Robin Hood and Queen Catherine [1] ( Eng. Robin Hood and Queen Katherine , Child 145 , Roud 72 [2] ) is a folk ballad of English origin, part of the corpus of stories about Robin Hood . It is present in the manuscript found by Percy, but in a highly fragmented, due to torn out pages. A slightly different version, called Renowned Robin Hood , is contained in six broadside , the earliest full text of which dates from, apparently, no later than 1655, and also in two collections, 1663 and 1670. The version from the “Forest Manuscript”, discovered in 1993, turned out to be longer and more complete than any other, and allowed to resolve some inconsistencies in the plot [3] .
Story
Queen Catherine is arguing with the king, whose arrows are more skillful. She sends a messenger to Nottingham to bring news of the competition to Robin Hood. He agrees to defend the honor of the queen and goes to London with Little John, Machem the son of the miller and Will Skatlok. Competitions are held in Finbury north of London. The archer of the king hits the target, but Robin splits his arrow with his. Much and Skatlok make good shots, and Little John (acting under the name Clifton) splits a willow twig from a distance of 300 yards. The queen wins the argument and reveals the identity of the forest robbers, after the king promises not to harm them. In one version of the ballad, an ending was added where the king forgives Robin and makes him the “Earl of fair Huntington ” [3] [4] .
The compiler of this ballad was obviously familiar with a number of other stories: “ Little Gesture About Robin Hood ”, “ The True Story of Robin Hood ” by Martin Parker, “ Robin Hood and Bishop ”, also, perhaps, “ Adam Bell ” and the 1598 by Anthony Mandea [3] .
A kind of continuation of this story is the following, # 146 in Child’s numbering, the ballad “ Robin Hood’s Chase ” ( English Robin Hood’s Chase ) [5] .
Notes
- ↑ Erlihman V.V. Robin Hood. - M .: Young Guard, 2012. - 254 p. - (Life of great people: small series). - 5000 copies - ISBN 978-5-235-03529-4 .
- ↑ Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
- 2 1 2 3 Robin Hood and Queen Catherin: Introduction
- ↑ Robin Hood and Queen Catherin
- ↑ Robin Hood and Queen Katherine [Child 145] (Eng.) . The Traditional Ballad Index. An annotated source of folk song from the English-speaking world . Robert B. Waltz. The appeal date is January 3, 2018.