Adele Treskillard's Blog — Bringing Alive Epic Tales Of The Ancient Past™

If you have never watched The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men …

then allow me to highly recommend it

I learned about this nearly perfect film from Clement of the Glen, who has a blog devoted to the subject. Fortunately for me and all other Robin Hood zealots, it has been just re-released, now on DVD. It’s a refreshing breath of greenwood air!

The reason it’s so good is this: if you’re going to put Robin Hood in Medieval times, (click here to find out when he really lived) you better be able to pull it off. And this one does exactly that; it’s so realistic. You also better keep the wild fun of the Medieval legend! For instance, in the Errol Flynn film, can you imagine Robin making the Sheriff ride home backwards on his horse, wearing stag-horns? Well—no?

That’s exactly what Robin does in this film. He may be young for the role, but he pulls it off with command and charm and spunk. Plus they dressed him up correctly. No synthetic material for Richard Todd. Oh no—real, heavy linen-like cloth, dyed a leafy shade of green—a big, dirk-like knife (whittle)—besides the amazing fact that he actually wears a horn (!).

There’s also a lot of humor in the film. Be careful, Friar Tuck will catch you unawares and have you doubled up with laughter.

And don’t forget Maid Marian: (she’s spunky too!)

(Note: I have to admit, I like this Marian better than the Errol Flynn one. Partly because of costume.)

And if you get this DVD, beware: beware. You’ll be singing and humming the minstrel’s tunes about Robin Hood. Just to whet your appetite, I’ll spell out the opening (and closing) verses of the movie: (very appropriate by the way to have a minstrel start the story and end it, as the minstrels were the ones who kept the legend around)

Oh I’ll sing a song, a rollicky song,
As I stroll along my way …
With a hey derry down and a derry die doo
And a riddle dee diddle dee day.

On to the tale of Robin hood
And of his Merrie Men!
His like you are not like to see
In all this world, again—
His bow was long, his arm was strong
And his heart was good and true
Well did he fight
To gain the right
And so, I pray, may you …

{minstrel goes off whistling in the distance}

Recently I watched the Mary Poppins film. It was not what I expected. The sight of her singing and snapping fingers at things and making them dance and the seemingly limitless power she had literally sent chills up and down my back. Did you ever wonder why

1 She is cold to the children

2 She is in control, not Bert—who ought to be the hero here

3 She can do anything she likes

Here’s the answer I got after rifling the original Mary Poppins books, in which:

1 Her main character traits are unequivocally coldness and being self-centered.

2 She has supreme power. She can walk through ‘Other’ doors into ‘other’ worlds and go through ‘Cracks’ and enter pictures and, additionally, it’s all real: the punch line.

3 She brings the children with her into these other realities and then, after bringing them back, denies it ever happened. This has an extremely disorienting effect upon them, especially when they discover evidence that it was ‘real’.

It didn’t take me very long—a few pages, in fact—of reading in the very first Mary Poppins book before something leaped out of the pages at me. Allow me to quote:

A spoon was attatched to the neck of a bottle, and into this Mary Poppins poured a dark crimson liquid.

“Is that your medicine?” inquired Michael, looking very interested.

“No, yours,” said Mary Poppins, holding out the spoon to him. Michael stared. He wrinkled up his nose. He began to protest.

“I don’t want it. I don’t need it. I won’t!”

But Mary Poppin’s eyes were fixed upon him, and Michael suddenly discovered that you could not look at Mary Poppins and disobey her. There was something strange and extraordinary about her—something that was frightening and at the same time most exciting. The spoon came nearer. He held his breath, shut his eyes and gulped. A delicious taste ran round his mouth. He turned his tongue in it. He swallowed, and a happy smile ran around his face.

“Strawberry ice,” he said ecstatically. “More, more, more!”

But Mary Poppins, her face stern as before, was pouring out a dose for Jane. It ran into the spoon, silvery, green, yellowy. Jane tasted it.

This is really, really bad. Not only is the anti-hero, the self-centered nasty Mary Poppins in complete control of her surroundings, she has control of the children too. In other words, she has unlimited power.

And if the description of Michael’s will inverting itself and the succeeding pleasure dealt out did not tick you off, it sure ticked off me. The problematic fascination with children being disoriented and subjected to an array of sensations continues throughout the entire series. It’s—it’s—appalling, disgusting. Unfortunately, I have an explanation.

=> Read more!

A bit ago, I received a comment from somebody on my Robin Hood King of the Sea post. He said:

This is a version of an old ballad about Sir Andrew Barton, who was High Admiral of Scotland in the late 15th/early 16th century (effectively a pirate licensed by the Scottish Crown). The name was changed to Henry Martyn in the 16th century as there was another famous ballad about Andrew Bartin.

