ABSTRACT
There can be no doubt that Robin Hood is the most widely known folklore hero in England and beyond. His tales have been told in various forms, from spoken rhymes to computer games, over a period of eight centuries. Each reinvention of the outlaw legend finds expression in the medium of the moment. In fifteenth- and sixteenth-century England, this meant oral delivery, for which the evidence is scant, and written poems and ballads of which some have survived. Possibly more potent, in southern England at least, was the Robin Hood game that featured as an attraction in some church ales.
This contribution to the folklore companion will provide a case study of the guild warden’s accounts of expenses incurred at a church ale in Braunton, Devon in 1562. This account includes reference to Robin Hood activity but gives no indication of what was involved. This entry will explain and analyse the document through reference to other records where Robin Hood appeared. It will examine, through this process, what appear to be the dominant prototypical categories of a Robin Hood game. This will cover venue, occasion, characters, players, costume, properties, scenic devices, audience and level of participation, and apparent purpose.
The intention is to interpret a document, that at face value appears almost incomprehensible, by introducing other evidence that can build a picture of the fun to be had celebrating a folklore hero of immense significance to English identity.
There can be absolutely no doubt that Robin Hood is the most popular and widely known English folklore hero. There are several reasons for this. He has prevailed from the earliest surviving literary reference to him in the late fourteenth century to the present day, appealing to children and adults alike and crossing the boundaries of class and education. 1 The episodic nature of the early tales told about him with their emphasis on hostile challenges leading to physical contests and armed combat makes him ideal material for brief encounters in a wide range of media from orally delivered rhymes to computer-generated images on game platforms and in feature films. The story of Robin Hood also adapts to changing attitudes, anxieties and social and political concerns as much as it does to developments in the media through which it is transmitted. This keeps Robin topical and relevant to each new generation. As the champion of natural justice and freedom from authoritarian control and abuse, he is in constant demand. Notably, he re-emerges anew in periods of social change and political crisis.
