Bluegrass Messengers

Recordings & Info 120. Robin Hood's Death

CONTENTS:

 1) Alternative Titles
 2) Traditional Ballad Index 
 3) Child Collection Index
 4) The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
 5) Wiki
 6) The Death of Robin Hood: Introduction
 
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
  1) Roud No. 3299: Robin Hood's Death (14 Listings)

Alternative Titles

Robber Hood's Death
The Death of Robin Hood
Robin Hood's Death and Burial 

Traditional Ballad Index: Robin Hood's Death [Child 120]

DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood, feeling ill, travels to (Kirkly-hall) to be blooded. The prioress sets out to bleed him to death. Only as he nears death does Robin realize what is happening; he calls to Little John. It is too late to save Robin; he arranges for his burial
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1786 (garland, The English Archer); also in the seventeenth century Percy Folio, and the basic plot is in the "Gest of Robyn Hode" from 1534 or earlier
KEYWORDS: Robinhood death burial medicine betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Child 120, "Robin Hood's Death" (2 texts)
Bronson 120,  "Robin Hood's Death" (1 version)
Davis-Ballads 30, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text, 1 tune entitled "The Death of Robin Hood") {Bronson's [#1]}
Leach, pp. 349-352, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 345, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
OBB 125, "The Death of Robin Hood" (1 text)
Niles 43, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 90-93+322-323, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 94, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
BBI, (no number; perhaps should be ZRN23?), "When Robin Hood and Little John"
DT 120, ROBHDTH*
ADDITIONAL: R. B. Dobson and J. Taylor, _Rymes of Robyn Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw_, University of Pittsburg Press, 1976, pp. 134-139, "Robin Hood's Death" (2 texts, corresponding to Child's A [Percy folio] and B [English Archer] versions, but independently edited)
Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 592-601, "The Deat of Robin Hood" (1 text, a composite of the Percy folio and English Archer versions)
Roud #3299
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "The Death of Robin Hood" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme06) [with introductory verses from other Robin Hood ballads]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight" [Child 153] (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Robber Hood's Death
NOTES: This is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]). The earliest known copy (from the Percy folio) is very defective, but seems to be at least two centuries older than the manuscript -- the basic story of the betrayal of Robin Hood by the prioress of Kirkless is also in "A Gest of Robyn Hode," which was first printed no later than 1534 and was probably written more than half a century before that. And Richard Grafton's chronicle of 1569 reports that he was killed at "a certein Nunry in Yorkhire called Bircklies" (for text see Knight/Ohlgren, p. 29).
Holt, pp. 200-201 n. 12, points out that Fowler suggested the "Death" was derived from the material at the end of the "Gest" rather than used as a source of the "Gest." Chronologically this is of course possible, but -- as Holt points out -- this is highly unlikely. There is too much in the "Death" which is not found in the laconic story in the "Gest." It is possible that both are derived from a common legend, but if there is dependence, the "Gest" is surely dependent on the "Death."
This is perhaps the most popular of the basic Robin Hood ballads (note that it is one of only eight Robin Hood pieces for which we have an authentic tune, from Davis); fragments have been found in America as recently as the twentieth century. Still, none of the early ballads was widely known; the popularity of Robin Hood in song seems to derive from the early garlands, which omit this and all the other medieval Robin Hood stories.
Much of the early Robin Hood legend has parallels in the romance of Fulk FitzWarin, and the tale of the death may be an example. In the ballad, it is Red Roger/Roger of Doncaster who helps arrange Robin's death, and stabs Robin after he has been bled; Robin then decapitates Roger.
Fulk, in one of his innumerable conflicts with King John, finds himself in a fight. Sir Ber(n)ard de Blois attacks him from behind; Fulk spins around and kills him -- nearly cuts him in half, in fact (Cawthorne, pp. 145-146). The similarity to this story is obvious, although the general idea is so common that it might be coincidence. In any case, Fulk survives, which Robin does not.
The Percy version of this is very long, and badly defective, meaning that we are missing many details. Much that remains is confusing -- e.g. we meet an old woman "banning" Robin Hood. Why? We don't know. Most authorities assume she is cursing him -- but Knight/Ohlgren, p. 592, point out that it properly means "lament" -- possibly she is forecasting his death.
The tale in the "Death" goes far toward discrediting one modern "reconstruction" of the Robin Hood legend, which would have us believe that Robin died in 1247 at the age of 87. Ignore the fact that sick old men of 87 who are bled have a tendency to spontaneously die, so that murder is a gratuitous assumption (a point made on p. 86 of Hole). The key point is that Little John is still around and capable of breaking down locks. Every legend of Robin includes John. He may have been a few years younger than Robin, but not much. If Robin is 87, Little John is also too old to play the role he does in the "Death." So this reconstruction simply does not fit this ballad.
Child in his notes on the "Death" suggests a parallel to "Sheath and Knife" [Child 16], where the girl asks her brother to shoot her and bury her at a spot she chooses. It seems to me, however, that this in fact reverses the motifs. In "Sheathe and Knife," she chooses the spot, and the bow is relatively incidental (perhaps he uses the arrow so that he does not have to slay her with his own hand). In the "Death," the bow and arrow is essential and the spot trivial. If anything, the analogy is to something such as "John Henry" [Laws I1], who dies with his hammer in his hand.
Phillips/Keatman, p. 5, suggest another analogy, to the death of King Arthur in which the king returns his sword -- the gaining and losing his sword representing, presumably, the gain and loss of his power. One could see such a beginning-and-ending motif arising in the case of Robin Hood also, but it seems to me that it is in fact lacking. We have no knowledge of how Robin became either outlaw or archer, and while the last arrow of some versions of this song is highly symbolic, it isn't found in the earliest text. - RBW
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cawthorne: Nigel Cawthorne, _A Brief History of Robin Hood: The True History Behind the Legend_, Running Press, 2010
Hole: Christina Hole, _English Folk Heroes: From King Arthur to Thomas a Becket_, 1948? (I use the 1992? Dorset Press reprint)
Holt: J. C. Holt, _Robin Hood_, second edition, revised and enlarged, Thames & Hudson, 1989
Phillips/Keatman: Graham Phillips & Martin Keatman, _Robin Hood: The Man Behind the Myth_, Michael OÕMara Books, 1995

