Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford: Difference between revisions

From International Robin Hood Bibliography
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=== Plot ===
=== Plot ===
<div class="plot">The Bishop of Hereford will be passing through Barnsdale. Robin Hood orders his men to kill a deer: the bishop is going to dine with him and pay exorbitantly for it. Dressed as shepherds, Robin and six of his men are tending the venison roasting on the fire when the bishop arrives. The bishop reproaches them for killing the king's deer and tells them they must go with him to the king to answer for their deeds. Robin asks mercy, but the bishop will hear nothing of it. Robin then pulls out his bugle and blows it. Seventy of his men come running and kneel down to greet him. Little John asks why they have all been summoned. Robin tells him the bishop will not pardon them, whereupon Little John suggests they behead the bishop, who now, in turn, asks mercy of Robin and says he would have taken another route had he known Robin was here. Robin leads the bishop to the outlaws' quarters and feasts him. The bishop calls the reckoning, fearing it will be expensive. Little John searches the bishop's cloak and finds £300. Robin asks for music, takes the bishop by the hand and makes him dance before he lets him go.</div>
<div class="plot">The Bishop of Hereford will be passing through Barnsdale. Robin Hood orders his men to kill a deer: the bishop is going to dine with him and pay exorbitantly for it. Dressed as shepherds, Robin and six of his men are tending the venison roasting on the fire when the bishop arrives. The bishop reproaches them for killing the king's deer and tells them they must go with him to the king to answer for their deeds. Robin asks mercy, but the bishop will hear nothing of it. Robin then pulls out his bugle and blows it. Seventy of his men come running and kneel down to greet him. Little John asks why they have all been summoned. Robin tells him the bishop will not pardon them, whereupon Little John suggests they behead the bishop, who now, in turn, asks mercy of Robin and says he would have taken another route had he known Robin was here. Robin leads the bishop to the outlaws' quarters and feasts him. The bishop calls the reckoning, fearing it will be expensive. Little John searches the bishop's cloak and finds £300. Robin asks for music, takes the bishop by the hand and makes him dance before he lets him go.</div>
=== Editions ===
== Editions ==
==== A version: a variant ====
=== Version A ===
==== Variant a ====
{{:Anonymous 17xxa}}, No. 23.
{{:Anonymous 17xxa}}, No. 23.
==== A version: b variant ====
==== Variant b ====
* {{:Anonymous 1791a}}.
* {{:Anonymous 1791a}}.
* Bodleian Library, Douce Ballads 3(123b). [http://bodley24.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/acwwweng/ballads/image.pl?ref=Douce+Ballads+3(123b)&id=15791.gif&seq=1&size=1 Bodleian Library Catalogue of Ballads] (copy used by Child.)
* Bodleian Library, Douce Ballads 3(123b). [http://bodley24.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/acwwweng/ballads/image.pl?ref=Douce+Ballads+3(123b)&id=15791.gif&seq=1&size=1 Bodleian Library Catalogue of Ballads] (copy used by Child.)
* Bodleian Library, Douce FF 71(11). [http://bodley24.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/acwwweng/ballads/image.pl?ref=Douce+FF+71(11)&id=15878.gif&seq=1&size=1  Bodleian Library Catalogue of Ballads]
* Bodleian Library, Douce FF 71(11). [http://bodley24.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/acwwweng/ballads/image.pl?ref=Douce+FF+71(11)&id=15878.gif&seq=1&size=1  Bodleian Library Catalogue of Ballads]
==== A version: c variant ====
==== Variant c ====
* {{:Anonymous 17xxb}}. Not seen by Child.
* {{:Anonymous 17xxb}}. Not seen by Child.
* {{:Chappell, William 1855a}}, vol. II, pp. 395-96. Child used this edition, which is based on the preceding.
* {{:Chappell, William 1855a}}, vol. II, pp. 395-96. Child used this edition, which is based on the preceding.
==== A version: d variant ====
==== Variant d ====
{{:Anonymous 1749a}}, p. 98 (No. 23).
{{:Anonymous 1749a}}, p. 98 (No. 23).
==== B version: a variant ====
=== Version B ===
==== Variant a ====
* {{:Cochrane, Elizabeth 1730a}}, p. 149 (No. 113).
* {{:Cochrane, Elizabeth 1730a}}, p. 149 (No. 113).
==== Popular collections ====
== Popular collections ==
* {{:Anonymous 17xxa}}, No. 23. Text ''A:a''.
* {{:Anonymous 17xxa}}, No. 23. Text ''A:a''.
* {{:Anonymous 1749a}}, No. 23. Text ''A:d''.
* {{:Anonymous 1749a}}, No. 23. Text ''A:d''.
==== Scholarly collections ====
== Scholarly and literary collections ==
* {{:Chappell, William 1855a}}, vol. II, pp. 395-96. Child's text ''A:a''.
* {{:Chappell, William 1855a}}, vol. II, pp. 395-96. Child's text ''A:a''.
* {{:Child, Francis James 1882a}}, vol. III, pp. 193-96.
* {{:Child, Francis James 1882a}}, vol. III, pp. 193-96.
Line 44: Line 46:
* {{:Evans, Thomas 1784a}}, vol. I, pp. 211-14. Title: The bishop of Hereford's entertainment by Robin Hood and Little John, &c. in merry Barnsdale. (''A:a'' type.)
* {{:Evans, Thomas 1784a}}, vol. I, pp. 211-14. Title: The bishop of Hereford's entertainment by Robin Hood and Little John, &c. in merry Barnsdale. (''A:a'' type.)
* {{:Ritson, Joseph 1795a}}, vol. II, pp. 146-150. (''A:a'' type.)
* {{:Ritson, Joseph 1795a}}, vol. II, pp. 146-150. (''A:a'' type.)
=== Translations ===
== Translations ==
==== French ====
=== French ===
{{:Loève-Veimars, François-Adolphe 1825a}}, pp. 204-207: 'Robin Hood et L'Evèque d'Hereford'. A French prose rendering.
{{:Loève-Veimars, François-Adolphe 1825a}}, pp. 204-207: 'Robin Hood et L'Evèque d'Hereford'. A French prose rendering.
==== German ====
=== German ===
* {{:Grün, Anastasius 1864a}}, pp. 151-54: "Robin Hood und der Bischof von Hereford"; notes, p. 218.
* {{:Grün, Anastasius 1864a}}, pp. 151-54: "Robin Hood und der Bischof von Hereford"; notes, p. 218.
** {{:Grün, Anastasius 1877a}}, pp. 293-296: "Robin Hood und der Bischof von Hereford".
** {{:Grün, Anastasius 1877a}}, pp. 293-296: "Robin Hood und der Bischof von Hereford".
* {{:Talvj 1840a}}, pp. 493-95: "Robin Hood under der Bischof von Hereford".
* {{:Talvj 1840a}}, pp. 493-95: "Robin Hood under der Bischof von Hereford".
=== Allusions ===
== Allusions ==
  {{#ask:[[Category:Allusions (Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford)]]|format=embedded|embedformat=h4|columns=1|limit=1000|sort=Utitle}}
  {{#ask:[[Category:Allusions (Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford)]]|format=embedded|embedformat=h4|columns=1|limit=1000|sort=Utitle}}
=== Notes ===
== Notes ==
<references/>
<references/>



