King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth

Last updated

King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth (Roud 248, Child 273) is an English-language folk song, first published in 1564. [1] Versions of this ballad also exist outside the Child collection. Additional copies can be found at the British Library, the University of Glasgow Library, and the Pepys Library at Magdalene College. [2] These ballads' dates, by estimation of the English Short Title Catalogue, range from the early seventeenth century to as late as 1775. The ballad is most recognized by its opening line: "In summer time, when leaves grow green." Child describes the appeal of this ballad to be centered on the chance meeting with a king, which is also a recurring theme in tales of Robin Hood. [3]

Contents

Synopsis

King Edward, while hunting, espies a tanner riding a mare with a cowhide for a saddle. He tells his men to stay back and goes to ask directions to the town of Drayton Bassett. The tanner offers wrong directions, but Edward knows them to be wrong; then Edward invites the tanner to dine with him in Drayton Bassett. The tanner responds that he has no need of charity; he has more pounds in his purse than the stranger has pence in his. Furthermore, he suspects the stranger of having stolen the lordly raiment he is wearing.

Edward asks the tanner for news. The tanner replies that he has heard nothing save that cowhides are in great demand. Edward then asks to switch horses with the tanner. The tanner replies that he'll do the trade but only for a gold noble (80d). Edward, amused, gives him twenty groats (80d), which raises the tanner's opinion of him a bit. The tanner hands over his mare, throws the cowhide over the king's gilt saddle, and tries to ride home; but the cowhide spooks the king's steed and it throws the tanner onto the ground.

The tanner indignantly demands his mare back. Edward, laughing, replies that he'll do the trade but only for a gold noble. The tanner graciously hands Edward not only his original twenty groats but also twenty more, and invites him to share a drink.

Edward then summons his hunting party from over the hill. The tanner first takes them for a band of outlaws, and then (when he realizes Edward's true identity) trembles in fear of royal punishment; but Edward instead thanks the tanner for his entertainment and for his hospitality, and bestows on him Plumpton Park with its three tenements, worth 300 pounds a year. The tanner, not to be outdone, tells Edward that if the king should ever visit his little shop in Tamworth, he can have his shoes re-leathered for free.

Tune
Though no specific tune is listed on any of the ballads—instead it reads: "To an Excellent new Tune"—it is likely the ballad was sung to the tune "In Summer Time," which, again, was also often set to Robin Hood ballads. [4]

Notes

Plumpton Park is also mentioned in A Gest of Robyn Hode (Child ballad 117) as a place that Edward (in this case, likely Edward II [5] ) would go to hunt. Various historians place Robin Hood's Plumpton Park within Inglewood Forest [6] or within the Forest of Knaresborough. [5]

Further reading

  1. Percy, Thomas (1839). Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. London: Templeman, Smith, and Miller. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  2. Old English Ballads. London: Ward and Lock. 1864. p.  130. king edward the fourth and the tanner of tam.
  3. Payne Collier, ESQ, J (1850). The Dramatic Works of Thomas Heywood: Volume 1. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. Child, Franics James (1965). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Volume V. Boston: Dover Books. pp. 67–88.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Hood</span> Heroic outlaw in English folklore

Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor. 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.

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.

Robin Hood's Chase is an English folk song about Robin Hood, and a sequel to "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine". This song has survived as, among other forms, a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad. It is one of several ballads about the medieval folk hero that form part of the Child Ballads.

"Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" is an English-language folk song and part of the Robin Hood canon. This song has survived as, among other forms, a late 17th-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.

Robin Hood and the Tanner is a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad and folk song that forms part of the Robin Hood canon.

Robin Hood and the Butcher 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. It may have been derived from the similar Robin Hood and the Potter.

Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight is an 18th century ballad of the death of Robin Hood. The song, written in Modern English, was included in the popular "garlands" (collections) of Robin Hood stories and songs published in the 18th and early 19th centuries, generally at the end as a suitable close to the garland. It was later published by Francis James Child as Child ballad #153 in his influential collection of popular ballads.

Robin Hood's Golden Prize is an English folk song. 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.

Robin Hood's Delight is an English folk song. 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.

<i>The Kings Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood</i> Traditional ballad

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.

<i>A Gest of Robyn Hode</i> Middle English ballad

A Gest of Robyn Hode is one of the earliest surviving texts of the Robin Hood tales. Written in late Middle English poetic 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 yeoman outlaws 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.

Arthur a Bland is, in English folklore, a member of Robin Hood's Merry Men, though his chief appearance is in the ballad in which he joins the band. Arthur a Bland is also the name of an ex British Waterways tug.

Robin Hood and the Bishop is an English-language folk song describing an adventure of Robin Hood. This song has also survived as 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.

Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford is Child ballad 144.

<i>The Noble Fisherman</i> 17th-century ballad of Robin Hood

The Noble Fisherman, also known as Robin Hood's Preferment and Robin Hood's Fishing, is a 17th-century ballad of Robin Hood. Unusually, it depicts Robin Hood as a hero of the sea, rather than his usual portrayal as someone who operated in the greenwood forest. It seems to have been quite popular for the first two centuries of its existence, although it eventually lost prominence and was less used in adaptations of Robin Hood from the 19th and 20th centuries. It was later published by Francis James Child in the 1880s as Child Ballad #148 in his influential collection of popular ballads.

A True Tale of Robin Hood is an English folk song, featuring Robin Hood and, indeed, presents a full account of his life, from before his becoming an outlaw, to his death. It describes him as the Earl of Huntington, which is a fairly late development in the ballads. It definitively places him in Richard the Lionhearted's reign.

Robin Hood and the Shepherd 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 (#135) 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.

"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.

"King John and the Bishop" is an English folk-song dating back at least to the 16th century. It is catalogued in Child Ballads as number 45 and Roud Folk Song Index 302.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Hood and Little John</span> Child ballad

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. ↑ "The Ballad Index". Fresno State.
  2. ↑ "English Broadside Ballad Archive". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Child, Francis James (1985). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Volume V. Boston: Dover. p. 69.
  4. ↑ Chappell, W. Popular Music of the Olden Time. London: Cramer, Beale, and Chappell. p. 392.
  5. 1 2 "A Search for Robin Hood." In Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, number 452, 28 August 1852. Page 138.
  6. ↑ Helen Phillips. "Forest, Town, and Road: The Significance of Places and Names in Some Robin Hood Texts." Collected in Robin Hood in Popular Culture: Violence, Transgression, and Justice, edited by Thomas G. Hahn. Boydell & Brewer, 2000. Page 207.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.