Robin Hood and the Duke of Lancaster

DESCRIPTION: "Come listen, my frieds, to a story so new, In the days of King John... How the bold little Duke, of the fair Lancashire, Came to speak to the King...." He arrives in a tizzy, and argues with the king about "Robin Hood," but they reach no conclusion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1727 (broadside printing, according to Dobson & Taylor)
KEYWORDS: political Robinhood
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: R. B. Dobson and J. Taylor, _Rymes of Robyn Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw_, University of Pittsburg Press, 1976, pp. 191-194, "Robin Hood and the Duke of Lancaster" (1 text)
NOTES [407 words]: This is not a "true" Robin Hood ballad, even in the sense that the items in the various garlands are. It is, by consensus, from the reign of George I (reigned 1714-1727) or, just possibly, George II (reigned 1727-1760). Although it claims to be from 1202 (the third year of the reign of John, who was king 1199-1216), the reference to the Duke of Lancaster makes this absolutely impossible -- the title of "Duke" did not exist in the English peerage in 1202! "The title [of duke] was first conferred by Edward III in 1337 on the PRINCE OF WALES [i.e. Edward the Black Prince], making him Duke of Cornwall" (HistTodayCompanion, p. 249). The first Duke of Lancaster was Henry Plantagenet of Grosmont, who received the title in 1351 (HistTodayCompanion, p. 380). When he died in 1361, it went to his son-in-law John of Gaunt, Shakespeare's "time-honoured Lancaster," who was allowed to keep it even after his wife, Blanche of Lancaster, died (Hicks, p. 133).
After the death of Gaunt, the title should have passed to his son Henry of Bolingbroke. Henry however had to overthrow King Richard II to obtain his title (HistTodayCompanion, p. 376). Having gone ahead and rebelled, Henry went whole hog and took the throne himself, uniting the Lancaster dukedom and the crown. The Duchy of Lancaster is administered separately, but since that time, the reigning monarch has always been Duke of Lancaster (Kirby, p. 77). Thus there have been only two Dukes of Lancaster who have not been King of England: Henry of Grosmont and John of Gaunt. The only kings during their periods as Duke were Edward III and Richard II -- not John!
Gutch speculated that this was a political piece. Dobson and Taylor are more specific: The "Duke of Lancaster" is in fact the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Lord Lechmere (who thus had most of the powers of a Duke of Lancaster, but did not have Ducal honors). Robin Hood is the disguise for Robert Walpole, George I's primary minister; he apparently was called Robin Hood in other sources as well. Lechmere considered Walpole corrupt, and this is an allegory of Lechmere's confrontation with the King over the matter.
Even by the standards of the later Robin Hood ballads, it's pretty feeble. And it has no place in tradition. But I'm including it for completeness. For more on the genuine Robin Hood tradition, including his links with the Duchy of Lancaster, see the notes to "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
Bibliography

Hicks: Michael Hicks, Who's Who in Late Medieval England (1272-1485), (being the third volume in the Who's Who in British History series), Shepheard-Walwyn, 1991
HistTodayCompanion: Juliet Gardiner & Neil Wenborn, Editors, The History Today Companion to British History, Collins & Brown, 1995
Kirby: J. L. Kirby, Henry IV of England, Constable & Company, 1970

Last updated in version 5.3
File: DTRoDLan

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography