A Gest of Robyn Hode (also known as A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode) is one of the earliest surviving texts of the Robin Hood tales. Written in late Middle Englishpoetic verse, it is an early example of an English language ballad, in which the verses are grouped in quatrains with an ABCB rhyme scheme, also known as ballad stanzas. Gest, which means tale or adventure, is a compilation of various Robin Hood tales, arranged as a sequence of adventures involving the yeomanoutlaws Robin Hood and Little John, the poor knight Sir Richard at the Lee, the greedy abbot of St Mary's Abbey, the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham, and King Edward of England. The work survives in printed editions from the early 16th century, just some 30 years after the first printing press was brought to England. Its popularity is proven by the fact that portions of more than ten 16th- and 17th-century printed editions have been preserved. While the oldest surviving copies are from the early 16th century, many scholars believe that based on the style of writing, the work likely dates to the 15th century, perhaps even as early as 1400. The story itself is set somewhere from 1272 to 1483, during the reign of a King Edward; this contrasts with later works, which generally placed Robin Hood earlier in 1189–1216, during the reigns of Richard I of England and John, King of England.
Due to its length, popularity, and influence, A Gest of Robyn Hode is one of the fundamental building blocks of the Robin Hood tradition, and English outlaw literature in general. It established many of the most common motifs and characterizations seen in the legend. While it is not the oldest surviving work, it is the longest and most complete of the surviving early texts; the other oldest stories such as Robin Hood and the Monk are much shorter. Influential motifs seen in this story include Robin being a "Good Outlaw" who commits crimes, but while keeping to a strict moral code; Little John as Robin's loyal right-hand man; Robin being deeply devoted to the Virgin Mary as his personal patron saint; Robin helping the less fortunate while taking ironic punishment on the powerful and corrupt, including both the Sheriff and high-ranking church members; an archery contest that Robin wins; Robin's awkward relationship with the king, where he is ultimately loyal to the crown yet still an outlaw at heart; and Robin's death occurring only as a result of treachery and betrayal.
Summary
A Gest of Robyn Hood is divided into eight fyttes (sections) that tell interleaving stories of Robin and his band. Jess Bessinger Jr divided Gest into four tales based on the characters that feature in them, each with several episodes, although the beginning and end of a tale or episode does not always align with the fyttes. Bessinger's divisions are as follows:[1]
Robin Hood, Knight, and Abbot (Tale A: Fytte 1, 2, and 4)
Robin Hood, Little John, Sheriff, and Knight (Tale B: Fytte 3, 5, and 6)
Robin Hood, Knight, and King (Tale C: Fytte 7 and the first half of 8)
Death of Robin Hood (Tale D: The second half of fytte 8)
Quotes from the text have been given with modern spelling.
First Fytte
Engraving from 1887 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
Robin Hood, a good yeoman and courteous outlaw, has heard 3 masses this morning: one to honour God the Father; one to honour the Holy Ghost; and one to honour the Virgin Mary, for whom he has a deep devotion. He has fasted since midnight, and Little John, also a good yeoman, suggests he should eat soon. Robin declines to dine without a guest to pay for the feast. He sends his men to find one and reminds them to do no harm to farmers, yeomen or gentlemen, but to rob bishops, archbishops and the Sheriff of Nottingham should they encounter them. Little John, Much the Miller's son and William Scarlock leave to search for a guest.
They see a knight on horseback in a back street in Barnsdale. He looks forlorn, slouched over in his saddle, his face careworn and streaked with tears. Little John approaches the Sorrowful Knight, genuflects, and welcomes him to the forest, saying his Master Robin Hood is waiting dinner for him. The Knight remarks "He is good yeoman ... /Of him I have heard much good."[2]:lines 103-104 The Knight leaves with the outlaws.
Robin Hood, Little John and the Knight in the huntsman's hut. Engraving from 1887 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
When Robin Hood sees the Sorrowful Knight, he pushes back his hood, and genuflects to him. They all wash, and sit down to a fine feast. They enjoy plenty of bread and wine, along with deer sweatbreads, pheasants, swans, and other river birds. The Knight remarks that he had not had such a dinner for weeks, and should he pass through this way again, he would return the favour. Robin retorts that the Knight should pay before he leaves, as it is not proper for a yeoman to pay for a knight's feast. The Sorrowful Knight says he has only 10 shillings, and is embarrassed to offer such a small amount. Little John checks his baggage, and verifies the Sorrowful Knight is truthful.
Robin remarks on the Sorrowful Knight's threadbare clothing, and inquires about his situation. the Sorrowful Knight responds that his ancestors have been knights for 100 years but now he is disgraced, because his son and heir killed a knight of Lancaster. To redeem him, the Sorrowful Knight borrowed 400 pounds from the Rich Abbot of St Mary's, using his lands as collateral. The loan is now due, but he has only 10 shillings, so his lands will be seized by the Abbot. Robin asks if he had any friends. The Knight replies that he had plenty when he was rich, but none that he is poor. Robin then asks if he has anybody who could offer collateral. The Knight replied that he had none "But if it be Our dear Lady;/She failed me never or this day."[2]:lines 259-60 Robin, who has a deep devotion to the Virgin Mary, declares that she is the best collateral in all of England. He instructs Little John to fetch 400 pounds from their treasure chest, and pay the Knight. Emboldened by Robin's words, Little John suggests new livery in Robin's colours of scarlet and green, and a new horse. Robin offers a grey courser with a new saddle; after all, he says, the Knight is the Virgin Mary's messenger. Much suggests a good palfrey, Scarlock suggests new boots, and Little John suggests shining spurs. Robin adds that a knight can not ride alone, and offers Little John as a companion.[2]:lines 1-324 "In a yeoman's stead he may thee stand,/If thou great need have."[2]:lines 323-24
Second Fytte
The Gate Lodge at St Mary's Abbey, York
The scene switches to York, where the monks of St Mary's Abbey are sitting down to dinner. The Abbot, the Prior, the Chief Steward, the Sheriff of Yorkshire, and the county Justice are discussing the Knight whose debt of 400 pounds is due today. The Prior observes that if it was him, he would pay 100 pounds now and the rest later. The Abbot remarks that the Knight is suffering hunger and cold while serving England's cause overseas. The Prior admonishes the Abbot that, in that case, it would pitiful to take his land; but such a grievous wrong would not bother the Abbot's conscience at all. The Abbot snaps back at the Prior, telling him he's always getting in the way. The "fat-headed"[line 363] Chief Steward suggests that the Knight is either dead or hanged. The county Justice offers his opinion that the Knight will not come. They are all disappointed when the Knight appears at the gate.
The Knight genuflects and salutes them all "great and small"[2]:line 408. Upset at the Knight's appearance in the Abbey hall, the Abbot skips the customary courtesies and demands if he brought the Abbot's money. Not one penny, the Knight calmly replies. The Abbot snaps back, then why are you here? The Knight answers that he is here to beg for more time. The county Justice sharply interrupts, your time is up and your land is forfeit. Still on one knee, the Knight begs the Justice to "be my frende"[2]:line 423. The Justice responds that he can not; he is working on retainer from the Abbot. The Knight then looks to the Sheriff, who also refuses to aid the Knight. Finally the Knight offers his services as the Abbot's Knight until the debt is paid. The Abbot rebukes the Knight's offer. "'Out,' he said, 'thou false knight,/Speed thee out of my hall!'"[2]:lines 451-2 The Knight calls the Abbot a liar, and stands up.
The Knight approaches the Abbot to pay his debt. Engraving from 1884 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
As the Knight approaches, the Justice asks the Abbot how much would he give the Knight to purchase the land outright. 100 pounds is the Abbot's reply; make it 200, insists the Justice. The Knight strides to the Abbot's table, and shakes Robin's 400 pounds out of the bag and onto the table. The Abbot is stunned. He tells the Justice to take the money as an additional retainer. The Justice refuses. The Knight then announces to everyone in the hall that he has paid his debt; his land is his once more. The Knight leaves, now carefree. He travels home with a light heart, singing. His worried wife meets him at the gate to Wyresdale. Be happy, my wife, says the Knight, and pray for Robin Hood; without his kindness, we would be beggars now.
Over the next year the Knight accumulates the 400 pounds to repay Robin Hood. He also purchases 100 bows, 100 bundles of arrows, 100 horses, and hires 100 men clothed in red and white clothing. On the day his debt is due, the Knight and his men head for Barnesdale. At Wentbridge, they pass a fair where a stranger has won the wrestling match. The yeoman is in danger of being killed by the crowd. Remembering how Robin treated him, he orders his company to surround the yeoman, shouting that no harm would befall him. He purchases a cask of wine and breaks it open so that all may drink. But the Knight and his company stay until the fair is done to ensure the yeoman's safety. In the meantime, Robin Hood is waiting under the tree in the greenwood.[2]:lines 325-572
Third Fytte
It is now autumn.[2]:line 704 Little John is still the Knight's Yeoman, and joins other young men in longbow target practice. Three times Little John shoots; three times he "split the wand"[2]:line 582. The Sheriff of Nottingham is impressed. He approaches Little John, asking his name and birthplace. Little John replies, Reynold Greenleaf of Holderness. The Sheriff then asks Little John to work for him. Only if the Sheriff obtains a leave of absence from the Knight, Little John advises. The Knight agrees, and Little John rides off on one of the Sheriff's good strong horses.
Little John beats up the Butler. Engraving from 1884 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
One day the Sheriff goes hunting and leaves Little John behind. It is now past noon, and Little John has not eaten. Little John asks the steward for dinner, but is told not until the Sheriff comes home. Little John then threatens the butler, and gives him a strong blow to his back. The butler runs to the pantry and shuts the door. Little John kicks the door open and drinks more than his share of the ale and wine.
The Sheriff's Cook, a bold stout man, confronts Little John. The Cook delivers three strong blows to Little John, who vows that he won't leave until he pays the Cook back. They both draw swords and fight for an hour, with neither gaining the advantage. Little John acknowledges that the Cook is the best swordsman he has ever seen; if he is as good with the bow, the Cook could join with Robin Hood. The Cook agrees. Little John and the Cook sit down to a fine dinner. Then they break the lock on the Sheriff's treasury and steal all the silver dinnerware plus 300 pounds in coin. They leave immediately to meet Robin Hood.
After they greet each other, Robin Hood inquires as who is "that fair yeoman"[2]:line 709 accompanying Little John, and what is the news from Nottingham. Little John responds that the proud Sheriff sends his greetings, his Cook, his silver tableware, and 300 pounds in coin. Robin replies sarcastically that it wasn't because of the Sheriff's generosity. Little John has a sudden thought to trick the Sheriff. He runs 5 miles to meet the Sheriff, hunting with his hounds. Where have you been, demands the Sheriff. In this forest, replies Little John, I have seen a green hart, with a herd of 140 deer. The Sheriff exclaims, that would be a sight to see! Then quickly follow me, says Little John. When they meet Robin and his 140 men, Little John announces that here is the master hart and his herd of deer! The Sheriff is amazed by how Little John has betrayed him. It's your fault, says Little John, I never got my dinner at your place.