Child Collection Index; Child Ballad 120: Robin Hood’s Death

Child -Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
120 Art Thieme Robin Hood's Death The Older I Get, the Better I Was 1998 4:40 Yes
120 Dan Keding The Death of Robin Hood MacPherson's Lament and Other Ballads 1995 4:34 Yes
120 Ed McCurdy & Michael Kane Robin Hood's Death The Legend of Robin Hood 1973 3:30 Yes
120 Hermes Nye The Death of Robin Hood Ballads Reliques - Early English Ballads from the Percy and Child Collections 1957 2:34 Yes
120 Regal Slip Death of Robin Hood Bandstand [Cripple Cowboy] 1999 3:01 Yes
120 Roxanne & Dan Keding Robin Hood From Far & Near 1980 5:05 Yes
120 Wallace House Robin Hood's Death and Burial Robin Hood Ballads 1953 4:12 Yes 

The British Traditional Ballad in North America

by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
 
120. ROBIN HOOD'S DEATH

Texts: Davis, Trd Bid Va, 388 / Va FLS SuU, #2.
Local Tides: The Death of Robin Hood.

Story Types: A: Robin Hood complains to Little John that he can no longer shoot well and says he wishes to go to a cousin to be let blood. Robin  sets out alone to Kirkely nunnery and 1 is received cordially. His cousin  opens a vein, locks him in a room, and lets him bleed till noon the next day.  Robin is too weak to escape by a casement. He blows his horn three times,  and the notes are so weak that John, on hearing them, concludes his master  must be near death. He thus goes to Kirkely, breaks in, and gets to Robin.  Little John wants to set fire to the hall, but Robin, who has never harmed a  woman, refuses to let him. Robin asks for a bow to shoot his last shot which  shall mark his grave, a grave with green grass, a bow at his side, and a tablet  stating that Robin Hood lies there.

Examples: Davis. Discussion: This Virginia version follows Child B as to story, but shows definite traces of the professional ballad writer. In fact, this text seems to represent a corrupt broadside version that has slipped back into oral  tradition.

The song, obviously incomplete in America, lacks the "blood-letting" stanzas, although it does contain the attempt to ally Robin Hood with  Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (see Child Bb) at the end. There is no refrain  to the Virginia version.

See Davis, 3rd Bid Va, 388 for a detailed discussion of this text.

Robin Hood's Death From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robin Hood's Death is the 120th ballad of the Child ballads collection published by Houghton Mifflin. The fragmentary Percy Folio version of it appears to be one of the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood; there is a synopsis of the story in the fifteenth century A Gest of Robyn Hode.[1] A later broadside version of the ballad also exists, which includes the famous detail of Robin Hood's last bowshot.

