Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Duke University Press; journal copyright held by the American Dialect Society.
American Text of "Robin Hood and Little John"
Robin Hood ballads have not often found their way into oral survival in the United States. The following text of a ballad concerning Robin Hood and Little John cannot be traced back very far. It is contributed by Marianna Cummings of Lincoln, Nebraska, as she heard it sung by her grand-mother, Frances Hayden Cummings, who learned it in her girlhood in Kentucky. It deserves preservation, however it may have reached Kentucky, because of the interest of Robin Hood ballads and their stories and variant texts.
ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN
When Robin Hood was about eighteen years old
He chanced to meet Little John,
A jolly brisk blade just fit for his trade
For he was a sturdy young man.
Altho he was little his limbs they were large,
His stature was seven feet high.
Wherever he came he soon quickened his name
And presently caused them to fly.
One day these two met on a long narrow bridge,
And neither of them would give way,
When Robin stepped up to the stranger and said,
"I'll show you brave Nottingham play."
"You speak like a coward," the stranger, he said,
"As there with your long-bow you stand;
I vow and protest you may shoot at my breast
While I have but a staff in my hand."
"The name of a coward," said Robin, "I scorn,
And so my long-bow I lay by
And then for your sake a staff I will take
The strength of your manhood to try."
Then Robin he stepped out into a grove
And pulled up a staff of green oak,
And this being done straight back he did come,
And thus to the stranger he spoke:
"Behold thou my staff, it is lusty and tough,
On this long narrow bridge let us play;
Then he who falls in, the other shall win
The battle and then we'll away."
Then Robin hit the stranger a crack on the crown
That caused the blood to appear
And thus so enraged they more closely engaged
And laid on the blows most severe.
The stranger gave Robin a crack on the crown
That was a most terrible stroke,
The very next blow laid Robin below
And tumbled him into the brook.
"Oh where are you now?" the stranger he cried;
With a hearty laugh in reply,
"Oh, faith, in the flood" quoth bold Robin Hood,
"And floating away with the tide."
Then Robin he waded all out of the deep
And pulled himself up by a thorn,
Then just at the last he blew a loud blast
So merrily on his bugle horn.
The hills they did echo, the valleys did ring
Which caused his gay men to appear,
All dressed in green most fair to be seen
Straight up to the master they steer.
"What aileth thee, master?" quoth William Stutely,
"You seem to be wet to the skin."
"No matter," quoth he, "This villain you see
In fighting hath tumbled me in."
"We'll pluck out his eyes and duck him likewise,"
Then seized they the stranger right there,
"Nay, let him go free," quoth bold Robin Hood,
"For he's a brave fellow. Forbear!
"Cheer up jolly blade and don't be afraid
Of all these gay men that you see,
There are four-score and nine and if you will be mine
You may wear of my own liverie."
A brace of fat deer was quickly brought in,
Good ale and strong liquor likewise.
The feast was so good, all in the greenwood
Where this jolly babe was baptised.
LOUISE POUND.
University of Nebraska.
ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN
When Robin Hood was about eighteen years old
He chanced to meet Little John,
A jolly brisk blade just fit for his trade
For he was a sturdy young man.
Altho he was little his limbs they were large,
His stature was seven feet high.
Wherever he came he soon quickened his name
And presently caused them to fly.
One day these two met on a long narrow bridge,
And neither of them would give way,
When Robin stepped up to the stranger and said,
"I'll show you brave Nottingham play."
"You speak like a coward," the stranger, he said,
"As there with your long-bow you stand;
I vow and protest you may shoot at my breast
While I have but a staff in my hand."
"The name of a coward," said Robin, "I scorn,
And so my long-bow I lay by
And then for your sake a staff I will take
The strength of your manhood to try."
Then Robin he stepped out into a grove
And pulled up a staff of green oak,
And this being done straight back he did come,
And thus to the stranger he spoke:
"Behold thou my staff, it is lusty and tough,
On this long narrow bridge let us play;
Then he who falls in, the other shall win
The battle and then we'll away."
Then Robin hit the stranger a crack on the crown
That caused the blood to appear
And thus so enraged they more closely engaged
And laid on the blows most severe.
The stranger gave Robin a crack on the crown
That was a most terrible stroke,
The very next blow laid Robin below
And tumbled him into the brook.
"Oh where are you now?" the stranger he cried;
With a hearty laugh in reply,
"Oh, faith, in the flood" quoth bold Robin Hood,
"And floating away with the tide."
Then Robin he waded all out of the deep
And pulled himself up by a thorn,
Then just at the last he blew a loud blast
So merrily on his bugle horn.
The hills they did echo, the valleys did ring
Which caused his gay men to appear,
All dressed in green most fair to be seen
Straight up to the master they steer.
"What aileth thee, master?" quoth William Stutely,
"You seem to be wet to the skin."
"No matter," quoth he, "This villain you see
In fighting hath tumbled me in."
"We'll pluck out his eyes and duck him likewise,"
Then seized they the stranger right there,
"Nay, let him go free," quoth bold Robin Hood,
"For he's a brave fellow. Forbear!
"Cheer up jolly blade and don't be afraid
Of all these gay men that you see,
There are four-score and nine and if you will be mine
You may wear of my own liverie."
A brace of fat deer was quickly brought in,
Good ale and strong liquor likewise.
The feast was so good, all in the greenwood
Where this jolly babe was baptised.
LOUISE POUND.
University of Nebraska.
Additional Information:
This ballad was first published by Louise Pound in American Speech, volume 2, number 2 (November 1926), page 75. The journal is copyright to the American Dialect Society, and published by Duke University Press. This article is reprinted with permission of the publisher by The Robin Hood Project.
This ballad was first published by Louise Pound in American Speech, volume 2, number 2 (November 1926), page 75. The journal is copyright to the American Dialect Society, and published by Duke University Press. This article is reprinted with permission of the publisher by The Robin Hood Project.
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