money They decide to take it and kill him so that Robin Hood would not know He opens a bag of meal and throws it in their faces Though Robin Hood would have preferred revenge he found his men s fate amusing Historical and cultural significance editThis ballad is part of a group of ballads about Robin Hood that in turn like many of the popular ballads collected by Francis James Child were in their time considered a threat to the Protestant religion 3 Puritan writers like Edward Dering writing in 1572 considered such tales childish follye and witless devices 4 Writing of the Robin Hood ballads after A Gest of Robyn Hode their Victorian collector Francis Child claimed that variations on the Robin met with his match theme such as this ballad are sometimes wearisome sometimes sickening and that a considerable part of the Robin Hood poetry looks like char work done for the petty press and should be judged as such 5 Child had also called the Roxburghe and Pepys collections in which some of these ballads are included veritable dung hills in which only after a great deal of sickening grubbing one finds a very moderate jewel 6 However as folklorist and ethnomusicologist Mary Ellen Brown has pointed out Child s denigration of the later Robin Hood ballads is evidence of an ideological view he shared with many other scholars of his time who wanted to exclude cheap printed ballads such as these from their pedigree of the oral tradition and early literature 7 Child and others were reluctant to include such broadsides in their collections because they thought they regularized the text rather than reflecting and or participating in tradition which fostered multiformity 7 On the other hand the broadsides are significant in themselves as showing as English jurist and legal scholar John Selden 1584 1654 puts it how the wind sits As take a straw and throw it up in the air you shall see by that which way the wind is which you shall not do by casting up a stone More solid things do not show the complexion of the times so well as ballads and libels 8 Even though the broadsides are cultural ephemera unlike weightier tomes they are important because they are markers of contemporary current events and popular trends 8 It has been speculated that in his time Robin Hood represented a figure of peasant revolt but the English medieval historian J C Holt has argued that the tales developed among the gentry that he is a yeoman rather than a peasant and that the tales do not mention peasants complaints such as oppressive taxes 9 Moreover he does not seem to rebel against societal standards but to uphold them by being munificent devout and affable 10 Other scholars have seen the literature around Robin Hood as reflecting the interests of the common people against feudalism 11 The latter interpretation supports Selden s view that popular ballads provide a valuable window onto the thoughts and feelings of the common people on topical matters for the peasantry Robin Hood may have been a redemptive figure Library archival holdings editThe English Broadside Ballad Archive at the University of California Santa Barbara holds seventh seventeenth century broadside ballad versions of this tale three in the Pepys collection at Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge 2 113 2 102 and 2 104 three in the Roxburghe ballad collection at the British Library 3 20 21 3 418 19 and 3 14 15 and one in the Crawford collection at the National Library of Scotland 12 See also edit Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires References edit Francis James Child English and Scottish Popular Ballads Robin Hood and the Beggar I Francis James Child English and Scottish Popular Ballads Robin Hood and the Beggar II Watt 1993 pp 39 40 Watt 1993 pp 39 40 quoting Edward Dering A brief and necessary instruction 1572 sig A2v Child 2003 p 42 Brown 2010 p 67 Brown s italics a b Brown 2010 p 69 a b Fumerton amp Guerrini 2010 p 1 Holt 1989 pp 37 38 Holt 1989 p 10 Singman 1998 p 46 and first chapter as a whole Ballad Archive Search UCSB English Broadside Ballad Archive Bibliography edit Brown Mary Ellen 2010 Child s ballads and the broadside conundrum In Patricia Fumerton Anita Guerrini Kris McAbee eds Ballads and Broadsides in Britain 1500 1800 Burlington VT Ashgate Publishing Company pp 57 72 ISBN 978 0 7546 6248 8 Child Francis James ed 2003 1888 1889 The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Vol 3 Mineola NY Dover Publications Fumerton Patricia Guerrini Anita 2010 Introduction straws in the wind In Patricia Fumerton Anita Guerrini Kris McAbee eds Ballads and Broadsides in Britain 1500 1800 Burlington VT Ashgate Publishing Company pp 1 9 ISBN 978 0 7546 6248 8 Holt J C 1989 Robin Hood Thames and Hudson ISBN 0 500 27541 6 Singman Jeffrey L 1998 Robin Hood The Shaping of the Legend Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 0 313 30101 8 Watt Tessa 1993 Cheap Print and Popular Piety 1550 1640 Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780521458276 External links editLink to a facsimile sheet of an early modern version of this ballad at the English Broadside Ballad Archive at the University of California Santa Barbara 1 Link to an audio recording of this ballad 2 Robin Hood and the Beggar I Link to the website of The Robin Hood Project a collection of webpages chronicling the development of Robin Hood from his medieval origins to modern depictions at the Robbins Library at the University of Rochester 3 Link to a fairly comprehensive website on all things Robin Hood including historical background on the real Robin Hood and other characters of the legend texts and recordings of Robin Hood stories resources for teachers and students information about adaptations and more 4 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Robin Hood and the Beggar amp oldid 1159161537, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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