The Robin Hood version was later and, whilst it’s good fun, clearly it doesn’t make sense in the context of the legend.

Oho. So now we get to it! Pseudo-historicity, an ignored and unpointed-out problem. Haha. Fella, y’got t’be kidding. This place/person/time attachment-stuff which was massively undertaken in the 1800’s (and further back than that) is really, for anyone who takes the trouble to analyze the ballads, instead of simply categorizing them, pointless and extremely ridiculous.

What it all comes down to is this: th’ballads are not unique, autonomous, end-unto-themselves pieces of literature. There are usually 7 different versions of a story (myth!), with the people switched around, the songs more or less corrupted and/or switched around, sequences lost, sequences swapped, the rhymes in differing stages of disrepair and bad memory-syndrome, and the songs more or less merged with other songs! It’s absolutely terrible! A complete mess!

The particular song you’ve chosen to gripe on is actually one of the best ones to, um, do that on, because it’s indefensibly Robin Hood who’s doing the action, not some 16th century pirate/commander whose name has been accidentally inserted much later in the process. It’s in old dialect too, unfortunately for you (I rhyme) which means that its origins date at least back to the early 1400’s, before that kind of thing fell out of style and people actually forgot how to write ballads at all.

It doesn’t fit in with the Robin Hood legend, so it’s not

Whose Robin Hood legend, dude? Hollywood’s? The next rabid professor’s? Dobson and Taylor’s? Wikipedia’s? Or your own, carefully constructed/crafted from all of them?

Y’see, y’gotta understand that the legend is all coming from the ballads. And behind the ballads, there were ballads! And behind those ballads, there were ballads! And behind those ballads, there were songs! And there’s, basically, so much Robin Hood stuff out there—real stuff—authentic—that this blog hasn’t even scraped the surface yet.

I mean, you got to be kidding. There’s children’s plays, there’s rhymes—nursery rhymes, place name rhymes, sayings and proverbs, place-name stories, local legends, songs, and sooooooo much more in the ballads than you ever, ever, dreamed.

Monsieur: a word with you. Allow me to introduce Charles Nevill, Captain Ward, Robin Hood Goes Fishing, Hugh Spenser & comrades, and the Three Merry Mariners—Herman, Watkin, and Willkin. And a whole lot more.

Now allow me to explain: we must inspect the shared story of these differing ballads with differing names. If you look closely enough, they’re all the same myth. And it’s not just Andrew Bartin. It’s Charles Nevill and Howard and Herman and Hugh and Robin Hood. As in Robin Hood Goes Fishing and Robin Hood King of the Sea, which has the best lyrics and dialect of all.

Charles Nevill (its story starts out pretty similar to the Robin Hood ballad of Hobbie Noble):

They had not sailed upon the sea
Not one day and month-es three,
But they were {a}ware of a noble ship,
That five tops bare all so high.

Recognize this verse from Robin Hood King of the Sea?

=> Read more!

In the ancient days of Britain, people spoke of the Brothers Three, who were Robin Hood, Bold Archer, and Little Shaun. Robin was the ringleader, the youngest ‘brither’. Of course, they weren’t actual brothers, more like comrades, blood-brothers.

Now in the Scots & English mummer’s Sword-Plays, we meet a fellow called Bold Anthony (as strong as a mantle-tree) and his sturdy comrades, who include “Little Man John” and “Jack Finny” and get into all kinds of mischief. This would be Bold Archer and Little John and Jock before they joined Robin Hood! So then, we see that everything is interrelated and the Sword-Dances preserve memories of Archer and friends before they entered Sherwood.

Here I have resurrected an old English folk play, a mummer’s play if you please, which has to do with the Third of the Brothers Three—Bold Archer—being added to Sherwood Co. I got it from several ballads: Robin Hood and Arthur A’Bland, Robin Hood and the Tinker, The Bold Peddler and Robin Hood, Robin Hood and the Shepherd, Robin Hood’s Delight, Robin Hood and Will Scarlett, and I also got it from 2-3 mummer’s plays.

So, here is this strong sturdy Northern fellow straying into Sherwood. Of course, Robin jumps out of a tree and there is a duel …

Important Note! Feel free, whoever reads this, to take this, copy this, use this, in any way whatsoever, because this is a functional Old English Play, and meant to be used as such! All I require is that you say “reconstructed by Adele Treskillard” in all copies, etc.

