Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage

Last updated

"Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage" is Child ballad 149. [1] It recounts Robin Hood's adventures hunting and a romance with Clorinda, the queen of the shepherdesses, a heroine who did not prove able to displace Maid Marian as his sweetheart. [2]

In his introduction to the ballad, Francis James Child gives its first printing as 1716 in Dryden's Miscellany and remarks on the freedom with which it treats tradition and indeed common sense. [3] A feature of interest is that the author is apparently unaware of the "Earl of Huntingdon" tradition.

Synopsis

Robin Hood's father is described as a forester, out-shooting Adam Bell and his companions Clim of the Clough and William a Cloudsley, other famous outlaws of the time. Robin Hood went with his parents to his uncle's Gamwel Hall. Little John amused them there, but Robin Hood is adopted by his uncle the squire. At some later stage (apparently, the continuity isn't clear) Robin Hood set out into Sherwood with Little John. He met Clorinda, the queen of the shepherds, also out to hunt a deer. She shot one, impressing him, and he invited her to feast with him. After the meal, he asked her to marry him, and she agreed. On the way, eight yeomen tried to steal their deer. After five of them are killed, the rest spared on Little John's intercession. The marriage was celebrated. The overall tone, despite the violent episode, is relaxed and comic.

Related Research Articles

Robin Hood heroic outlaw in English folklore, a highly skilled archer and swordsman

Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. 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. Traditionally depicted dressed in Lincoln green, he is said to have robbed from the rich and given to the poor.

Maid Marian Love interest of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood in English folklore

Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She was the subject of at least two plays before 1600, but was entirely absent from the medieval versions of the legend. Her history and circumstances are obscure, but she always commanded high respect in Robin’s circle for her courage and independence, as well as her beauty and loyalty. For this reason she is celebrated by feminist commentators as one of the earliest strong female characters in English literature.

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.

"Rose the Red and White Lily" is Child ballad number 103.

Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter is Child ballad 102.

Robin Hood's Chase is Child ballad 146 and a sequel to Child ballad 145, "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine". This song 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 Ballads, a comprehensive collection of traditional English and Scottish ballads.

"Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" is Child ballad 139, an original story that is 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 Child ballad 126. It is a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad and one of several ballads about the medieval folk hero Robin Hood that form part of the Child ballad collection, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of traditional English ballads but has now been subsumed and surpassed by the Roud Folk Song Index.

Robin Hood and the Ranger is catalogued as Child ballad 131 and Roud Folk Song Index No. 933.

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's Delight is Child ballad 136. 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.

The King’s Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood is Child ballad 151. It holds the common tradition of the end of Robin Hood's outlawry, although it is a relatively late ballad, as it puts Robin firmly in King Richard's reign. Also, unlike "A Gest of Robyn Hode", an earlier version, the king is not acting out of the need to suppress Robin.

Robin Hood and the Bishop is number 143 in Francis James Child's collection of Child ballads, and describes 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 Prince of Aragon is Child ballad 129. Showing more imagination than fidelity to tradition, it catches Robin Hood in a tale of chivalrous adventures, such as are uncommon in his ballads, and has seldom been featured in later tales.

Little John A Begging is Child ballad 142 and about Robin Hood. It exists in two variants, one fragmentary.

Robyn and Gandeleyn is Child Ballad 115. The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Despite the similarity of the main character's name, Child believed that the ballad is not connected to the story of Robin Hood.

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.

Robin Hood and Little John 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. ↑ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor and Marriage"
  2. ↑ Holt, J. C. Robin Hood p. 165 (1982) Thames & Hudson. ISBN   0-500-27541-6.
  3. ↑ Child, Francis James (2003-01-01). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Dover Publications. ISBN   9780486431475.


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.