Robin Hood Was a Forrester Bold

DESCRIPTION: "O Robin Hood was a forrester good As ever drew bow in a merry greenwood, And the wild deer will follow, will follow." "Little John with his arms so long, He conquered them all with his high ding dong, And the bugles did echo, did echo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1829 (_The Young Lady's Book_)
LONG DESCRIPTION: "(O/Bold) Robin Hood was a forrester good As ever drew bow in a merry greenwood, And the wild deer will follow, will follow." "Little John with his arms so long, He conquered them all with his high ding dong, And the bugles did echo, did echo." We'll follow the summons of the bugle to hunt the deer. A friar "absolves all your sins" and routs his squire's foes with his oak stick. Mary, the forester's pride, is "the queen of all beauty"
KEYWORDS: Robinhood
FOUND IN: US(Ap) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "BOLD ROBIN HOOD"
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 34, "Robin Hood" ( text)
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, p. 237, "Bold Robin Hood" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 390)
ADDITIONAL: _The Young Lady's Book_ (London, 1829 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 419, ("Oh, bold Robin Hood, was a forrester good") (1 verse))
The Quaver; or Songster's Pocket Companion (London, 1844 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 223, "Bold Robin Hood" (1 text)
Roud #1303
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3313)=Johnson Ballads 261=Johnson Ballads 262, "Bold Robin Hood, was a forrester good," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(3029), "Bold Robin Hood, was a forrester good," J. Pitts (London) 1819-1844; also Harding B 11(516)=Harding B 11(517), "Bold Robin Hood was a forrester good," E. M. A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854 ; also Firth b.25(524)=Firth c.19(160)=Harding B 11(3282), "Bold Robin Hood was a forester good," R. Stone/W. Burridge/E. Keys (Exeter, Truro, Devonport), n.d.; also Harding B 11(2747), "Bold Robin Hood was a forester good," J. Harkness (Preston), n.d.; also Harding B 11(3030), "Bold Robin Hood was a forrester good," Hillatt and Martin (London), n.d.
NOTES [131 words]: Cox's text is only a fragment of what was presumably a longer ballad (probably a late broadside, though I find no reference in the Broadside Ballad Index to this particular text). It doesn't look like any of the Child "Robin Hood" ballads, either. But it is traditional, so here it sits until someone figures out its ancestry. - RBW
If the Quaver text of three verses is the source for current versions it shows that this is not a Robin Hood ballad fragment. See the following note.
"The regimental march of the Royal Sherwood Foresters was arranged ... from the old English glee, 'Bold Robin Hood was a Forester good'" (source: A.E. Lawson Lowe, Historical Record of the Royal Sherwood Foresters; or Nottingham Regiment of Militia (London, 1872 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 60fn). - BS
Last updated in version 6.8
File: JHCox034

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