The Sheriff sits down to dinner, and is horrified when he realizes he is eating from his own silver tableware. Robin says, consider it charity, and for Little John's sake, I grant you your life. When dinner was done, Robin tells Little John to strip the Sheriff of his fur-lined mantle and all his fine clothes, and wrap him in a green mantle. Robin then orders the Sheriff's men to do likewise, and lie down next to the Sheriff. All night they lie on the cold ground in only their breeches, shirts, and the green mantles. The next morning, the Sheriff complains about his stiff muscles. Don't complain, replies Robin, this is how we live; he continues, for the next year, I will teach you how to live as an outlaw. The Sheriff grumbles, not for all the gold in England. He pleads with Robin to let him go. Robin demands that he swear an oath on Robin's sword that he will never again harm Robin or any of his men. The Sheriff swears his oath, and leaves the greenwood.[2]:lines 573-816
Fourth Fytte
It is now one year later. The scene is Robin Hood and Little John in the greenwood. Little John suggests that it is time for dinner, but Robin declines. He fears the Virgin Mary is angry with him, since the Knight has not yet arrived. Little John consoles him, saying that the sun has not yet set, and the Knight is true to his word. Robin instructs Little John to take Much and William Scarlok, and search for an "unknown guest"[line 835]. Irritated, Little John takes up his bow and his sword to do Robin's bidding.
The Monk of St Mary's in Barnesdale Forest. Engraving from 1884 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
On the highway in Barnesdale they spot a monk on a good palfrey. Little John remarks to Much, here is our pay. The monk is being escorted by 52 men and seven pack horses. Little John tells his companions to prepare for an ambush. He aims his arrow at the monk, ordering him to stop where he is. Calling him a churlish monk, Little John accuses the Monk of angering his master, Robin Hood. ""He is a strong thief," said the monk,/"Of him heard I never good.""[2]:lines 883-4. Much lets fly an arrow which barely misses the Monk's chest, and he quickly dismounts. All the attendants turn and flee, leaving only a little page and a groom with the pack horses.
Little John brings the Monk to the huntsman's hut. Robin Hood lowers his hood, but the uncourteous Monk does not. Robin asks Little John how many men the monk had. 52 men, is his answer. Blow the horn, orders Robin. 140 men, dressed in striped scarlet, answer the call to run down the Monk's attendants. Robin & Little John force the Monk to wash up for dinner, and they serve him at the table. While he is eating, Robin asks the Monk, to which abbey do you belong & what office do you hold. I am the Chief Steward of St Mary's Abbey, answers the Monk.
Robin Hood is still worried that the Virgin Mary is angry with him, since the Knight has not yet appeared. Little John tells Robin not to worry, the Monk has brought the money; he is from her abbey. Robin is not consoled. She was my collateral for a loan I made to the Knight, he says. Speaking to the Monk, Robin asks to see the silver - if he brought it. The Monk swears at Robin, saying he knows nothing of this loan. Robin Hood retorts: God is righteous, and so is the Virgin Mary, you are to blame; you are her servant, and her messenger. How much money do you carry, Robin Hood demands of the Monk. 20 marks of silver, he replies. Robin orders Little John to check the Monk's baggage.
After laying out the contents of the Monk's purse, Little John hurries back to Robin Hood. The Virgin Mary has doubled your money, he declares. Robin is elated. They all drink to her honour. Curious at what is in the packhorses, Robin again asks Little John to search again. The Monk protests strenuously, mounts his horse, and rides off.[2]:lines 817-1040
The Poor Knight meets Robin Hood. Engraving from 1884 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
It is still daylight when the Knight rides into Barnesdale, and sees Robin Hood standing under the greenwood tree. The Knight dismounts, lowers his hood, and genuflects to Robin. Robin warmly welcomes him, and asks why he is so late. The Knight replies that he stopped to help a poor yeoman in trouble. In that case, rejoins Robin, for helping a good yeoman, I am your friend. The Knight offers the 400 pounds, and 20 marks more for Robin's courtesy. He refuses, saying the money was already delivered by the Monk of St Mary's. But the bows and arrows I brought are a poor payment, says the Knight. Robin sends Little John to retrieve 400 pounds of the Monk's money, and then hands it to the Knight. Buy a horse and a good harness, he says, get some new clothing. And he adds, if ever you need spending money, come see me.[2]:lines 1041-1120
Fifth Fytte
Much carries a wounded Little John away from Nottingham. Engraving from 1884 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
The Sheriff of Nottingham announces an archery contest for all the best archers of the North. The prize will be an arrow with a head and feathers of red gold, and a shaft of white silver. Upon hearing of the contest, Robin Hood calls his fellowship together. He orders that only six of his men shoot with him; the rest, with arrows nocked, are to keep watch on the Sheriff's men.
Three times Robin shoots, and three times he splits the wand. But so did good Gilberte with the White Hand. The two shoot again, but Robin is best, and wins the prize. The outlaws begin their return to the greenwood, but the fair-goers shout and blow horns. The Sheriff's men loose a hail of arrows, and Robin shouts curses at the Sheriff for breaking his pledge. Many of the fellowship are wounded, including Little John, who took an arrow to his knee. Little John begs Robin not to let the Sheriff take him alive - he tells Robin to inflict mortal wounds to his head. Robin replies, not for all the gold in England! God forbid that you should die, cries Much, and hefts Little John onto his back.
Not far away is the castle of Sir Richard at the Lee, the Sorrowful Knight. Immediately Sir Richard takes in Robin and his men. He orders the gates be shut, the bridge be drawn up, and the walls manned.[2]:lines 1121-1264
Sixth Fytte
Sir Richard defends his castle against the Sheriff of Nottingham. Engraving from 1884 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
The High Sheriff of Nottingham raises a large army from around the countryside to besiege Sir Richard's castle. Traitorous Knight, the proud Sheriff shouts to Sir Richard, you harbor the King's enemy against the law. The Knight courteously agrees that he is doing so. Sir Richard adds, tell our King what has happened, and see what he says.
Robin Hood and the Knight's Lady. Engraving from 1887 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
The Sheriff rides to London, and tells the King that Sir Richard is supporting the outlaw band. Furthermore, he tells the King, Sir Richard is using the outlaws to set himself up as lord of the north land. The King said he would be in Nottingham in two weeks, and that the Sheriff is to gather more archers from all over the countryside. In the meantime, Robin Hood returns to the greenwood, where Little John later joins him after his knee heals.
Having missed his chance to capture Robin, the Sheriff lies in wait to capture Sir Richard instead. He finally overcomes the gentle Knight as he is hawking by the river, and takes him to Nottingham. When Sir Richard's wife is told what has happened, she rides out to the greenwood to find Robin. For Our dear Lady's sake, she implores Robin, don't let my husband be killed for supporting you. Who took your lord, asks Robin. The Sheriff, she replies, and they are not more than three miles from here. Robin quickly gathers his men and they run towards Nottingham.
The fellowship catches up with the Sheriff. Robin stops the Sheriff, asking about the news from the King. Robin then quickly draws his bow, and lets loose an arrow that knocks the Sheriff off his horse. Before the Sheriff can rise, Robin beheads him with his sword. Lie there, proud Sheriff, taunts Robin, no man could trust you while you were alive.[2]:lines 1265-1412
The rest of the fellowship attack the Sheriff's men and cut them down. Robin leaps to Sir Richard's side, cuts his bonds, and hands him a bow. Come to the greenwood with me, Robin orders, until I can get us "... grace/Of Edward, our comely king."[2]:lines 1411-12
Seventh Fytte
The King arrives at Nottingham and asks about Robin Hood and Sir Richard. Hearing what has happened, he seizes the Knight's lands, and searches for Robin throughout Lancashire. Reaching Plompton Park, he notices that there are far fewer deer than usual. Cursing Robin Hood, the King orders Robin to be brought before him, and that anyone who brings him the head of Sir Richard would receive his lands. Then an old knight advises, as long as Robin Hood lives, no man will hold Sir Richard's lands. Six months later, one of the King's royal foresters approaches the King, suggesting a subterfuge to catch Robin. You and five men should dress as monks, he said, and I will lead you into the forest; then you will meet Robin Hood. The King wears a broad abbot's hat to conceal his face, and goes into the forest.
Robin Hood is felled by the disguised King. Engraving from 1884 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
They soon meet Robin, standing in the road along with many of his men. Robin Hood grabs the reins of the King's horse. Sir Abbot, Robin addresses the disguised King, we are but poor yeomen of the forest who live by the King's deer, share with us some of your wealth as an act of charity. The disguised King replies he has only 40 pounds, having spent much during the last two weeks entertaining the King and his lords. If I had 100 pounds, he continues, I would give you half. Robin takes the 40 pounds, counts out 20 pounds, and returns 20 pounds to the disguised King. Our great king bids you come to Nottingham, says the disguised King, and shows Robin the royal seal. Robin immediately genuflects as he says, "I love no man in all the world/ So well as I do my king;/ Welcome is my lord's seal;"[2]:lines 1541-43 In honour of the King, Robin invites the disguised King to dinner. Robin blows his horn to assemble the fellowship, who genuflect around him. The disguised King is surprised, realizing that Robin's men are more willing to answer his call than the royal men are to answer the King's call. Quickly the feast is prepared, with Robin and Little John waiting on the disguised King themselves. The disguised King is treated to fat venison, white bread, red wine, and ale.
After dinner, Robin arranges an archery demonstration. The disguised King remarks that the targets were too far away. Robin orders, anyone who misses the target would forfeit his arrows and endure a slap on his face from me. Twice Robin shoots, and twice he splits the wand. On the third attempt, Robin misses, and his men taunt him. Robin approaches the disguised King, offers his arrows, and says he is ready for his slap. The disguised King declines, saying it is against the rules of his order. Do it, declares Robin. The disguised King rolls up his sleeve and deals a resounding slap that knocks Robin to the ground. The disguised King bends over to help Robin up, and as he does so, Robin looks intently into the King's face. Noticing Robin's reaction, Sir Richard does the same. Then both of them genuflect to their King. Robin asks mercy for his men, which the King grants. The King then invites Robin to join Edward's royal court. Only if I can bring my men with me, replies Robin.[2]:lines 1413-1668
Eighth Fytte
Homesick Robin Hood at the King's court. Engraving from 1884 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.Engraving from 1887 edition of Ritson's Robin Hood.
In the first section, the King asks if Robin has any green cloth so he and his men can exchange their black cowls for ones of Lincoln green. Back to Nottingham, the King commands. With feasting, drinking, and singing, the King welcomes Robin and his men into his service, and restores Sir Richard's lands.
Robin and his men spend the next year in the royal court. Robin has spent all his wealth, as well as the money meant for his men. Now only Little John and Scathelock remain. One day, while watching some young men at target practice, he becomes homesick. Robin asks the King for leave to make a pilgrimage to his chapel of Mary Magdalene in Barnsdale. The King grants him seven days.
When he reaches the greenwood with the birds merrily singing. He shoots a hart, and blows his horn. All the outlaws in the forest recognize Robin's horn and come running. They push back their hoods and genuflect, welcoming Robin back. There he remains for twenty-two years.[2]:lines 1669-1800
Years later, Robin has a kinswoman who was Prioress of Kirkley. She and her lover, Sir Roger of Doncaster, are plotting to kill Robin. Since the Prioress is skilled in the art of blood-letting, she lets Robin slowly bleed to death when he comes to Kirkley for treatment.[2]:lines 1801-24 The tale ends with a prayer: "Christ have mercy on his soul,/.../For he was a good outlaw,/And did poor men much good."[2]:lines 1821, 1823-4
A Gest of Robin Hode is considered as one of the three oldest Robin Hood tales. The other two are Robin Hood and the Monk (Child 119) and Robin Hood and the Potter (Child 121). Both of these latter tales survive as manuscripts dated to the second half of the 15th century; however, there are no surviving manuscripts of Gest.[3] The earliest text fragments for Gest are from about a dozen printed editions dated to the 16th and 17th centuries.[4]:?? To identify the most important editions, Child labeled them as a through g. Texts a through e are referred to as the early texts, and texts f and g are called the later texts.[5] Of interest to linguists and historians is that the later texts replaced some of the obsolete words of the early texts in order to make Gest more understandable to the audiences of the time.[6]:40[5][6]:39 Since Child's time, more editions have been identified by researchers.
