Arthur O'Bower

DESCRIPTION: "Arthur O'Bower has broken his band, And he comes roaring up the land, The King of Scots with all his power, Cannot stop Arthur of the bower."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1805 (Songs for the Nursery, according to Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes)
KEYWORDS: travel royalty | Arthur O'Bower King of Scots bower
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p. 53, "Robin-a-Bower has broken his band" (1 text)
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 12, "Arthur O'Bower has broken his band" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #677, p. 270, "(Arthur O'Bower has broken his band)"
Roud #19979
NOTES [85 words]: This has provoked a lot of speculation, e.g. that Arthur O'Bower is King Arthur, or that he is riding the Wild Hunt. Most of these speculations are possible; few are convincing. The best may be the one mentioned by the Baring-Goulds, that this is a riddle and that Arthur O'Bower is the wind.
Beatrix Potter used this rhyme -- with perhaps some errors of hearing -- in "The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin," a story with several traditional verses in it. Potter seems to accept that the verse refers to the wind. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: OpOx2012

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