Erlinton [Child 8]

DESCRIPTION: (Erlinton) has a daughter, whom he confines to protect her virtue. A young man nonetheless spirits the daughter away. The lady's guards pursue; the young man slays all but one, and they escape.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: courting death fight escape
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 8, "Erlinton" (3 texts)
Quiller-Couch-OxfordBookOfBallads 37, "Erlinton" (1 text)
Whitelaw-BookOfScottishBallads, pp. 198-199, "Erlinton" (1 text)
Morgan-MedievalBallads-ChivalryRomanceAndEverydayLife, pp. 42-44, "Erlinton" (1 text)
DT, ERLINTON
Roud #24
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Earl Brand" [Child 7] (plot)
cf. "The Bold Soldier [Laws M27]" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Robin Hood and the Tanner's Daughter
NOTES [87 words]: Child himself admits that it is "only with much hesitation" that he has separated "Erlinton" from "Earl Brand," and if they are in fact distinct, there has clearly been cross-fertilization. The distinction may not matter much; "Earl Brand" has a lively traditional history, but "Erlinton" was pretty much a dead end.
Steve Gardham points out that all versions of "Erlinton" are from collectors who tended to modify their texts, so perhaps the separation is not between the songs but between what the editors did with it. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: C008

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