John Maddicott has remarked on the lack of variation between the two earliest texts: text a and text b. He interpreted this lack of variation to a standard work being available prior to the printed editions.[7]
text a
also known as the Antwerp edition
Entitled A Gest of Robyn Hode; it has no printer's name, location, or date.
Also known as the Lettersnijder edition, it is attributed to Jan van Doesbroch in Antwerp c. 1510. Although it contains only about 200 of the total 456 quatrains, it is considered the most authentic version of the text, due to the linguistic archaisms in the text.[5] It is housed at the National Library of Scotland.
Text a is part of an eleven-text volume known as the Chapman and Myllar prints.[8] However, only nine texts in the volume were actually printed by Chapman and Myllar. Text a was one of the two texts which were not. According to the National Library of Scotland, the volume was presented to the Advocates Library sometime before August 1788 by John Alston of Glasgow. The binding was not sturdy, being made of parchment, which explains why so many pages of text a are lost. (Text a being the last work in the volume.) Sometime between 1798 and 1808 the volume was rebound in London by Charles Hering.[9]
The page illustration shown at the top of this article shows the first page of text a.[10] The woodcut is almost identical to the Yeoman woodcut in Richard Pynson's edition of The Canterbury Tales. However, the typesetter did not leave enough room for the woodcut, and had to reset the first 1-1/2 pages. The typesetter resorted to using abbreviations and run-on sentences to make everything fit.[4]:57
text b
Wynkyn de Worde printer device (before c. 1520)
also known as the de Worde edition, c. 1493-1518
Entitled A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode; it was printed by Wynken de Worde in London.
This edition is nearly complete, and may be older than text a. It was used as the base text by Ritson and Gutch. Modern scholars, such as Child, Dobson and Taylor, Knight, and Ohlgren consider it to contain more errors, so they use text a and filled in from text b.[5] It is housed at Cambridge University Library.
The edition's date is determined from the type fonts used, and the printer's device on the last page.[4]:89
texts c through e (Douce Fragments)
Individual pages which are in poor condition. They are housed at the Bodleian Library.
text f (Copeland edition)
Entitled A Mery Geste of Robyn Hoode. it was printed in London by William Copeland no earlier than 1548. It is housed at the British Museum.
text g (White edition)
Entitled A Merry Gest of Robin Hood. it was printed in London for Edward White, and is undated. It is housed at the Bodleian Library.
Pynson's edition (c. 1495–1500)
Entitled A Lytell Geste. This edition survives as three sets of fragments:[4]:45
text c (Douce Fragment)
single leaf fragment, now housed at Cambridge University Library
Entitled A Lytell Geste and printed in York sometime prior to 1509. The only surviving leaf is one of the Douce Fragments (e.12). Hugo Goes worked with one of de Worde's assistants, Henry Watson. When de Worde moved his business to Fleet Street after 1500, Goes acquired some of his fonts before moving to York to start his own business.[4]:157-8
Julian Notary edition (c. 1515)
Entitled A Lytell Geste. The surviving fragments are four imperfect leaves attached to paper binding strips (Douce fragment f.1). The attribution to Notary is confirmed by the size and style of the type fonts; he was the only London printer to use 92mm.[4]:149-50
Copeland edition (c. 1565)
A single leaf fragment of waste print used as spine support for a volume printed in London by John Wolfe in 1584.
It is attributed to Copeland based upon the type font. The date is estimated from the language differences from his 1560 edition.[4]:239-40 It is housed at the Codrington Library, All Souls College, Oxford.
White edition (copy of the Bodleian Library edition)
Entitled A Merry Iest of Robin Hood, and printed in London for Edward White, bookseller, c. 1594. The printer is thought to have been Edward Allde. Anthony Munday, author of the Robin Hood plays, was apprenticed to Allde. The text is closely based upon William Copeland's edition, however, the spelling was updated and punctuation was introduced.[4]:245–7 It is housed at the Chaplin Library, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Literary analysis
An iconic pose of Robin Hood, as illustrated by Louis Rhead
Gest was studied by William Hall Clawson in 1909.[11] Clawson was a student of F. J. Child's successor, George Lyman Kittredge, and his dissertation on Gest expanded on Child's introduction. In 1968, medievalist D. C. Fowler published A Literary History of the Popular Ballad.[12] Fowler was one of the first to advocate the study of the English and Scottish ballads relative to their historical time and place, rather than simply within the classification of the Child anthology.[12]:3,4 In 1974, J. B. Bessinger Jr attempted to extend Clawson and incorporate Fowler's proposal that Gest was a product of 15th-century minstrels.[12]:43 One of Bessinger's contributions was a narrative schematic that refined Child's "3-ply web" into three tales of nine episodes distributed among eight fyttes.[1]
In 1984, Douglas Gray, the first J. R. R. Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language at the University of Oxford, considered the Robin Hood and Scottish Border ballads more as oral poems. He objected to the then-current definitions of a ballad as some ideal form, whose characteristics were distilled from the Child Ballads. When compared to "this notion of a 'pure ballad', the Robin Hood poems seem messy and anormalous", he contended.[13]:9 Therefore, he titled his article The Robin Hood Poems,[13] and not The Robin Hood Ballads.
However, Gray admitted that the Robin Hood tales, like most popular literature, are sometimes regarded as "sub-literary material", containing formulaic language and a "thin texture", especially "when they are read on the printed page".[13]:4 Additionally, he argued, that since Child had grouped all the Robin Hood 'ballads' together, some literary studies had "rashly based themselves on all the Robin Hood ballads in the collection"[13]:9, instead of discarding those of dubious value. J. R. Maddicott also recognized this issue, and argued that since so little is known about the origins of the ballads from the available early manuscripts and printed texts, internal evidence has to be used.[7]) Gray further contended that, as oral poetry, each poem should be judged as a performance. He agreed with Ruth Finnegan in considering the performance as "integral to the identity of the poem as actually realized".[13]:10 In an oral performance, a skillful raconteur can draw his audience in, making them part of his performance; hence no two oral performances are identical.[13]:10 Gray points out that one of the characteristics of Gest are scenes with rapid dialogue or conversations, in which the formulaic diction, limited vocabulary, and stereotyped expressions are artfully used to express emotion.[13]:25 Such scenes lying dully on a page can spring into action when recited by one or two talented minstrels.
The Gest poet
Gest is a compilation of many early Robin Hood tales, either in verse or prose, but most of them now lost.[14]:25[15]:431[3]:?? They were woven together into a single narrative poem by an unknown poet. F.C. Child, arguing that there was only one poet, described the Gest poet as "a thoroughly congenial spirit."[6]:49 W.H. Clawson considered him "to have been exceedingly skillful",[11]:24 while J.B. Bessinger declared him as "original and transitional"[p 43]. Gray thought the weaving to have "been neatly done".[13]:23 J.C. Holt implied that there were two poets: the original poet who compiled the First, Second, and Fourth Fyttes as a single poem; and another less skilled poet who compiled the Third and Fifth Fyttes into the work produced by the original poet.[14]:22-25 Others, such as J.R. Maddicott,[7], have considered him as less than adequate. They point to a narrative that is not sequential (it jumps back and forth between the tales); the transitions between tales are not smooth; there are inconsistencies within each tale, and between the tales.
Sources
Child was one of the first to recognize that Gest contains ballads from two different traditions: the Barnsdale tradition (found in the First, Second, and Fourth Fyttes), and the Nottingham tradition (found in the Third, Fifth, and Sixth Fyttes).[6]:51 Clawson then attempted to identify the source ballads.[11]:125-7 J.C. Holt considers Clawson work as fundamental to a careful study of Gest, and admits there is no consensus on how many underlying tales were used, or which lines can be considered the work of the Gest poet. In contrast to Clawson, who struggled mightily to connect Gest with existing outlaw ballads, Holt's study indicated that none of the sources have survived, that the tales were not necessarily in verse form, and that the source tales come from several traditions.[14]:36 Why the Gest poet used these particular tales to construct this epic-length poem is unknown.
First Fytte
The First Fytte begins with a now-lost light-hearted tale about Robin Hood and a poor knight.[2]:lines 65–244[11]:24, 125 The original tale was obviously part of a Barnsdale tradition of Robin Hood, based upon the numerous references to local landmarks. When the Knight is accosted in Barnsdale, he mentions that he planned to spend the night in either Blyth or Doncaster.[2]:line 108
The remainder of the First Fytte[2]:lines 245–324[11]:125 is based on a 'Miracle of the Virgin Mary' story. The 'Miracle' was a moral story often told during religious services, and these stories were very popular. They generally concerned the Virgin Mary (or any of the Saints) being invoked as surety for a loan. The most common ending of a Miracle described an actual miracle to repay the loan. There was also a humorous ending where the repayment money is taken from a person in a religious order who in some way represented the Virgin or Saint. In this ending, this person is regarded as the messenger sent by the Virgin or Saint to repay the debt.[11]:25–38 The First Fytte ends with Robin Hood and his men outfitting the poor knight in a manner befitting a messenger of the Virgin Mary.[2]:lines 303–4
Second Fytte
This Fytte has a darker tone. The first part of the Second Fytte appears to be based on another now-lost tale, where a knight repays his debt to an Abbot with money received from Robin Hood. Parts of the original tale remain, even though they do not fit with the end of the First Fytte. In the original tale, the Knight is away on an overseas military campaign,[2]:lines 353–6 but unexpectedly re-appears.[2]:lines 383–4 He orders his men to put on their ragged travelling clothes before approaching the abbey.[2]:lines 385–8 His men and the horses are led to the stables, as the Knight, also in ragged clothes, enters the great hall.[2]:lines 390–404 Little John is never mentioned, nor is the Abbey named. Near the end of the Fytte, the Knight resumes his good clothing, leaving his ragged clothes at the abbey.[2]:lines 499–500[11]:42–5
The rest of this Fytte appears to be fragments of other tales, perhaps compiled by the Gest poet. The light-hearted fragment describing how the Knight prepares to repay Robin Hood[2]:lines 501–536 has an internal consistency, and is reminiscent of the opening lines of the First Fytte. The fair at Wentbridge[2]:lines 537–568 may have been taken from another tale[11]:47 to be used as a plot device to delay the Knight, thus preparing for the tale of Robin Hood and the Monk in the Fourth Fytte.
Third Fytte
This episode probably consists of three or four now-lost tales. The light-hearted opening scene at the archery shoot[2]:lines 577–600 could have been borrowed from any of the then-popular tales. After which the Gest poet inserted two quatrains which refer to Little John's courteous master from whom the Sheriff must secure permission.[2]:lines 601–608 The second now-lost tale[2]:lines 613–760 is definitely low comedy. The audience is told that Little John is seeking vengeance on the Sheriff for some unspecified action.[2]:lines 613–616 When Little John is denied breakfast because he slept in, the subsequent action of "exuberant rough-house" "turns into a scene of total destruction",[13]:28 as Little John picks a fight with the butler. The tale then assumes "an air of carnival 'justice'",[13]:28 when he breaks into the pantry to eat and drink his fill.
However, the third tale[2]:lines 761–796 has a somber tone, as Little John lures the Sheriff into an ambush. Instead of killing them all, Robin makes the Sheriff and his men endure a night on the cold wet ground, wearing nothing but a green mantle.
