Colyton festivals
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2015-08-27. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-05-31.
Record
[1571/72:]
payd to master cogynge for one ˄⌜j li. of⌝ powdar when
Robarte hode of collyton came in xiiii 〈...〉[1]
Source notes
"˂...˃" indicates "lost or illegible letters in the original"; "⌜⌝" indicates "interlineation above the line"; "˄" represents a caret mark in Wasson's source.
1571/72: St Michael's Churchwardens' Accounts, f. 4. Accounting year: 30 November-29 November. Under heading "Charges". Note to bracketed ellipsis: "page torn".
IRHB comments
Mayers, morris dancers, Robin Hoods etc. often visited neighbouring parishes to perform and collect money for the parish chest and/or advertise an upcoming festival in their village. When Robin Hood of Colyton went to Honiton to perform or went there on a quête, it thus seems quite likely that he also performed at home.
Lists and gazetteers
- Lancashire, Ian, compil. Dramatic Texts and Records of Britain: a Chronological Topography to 1558 (Cambridge, 1984), No. 779.
- 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. 279.
- Not included in Wiles, David. The Early Plays of Robin Hood (Cambridge, 1981), Appendix I.
MS sources
- Anonymous. St Michael's Churchwardens' Accounts, Honiton. Devon Record Office, Exeter. 1639A PW1. 1570-1651, ff. 4, 15; not seen, but cf. Wasson (1986), pp. xlvii, 207-208.
Printed sources
- Wasson, John M., ed. Devon. (Records of Early English Drama) (Toronto; Buffalo; London, ©1986), pp. 207-208, and see pp. xxv, xlvii, 527.