Bold Archer

Here come I Bold Archer
The biggest man in Northumberlan’
There’s not a squire
living in th’ whole damp shire
That would dare to bid me stand!
With a long pike staff on my shoulder
see how well I clear my way—
Let them be one two or three,
I make them all flee,
for I give them no leave for to stay!
As I was walking one summer’s morning
Through the forest o’ Merry Sherwood—
To view the red deer,
That run there and here,
Then I saw bold Robin Hood.
As soon as Bold Robin Hood did me spy
He thought fine sport to make—
He held out his hand,
And bid me to stand,
And thus unto me he spake;

{Enter Robin Hood.}

Robin Hood

Who art thou, bold fellow?
That stands so boldly here?
Stroth to be brief
thou lookst a thief
Come to steal the King’s deer!
I’m the keeper over this forest
And the King put me in trust—
To mind the red deer
That run there and here
A stop thee, good fellow, I must.

Bold Archer

If thou beist Keeper over this forest
And hast any great command
thee must have more
protectors in store
before thee canst bid me to stand.

Robin Hood

No more protectors in store,
no more have I any need,
for I have a staff,
of old oak graft,
sure to do the deed.

=> Read more!

Here is a little-known Robin Hood ballad. It has been ignored (hence ignorance) for no particular reason, although it mentions Bold Robin Hood by name! In this Scottish song, Robin Hood, the ‘youngest’ of the Brothers Three, (Little John, Bold Archer and, of course, Robin Hood) goes ‘fishing’ for the King’s shipping, up off of Scotland where he had been chased by said King. This is the King of London, that magnificent chief whom Robin and Will Scarlett fight and whom Little John takes ’service’ with for espionage purposes.

Probably, this song explains the usual “Robin Hood’s Fishing” ballad. Somewhat ironically, that is!

There is an interesting mention to aldormen in the song. Robin Hood tells the king’s aldormen that he will come in and plunder the ship and drown them in spite of their king. All this is strongly like a traditional exchange with the Sheriff of Nottingham or something.

In a mummer’s play, Robin says—

And for my quiver
I choose an aldorman’s fat liver

Who were ‘aldormen’? Actually, the word is Anglo-Saxon, and referred to a sheriff-noble (in Anglo-Saxon times). So, perhaps through this we can reach back to the Robin Hood legend in 400-1000 AD; a resistance figure against the ‘fat’ aldormen who carried out their King’s commands and saw to his wealth.

Sound familiar … ?

Here is the way I sing it—Robin Hood, King of the Sea!

There were three brothers in bonny Scotland
And three bonny brothers were they
They coost the kevills themselves amang (cast the lots among themselves)
Wha (who) should go reave (rob, plunder)
Wha should go reave upon the grey sea

The lot it fell upon Bold Robin Hood
The youngest brother of the hale three
“O I shall go reave upon the grey sea
And it’s all to maintain
It’s all to maintain my twa (two) brothers and me.”

=> Read more!

Clement of the Glen asked me a question;

Have you read the ballad Robin and Gandelyn (Child 115). I would be interested to hear your opinions on this beautiful ballad.

—Clement of the Glen

Well, Clement, here is what I’ve recently discovered about the ballad. I hope it’s interesting!

Robyn and Gandeleyn is a medieval ballad, an enigmatic ballad. It is blatantly patched together, and I have patched together ballads before, so I know what they look like. It has also been ignored. At least, even Dobson & Taylor (a somewhat definitive work on the subject) makes the claim …

Only one thing seems certain: by no stretch of the imagination can the ‘Robyn’ of this lyric be properly identified with the Robin Hood of the other ballads.

When I read this ballad, it surprised me. I was shocked, and mystified. However, it is not wise to discount things even if they seem to contradict your notions! You can analyze them of course. But still, it’s best to remain open-minded, and not to assume there’s no explanation.

For those who wish to read the full ballad, click here

In the ballad, we meet Robin and his comrade (or knave) Gandeleyn, who go to hunt deer, and are described in rich greenwood terms, and are oddly called children—

Strong thieves were tho children none
But bowmen good and hind (in its usual sense, hind means gentle, noble)
They wenten to wood to getten them flesh
If God wold it them send

They hunt all day and then they see fifty fat fallow deer—’and all they wern fair and fat enow’—

Robyn bent his jolly bow
Therein he set a flo (an arrow)
The fattest deer of all
The heart he clef in two

But then—there is apparently somebody who’s been lying in wait for Robin! And, to fit the children theme, he’s called a boy. This fellow is Wrennok. If you continue reading, we shall see that this was not originally a child. The story gets a little more complex.

He (Robyn) had not the deer i-flaw (flayed)
Ne half out of the hide,
There came a shrewd arrow out of the west,
That felled Robert’s pride.

=> Read more!