The last few lines of the Fytte[2]:lines 797–816 were probably written by the Gest poet. The Sheriff's complains that he would rather have Robin "smite off mine head"[2]:line 799 than spend another night in the greenwood. Robin then demands the Sheriff swear an oath on Robin's sword not to harm Robin or his men.[2]:lines 805–806, 813 This little scene is a foreshadow of the scene in the Sixth Fytte, where Robin Hood uses his sword to decapitate the Sheriff as punishment for breaking his oath.[2]:lines 1389–1396
Fourth Fytte
The Second Fytte ended with the Knight being delayed at the fair at Wentbridge. The Fourth Fytte opens with Robin Hood worrying about the Knight's late arrival.[2]:lines 821–828 It's not about the money; he is fretting about why the Virgin Mary is upset with him. This is the Gest poet's introduction to yet another now-lost tale about Robin and the Monk.[2]:lines 829–1040 This tale is also the ending of the Miracle story, as Little John recognizes that the Monk carries the debt repayment which was ensured by the Virgin Mary.
At the beginning of the Monk tale, there is another inconsistency. When first spotted by Little John, there were two monks.[2]:line 851 Later, at the feast, there is only one monk mentioned.[2]:lines 897–1040
The last part of the Fytte[2]:lines 1041–1120 is the ending of Tale A. This reunion and reconciliation of Robin and the Knight was most probably original material written by the Gest poet.
Fifth Fytte
The original now-lost tale probably consisted of the archery match, the subsequent attack by the Sheriff's men, the wounding of Little John, and the flight into the greenwood.(lines ) No parallels have been found among the extant contemporary tales. The remainder of the Fytte was composed by the Gest poet.[11]:80–3
Sixth Fytte
The original now-lost tale probably consisted of the sheriff capturing a gentle knight, taking him to Nottingham, the knight's wife begging Robin to save her husband, the subsequent skirmish, and the rescued knight becoming a fugitive in Robin's group.[2]:lines 1321–1408 Once again, there are no parallels to be found among the extant contemporary tales. The remainder of the Fytte was composed by the Gest poet.[11]:84-91
Seventh Fytte
Separately from the Robin Hood ballads, Child discussed the "King and Subject" ballad tradition, in which the King (in disguise) meets with one of his Subjects.[Child, V, pt 1] He mentions in passing that the Seventh and Eighth Fyttes of Gest contains such a tale.[p. 69] Both Child and Clawson dismiss The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood (Child 151), (the only extant Robin Hood ballad involving the king) as being an 18th century paraphrase of Gest. Curiously, both also discuss two tales, King Edward and the Shepherd[Rochester] and The King and the Hermit,[Rochester] as being very similar to the original ballad underlying the Seventh Fytte, but never make the connection.[11]:106–7,127 Clawson simply remarks that "tales like this are common and popular the world over".[11]:103 However, Thomas Ohlgren considers the parallels between the two tales as part of the evidence supporting his assertion that "our comely king" in Gest was Edward III.[3]:9–12 (See Historical Analysis)
Eighth Fytte
Both Child and Clawson are silent on possible sources for this fytte.
Character descriptions
Most of the main characters are described in 52 lines at the beginning of the poem.[2]:lines 1–20, 29–60 Thus the Gest poet immediately draws attention to the purpose of his work. Gest's scenes are constructed to show the difference in the behavior of good and wicked characters. Goodness (referred to as "Courtesy") is displayed as ethical or moral qualities, such as kindness, generosity, truthfulness, and personal loyalty. "Courtesy" (the word occurs 17 times in Gest) is the opposite of injustice.[13]:30
This is the only time 'proud' is applied to Robin Hood; but it is applied to the Sheriff of Nottingham 20 times throughout the Gest. The word is being used in two different senses. When applied to the Sheriff, proud means 'haughty, arrogant'. When applied to Robin, proud means 'brave, bold, valiant', or 'noble in bearing or appearance'.[16]
courteous outlaw
In Middle English, courtesy meant 'refined, well-mannered, polite' and 'gracious, benevolent, generous, merciful'.[17] Robin repeatedly exhibits all these traits.
devout
Robin hears three masses a day, and has a special devotion to the Virgin Mary. The latter is a strong motivator for him in Tale A.
leadership
Robin is able to impose a code of conduct upon his fellow outlaws. He insists that they can do "well enough"[2]:line 50 by not waylaying farmers, yeomen, or any knight or squire who is a "good fellow".[2]:line 55 He singles out bishops and archbishops for beatings. Robin has a particularly strong hostility for the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Little John
He defers to Robin by calling him "Master",[2]:lines 19, 41 and serves as Robin's right-hand man. But he is not reluctant in letting Robin know how he feels about following his orders. He agrees to follow Robin's code of conduct for the fellowship, but shows his concern (or irritation) when Robin insists on finding a stranger for dinner so late in the day.
Much, the miller's son
Apparently of short stature, Much is praised as every "inch of his body ... worth a man".[2]:lines 15–16 Much saves a wounded Little John by carrying him on his back.
The remaining characters are described when they appear in the tale. Each character is described by one or more of their ethical or moral qualities. There are only three characters who are given a physical description.
The Sorrowful Knight
The Gest poet spends eight lines describing his physical appearance.[2]:lines 85–92 Little John, a good judge of people, calls him "gentle", "courteous", and "noble".[2]:lines 95, 98 These qualities the Knight demonstrates repeatedly in Tales A and B.
The Greedy Abbot and the Kind-hearted Prior
The qualities of these two characters are revealed during their conversation at dinner, while awaiting the arrival of the Knight.[2]:lines 341–362 The Abbot compounds his wickedness with a lie by calling the Knight "false".[2]:line 455
The Chief Steward
He is introduced as "a fat-headed monk",[2]:lines 363–4 emphasizing the fat cheeks and neck under his monk's tonsure. Little John calls him "a churl monk";[2]:line 873 insulting the monk twice with a single word. In Middle English it meant a person lacking in courtesy, or a person of low birth.
Sheriff of Nottingham
He is the stereotypical wicked villain with no redeeming qualities. He lies when he tells the King that the Knight is a traitor,[2]:lines 1293–1296 but later becomes a traitor himself by breaking his oath to Robin.[2]:lines 1391–1396
Francis James Child was the first to look at Gest from a linguistic perspective. While compiling The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, he was in frequent contact with language scholars in England who were collecting quotations from Middle English texts for what would become the first volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary. These scholars, including Walter William Skeat, the leading philologist in England, would later publish A Concise Dictionary of Middle English,[18] and An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language.[19] It was Skeat who provided Child with transcriptions of the texts that appeared in Child's anthology. Skeat also was one of the first philologists to discuss English language dialects in English Dialects from the Eighth Century to the Present Day published in 1911.[20]
In his introduction to Gest, Child tried to argue that the references to Robin Hood in Piers Plowman and the Scottish chronicles indicated a date of composition for Gest as early as 1400, or even earlier. However, he was forced to conclude that "There are no firm grounds on which to base an opinion."[6]:40 Child asserted that there were "A considerable number of Middle-English forms" present; he even constructed a partial listing of the words ending in '-e'. William Hall Clawson,[21] a doctoral student under Child's successor, George Lyman Kittredge, expanded Child's word list, and even calculated the final totals of how many times such words were used in each Fytte. Thus Clawson attempted to "prove clearly that it [Gest] extends back to a period ... antedating the year 1400."[11]:4–6
A modern linguistic analysis of Gest was performed by Masa Ikegami in 1985.[22] He constructed multiple lines of linguistic evidence that Gest was written in a Northern or East Midlands dialect, most probably during the mid- to late-15th century. His evidence is based upon Gest's quatrain structure, its ABCB or ABAB rhyme scheme, and its meter (rhythm pattern). The Gest meter can be summarized as:
the first and third lines have four metrically stressed syllables
the second and fourth lines have three metrically stressed syllables
each stressed syllable is preceded by one or two unstressed syllables
This meter is illustrated in the following quatrain, which should be read aloud in order to hear the rhythm of the stressed syllables (in bold font):
Where we shall take, where we shall leave, Where we shall a-bide be-hind; Where we shall rob, where we shall reive, Where we shall beat and bind.
—Gest of Robyn Hood,[2] lines 45–48 (modern spelling)
Irregular lines do occur, but they are limited, and only occur in the three-beat lines.[22]:272–3
Evidence of date of composition
Presence of silent final '-e'
Modern linguists no longer accept the presence of final '-e' (now known as schwa) as evidence for composition prior to 1400. Ikegami provides a summary of other works known to have been composed in the 15th which contain the silent final '-e'.[22]:271
The silent final '-e' does not have to be pronounced in Gest in order to support the meter (rhythm pattern). Ikegami uses the example of 'grene wode', which Modern English speakers pronounce as two syllables: 'green wood'. In Chaucer's time, the phrase would have been pronounced as four syllables: 'gre-ne wo-de', where the schwa was pronounced as the 'a' in sofa or the 'u' in lucky.[23] The phrase 'grene wode' occurs thirteen times in Gest, and the silent final '-e' never needs to be pronounced in order to "keep the beat".[22]:271–2
Presence of new phraseology
As a replacement for the now-silent '-e', Ikegami points out that the Gest poet introduces a new phrase construct: adjective + adjective|noun + noun. Some examples (with the stressed syllables in bold font and in modern spelling) are:
The head and feathers of rich red gold(line 1149) adj + adj + noun The good white bread, the good red wine(line 1571) adj + adj + nounadj + adj + noun Thou art one of the best sword men(line 674) adj + noun + noun
Ikegami remarks that no works prior to 1400 have this phrasing.[22]:273-4 Rather, Gest's use of this phrasing is similar to that of The Floure and the Leafe, which is considered to have composed during the third quarter of the 15th century (c.1450–1475).[22]:279
Frequent use of 'long e' rhyme
The Gest poet uses several rhymes that only work if the modern 'long e' sound is used. Some examples, with only the rhyming words shown, follow:
The modern 'long e' sound is considered to be one of the earliest changes associated with the Great Vowel Shift which began c. 1400.[22]:275-6
Rhyming 'all' with 'tale'
This rhyme[2]:lines 1422, 1424 only works after c. 1400. It is also associated with the great vowel shift.[22]:275
Evidence of Northern or East Midland dialect
Approximate locations of Old English dialects just prior to the Viking incursions. Most surviving Old English texts were written in the West Saxon dialect. Modern standard English (as spoken) descends mostly from the Mercian dialect, while the modern spelling derives from the West Saxon dialect of London.
The linguistic research begun by Skeat and his colleagues (as published in their various Middle English dictionaries) has been continued by modern linguists. Between 1898 and 1905, Joseph Wright published the seminal English Dialect Dictionary, based upon data collected by the English Dialect Society. The famous Survey of English Dialects was undertaken between 1950 and 1961.[24] Therefore, linguists have as detailed an understanding of the various Middle English dialects as the surviving literature and native speakers allow. The evidence for a Northern or East Midland dialect within the very words of Gest relies on the observation that, prior to standardization of English language spelling, Middle English authors spelled words as they were pronounced (that is, phonetically). Thus the rhyme words in each quatrain are also very valuable in determining whether or not regional dialects can be identified in Gest. Some of Ikegami's findings are below.[22]:276-8[25]
Late 9th-century extent of Danelaw and Old Norse. The Danelaw included the eastern half of Mercian dialect region (indicated as 'Danish Mercia'), and the southern part of the Northumbrian dialect region (north of the Humber estuary).
