January 25th, 2011

Last note? The reason it’s lengthy is because I’m the first one with this idea and so I have to show the wheretofores and whyso’s.

Follow up:

In the Icelandic Saga of Frithiof, dating roughly from 1,300 A.D. and taking place in Norway, Frithiof & Ingibiorg plighted their troth over his arm-ring, which was a treasure forged by the legendary smith Wayland. He was made an OUTLAW later because he burnt Baldr’s temple in a scrabble over the ring, which her relatives had taken from her and which he saw an enemy wearing. She was married to an old and wealthy king.

“Frithiof fared to the Uplands in the autumn, for he desired sore to look upon the love of King Ring and Ingibiorg. But or ever he came there he did on him, over his clothes, A GREAT CLOAK ALL SHAGGY; two staves he had in his hand, and a mask over his face, and he made as if he were exceeding old.” He had dressed as a ’salt-boiler.’

[When asked where he came from by the king, Frithiof answered: “Thief is my name, with Wolf was I last night, and in Grief-ham I was reared.” When questioned further, he said: “In Grief-ham I grew up; but heart drove me hither, and home have I nowhere.”

The King commented: “In the WILD WOOD thou must have lain last night, for no goodman dwelleth anigh named Wolf.”

Then, “Thief cast his cowl from him, and was clad thereunder in a dark blue kirtle; on his arm, moreover, was THE GOODLY GOLD RING, and a thick silver belt was round about him, with a great purse on it, and therein silver pennies glittering; a sword was girt to his side, and he had a great fur hood on his head […]”

The queen waxed red as blood when she saw the goodly ring […]

In the Welsh collection of mythology/folktales called the Mabinogian, which dates somewhere between 1,000 & 1,200 A.D. a similar story also occurs. This time, we’re talking about Pwyll whose lady is Rhiannon. He was tricked into promising her to his rival, Gwawl. However, as in the PREVIOUS STORY, Pwyll isn’t a loser and comes to interrupt the marriage, in disguise as a BEGGAR.

As for Pwyll, the Head of Annwfn, he came to the orchard in a group of a hundred horsemen, just as Rhiannon had commanded him to do, the bag with him. Pwyll had clothed himself in dull rags and put big rag-boots on his feet. When he became aware that the after-dinner drinking had begun he proceeded into the hall, and after he had crossed to the upper part of the hall, greeted Gwawl and his company of men and women.

[Pwyll asked to have his (magic) bag filled with food from the feast, which Gwawl granted. Nothing could fill it however, and Pwyll said it would not be filled “unless a man noble with land, territory and domains gets up and treads with both feet and says “enough has been placed herein".”

‘O hero,’ said Rhiannon ‘get up right away!’

‘I’ll get up gladly,’ Gwawl replied.

Gwawl got up and put his two feet into the bag. Pwyll turned the bag so that Gwawl was head [over heels] in the bag and quickly closing the bag he tied up the strings in a knot and GAVE A BLAST ON HIS HORN. At that, his household fell on the court and seized everyone from the host that had come with Gwawl, and took each one prisoner.

Pwyll threw off his rags, his old boots and the shabby garment in which he had been clad.

Now, to turn to the English/Scottish tradition, there is a long, imaginative old English poem called the Gest of King Horn. The end of which runs near-exactly parallel to an ANCIENT Scottish ballad about ‘Hind Horn’, which is what my reconstructed ballad is based off of. It is my opinion that the ballad came first and is based on previous Robin Hood legend.

Horn comes to save his love, Rymenhild, from a forced marriage. He ‘changes weed’ i.e. clothes with a palmer, taking on his ’sclavin’, CLOAK, smears his face until it’s ‘un-be-comly-like’ and twists his lip. Then he goes into beggar’s row and waits till she comes to give him a drink. He asks to not drink out of a bowl, but a horn, and that she drink to ‘Horn’. (his name)

‘Thu weenest I beo a beggar, (You think I’m a beggar)
And Icke am a fisher.’ (and I’m)

She said, “Drink thy fill,
And sooth thu me tell
If thu ever i-see
Horn UNDER WOOD LIE.”
Horn drunk of horn a stunde (a while)
And threw the RING to grunde. (into the bottom of the horn)
He said, “Queen, now seek
What is in thy drink.”
[She found]
A RING i-graven of gold
That Horn of her had

SIMILAR TO FRITHIOF & INGIBIORG? This is the RING THE LOVERS BOTH KNOW ABOUT motif.

