A Gest of Robyn Hode (ballad)

As the Child Ballads were being prepared for publication, there was an ongoing debate among those who studied ballad origins. Those who considered that ballads originated as communal songs and dances were known as communalists; those who supported the opposing position, that ballads were written by individual authors, were known as individualists. This debate involved questions that have since been "discarded as subjects for fruitful inquiry".[7] In other words, the question of communal versus individual origination can never be answered due to lack of historical evidence. (For further details, see Roger D. Abrahams' review[7] of Anglo-American Folksong Scholarship since 1898 by D. K. Wilgus[8].) The current consensus is that, since so little is known about the origins of the earliest ballads, their origins can only be deduced from clues within the texts themselves; that is, on a case-by-case basis. It was advocated by the English historian J R Maddicott in a series of articles in the journal Past & Present (1958-61) and re-iterated in 1978.[9]^: 233

In 1968, D. C. Fowler proposed a new reconstruction of the history of the narrative ballad, based upon his study of Gest, and the oldest Robin Hood ballads (Robin Hood and the Monk, and Robin Hood and the Potter). His proposal was that the narrative ballad is a subcategory of folksong that uses a narrative form. The narrative ballad, as it appeared in England during the 15th-16th centuries, was a result of the merger of several different traditions. The first tradition was folksong, which appeared about the 12th century, and became more widespread during the 13th-15th centuries with the appearance of carols and religious songs sung in the vernacular. The second tradition was itself the result of a 14th-century blending of the 12th century French courtly romances (such as the Arthurian romances) with the Old English alliterative traditional poetry to form a new genre of English metrical narrative romance (such as those included in the Ancient Engleish Metrical Romanceës).[10]^: 5-10 These romances are usually associated with royal court minstrels, but minstrels were also present at the great baronial halls of the north of England.[10]^: 8 These powerful barons, such as the House of Percy, the House of Neville, and the York and Lancaster cadet branches of the Plantagenet dynasty, maintained courts which rivaled the Royal Court in London.

Fowler's proposal was both strongly opposed[11][12] and applauded[13][14][15][16][17] for his attempt to construct a history of ballads based upon the earliest dates of surviving texts and not upon comparative structure and form. Independent support for minstrel origins was offered by several historians. Maurice Keen, in his first edition (1961) of The Outlaws of Medieval Legend argued that the ballad form of the Robin Hood stories indicated a primitive popular origin. In the Introduction to his second edition (1977), Keen stated that criticism forced him to abandon his original arguments[18]^: xiii-xxi He now supported the position that the narrative ballads were minstrel compositions. Unfortunately, he never revised the pertinent chapters (XI and XIV) to reflect his new position.[Note 1] In 1989, J C Holt also advocated a minstrel origin for the Robin Hood ballads when he proposed that the original audience was the yeoman servants of the English feudal housholds, especially those of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, a grandson of Henry III. Holt proposed the ballads were then spread from the great halls to market-places, taverns and inns, where the common people heard them.[19]^: 12

This interpretation of the contemporary manuscripts was originally proposed by Chambers[20]^: 122-84, which Fowler incorporated into his hypothesis. The importance of the manuscripts is not only that they mentioned Robin Hood, but also what they said about him. The manuscripts are:[10]^: 65-71

• Dives and Pauper (dated to ca 1410) refers to "tale or a song of robyn hode"

According to Fowler, the use of the words sing or song refers, not to the melodic singing of a folksong, but to a type of chanting known as plainsong. This view can be supported by one of the meanings of the Middle English singen ("to sing"): to relate a story in song or verse; to recite a poem.[21]^{: singen, sense 4.b}

• Scotichronicon (dated to ca 1450), written by Bower in Latin, uses the phrases "cantitare delectantur" and "recitantur" in its mention of Robin Hood and Little John in the then-popular "romanciis, mimos, ei bardanos"

                    cantitare delectantur     loosely translated as "delightful singing" or
                                                         as "delightful recitation"[22]^{: cantare, senses 1,5}[22]^{: delectantia}
                    recitantur                      means as "reading aloud"[22]^{: recitare, sense 1}
                    romanciis                      means "narratives, stories, or historical accounts"[22]^: romancia
                    mimos                           means "mimic plays"[22]^{: mimologus}

In other words, Bower is talking about delightful stories about Robin Hood which are being performed in song and/or recitation.