The OE/ON vowel ā (long a) appears as ME /a:/ (pronounced roughly like the 'a' in father) in the rhyme pair hame:dame[2]:lines 594,596. The non-Northern vowel /ɔ:/ (pronounced roughly like 'aw' in law) appears in the rhyme pair more:before[2]:lines 986,988.
The OE/ON diphthong āg (equivalent to 'w') appears as ME /au/ (pronounced roughly like the 'ou' in house) in the rhyme pair lowe:shawe[2]:lines 1134,1136. The non-Northern ME diphthong /ɔu/ (pronounced roughly like the 'o' in bone) appears in the rhyme pair lowe:inowe[2]:lines 170,172.
Northern and Eastern Midlands pronunciation
The Eastern Midlands dialect of ME results from a mixture of the OE Mercian dialect and the ON of the Danelaw, with an overlay of Norman French.
There are two sequences of long vowel pronunciation changes which are characteristic of Northern and Eastern Midland dialects. The OE long vowel ǣ (pronounced roughly like the 'a' in mat) was raised to the ME long open vowel /ɛ:/ (pronounced roughly like the 'a' in hay), and raised again to ME close /e/ (pronounced roughly like the 'e' in bet). Similarly, the OE long vowel ā was also raised to ME long open vowel /ɛ:/, and then raised again to ME close /o:/ (pronounced roughly like the 'oa' in boat). These changes appear in the rhyme pairs: see:the[2]:lines 222,224; mone:none[2]:lines 254,256; do:theretoo[2]:lines 686,688; ere:chere[2]:lines 954,956.
Additional vowel pronunciations which are typical of the North and the East Midlands include OE short y appearing as /i/, pronounced roughly like the 'i' in bit (rhyme pair synne:in[2]:lines 38,40; and OE or ON long ȳ appearing as /i:/, pronounced roughly like the 'ee' in see (rhyme pair pryde:beside[2]:lines 86,88.
Historical analysis
Maurice Keen wrote The Outlaws of Medieval Legend in 1961, which compared the historical background of the Robin Hood ballads with other legendary and historical outlaw figures.[26] Over the next four decades, various historians contributed to the debate on which historical periods are depicted in the Robin Hood ballads. In 1968, D C Fowler published A Literary History of the Popular Ballad as a modern update to Child's Ballads.[27][12] He focused on the historical background of Gest and the earliest Robin Hood tales.[Note 1] Many of the Child Robin Hood ballads were composed later, some as late as the 17th century, and are not relevant to explorations of the 14th–16th century versions of the Robin Hood legend.
The linguistic analysis suggests that Gest was probably compiled c. 1450–1475. The literary analysis suggests that the component tales were written down prior to 1450 from earlier oral forms which no longer exist. Various linkages can be made between historical events and evidence from the 14th and 15th centuries and the society portrayed within the internal bounds of Gest, such as Robin's yeoman status as compared to other yeomen in the tales; which King Edward is referred to; references to changing feudal practices and the abuses of Late Medieval England; and the probable early audiences.
Political and military events
In 2013, Joseph Taylor, aware of Ikegami's linguistic analysis,[22] examined Gest as a northern text in the historical regional context of northern England.[28]:313 Northeast England has a history of political, cultural, and military separateness from southern England since the Heptarchy, when it was the Kingdom of Northumbria, which was later invaded and settled by the Vikings as the Kingdom of Jorvik. After the Norman Conquest, the Earl of Northumbria and the prince-bishops of the County Palatine of Durham were given political and military power second only to the King in London. The strategic geographic location of the northern counties was formally recognized in 1249 under a treaty which established the Scottish Marches as a buffer zone between Scotland and England. Each of the six Marches (three English and three Scottish) were controlled by their own Wardens. Many of the English East Wardens were appointed from powerful regional families, such as the Percies, the Nevilles, and the Cliffords. The border conflicts meant money and power to these regional families. As "kings in the North",[28]:316 they maintained private armies to control, as well as defend, England's border. The intermittent wars with Scotland also provided political leverage with the King in London, who fully realized that only the northern magnates could mobilize the necessary troops against Scotland — or against London.[28]:316–7
This sense of separateness is reflected in the Gest in the way London is portrayed as the power base for the villainous Abbot of St Mary's and Sheriff of Nottingham (see here).
Parliament's rise in importance during the 14th century also provided the Northern magnates with a legitimate means to restrict royal power within their counties.[28]:316–7
Social changes
the Hundred Years' War which was actually three phases of war separated by truces
One important social change which occurred in response to the changes brought about by the climate, diseases, and military upheavals is the gradual change in the meaning of the term yeoman, which is used repeatedly in Gest. During the 14th and 15th centuries, between the time when the component tales were still in oral form and the time when Gest was compiled, the meaning of "yeoman" changed substantially.[29]:52-3 Originally, "yeoman" was a rank of noble household service as well as the chivalric rank between page and squire. By the late 14th century, it was also used to refer to freeborn and free tenure smallholders. During the 15th century, it began to refer to the growing social category (referred to as a "middling sort"[29]:55), consisting of the now land-wealthy commoner landowners and the land-poor younger sons of nobility. (Primogeniture dictated that only the eldest son could inherit the family estates.) This self-identification was re-inforced by the 1413 Statute of Additions under Henry V, in which those paying the polltax had to specify their status and occupation. Eventually, "yeoman" expanded to include husbandmen who practiced a trade or craft to supplement their farming income.[29]:52-3 These shifts in meaning are evident in Gest when the component tales are considered separately from the narrative arc (see here).
Yeoman in Gest
Richard Almond and A. J. Pollard did a study of the earliest Robin Hood tales, including Gest, Robin Hood and the Monk, Robin Hood and the Potter, and Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne. To address this spectrum of possible meanings of 'yeoman' over the centuries, they proposed that, within Gest, the 'yeoman' Robin Hood has to be studied (1) separately from the minor characters called "yeoman", and (2) separately from the 'yeoman' of the audience.[29]:56 They referred to this confusion in the various meanings of 'yeoman' as the "slipperiness of social terminology" in the 15th century.[29]:75 Their main source, Peter Coss, also considered another confusion factor, that Gest was compiled from multiple source tales.[30]:71 Some historical clues found within Gest and the possible source tales, and the changing meanings of 'yeoman', are below.
Robin as yeoman of the forest?
Almond and Pollard credited J. C. Holt with being the first historian to recognize the connection between a yeoman and the forest.[29]:57 Based upon clues within the text, Almond and Pollard extended Holt's idea, and proposed that audiences of the 15th century would have recognized Robin Hood as being a forester of Barnsdale or Sherwood because of these clues:[29]:56-8
use of the phrase 'yeoman of the forest'
The phrase appears in the Fourth Fytte[2]:lines 881-884, and again in the Seventh Fytte[2]:lines 1505-1508. The former scene is when the Chief Steward insults Robin Hood by calling him a thief, to which Little John retorts that Robin is a 'yeoman of the forest'. The latter scene is when Robin Hood stops the disguised king, and introduces himself and his men as 'yeomen of the forest', now forced to dine on the King's deer. Almond and Pollard propose that the importance which appears to be attached to the phrase in these scenes indicate that Robin and his fellowship are more than mere outlaws taking refuge in the greenwood.[29]:58-9
Robin 'walking' in the forest
In the Sixth Fytte[2]:lines 1313-1316, Robin is described as walking in the forest, much to the chagrin of the Sheriff. Almond and Pollard suggest that "walking" should be interpreted in the sense of walking associated with an occupation, such as a "police officer walking his beat" meaning a police officer patroling his assigned area.[29]:60 This interpretation is supported by [31]:19-20 who described the foresters as sworn to protect the "vert and venison" within their assigned areas, which were known as divisions, wards, bailiwicks, or walks.
This phrase occurs after Robin and his men leave Sir Richard's castle, and before the Sheriff captures Sir Richard. It may be a part of a transition between fragments of two separate tales.
other 'good yeomen' who 'walk'
In the First Fytte, Robin forbids his men to waylay "good yeoman/That walketh by green wood shawe [thicket]".[2]:lines 53-54 Almond and Pollard suggest that here Robin is referring to the other forest officials who were also yeomen: verderer, woodward, ranger, or agister.[29]:60
only a 'proud forester' can catch Robin
In the Seventh Fytte[2]:lines 1465-1480 only a "proud forester" in royal service knows how to track Robin down. And that was by disguising the King as an abbot and five of his bodyguards as monks; in other words, it takes a forester to catch a forester.[29]:61 It is unknown if this opening fragment is from a now-lost tale or part of the Gest poet's transition between the Sixth and Seventh Fyttes.
Robin's knowledge of royal hunt rituals
Forest feast under the tryst tree. Miniature from le Livre de chasse.
Almond and Pollard have traced some of the hunting rituals and terminology found in Gest back to The Master of Game, a hunting book translated in 1413 from French by Edward, Duke of York.[29]:64-66 They point out that in all the English-language 15th-century hunting literature, 'yeoman' is used consistently to refer to the hunt and forest officials.[29]:65
"Bow and stable" was the hunting technique in which herds of deer are driven by foresters and professional huntsmen towards the stationary noble hunters. The tryst tree is where the noble huntsman stood, with his bowbearer and his hound handlers, to await the deer being flushed toward them. Sometimes a lodge or hut made of green boughs would be built at the tryst for shelter as well as camouflage.[29]:64-66
Ritual butchery under the tryst tree. Miniature from le Livre de chasse.
Almond and Pollard compare the 'royal' dinner prepared by Robin for the disguised King in the Seventh Fytte[2]:lines 1545-1576 to that described in The Master of Game. Believing the abbot to be the King's emissary since he carries the Privy Seal, Robin invites him to a royal hunt. Robin escorts his honored guest by the hand (as is required of the yeoman of the bow) to the tryst tree. There the deer are slain and ritually butchered (dyghtande is a northern England term for the ritual).[2]:lines 1533-1576 The butchering is done by Robin himself for the disguised King, who was given the prime cuts of venison, along with bread and wine.[29]:66-9
In Gest, the huntsman's hut serves as the tryst tree for the dinners with the Knight in the First Fytte and the Chief Steward of St Mary's in the Fourth Fytte. The Knight is given swan and pheasant, a noble's repast, but also the numbles, which was traditionally reserved for the foresters and the huntsmen.[29]:68-9
This royal (or noble) hunt familiarity may indicate that the Gest poet was a member of either a royal or noble household. Or it may indicate that hunting tales were part of his repertoire. Or both. Coss proposes that the Gest poet had a fairly large body of source material from which to choose. And since he chose to weave his sources together, rather than lay them end-to-end, it is difficult to untangle the now-lost tales which he used.[30]:71-2
Deer hunting scene. Miniature from le Livre de chasse (1387-89)
Almond and Pollard also credited J. C. Holt as the first historian to notice the resemblance between Robin Hood and Geoffrey Chaucer's The Knight's Yeoman in The Canterbury Tales.[29]:62-3 But Holt never realized the significance of the Yeoman's accoutrements: his green coat and hood, his bow and arrows; his buckler and sword; and his horn attached to a green baldric. All of which indicated the Yeoman was a forester and huntsman; a position with which Chaucer was certainly familiar. He served as forester of North Petherton Park in Somersetshire for the last decade of his life.[32]:xl
The green livery of the forester and huntsman is depicted in many of the miniatures of the Livre de chasse, written by Gaston III, Count of Foix, in the late 14th century.[29]:63
Minor yeoman characters
Much, the Miller's son, and Will Scarlock, are both described as yeomen in the First Fytte, as they stand on the Saylis looking for Robin's guest.[2]:line 78 When combined with Robin's description of his men as 'yeomen of the forest' in the Seventh Fytte, the implication is that they are both foresters.(See above.)