The poem also includes this line, which I have in a different, and likely older, form at the end of the reconstructed ballad, and which is a signature part of Old Scottish and English Virile Beggar songs:

Horn sprong ut of halle (He left the hall)
And let his sclavin falle. (and he let his cloak fall)

Now that we have reviewed the wide-spread versions of this story, it’s time to explain why Robin Hood is the original ‘Thief’, ‘Beggar’ and suitor. This will require taking a look at the Robin Hood tradition itself. The first source will be the commonly known, rather late ballad of Allan a Dale. Mistakenly, as will be later shown, in this ballad it’s not Robin whose love is at stake, but Allan’s. Robin Hood disguises himself as a harper and goes into the church before his men. Notice the HORN BLOWING which summons his men. (remember Pwyll?)

With that came in a wealthy knight,
Which was both grave and old,
And after him a finikin lass,
Did shine like glistering gold.
‘This is no fit match,’ quoth bold Robin Hood,
‘That you do seem to make here;
For since we are come unto the church,
The bride she shall choose her own dear.’
Then Robin Hood PUT HIS HORN TO HIS MOUTH
And blew blasts two or three;
When four and twenty bowmen bold
Came leaping over the lee.
And when they came into the church-yard,
Marching all on a row,
The first man was Allin a Dale,
To give bold Robin his bow.

In the Sloane MS, circa 1600 A.D., this is told in a different version, with not Allan a Dale as the poor suitor, but Scarlock, later known as Will Scarlett. And here, Robin dresses AS A BEGGAR and again blows his horn to summon his men.

After such manner he procured the Pinder of Wakefeyld to become one of his company, and a freyer, called Muchel, though some say he was an other kind of religious man, for that the order of fryers was not yet sprung up; Scarlock, he induced, upon this occasion: one day meting him, as he walked solitary, and like to a man forlorn, because a maid to whom he was affianced was taken from by the violence of her friends, and given to another that was old and wealthy. Whereupon Robin, understanding when the marriage-day should be, came to the church, as a BEGGAR, and having his company not far of, which came in so soon as they heard the SOUND OF HIS HORNE, he taking the bride perforce from him that was in hand to have married her, and caused the priest to wed her and Scarlocke together.

The motif of Robin Hood dressing as a beggar is also found in the ballad Robin Hood Rescues Three Squires, though when he does, it is to rescue men from hanging. Interestingly, there is a HORN BLOWING section to summon his men, and he throws down his staff and ‘bags of bread’. This is the ‘revealing himself’ part we have met so often in the stories above. Little John is also made out to have dressed as a beggar, though the reason is not apparent. Certain elements of these stories, such as the questions asked of the beggar, the staffs, the ‘news’ element, and the ‘going over the hills’ line are shared with the Hind Horn ballad which is the subject of this post and which I believe to be the original ballad behind all this. Don’t look for any of these elements in the reconstructed ballad, however, because I edited them out either due to their cryptic state of survival, or not deeming them part of the *oldest* tale.

There’s a fascinating NEW ballad on the subject from the Forester’s MS. This ballad initially caught me a bit off guard. It’s an earlier version, with Scottish dialectisms, which exposes the seam left when, for the first time, someone OTHER than Robin Hood was introduced to the ballad as the suitor. In other words, it’s less clean-cut, less re-written, older, than the Allan a Dale ballad. There’s a HUGE crack. And, due to having a better eye for Scots dialect than the experts deployed to translate the ballad, I SAW IT.

Due to copyright issues, I can’t reproduce the whole ballad, but I’ll highlight the sections of interest. It starts out with Robin & company shooting ‘under the wand’ and then describes a singing archer boy with a rose garland on his head (rather improbable, and rather May-Games inspired). The lad comes by later on and is neither singing or wearing roses. Robin inquires as to what is amiss since ‘yesterday at noon.’

‘What far less,’ then the boy did say,
‘Wicht (strong) man gin I be wae (if I am woe)
I’ve loved a lass these long seven year
Another weds her today.’

‘Another weds my love today
That is richer far in good
Wicht I’se let ye knaw right weel (Man, I’ll let you know right well)
That for her love I shall run wood.’ (I’ll go insane)

Robin then dresses the boy in Lincoln green and Robin with merry men come in ‘at the church stile’ (fence) just as the priest is about to ‘give the bride’. The bridal folk retreat, the priest leaps into the Bell House, the intended groom leaves the bride all alone. Robin quickly moves to the bride, takes her outside, and questions her as to whether she has ever ‘loved a man in her life but him that this day should have had her.’

She replies:

“Once I loved a bonny boy well
I trow (know) the lad loved me
I wish I were with him to beg my bread
Through all the realms of Christendee.”

