Robin Hood and the Potter
Robin Hood and the Potter is a 15th century ballad of Robin Hood. While usually classed with other Robin Hood ballads, it does not appear to have originally been intended to be sung, but rather recited by a minstrel, and thus is closer to a poem. It is one of the very oldest pieces of the surviving Robin Hood legend, with perhaps only Robin Hood and the Monk older than it. It inspired a short play intended for use in May Day games, attested to around 1560. It was later published by Francis James Child as Child ballad #121 in his influential collection of popular ballads in the 1880s.[1][2][3]
The story of Potter includes some common motifs that would feature in later Robin Hood stories: single combat where victory is not guaranteed; Robin Hood taking a disguise to blend in; an archery competition; and a naive sheriff who enters the greenwood forest where he is dramatically outwitted by the crafty outlaws who know the terrain better. The tone of Potter is more comic than other early Robin Hood stories that were more violent, such as Robin Hood and the Monk or Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne. Nobody dies, and the story concludes with the "lowde lawhyng" (loud laughing) of the Sheriff's wife.[2]
Plot
Y well prey the, god potter,
A ffelischepe well thow haffe?
Geffe me they clothing, and thow schalt hafe myne;
Y well go to Notynggam.
-- (with modern spelling)
I will pray thee, good potter,
A fellowship will thou have?
Give me thy clothing, and thou shalt have mine;
I will go to Nottingham.
Robin Hood and the Potter, Stanza 24[2]
Robin Hood and Little John spy a potter approaching down the path. Little John mentions that he once met the same potter at Wentbridge and fought him, and his sides are still sore from the encounter. Robin demands a toll of a potter (pavage) for crossing a bridge in the forest (Sherwood Royal Forest?). They fight a duel, Robin wielding a sword and buckler while the potter uses his staff, and the potter wins. Robin Hood strikes a deal with the potter, who will stay in the Forest, while Robin disguises himself as the potter and travels to Nottingham to sell the pots. He charges ridiculously low prices and so sells them all; by his doing so, the Sheriff's wife is intrigued, and when Robin gives her his last pots for free, she invites him to dinner with her and the sheriff.
While at dinner the Sheriff's men are having an archery contest, Robin shows the Sheriff that he can shoot far better than the Sheriff's men, and he then explains that he can shoot that well because he was taught by Robin Hood. The sheriff asks him to lead him to the outlaw. Robin agrees, and when back in the forest the sheriff is ambushed by Robin's men. They take his money and his clothes. Because of the hospitality of the sheriff's wife in Nottingham, Robin lets him go free, telling him he must give his wife a white palfrey. On returning to Nottingham, the wife laughs at the Sheriff and exclaiming that now Robin has been paid back for the pots he gave to her.
The story ends with Robin paying the potter generously for the stolen pots and telling him that he is always welcome in the green wood. [4]
Manuscript history
The oldest manuscript of Potter surviving is kept in the Cambridge University Library and dates to around 1500, although the poem likely existed before this manuscript. Interpretation of the work is complicated by the execrable orthography and language skills of the writer; he seems to have been "half-literate" and includes various likely errors such as repetitions of lines he has already written. His spelling is also heavily inflected by Midlands dialect. Nevertheless, the manuscript is invaluable for giving insight into the state of the Robin Hood legend around 1500.[2]
Adaptations
A play entitled Robin Hood and the Potter and most likely based off the poem was created around 1560, likely for use in May Day festivals, and to conclude with a Morris dance. The play version is shorter than the poem. It is found in the Copeland edition of A Mery Geste of Robyn Hoode, and includes touches appropriate for a May Game play such as the potter wearing a 'rose garlande' on his head.[2]
Robin Hood and the Butcher is so similar to Potter in parts that it is often seen as an adaptation of the story rather than merely being inspired by it.[2]
Analysis
In the oldest manuscript, the minstrel "breaks the fourth wall" in parts and directly addresses the audience of "yemen" (yeoman). The work itself depicts Robin as a yeoman as well. After the potter defeats Robin, he shames him for his discourtesy in waylaying a fellow yeoman, and Robin even agrees with the criticism and offers the potter safe passage in the future. This aspect is perhaps flattering the intended audience of lesser craftsmen who were outranked by the landed gentry yet nevertheless were above the very poorest of English society, by saying that Robin Hood was just like them.[3][2][4]
The device of Robin disguising himself as a potter may have been taken from the older legends of Hereward the Wake, Eustace the Monk, and William Wallace.[3][2]
Robin's friendly relationship with the sheriff's wife is somewhat unusual in the earliest stories of Robin Hood, which generally restricted Robin's interaction with women to the Virgin Mary and the villainous prioress of Kirkslee (Maid Marian does not appear in the earliest surviving stories). Potter, by contrast, seems to hint that the sheriff's wife is more than a little charmed by the mysterious potter giving her a gift.<ref name="rhaoot">
The ballad was not directly included in the popular "garlands" of Robin Hood ballads popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. Instead, the similar Robin Hood and the Butcher version of the story was generally included.[4]
References
- Child, Francis, ed. (1888). The English and Scottish popular ballads. Vol. 3. Cambridge: The Riverside Press. pp. 108–115.
- Dobson, R. B.; Taylor, J. (1997) [1976]. Rymes of Robin Hood. Sutton. pp. 123–132, 215–219. ISBN 0 7509 1661 3.
- Holt, James Clarke (1989) [1983]. Robin Hood (Revised ed.). London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 33–37, 73, 122–124, 170.
- Knight, Stephen; Ohlgren, Thomas H., eds. (2000). "Robin Hood and the Potter: Introduction". Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales. University of Rochester.