In the Second Fytte, the young men participating in the wrestling match are described as yeomen.[2]:lines 539-540 But since no details are given, the exact meaning is uncertain.[30]:74
In the Third Fytte, Robin welcomes Little John back to the greenwood, and refers to the Sheriff's cook as a "fair yeoman".[2]:line 709 Robin probably recognized the cook's clothing as being from the Sheriff's household. 'Yeoman' was a service rank in the household kitchen.[30]:74
In the Eighth Fytte, the townspeople of Nottingham are called "both yeomen and knaves".[2]:line 1714 Here 'yeomen' refers to the tradesmen,[30]:74 and knaves refers to the common laborers.[33]:sense 3
In the First Fytte, Little John is introduced as a "good yeoman" standing next to Robin.[2]:line 12 Throughout Gest, Little John refers to Robin as his master.[2]:lines 19, 41, 99, 101-2, 277, 281, 297, 705, 825, 881-2 He also demonstrates a courtesy equal to that of Robin's in his interactions with the Sorrowful Knight[2]:lines 93-4 and the disguised King.[2]:line 1568
Robin later offers Little John's service to the Sorrowful Knight as knave, who can serve as a yeoman in time of need.[2]:lines 322-323 Here the meaning of 'knave' is an attendant,[33]:sense 2 and 'yeoman' refers to the military (chivalric) rank.[34]:sense 1
Later on, in the Third Fytte, Little John, in the guise of Reynold Greenleaf the knave, infiltrates the Sheriff's household in order to wreak vengeance on the Sheriff.[2]:lines 611-16
Which King Edward?
Almond and Pollard's approach coincides neatly with the results of Thomas Ohlgren's study of 'which' King Edward is meant in Gest. Ohlgren asserts that the individual tales were composed during the early decades of the reign of Edward III (r 1327–1377). He bases his assertion on internal evidence (references made in the text) concerning feudalism, livery and maintenance, and other details that can be traced back to Edward III's reign.[3]:2 Ohlgren proposes that Gest was compiled from these individual tales during the reign of Henry V (1413–1422) or Henry VI (first reign 1422–1461).[3]:2 He uses the example of the 14th-century political poems of Lauence Minot, whose poems were recopied during Henry V's reign to celebrate Henry's victories in France. Similarly, some of the Robin Hood tales which referred to Edward III could have been compiled as Gest. Ohlgren argues that cultural references made in the original tales would only be understood by an audience who was no more than two or three generations later than Edward III.[3]:26-8 To support his assertion, Ohlgren considers clues which can be found within the text of Gest.
The king is referred to as "Edward, our comely king". But which King Edward is it? The epithet is the first clue. Olhgren recently discovered a similar epithet in the political poetry written by Laurence Minot in the 14th century. Minot composed poems in Middle English celebrating the victories of Edward III, including those against the Scots (Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333) and against the French (Siege of Guînes (1352)). They were probably written not long after the events, but eleven of his political poems were revised c. 1352 to form a continuous narrative. They were popular enough to have been recopied during the reign of Henry V or Henry VI (our earliest surviving text is dated to 1425-50).[35][3]:? Minot's poem IV begins:
Edward, our comely king in Brabant has his dwelling with many comely knight.[36]
Ohlgren considered this significant, as only two works are known to use the phrase "Edward our comely king": Minot's poem IV and Gest. By itself, this evidence is not convincing; but the other three clues, which are inter-related, add weight to his argument.
"far beyond the sea/In England right"[2]:lines 353-54
In the Second Fytte, the greedy Abbot is gloating that this is the Knight's last day to repay his debt, then his lands will be forfeit. The kind-hearted Prior rebukes the Abbot:
The knight is far beyond the sea, In England right, And suffer hunger and cold, And many a sorry night.[2]:lines 353-356
"Far beyond the sea" has been usually interpreted as the Knight being on crusade or a pilgrimage[14]:192-93, but Ohlgren considers it to mean that the Knight was fighting in France at the beginning of the Hundred Years War. "In England right" was the rallying cry for Edward III's legal claim to certain territories in France - and to the French throne. The phrase appears 4 times in Minot's poems, and it always refers to Edward's legal claim.[3]:8-9[36]:poem I, line 31[36]:poem III, lines 5-7[36]:poem IV, lines 49-51[36]:poem VIII, lines 36-7
Ohlgren draws attention to two tales which are considered part of the "King and Subject" tradition as described by Child: King Edward and Shepherd (hereafter called Shepherd) and King and Hermit (hereafter called Hermit). Both tales were mentioned by Child as part of his discussion of King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth (#273).[Child, V, p??] Curiously, Child included Tanner, which survives as a 17th-century text, but he does not include either Shepherd or Hermit, both of which survive as incomplete manuscripts dated c. 1450. In Olgren's study of the two tales, he has concluded that there is nothing "to preclude their having been used as the sources for the 'King and the Subject' theme in Gest."[3]:12
Shepherd is preserved as part of the same manuscript which contains Robin Hood and the Monk. Shepherd unambiguously describes Edward III as the King:[3]:10
born at Windsor Castle
father was a Welsh knight; mother was named Isabella
Shepherd and Hermit share plot similarities: a disguised king who seeks out his subjects to listen to their complaints; he dines on what turns out to be a dinner consisting of poached venison and fowl; the subject engages the king in a drinking game; the king invites the subject to court, where the king's true identity is revealed.[3]:10 Both tales contain interesting plot details which parallel Gest:[3]:11
In Shepherd, a hand-washing ritual occurs prior to the feast at court; in Gest the ritual occurs prior to Robin's meals with the Knight and with the Monk.
The first meal provided by the Shepherd to the King is similar to that provided by Robin to the Knight.
The second meal provided by the Shepherd to his King is similar to the meal provided by Robin to his King.
In Hermit, the King is lured into the forest by the promise of a great-headed deer. The incident occurs five miles from Nottingham. In Gest, this is similar to Little John's ruse to lure the Sheriff into the greenwood, in which Little John runs five miles to the Sheriff's hunting party with news of a great green hart.
Cultural memory of Edward III
Shepherd and Hermit, as well as the political poems of Minot, are examples of a cultural memory of Edward III which still existed some three or four generations after his death. (This cultural memory may have been encouraged by Henry IV, a grandson of Edward III, who had usurped the throne from Richard II, son of Edward the Black Prince, in 1399.) Edward was remembered as having concern for his subjects, and was committed to redressing injustices committed by his officials.[3]:12
Another popular text was the "De reginine principum", which was translated (1411-12) into Middle English by Privy Seal clerk Thomas Hoccleve as the Regiment of Princes. Hoccleve addressed his poem to Henry of Monmouth, Prince of Wales and Duke of Lancaster (the future Henry V). Henry IV was in poor health, and his son had taken over the reins of government in 1410. In the Regiment of Princes, Hoccleve included many references to Edward's personal life and events of his time. Hoccleve advices Henry to personally find out what his subjects think of him in the section "Of Justice". Like "Edward the last", Henry should travel among his subjects "in simple array alone" "To hear what men said of thy person" (modern spelling).[3]:12 The King is obligated to help them. If his officials are oppressing the people, he is to redress the wrongs done.
Sir Richard as army recruiter?
Ohlgren draws attention to the Knight's activities during the year before his 400-pound debt repayment is due to Robin Hood in the Second Fytte. The Knight's income from his lands is only 400 pounds, so how is he paying for the men and equipment?
Ohlgren proposes that the money could have come from two sources: indenture and purveyance.[3]:5-8 Indenture was started by Edward I as a way of supplementing the number of troops raised through the feudal (tenure) levies, but it became almost standard practice under Edward III, who used it to recruit the rank and file of his armies.[1954_Lyon, p 503-4] In the 14th and 15th centuries, purveyance[MED, sense 3, 4] meant recruiting men, clothing them, furnishing the equipment for a campaign, and providing food and transportation for them to the English coast. The 100 men-at-arms mentioned in the text don't seem to have been the Knight's personal retinue, the uniforms being red and white. These colors belonged to Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel, who served in almost all of Edward III's French campaigns. Recruiting and outfitting these men could have earned the Knight between 250 and 650 pounds.[3]:7
Livery originally referred to a lord providing food and clothing to his household servants. It later expanded to refer to the distinctive uniform worn by the lord's servants. Under the original English feudalism as imported by the Normans, a tenant-in-chief's feudal obligations to the king were originally defined by tenure. Those who accepted lands from the king were expected to return specified services at his command, such as fealty, suit of court, and military service. The latter was known as knight's service. The English invasions of Scotland during the reign of Edward I demanded more men-at-arms and archers than the traditional feudal methods could supply. This situation became even more acute under his grandson Edward III at the beginning of the Hundred Years War. Indentures were drawn up between the king and his lords, and between the lords and their sub-tenants or captains of men, for the provision of a certain number of men-at-arms and archers. These men were equipped with weapons and furnished with distinctive clothing or badges as a means of identification.[37]
Under a strong king, such as Edward III, the increased power of regional magnates afforded by this practice could be restrained, but under a weak king, such as Richard II, abuses became rampant. In 1377, 1384, and 1388, Parliament protested against the abuses, now referred to as livery and maintenance. Parliament was concerned about the increasing number of liveried retainers involved in violence and riots who expected to escape legal retribution through the sheriffs and justices of the peace who could be retained by their lord.[37]
Throughout Gest, there are several references to the expanded use of livery and fees during the 14th and 15th centuries.[7] The following incidents indicate that Robin bestowed liveries upon his men (or at least provided the cloth). As mentioned above, this was considered acceptable practice during wartime under the terms of the indentures with Robin, who is considered a yeoman leader, or captain, of men.[3]:17
Robin Hood and the Knight
In the First Fytte, Robin Hood agrees to provide livery to the threadbare Knight. Little John then measures out a generous three yards of scarlet and raye (striped)[MED_raye] cloth, which he hands over to the Knight.[2]:lines 276-296
Little John and the Cook
In the Third Fytte, on Robin's behalf, Little John offers to the Cook twenty marks and two sets of clothing per year as incentive to join Robin's fellowship.[2]:lines 676-682
Robin and King Edward
In the Eighth Fytte, King Edward asks to purchase from Robin green cloth to replace their gray monk's robes.[2]:lines 1669-1676
Robin at Edward's court
In the Eighth Fytte, Robin has spent all his wealth on fees for his men.[2]:lines 1729-1736
Sheriff and Little John
In the Third Fytte, the Sheriff offers to retain Little John as a member of his household for 20 marks per year.[2]:lines 597-600
However, the most prominent incident is the illegal practice of 'cloth and fee' described in the Second Fytte. 'Cloth and fee' (another name for livery and fee) refers to the payment of money and gifts of clothing to the King's justice in return for favorable legal services.[2]:line 426 Note This practice became so prevalent that, in 1346, Edward III issued a statute requiring his justices to swear an oath that they would only accept 'cloth and fee' from the King himself.[2]:line 425 Note, line 426 Note In this episode, the Abbot is trying to defraud the Knight of his land, so he retains a County Justice, the King's officer, to force the issue in the Abbot's favor.[2]:lines 371-372, 425-426 Once the Abbot has publicly insulted the Knight, the Chief Justice seeks to defuse the situation by suggesting the Abbot offer to purchase the land outright.[2]:lines 465-66, 465 Note The ridiculously low price offered by the Abbot is yet another insult to the Knight, which prompts the Knight to empty the bag of Robin's 400 pounds onto the Abbot's table. The Knight then declares to all present to bear witness to the fact that he has redeemed his land legally.[7]
Peasants' revolt of 1381
Most of the initial historical interpretations placing Gest during the 14th century were based upon a misreading of Child's discussion of a possible date of composition for Gest. Child placed his conclusion ("There are no firm grounds on which to base an opinion.") at the end of a lengthy discussion in which he unsuccessfully attempted to date Gest to 1400 or earlier.[6]:40 Based upon this misreading, for the next century scholars continued to propose that since Piers Plowman is connected with the Peasants' revolt, and since the priest Sloth mentions "rymes of Robyn Hode", then Robin Hood is also connected. However, Langland gives no indication as to what these rhymes are, and there are no surviving rhymes from Langland's lifetime.