ALTHOUGH THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS BALLAD ABOUT ROBIN DRESSING AS A BEGGAR!!!!

Then Robin ‘brings the boy forth’ and he and the girl kiss ‘twenty times.’ Then Robin calls the ‘coward priest’ forth, while telling him he hates him, and the priest comes out quickly ‘at Robin’s bidding’ to ‘ban’ or announce the marriage, so as to keep from being hung.

Here’s the major, major crack that shows it was originally Robin’s wedding:

Twenty shillings and a fair gold ring
Robin Hood laid down on the book
He bid the priest take what good him thought
He the LEAF in the Bride’s glove shook.

Laying a ring & money on ‘the book’, i.e. the Bible, was part of the marriage ceremony. However, the bride and groom holding hands and having ribbons tied around them is A MUCH OLDER custom which is directly spoken of here. ‘Leaf’ means ‘loof’, an extremely common Scottism for HAND.

As you can see, all the stories tie together: the horn blowing, which is so Robin Hood-esque, the disguise, the beggar-theme, the cloak, the rings, the older wealthy rival. This is one of the reasons I believe Robin Hood lived longer ago than even the Middle Ages: all these stories are clearly related, and the pattern of their dispersal makes the best sense when seen as splitting off at various stages from the core of Robin Hood’s English and Scottish legend.

So, it is with the greatest of pleasure that I announce my reconstructed ballad on the subject. It’s mostly based off the old Scottish song called Hind Horn which has all the elements aforementioned except horn-blowing and men at the ready, and I’d have them in there except I couldn’t figure out how to due to the dubious nature of the surviving material. The first lines are a mix between ‘Robyn hode ffayre and fre, vndre this lynde shote we’ from an old medieval Robin Hood play, and the first lines of the Hind Horn ballad which go “Hind Horn fair and Hind Horn free.” Everything is a sweet mix of the Robin Hood traditional stuff and this old, Scottish song. I’d also like to mention that the William Wallace ballad has MANY, MANY bits and pieces of this in it, (not to mention that Robin Hood is actually mentioned by Wallace in said ballad) and served as a secondary source along with other beggarly material. Also, some of the ’seven years’ stuff came from parallel verses in other Scots ballads.

A last note is that this wouldn’t be the first old Scots ballad to have a greenwood suitor (archer, too) called Robin carry off a bride via disguise. Called Brown Robin, in fact, which is what I believe ‘Robin Hood’ meant originally (see here for explanation). And he’s called a bird by his love, which feeds into the Robin HOOD & Jenny Wren theme. So I don’t feel squeamish in the least about mixing ‘Horn’ beggar material with ‘Robin’ beggar material. It’s all meal-pocks, duddy, furry and clouted cloaks. And here ’tis.

Ballad Of Robin Hood And His Bride

‘Robin fair, and Robin free
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
Where was you born in what country?’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o.

‘In fair Scotland there was I born
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
And all my forebears me beforn’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o.

‘My love gave me a fair gold ring
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie, o
And bade me prize it above all things’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

‘For seven years I’ve loved my love
Seven years she has loved me o
But another weds my love today
So for woe I’m like to dee, o.’ (dee= die)

Robin is to the greenwood gone
E’en as fast as he might dree, o (dree= go)
Till he met as old a beggar
As e’er he saw wi’ his ee, o (with his eye)

‘You’ll give to me your begging weed (weed= clothes)
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
And I’ll give you my riding steed’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

‘My begging weed is na for thee (na= not)
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
Your riding steed is na for me’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

But be it right, or be it wrong
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
The begging weed he has put on
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

‘There stands a beggar at our gate
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
Asking a drink for Robin’s sake’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

‘Through nine fires sae hot I will gae (sae= so, gae= go)
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
Before he gaes with thirst away’ (gaes= goes)
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

The bride came tripping down the stair
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
With combs of red gold in her hair
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

With a cup of mead all in her hand
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
Which she gave to the beggar man
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

He drink-ed and he drink’d so free
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
Into the cup the ring slipped he
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

‘Got ye it by sea, or by land
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
Or got it off a dead man’s hand?’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

‘I got it na by sea, nor by land
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
I got it off your own fair hand’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

She tore the gold down frae her head (frae= from)
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
‘I’ll follow you, and beg my bread!’
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

Between the kitchen and the hall
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
He loot his duddy cloak down fall (loot= let, duddy= dirty)
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o

And wi’ red gold shone o’er them a’
Hech hey, the broom blooms bonnie o
And the bride frae the bridegroom he sta’ (frae= from, sta’= stole)
Robin’s bow is bent for me, o.