• Historia Majoris Britanniae (dated 1521), written by Mair in Latin, contains a remark that the exploits of Robin Hood are known throughout England in "cantibus"

                    cantibus                           means "a singing tone in the delivery of an orator"[22]^{: canticum, sense II.B}

Perhaps "a singing tone" is not descriptive enough; it is rhythm, cadance, and word choice that makes a great orator. Churchill's second and third speeches delivered during the Battle of France, as well as Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural address and Day of infamy address are examples from two of the masters of the radio address.

Sheriff of Nottingham. Sketch by Louis Rhead.

The internal evidence offered by Fowler consists of passages within the three ballads:[10]^: 65-67

1. the use of speech verbs, such as speak, talk, and tell:
   • Robin Hood and the Potter contains the line "Now speak we of Roben Hode"[23]^{: line 308}
   • Robin Hood and the Monk ends with the line "Thus ends the talking of the monk/And Robyn Hode ..."[24]^{: lines 355-6}
   • the opening stanza of Gest contains "I shall you tell of a good yeoman," [4]^{: line 3}
2. the use of transitions
   • between Fyttes 1 and 2 [4]^{: lines 325-36}
   • at the beginning of Fytte 4 [4]^{: lines 817-20}
   • between the end of the Monk tale and resumption of the Sorrowful Knight tale in Fytte 4 [4]^{: lines 1041-44}
3. the use of frequent asides to the audience

The most compelling internal evidence is the repeated use of the "Lythe and listen" formulaic.[10]^: 65-67 It is found:

• at the beginning of Fyttes 1, 3, 6[4]^{: lines 1, 573, 1265}
• in the second stanza of Fytte 5[4]^{: line 1125}

"lythe" comes from Old Norse[U of MI's MED]. When used in the phrase "lythe and listen" it means "to hear, to be attentive" (as in the colloquialism "listen up!").[Note 2] The Gest poet uses this formulaic whenever a new tale is about to begin. Considering the length of the ballad, it is possible that the ballad was broken up into sections for performance; and the "Lythe and listen" would alert the audience that the performance was about to resume.[who said this?]

More support for Gest having been recited comes from an unusual source. In the United States, the Scots-Irish and Lowland Scots immigrants brought their ballads to the isolated valleys in the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, western North Carolina and northern Georgia. Their music became known as Appalachian music, which would later strongly influence the distinctly American genre known as hillbilly or country music.

The old Scottish and English ballads were eagerly sought by the folksong collectors of the 1920s and 30s,and a series of books brought ballads and folksongs to scholarly attention in the United States. In 1927, American poet Carl Sandberg published The American Songbag.[25] Sandberg's book would greatly influence the singer-songwriters of the American folk music revival in popular music during the 1960s. In 1959, D K Wilgus, an American Professor of Music and English, published Anglo-American Folksong scholarship since 1898.[8] The book was unusual at the time for its inclusion of a discography of amateur American folk singers whose audio performances were recorded on long-playing records.

The 1952 release of the Anthology of American Folk Music fueled the folksong revival of the 1950s-60s. This collection of the old ballads inspired a new generation of folk singers, such as Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan. The folksong revival also introduced the recitation song to a new audience. In a recitation song, the stanzas are spoken according to their natural rhyme and rhythm.

In 1961, singer-songewriter Jimmy Dean released Big Bad John, a country song in which the stanzas are recited. Dean's rendition is famous for both his Texas drawl and the use of a hammer and a piece of steel as part of the instrumental accompaniment. Dean received the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Performance. In 1979, The Charlie Daniels Band had their biggest hit with the recitation song The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Daniels (who had a North Carolina-flavor of Southern English) won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance.

Fowler summarized his position on the Robin Hood texts as follows: "early outlaw texts are clear examples of late medieval minstrelsy rather than songs."[10]^: 17 Douglas Grey, the first J. R. R. Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language at the University of Oxford and a Robin Hood scholar, seconded that opinion when he endorsed Bob Frank's rendition: "This is how they must have done it! This is how they all did it!"[26]