According to Richard Almond and A. J. Pollard[29]:55-6, the association between Robin Hood and the issues of the Peasants' Revolt was first made by Rodney Hilton in 1958,[38] when he described Robin Hood as "a free peasant representing peasant ideology for a peasant audience".[29]:55 However, in 1961, J. C. Holt rebutted Hilton, asserting that the Robin Hood tales were composed in castle and manor halls,[39] a position Holt expanded upon in his book.[14] Since then, a consensus has emerged that Robin Hood represented a new social group above the peasants and below those who bore a coat of arms, a group which is often referred to as the "middling sort".[29]:56Gest does not appear to be concerned with peasants' issues, and is not particularly similar in themes with surviving songs of the peasantry.[14]:37-38
Forest law and poaching
In Gest, several references to Robin Hood's fellowship poaching the King's deer are mentioned as passing remarks. They are not further developed, however, and do not appear to be a core part of the early Robin Hood legend. Mentions include:
when itemizing the Knight's dinner menu in the First Fytte[2]:lines 127-132, and the King's dinner menu in the Seventh Fytte[2]:lines 1569-1572
in the transition between the Sixth and Seventh Fyttes, the Gest poet speaks of how King Edward travelled throughout Lancashire, without seeing the usual large herds of deer[2]:lines 1425-1432
when Robin Hood accosts the disguised King Edward in the Seventh Fytte[2]:lines 1507-1508
As a ballad
Gest was included by Francis Child as part of his influential collection of ballads, the Child Ballads, as number 117 in volume 3 of his collection The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.[6] He had earlier published a version in 1859.[40] Its quatrain structure and rhyme scheme fits with other Middle English ballads. However, Gest, along with other traditional border ballads of the Anglo-Scottish border and ballads of Robin Hood, has its own distinctions from other Child ballads. They are narratives, which generally lack a chorus or refrain, and appear to have been composed as recitations before an audience. Only Gest is considered comparable to the Danish and English heroic ballads,[Note 2] the epic poem Beowulf, and the great Middle English romances - Havelok the Dane and The Tale of Gamelyn.[41][1]
Lythe and listen, gentlemen That be of free-born blood; I shall you tell of a good yeoman His name was Robyn Hode.[2]:lines 1–4
Thus begins the Gest; calling all free-born gentlemen to hear tales of the good yeoman Robyn Hode. The lines within the quatrain have an ABCB rhyme scheme, in which the last words of lines 2 and 4 rhyme, but the last words of lines 1 and 3 may or may not. The words in each line also have a rhythm or beat due to the combinations of stressed and unstressed syllables. Lines 1 and 3 have four stressed syllables, while lines 2 and 4 have three stressed syllables. Each stressed syllable is preceded by one or two unstressed syllables. Another excerpt, which if read aloud has stressed syllables in bold font to demonstrate the intended rhythm:
Robyn stood in Barnesdale, And leaned him to a tree, And by him stood Little John, A good yeoman was he.[2]:lines 9–12
A musical interpretation of this vocal pattern was recorded in 2002 by Bob Frank in a modern English version entitled A Little Gest of Robin Hood. Frank accompanied himself with an acoustic guitar, while reciting the lines in a talking blues style.[43]
Little John. Sketch by Louis Rhead.
Fowler's reconstruction of narrative ballad history
As the Child Ballads were being prepared for publication, there was an ongoing debate among those who studied ballad origins. Those who considered that ballads originated as communal songs and dances were known as communalists; those who supported the opposing position, that ballads were written by individual authors, were known as individualists. This debate involved questions that have since been "discarded as subjects for fruitful inquiry".[44] In other words, the question of communal versus individual origination can never be answered due to lack of historical evidence.[44][45] The current consensus is that, since so little is known about the origins of the earliest ballads, their origins can only be deduced from clues within the texts themselves on a case-by-case basis. It was advocated by the English historian J R Maddicott in a series of articles in the journal Past & Present (1958–61) and re-iterated in 1978.[7]:233
In 1968, D. C. Fowler proposed a new reconstruction of the history of the narrative ballad, based upon his study of Gest, and the oldest Robin Hood ballads (Robin Hood and the Monk, and Robin Hood and the Potter). His proposal was that the narrative ballad is a subcategory of folksong that uses a narrative form. The narrative ballad, as it appeared in England during the 15th–16th centuries, was a result of the merger of several different traditions. The first tradition was folksong, which appeared about the 12th century, and became more widespread during the 13th–15th centuries with the appearance of carols and religious songs sung in the vernacular. The second tradition was itself the result of a 14th-century blending of the 12th century French courtly romances (such as the Arthurian romances) with the Old English alliterative traditional poetry to form a new genre of English metrical narrative romance (such as those included in the Ancient Engleish Metrical Romanceës).[12]:5-10 These romances are usually associated with royal court minstrels, but minstrels were also present at the great baronial halls of the north of England.[12]:8 These powerful barons, such as the House of Percy, the House of Neville, and the York and Lancaster cadet branches of the Plantagenet dynasty, maintained courts which rivalled the Royal Court in London.
Fowler's proposal was both opposed[46][47] and applauded[48][49][50][51][52] for his attempt to construct a history of ballads based upon the earliest dates of surviving texts and not upon comparative structure and form. Independent support for minstrel origins was offered by several historians. Maurice Keen, in his first edition (1961) of The Outlaws of Medieval Legend argued that the ballad form of the Robin Hood stories indicated a primitive popular origin. In the Introduction to his second edition (1977), Keen stated that criticism forced him to abandon his original arguments[26] He now supported the position that the narrative ballads were minstrel compositions. In 1989, James Holt also advocated a minstrel origin for the Robin Hood ballads when he proposed that the original audience was the yeoman servants of the English feudal households, especially those of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, a grandson of Henry III. Holt proposed the ballads were then spread from the great halls to market-places, taverns and inns, where the common people heard them.[14]:12
Sung or recited?
Sir Richard at the Lea. Sketch by Louis Rhead.
Fowler contended that the Robin Hood ballads were distinct from "true" ballads because they were recited, not sung.[12]:5-10 His evidence is twofold: (1) unrelated manuscripts, approximately from the same time at which Gest may have been compiled, which mention Robin Hood, and (2) internal passages from Gest and the two oldest Robin Hood ballads in manuscript form which are approximately contemporaneous with Gest: Robin Hood and the Monk, and Robin Hood and the Potter.[12]:65-67
This interpretation of the contemporary manuscripts was originally proposed by Chambers, which Fowler incorporated into his hypothesis.[53] The importance of the manuscripts is not only that they mentioned Robin Hood, but also what they said about him. The manuscripts are:[12]:65-71
Dives and Pauper (dated to ca 1410) refers to "tale or a song of robyn hode"
According to Fowler, the use of the words sing or song refers, not to the melodic singing of a folksong, but to a type of chanting known as plainsong. This view can be supported by one of the meanings of the Middle English singen ("to sing"): to relate a story in song or verse; to recite a poem.[54]
Scotichronicon (dated to ca 1450), written by Bower in Latin, uses the phrases "cantitare delectantur" and "recitantur" in its mention of Robin Hood and Little John in the then-popular "romanciis, mimos, ei bardanos"
cantitare delectanturloosely translated as "delightful singing" or as "delightful recitation"[55]:cantare, senses 1,5[55]:delectantia recitanturmeans as "reading aloud"[55]:recitare, sense 1 romanciismeans "narratives, stories, or historical accounts"[55]:romancia mimosmeans "mimic plays"[55]:mimologus
In other words, Bower is talking about delightful stories about Robin Hood which are being performed in song and/or recitation.
Historia Majoris Britanniae (dated 1521), written by Mair in Latin, contains a remark that the exploits of Robin Hood are known throughout England in "cantibus"
cantibusmeans "a singing tone in the delivery of an orator"[55]:canticum, sense II.B
"lythe" comes from Old Norse[U of MI's MED]. When used in the phrase "lythe and listen" it means "to hear, to be attentive" (as in the colloquialism "listen up!"). The Gest poet uses this formulaic whenever a new tale is about to begin. Considering the length of the ballad, it is possible that the ballad was broken up into sections for performance; and the "Lythe and listen" would alert the audience that the performance was about to resume.
Classification of Gest and other Robin Hood ballads
The King rolls up his sleeve. Sketch by Louis Rhead.
Two other students of Kittredge expanded upon Gummere's classification scheme. Walter Morris Hart studied under Kittredge and later wrote Ballad and Epic. A Study in the Development of the Narrative Art.[60] Hart examined ballads from each of Gummere's classes, and compared Gest to Beowulf and the Song of Roland.[41]:354-5 Hart looked more closely at the levels of elaboration and accretion, among ballads of the same class and between ballads of different classes. Elaboration (defined by Hart as growth from within)[41]:355 describes the differences in choral ballads and narrative ballads. As the narrative becomes more important, the characterisations, the surroundings, and the inter-relationships become more detailed. This increased level of detail allows for a more nuanced portrait of an individual's character, motives, and an understanding of their state of mind. Accretion (defined by Hart as the accumulation of independent events)[41]:355 is the complexity which arises in the narrative as the central character becomes a heroic figure, and represents the community's ideals.[41]:354-5 On the basis of its elaboration and accretion, Hart judged Gest as "an epic in the making".[41]:347 In Hart's opinion, Gest is surpassed only by the Danish and English heroic ballads, and Beowulf and Roland.[41]:357–8
William Hall Clawson wrote his doctoral thesis on the Robin Hood ballads, which was later published as The Gest of Robin Hood.[21][11][41] Prior to its publication, Clawson wrote an article, Ballad and Epic, which summarized his synthesis of the work done by Gummere and Hart. In 1974, J. B. Bessinger Jr., contending that the term "epic" was confusing, called Gest "a minor heroic poem" on the basis of his comparison of Gest with Havelok the Dane and The Tale of Gamelyn. Extending his comparison to the themes and content of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Bessinger concluded that Gest lies somewhere between a ballad, epic, and a romance.[1]
Scholarship
Various scholars have written on Gest. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, by Francis James Child, was very influential and popular in spreading knowledge of the oldest surviving ballads in English literature, although more evidence has been discovered since the late 1880s that Child did not have access to at the time. William Hall Clawson wrote extensively on Gest in 1909.[11]Medievalist D. C. Fowler published A Literary History of the Popular Ballad in 1968.[12] In 1989, two historians, Barrie Dobson and John Taylor, wrote Rymes of Robyn Hood on the subject.[61] In 1997, Stephen Knight and Thomas H. Ohlgren published Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales, a collection of all the pre-17th-century tales of Robin Hood, arranged in chronological order.[62] Their book now forms the core of the Robin Hood Project of the University of Rochester's Middle English Texts website.[63] In 2013 Ohlgren and linguist Lister M. Matheson published Early Rymes of Robin Hood, which includes "as-is" transcriptions of all the earliest surviving copies of Gest for use by scholars.[4]
Among early ballads, Robin Hood's Death is likely the most related, being a longer telling of the same story as the final six stanzas of Gest. Whether Death was an expansion of Gest, Gest an abridgment of Death, or both were based on a lost common source is impossible to say.[61]
With the rise of English Romanticism in the late 18th century came a resurgence in the popularity of the Robin Hood ballads. Gest was reprinted several times as part of various anthologies, the first of which was Robin Hood: A collection of all the Ancient Poems Songs and Ballads now extant, relative to that celebrated Outlaw, edited by Joseph Ritson in 1795 (followed by later editions in 1820, 1832 and 1885).[65][61]Ivanhoe by Walter Scott was greatly influenced by Ritson's collection and likely an inspiration for the character of Locksley in it. Echoes from Gest can be found throughout Ivanhoe: in its various locations in the West Riding of Yorkshire; in the use of elements of Gest in key scenes at the Tournament of Ashby; and in Scott's re-use of the Gest poet's feasting scene motif to highlight important plot twists.
