1419 - Walsingham, John - Reply of Friar Daw Topias
From International Robin Hood Bibliography
| Allusion | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1419-20 |
| Author | Walsingham, John |
| Title | The Reply of Friar Daw Topias |
| Mentions | Robin Hood; 'many men speak of Robin Hood' proverb |
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-08-07. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-07-04.
Allusion
On old Englis it is seid "unkissid is unknowun,"
And many men speken of Robyn Hood and shotte nevere in his bowe.[1]
IRHB comments
This is an early occurrence of the well-known proverb. The Reply of Friar Daw Topias, wriiten in 1419-1420, is usually attributed to John Walsingham.
Notes
Editions
- Anonymous. Bodleian MS Digby 41 (c.1450).
- Wright, Thomas, ed. Political Poems and Songs relating to English History, composed during the Period from the Accession of Edw. III. to that of Ric. III (London, 1859-61), vol. II. Allusion p. 59.
- Walsingham, John; Heyworth, Peter Lorrimer, ed. Jack Upland, Friar Daw's Reply, and Upland's Rejoinder (London, 1968). Allusion p. 80.
- Dean, James M., ed. Six Ecclesiastical Satires (TEAMS Middle English Texts Series) (Kalamazoo, Mich., 1991).
- James, ed. Six Ecclesiastical Satires: Friar Daw's Reply (TEAMS Texts) (online source).
Lists
- Not included in: Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976).
- Sussex, Lucy, compil. 'References to Robin Hood up to 1600', in: Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), pp. 262-88, see p. 264.
Brief mention
- Bennett, Henry Stanley; Wilson, F. P., ser. ed.; Dobrée, Bonamy, ser. ed. Chaucer and the Fifteenth Century (The Oxford History of English Literature, vol. II, part 1) (Oxford, 1947), p. 156.
- Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), p. 2 & n. 4. Cites the allusion as the "most perfect expression" of the proverb, dating the source 1419-20.
- Hilton, R.H. 'Introduction', in: Hilton, R.H., ed. Peasants, Knights and Heretics: Studies in Medieval English Social History (Cambridge, London, New York, Melbourne, 1976), pp. 1-9, see p. 7.
- Holt, J.C. 'The Origins and Audience of the Ballads of Robin Hood', Past & Present, No. 18 (1960), pp. 89-110, see pp. 98, 109 n. 2. Cites the allusion as an occurrence of the proverb to which Chaucer alludes in Troilus and Criseyde.
- Holt, J.C. 'The Origins and Audience of the Ballads of Robin Hood', in: Hilton, R.H., ed. Peasants, Knights and Heretics: Studies in Medieval English Social History (Cambridge, London, New York, Melbourne, 1976), pp. 236-57, p. 247 & n. 42.
- Holt, J. C. 'The Origins and Audience of the Ballads of Robin Hood', in: Knight, Stephen, ed. Robin Hood: Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism (Cambridge, 1999), pp. 211-32, p. 222 & n. 42.
Also see