Revision as of 14:21, 12 July 2018

Ballad
Child 144
Title Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford
Versions 2
Variants 5
Stanzas 16
Date c. 1730

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-09. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-07-12.

Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford is an 18th century broadside ballad known in two versions, one in 16 stanzas, the other, more condensed, in just 11 stanzas. As Child notes,[1] the Bishop of Hereford is also a character in the ballad of Robin Hood and Queen Katherine (Child 145), where he remembers how Robin Hood made him sing mass and extracted an enforced loan from him. The earliest broadside prints of this ballad are from c. 1750, while the MS containing the B version has been dated to c. 1730, a dating Child feels is uncertain. According to Chappell it was the most popular Robin Hood ballad in the mid-19th century.[2]

Plot

The Bishop of Hereford will be passing through Barnsdale. Robin Hood orders his men to kill a deer: the bishop is going to dine with him and pay exorbitantly for it. Dressed as shepherds, Robin and six of his men are tending the venison roasting on the fire when the bishop arrives. The bishop reproaches them for killing the king's deer and tells them they must go with him to the king to answer for their deeds. Robin asks mercy, but the bishop will hear nothing of it. Robin then pulls out his bugle and blows it. Seventy of his men come running and kneel down to greet him. Little John asks why they have all been summoned. Robin tells him the bishop will not pardon them, whereupon Little John suggests they behead the bishop, who now, in turn, asks mercy of Robin and says he would have taken another route had he known Robin was here. Robin leads the bishop to the outlaws' quarters and feasts him. The bishop calls the reckoning, fearing it will be expensive. Little John searches the bishop's cloak and finds £300. Robin asks for music, takes the bishop by the hand and makes him dance before he lets him go.

Editions

Version A

Variant a

Anonymous, ed. Robin Hood's Garland. London: J. Marshall & Co., Aldermary Churchyard, [s.d.], No. 23.

Variant b

Variant c

Variant d

Anonymous, ed. Robin Hood's Garland. [s.l.]: [s.n.], 1749, p. 98 (No. 23).

Version B

Variant a

Popular collections

Scholarly and literary collections

Translations

French

Loève-Veimars, Adolphe, transl. Ballades, lëgendes et chants populaires de l'Angleterre et de l'Écosse, par Walter Scott, Thomas Moore, Campbell et les anciens poètes (Paris, 1825), pp. 204-207: 'Robin Hood et L'Evèque d'Hereford'. A French prose rendering.

German

Allusions

1828 - Clarke, Stephen Reynolds - New Yorkshire Gazetteer

Robin Hood's Well [...] a hamlet, partly in the township of Burgh Wallis, parish of Owton [sic], and partly in the township of Skelbrook, parish of Kirkby South, wapentake of Osgoldcross, 7 miles N. W. from Doncaster. This village is situated in what was once Barnsdale Forest, now enclosed, and one of the haunts of the renowned free-booter. The well is a square building, nine feet high, which adjoins the high road; near this place Robin Hood is said to have robbed the Bishop of Hereford, and afterwards compelled him to dance round a tree in his boots.[3]

Notes