Gest has influenced modern versions of the Robin Hood tales, especially in the basic plot motifs such as Robin robbing someone and sharing the loot with another who is more worthy. However, its main stories are not always seen as much as the other Robin Hood ballads, most notably the story of The Sorrowful Knight. The adaption which bears obvious traces is the popular children's book written by Howard Pyle in 1883. Pyle's book was a huge influence on how Hollywood would later portray Robin Hood.
Howard Pyle's contribution to the Robin Hood revival of the 19th century was his richly illustrated children's book The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. Following in the footsteps of Walter Scott, Pyle had Robin Hood roaming Sherwood Forest (not Barnsdale) during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart (not comely King Edward). Pyle did adapt the tale of the Sorrowful Knight, perhaps the most unique tale of Gest, in Chapters I-II of Part the Fifth of his work.[66]:157-184 The story is heavily modified from that in Gest (Pyle replaced most of Fytte 1 with his own version of how the Knight received his money; not from Robin, but from the Bishop of Hereford, who "conveniently" came to Robin's feast). Writing in an era of it being cheap to write in longform, Pyle extended the story with richly detailed descriptions and drawings, while the compiler of Gest, needing to make something short and punchy enough to potentially be recited by a minstrel, was more spare in his prose.
He was a good stout knight, but sorrowful of face and downcast of mien. His clothes were plain and rich, but no chain of gold, such as folk of his stand in life wore at most times, hung around his neck, and no jewel was about him; yet no one could mistake him for aught but one of proud and noble blood. His head was bowed upon his breast and his hands drooped limp on either side; and so he came slowly riding, as though sunk in sad thoughts, whilst even his good horse, the reins loose upon his neck, walked with hanging head, as though he shared his master's grief.
All dreary was his semblance, And little was his pride; His one foot in the stirrup stood, That other waved beside.
His hood hanged in his eyes two; He rode in simple array, A sorrier man than he was one Rode never in summer day."
—The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (left)[66]:159Gest, Fytte 1 (right)[2]:lines 85-92
Pyle also includes the episode of the wrestling yeoman, but to tie it more clearly into the novel, he made the man David of Doncaster, a Merry Man from Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, though even this made the episode odd among Pyle's novelistic effects.[67]
Notes
↑ Gest (Child 117), c. 1493-1518, is considered as one of the three oldest Robin Hood tales in Child's anthology. The other two are Robin Hood and the Monk (Child 119), c. after 1450, and Robin Hood and the Potter (Child 121), c. 1500. Two incomplete tales dated to c. 1450, The King and the Shepherd and The King and the Hermit, are also compared with Gest, but were not included in Child's anthology. A ballad sometimes compared with Gest is Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudesley (Child 116), c. 1557.
↑ Hart's analysis included the following as heroic ballads:
Child ballads Sir Aldinger (59), King Estmere (60), Sir Cawline (61), Bewick and Graham (211)
Related Research Articles
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depicted as being of noble birth, and in modern retellings he is sometimes depicted as having fought in the Crusades before returning to England to find his lands taken by the Sheriff. In the oldest known versions, he is instead a member of the yeoman class. He is traditionally depicted dressed in Lincoln green. Today, he is most closely associated with his stance of "robbing the rich to give to the poor".
Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century witnessed the rise of the yeoman longbow archers during the Hundred Years' War, and the yeoman outlaws celebrated in the Robin Hood ballads. Yeomen joined the English Navy during the Hundred Years' War as seamen and archers. In the early 15th century, yeoman was the rank of chivalry between page and squire. By the late 17th century, yeoman became a rank in the Royal Navy for the common seamen who were in charge of ship's stores, such as foodstuffs, gunpowder, and sails.
Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, alongside Much the Miller's Son. His name is an ironic reference to his giant frame, as he is usually portrayed in legend as a huge warrior – a 7-foot-tall (2.1-metre) master of the quarterstaff. In folklore, he fought Robin Hood on a tree bridge across a river on their first meeting.
Much, the Miller's Son is one of the Merry Men in the tales of Robin Hood. He appears in some of the oldest ballads, A Gest of Robyn Hode and Robin Hood and the Monk, as one of the company.
The Bishop of Hereford is a character in the Robin Hood legend. He is typically portrayed as a wealthy and greedy clergyman who is robbed by Robin and his Merry Men.
Will Scarlet is a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He is present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Pyle compiled the traditional Robin Hood ballads as a series of episodes of a coherent narrative. For his characters' dialog, Pyle adapted the late Middle English of the ballads into a dialect suitable for children.
Richard at the Lee is a major character in the early medieval ballads of Robin Hood, especially the lengthy ballad A Gest of Robyn Hode, and has reappeared in Robin Hood tales throughout the centuries.
Gilbert Whitehand is a member of Robin Hood's Merry Men about whom next to nothing is known. It is possible that he is a character known from oral literature, with only allusions remaining in written literature.
Robin Hood's Death, also known as Robin Hoode his Death, is an Early Modern English ballad of Robin Hood. It dates from at the latest the 17th century, and possibly originating earlier, making it one of the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood. It is a longer version of the last six stanzas of A Gest of Robyn Hode, suggesting that one of the authors was familiar with the other work and made an expansion or summary of the other, or else both were drawing from a lost common tale. The surviving version in the Percy Folio is fragmentary, with sections missing. A more complete but later version is from the middle of the 18th century, and is written in modern English. Both versions were later published by Francis James Child as Child ballad #120 in his influential collection of popular ballads.
Robin Hood and the Potter is a 15th century ballad of Robin Hood. While usually classed with other Robin Hood ballads, it does not appear to have originally been intended to be sung, but rather recited by a minstrel, and thus is closer to a poem. It is one of the very oldest pieces of the surviving Robin Hood legend, with perhaps only Robin Hood and the Monk older than it. It inspired a short play intended for use in May Day games, attested to around 1560. It was later published by Francis James Child as Child ballad #121 in his influential collection of popular ballads in the 1880s.
"Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow" is an English folk song, part of the Robin Hood canon. It features an archery competition for a golden arrow that has long appeared in Robin Hood tales, but it is the oldest recorded one where Robin's disguise prevents his detection.
The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood is an English ballad of Robin Hood. It is a relatively late work in the corpus, found in the Forresters Manuscript from the 1670s. The work seems loosely based on the 7th and 8th fyttes of A Gest of Robyn Hode which recounts the end of Robin Hood's outlawry after an encounter with the king. Unlike Gest, the king is not acting out of the need to suppress Robin; additionally, The King's Disguise and Friendship uses the 17th century updates to the legend that places Robin as contemporaneous with King Richard's reign. In the late 1800s, Francis James Child included it in his influential collection, the Child Ballads, as #151.
Robin Hood and the Monk is a Middle English ballad and one of the oldest surviving ballads of Robin Hood. The earliest surviving document with the work is from around 1450, and it may have been composed even earlier in the 15th century. It is also one of the longest ballads at around 2,700 words. It is considered one of the best of the original ballads of Robin Hood.
Robyn and Gandeleyn is an English ballad. The poem is in Sloane Manuscript 2593, a document of lyrics and carols which dates from around 1450. It was first printed by Joseph Ritson in his 1790 collection Ancient Songs. It was later republished in the second half of the 19th century in an anthology of traditional English and Scottish ballads by Francis James Child known as the Child Ballads, where it is Child Ballad 115. Child also divided the continuous text into seventeen stanzas.
"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.
The Merry Men are the group of outlaws who follow Robin Hood in English literature and folklore. The group appears in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood and remains popular in modern adaptations.
Robin Hood's Grave is the name given to a monument in Kirklees Park Estate, West Yorkshire, England, near the now-ruined Kirklees Priory. It is alleged to be the burial place of English folk hero Robin Hood.
Wentbridge is a village and civil parish in the Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. It lies around 3 miles (5 km) southeast of its nearest town of size, Pontefract, close to the A1 road.
Robin Hood and Little John is Child ballad 125. It is a story in the Robin Hood canon which has survived as, among other forms, a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad, and is one 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.
References
1 2 3 4 Bessinger Jr, J B (1999). "The Gest of Robin Hood Revisited". In Knight, Stephen (ed.). Robin Hood: An Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism. Cambridge UK: D S Brewer. pp.47–48. ISBN0-85991-525-5.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ohlgren, Thomas H; Matheson, Lister M, eds. (2013). Early Rymes of Robyn Hood An Edition of the Texts, Ca. 1425 to Ca. 1600 (1sted.). Tempe AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. ISBN9780866984768.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Child, Francis James, ed. (1888). "117 A GEST OF ROBYN HODE". The English and Scottish popular ballads. Vol.3, part V (2nded.). Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin. p.39. Archived from the original on 29 September 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Maddicott, J R (1999). "Birth and Setting of the Ballads of Robin Hood". In Knight, Stephen (ed.). Robin Hood: An Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism (1ed.). Cambridge, England: D S Brewer. pp.233–236. ISBN0-85991-525-5.
↑ "Provenance and binding". First Scottish Books. Library of Scotland. 2006. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Gray, Douglas (1999). "The Robin Hood Poems". In Knight, Stephen (ed.). Robin Hood: An Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism (1ed.). Cambridge, England: D S Brewer. pp.3–37. ISBN0-85991-525-5.
1 2 Keen, Maurice (1989). The Outlaws of Medieval Legend (3rded.). New York: Dorset Press. ISBN0-88029-454-X.. Note that Keen made several changes and recantations in his third edition compared to the 1977 second edition.
↑ Child, Francis James, ed. (1859). "Book VI No 4". English and Scottish ballads. Vol.V (1sted.). Boston: Little, Brown & company. p.42. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
↑ Chambers, E K (1945). "English Literature at close of Middle Ages". In Wilson, F P; Dobree, Bomany (eds.). Oxford History of English Literature. Vol.2. Oxford UK: Clarendon Press. pp.122–184.
↑ "Middle English Dictionary". Middle English Compendium. University of Michigan Library. 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2022., sense 4.b
↑ "Robin Hood and the Monk". The Robin Hood Project. University of Rochester. 2022. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
↑ Gummere, Francis B (1897). Old English Ballads (1ed.). Boston MA: Ginn & Company. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
↑ Gummere, Francis B (1907). The Popular Ballad (1ed.). Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
↑ Ohlgren, Thomas H; Knight, Stephen Thomas, eds. (1997). Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University. ISBN9781879288928.
↑ "The Robin Hood Project". The Robin Hood Project. University of Rochester. 2021. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
Hart, Walter Morris (1922). English Popular Ballads (1ed.). Chicago IL: Scott, Foresman and Company. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Hart's classification of Child's ballads according to the complexity and elaboration of the narrative
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