Synopsis
In the fragmentary Percy Folio version Robin Hood goes to get himself bled (a common medieval medical practice) by his cousin, a prioress. He refuses a bodyguard that Will Scarlet offers and takes only Little John. The prioress treacherously lets out too much blood, killing him, or her lover Sir Roger of Doncaster stabs him while he's weak. Robin Hood claims some consolation though in that he mortally wounds Roger prior to his own demise. Little John wishes to avenge him, but Robin forbids it, because he has never harmed a woman. An old woman appears early on the journey "banning" Robin Hood. The manuscript breaks off for half a page with the outlaws asking why she is doing it. "Banning" is usually taken as "cursing" him, but may mean "lamenting" — predicting his death and weeping in advance. In the next surviving fragment Robin Hood appears to be reassuring someone who has warned him he is going to his death.

The later broadside version of this ballad omits the mysterious people (or person) Robin Hood meets on his way, and Sir Roger of Doncaster, but adds the detail that Robin Hood shoots one final arrow and asks to be buried where it falls. The broadside is first recorded around the time that the Percy Folio version was first published in the mid-eighteenth century

This is now the most common account of Robin Hood's death. See Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight for a different version that commonly appeared in the Robin Hood "garlands" or collections; and also A True Tale of Robin Hood.

This version inspired the film Robin and Marian, where it is his lover, Maid Marian, now a nun, who is his downfall.

 References
1. Holt, J. C. Robin Hood p. 25 (1982) Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27541-6.

 External links: Robin Hood's Death; Discussion 

THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD: INTRODUCTION

The Death of Robin Hood: Introduction
Edited by Stephen Knight and Thomas H. Ohlgren
Originally Published in Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales
Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1997

This ballad is not recorded until the Percy folio, a badly damaged copy, in the mid-seventeenth century; the first full text is from the late eighteenth-century garland The English Archer of 1786, though, as Child notes, it itself "is in the fine old strain" (III, 103). Child prints the ballad early in his collection, as no. 120. This early placement can be justified: the author of the Gest knew the tradition of Robin's death. It is presumably one of the "tragedies" which Bower mentions in the 1440s; Grafton in 1569 refers in some detail to the story, and the Sloane Life concludes with it. The details of these stories vary, though there is general agreement that a Prioress of Kirkley or Kirklees in Yorkshire, who may be related to Robin, is the main agent of his death, though Martin Parker also blames a hostile friar, and both the Gest and Percy's version involve an enemy called Roger in the hero's death. In Munday's account, Robin is poisoned by his male clerical enemies, with no Prioress involved.

The text printed here combines the two earliest texts, using the structure of the garland to fill out the Percy version where the pages have been torn (see note to line 1 for details). The story opens with a variant of Robin going off alone against his comrades' advice. He wishes to be bled at Churchlees: in Robin Hood and the Monk he wanted to visit church and in Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne he merely wanted to encounter Guy alone. Here it is Will who advises Robin to take men with him. He does take John, but in one version they appear to fall out.

A new motif is the old woman they meet who was banning Robin Hood (line 40). This has been taken to mean "curse" and the sequence has seemed mysterious, but it means "lament," and this woman is, like the washer at the ford, predicting the hero's death -- a moment of some mythic force and antiquity. The Prioress overdoes the process of bleeding, and Robin has a somewhat obscure fight with Red Roger, in which the hero kills his opponent. In Percy's version John has been with Robin at Churchlees all the time, and Robin forbids him to take vengeance; in the garland version John arrives in response to his master's last call on his horn, but the effect is the same.

The motif in which Robin fires an arrow to locate his grave is not in the Percy version and is not mentioned in the earliest references, but it has become so potent it seems a proper part of the final frame, taken from the garland version. Both texts stress the natural burial place and the philosophical ending of the hero.

The Death of Robin Hood appears to be a fairly old ballad which develops the hero's end out of the familiar materials of the tradition and with some distinctly ancient and potent elements. There would seem to have been a ballad in existence by the mid-fifteenth century, and the Percy version may well have been in its present form before Grafton wrote. The text assumes a Catholic context, and the language and style are very much like that of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, though the narrator's emotive interjections at lines 69-70 and 72 seem unlike the tone of the earliest texts.

It is curious that so important and well-remembered a part of the tradition should not have been preserved in earlier form, and especially surprising that no broadside or early garland version apparently appeared, even though the garlands are constructed partly on a biographical basis. Dobson and Taylor feel that the garland version was only produced in the mid-eighteenth century (1976, p. 134), but as it is substantially the same as the earlier text this seems improbable. It may be that, unlike the more somber patterns of high art, the busy commerce of the ballad market place did not place so high a value on tragedy as on tricksterish triumphs.

This ballad combines many of the central value-laden elements of the early tradition: the protective power of the band, the special bond with John, the treachery of the regular church, a rogue knight as a fearsome enemy, the closeness of Robin to the natural world, his determined retention of high values even in -- or especially in -- a crisis. To these it adds a special sense of the mysterious potential of the hero, and the appropriate nature of his final moments as he merges into both the forest and myth.