You’re reading Part 2: Robin Nory and Willie
Part 1: Robin and Gandeleyn

There is a genre of ballads concerning a child called variously Gil, Child, Morice, Norice, Nory, Wylet, Owlet, Waters and Bob. He lives in Silverwood, with a young playmate called Willie. He falls into trouble with a lord/chief and is caught.

This situation is strikingly similar to Robin Hood’s growing up in the greenwood, under and not under the eye of his menacing uncle Black Horns, with Sweet Willie, later Will Scadlock, who was a widow’s son—actually a witch’s son. I would contest that Robin and Willie probably grew up together, and later on were fellow ringleaders in Robin’s band. In fact, it is so strikingly similar that I feel safe to conclude that Bob Nory and his foster-brother Willie are Robin Hood and Will Scarlet as boys!

Will Scarlet has many confusing names. Bonny Willie Sha, possibly Shara, Scathlock, Scarlet, Will, Willie, Wilkin, Gamlyn, Gamble-gold, Gamwell! I think that Gandeleyn, the name of Robin’s childhood accomplice from the previous ballad, Robin and Gandelyn, fits nicely with Gamwell and Gamlyn etc. Therefore, I am going to connect the Willie of this post with the Gandelyn of the previous one, both of whom are Robin’s friends

So, to get back to business. Where is the plot connection between this ballad of Bob Nory and the Robin and Gandelyn?

Let’s read and see!

{Robin} Norice is to the green-wood gone
He wavers with the wind
His horse is silver-shod before
In the shining gold behind

=> Read more!

You’re reading Part 1: King Robin from Manx legend

Just recently, I found a fascinating song from the Isle of Man concerning Robin Hood’s wooing, and reminiscent to the extreme of Robin and Jenny Wren rhymes. This is not the first time I have found survivals of the Robin Hood legend in Manx. Manx is a type of Gaelic which is practically the same as normal Irish and Scotch Gaelic, only unfortunately (Manx, forgive me) misspelled.

The difference between Irish spelling and Manx spelling would be closest to the distinction between

English spelled as I am here spelling it, (with all the accumulated sounds in each word which we have stopped pronouncing, but which used to be pronounced, so that “enough” was originally pronounced “enouc")

and

English spelled phonetically, so “of” would be “uv”

I therefore have been bucked by Manx before. This time, however, I was able to translate it into proper Gaelic and improve the English translation, both of which you may read here:

Fhaigh thu toppeachann deirge
Is riobainnan “green”
Mo Bhetsidh bheag dhilis
Ma bhios thu leam fhein

Robin y righ
Robin y righ
Ridlan, abuth, aban, fal dy ridlan
Robin y righ
Robin y righ

=> Read more!

Read Part 1: King Robin from Manx legend

You are reading Part 2: Cock Robin’s similarity to King Robin

As we remember from my post on Robin Hood’s original audacity, Robin’s first lady, Moggy, betrayed him to his foes and deserted him. After recovering from this, Hood became desperately taken with a girl variously known as Jenny, Janet, Joan or whatever.

You will notice, in all the Cock Robin and Jenny rhymes below, that Robin is more human than bird:

(I have emphasized the parts which correspond best to the Manx above, and also the point in which Cock Robin has a horn)

‘Twas on a merry time,
When Jenny Wren was young,
So neatly as she danced,
And so sweetly as she sung,
Robin Redbreast lost his heart,
He was a gallant bird,
He doffed his cap to Jenny Wren,
Requesting to be heard.


“Oh, dearest Jenny Wren,
If you will but be mine,
You shall feed on cherry pie
And drink new currant wine,
I’ll dress you like a goldfinch
Or any peacock gay,
So if you’ll have me, Jenny, dear,
Let us appoint the day.”

=> Read more!

Read it from the beginning:
Part 1: King Robin from Manx legend
Part 2: Cock Robin’s similarity to King Robin

You’re reading Part 3: Cock Robin’s explicit links to Robin Hood.

Here is, first of all, Cock Robin’s help to an ill Jenny, and then a parallel from two children’s games in which we are blatantly dealing with Robin Hood gone wooing. The wren’s name is Jenny, which is also the name of Robin Hood’s love.

The wren scho lies in care’s bed, (she lies sick)
In care’s bed, in care’s bed
The wren scho lies in care’s bed,,
Wi’ mukle dule and pain, O. (great discomfort)

When in cam’ Robin Redbreist,
Redbreist, Redbreist
When in cam’ Robin Redbreist,
Wi’ sugar-saps and wine, O

“Now, maiden, will ye taste o’ this,
Taste o’ this, taste o’ this
Now, maiden, will ye taste o’ this,
It’s sugar saps and wine, O?

=> Read more!