Recordings & Info 102. Willie & Earl Richard's Daughter
[The Birth of Robin Hood]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 3190: Willie & Earl Richard's Daughter/The Birth of Robin Hood (13 Listings)
2) Aunt Molly Jackson and Robin Hood
Alternative Titles
The Birth of Robin Hood
Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter [Child 102]
DESCRIPTION: Willie serves Earl Richard, loves and impregnates his daughter. Fearing Richard's wrath, they escape to the woods where the babe is born. Richard seeks his vanished daughter, finds her (alive/dead), accepts the child, and names him Robin Hood.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1806 (Jameson, GordonBrown/Rieuwerts)
KEYWORDS: love pregnancy nobility escape reunion childbirth Robinhood
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(AP)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 102, "Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter" (2 texts)
Bronson 102, "The Birth of Robin Hood (Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter)" (2 versions+1 in addenda)
GordonBrown/Rieuwerts, pp. 259-260, "The Birth of Robin Hood" (1 text)
OBB 113, "The Birth of Robin Hood" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: R. B. Dobson and J. Taylor, _Rymes of Robyn Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw_, University of Pittsburg Press, 1976, pp. 196-197, "The Birth of Robin Hood (Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter)" (1 text)
Roud #3910
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Willie o Douglas Dale [Child 101]" (plot)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Bronson is of the opinion that this is "a mere rifacimento of [Child] No. 101," "Willie o Douglas Dale," and it is difficult to argue the point -- although the link to Robin Hood is a rather startling twist. But this idea can hardly be traditional; it is probably the result of one of those attempts to make Robin a nobleman. This would seem to imply that the Richard involved is Earl of Huntington. Of course, during the period when Robin Hood might have been born, the Earls of Huntington were Scots (eventually the Bruce family held the earldom), and none of them were named Richard.
Bronson also notes that Aunt Molly Jackson, responsible for the American version {Bronson's #2}, had seen Buchan's text.
Dobson/Taylor make the interesting observation on p. 195 that "it remains suspicious that for the missing story of [Robin Hood's] birth we have to wait until the recitation of a remarkable Scottish woman delivered five years after the first (1795) edition" of Ritson's Robin Hood collections. They point out in addition that this piece has no connection to the standard Robin Hood traditions of England. - RBW
Child Ballad 102: Willie and Earl Richard’s Daughter
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have Rec
102 Allan Taylor Robin Hood Sometimes + The Lady 1998 4:06 Yes
102 Allan Taylor Robin Hood Sometimes 1971 4:06 Yes
102 Aunt Molly Jackson Robin Hood's Birth The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection No
102 Aunt Molly Jackson & John Greenway The Birth of Robin Hood The Songs and Stories of Aunt Molly Jackson 1961 9:03 Yes
102 Pete Castle Birth of Robin Hood Mearcstapa 1999 No
102 Rick Fielding Birth of Robin Hood Lifeline 1995 5:06 Yes
102 Sanders, Baker & Clayton The Birth of Robin Hood Carried Away 1995 5:45 Yes
102 Sedayne The Birth of Robin Hood Zither Songs Volume 1 - the Wax Baby 2005 No
102 Spiers & Boden The Birth of Robin Hood Vagabond 2008 5:29 Yes
102 Spiers & Boden The Birth of Robin Hood The Works 2011 5:32 Yes
102 The Owl Service & Alison O"Donnell William & Earl Richard's Daughter The Fabric of Folk 2008 4:14 Yes
102 Venereum Arvum Child 102 Lily Flower Mix John Barleycorn Reborn - Dark Britannica 2007 7:54 Yes
102 Venereum Arvum Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter John Barleycorn Reborn - Dark Britannica 2007 7:33 Yes
102 Vikki Clayton The Birth of Robin Hood In Flight 1993 5:13 Yes
102 Vikki Clayton The Birth of Robin Hood Honor Tokened 1998 5:35 Yes