King William and the Keeper

DESCRIPTION: King William disguises himself as a poacher. He's caught by the keepers, who tell him no one may hunt this ground without leave of King William. He attempts to bribe the keepers, but they refuse (and beat him). He reveals himself and praises their loyalty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1676 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: virtue crime poaching hunting royalty money disguise
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1688-1702 - Reign of William III (ruling 1688-1694 with his wife Mary II)
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "KING WILLIAM AND THE KEEPER"
MacColl/Seeger-TravellersSongsFromEnglandAndScotland 116, "King William and the Keeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Purslow-MarrowBones, pp. 49-50, "King William and the Keeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #853
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood" [Child 151] (theme)
cf. "King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth" [Child 273] (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Suit of Russet Grey
The Loyal Forester or Royal Pastime
NOTES [180 words]: [MacColl and Seeger write,] "Following the return of William III from his Irish campaigns, London balladmongers would appear to have been fully employed in creating an acceptable popular image for Ebsworth's 'saturnine' monarch. Old tales and ballads were refurbished with William represented as a roistering updated Prince Hal, consorting with sailors, farmers, shepherds and foresters." One hopes he carried adequate identification. - PJS
Few such songs seem to have survived in tradition, for which we should perhaps be thankful. I wonder how many merged with the songs allegedly about James V of Scotland, (falsely) famous for the time he allegedly spent in disguise among his people?
Incidentally, there is little evidence that William III had any such "popular" tastes. It would have been difficult for him; he was "puny in stature and incurably asthmatic" (OxfordCompanion, p. 985; I read a claim somewhere that his problem was tuberculosis). Clark, p. 179, calls him a "masterful man, preferring subordinates to advisors." Not the sort to go out among the common people! - RBW
Bibliography

Clark: G. N. Clark, The Later Stuarts 1660-1714, corrected edition, Oxford, 1944
OxfordCompanion: John Cannon, editor, The Oxford Companion to British History, 1997; revised edition, Oxford, 2002

Last updated in version 6.8
File: McCST116

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