Alan-a-Dale (first recorded as Allen a Dale; variously spelled ''Allen-a-Dale'', ''Allan-a-Dale'', ''Allin-a-Dale'', ''Allan A'Dayle'' etc.) is a figure in the
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
legend. According to the stories, he was a wandering
minstrel
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer ...
who became a member of Robin's band of
outlaws, the "
Merry Men
The Merry Men are the group of outlaws who follow Robin Hood in English literature and folklore. The group appears in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood and remains popular in modern adaptations.
History
The Merry Men are Robin Hood's gr ...
".
He is a relatively late addition to the legend; he first appeared in a 17th-century broadside ballad,
Child Ballad 138, "
Robin Hood and Allan-a-Dale", and, unlike many of the characters thus associated, managed to adhere to the legend. In this tale, Robin rescues Alan's sweetheart from an unwanted marriage to an old knight. They stop the bishop from proceeding with the ceremony, and Robin Hood, dressed in the bishop's robes, marries Alan to his bride. In other versions it is
Little John
Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, al ...
or
Friar Tuck
Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood.
History
The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th through 17th centur ...
who performs the ceremony.
[Holt, J. C. ''Robin Hood'' p 165 (1982) Thames & Hudson. ]
Another variant appears in which the hero is not Alan but
Will Scarlet
Scarlet (also Scarlett, Scarlock, Scadlock, Scatheloke, Scathelocke and Shacklock) is a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He is present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son.
The confusion of surn ...
, but Alan has taken over the role completely.
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.
In 1894, he began ...
uses this tale in his book ''
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood'', but changes several details. He gives Alan's sweetheart the name Ellen, and introduces Friar Tuck into the story; Tuck is sought out specifically as the only priest who will perform the wedding in defiance of the bishop, and therefore, this tale is combined with that of ''
Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar
"Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" is Child Ballad number 123, about Robin Hood.
Synopsis
This ballad is one of those appearing in later and later versions, the earlier one appearing in damaged form in the Percy manuscript but, as with Robin Hood a ...
''.
In
Pierce Egan the Younger's story ''Robin Hood and Little John'', Alan is given the name Sir Allan Clare; he is an armed knight, not a minstrel, and he is the brother of the
Maid Marian
Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...
. His sweetheart is Lady Christabel, the daughter of the
Sheriff of Nottingham
The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, ...
, who wants to give her to an old knight friend of his. The "Allan-a-Dale" name is given to his estates in
Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Forest is a royal forest in Nottinghamshire, England, famous because of its historic association with the legend of Robin Hood.
The area has been wooded since the end of the Last Glacial Period (as attested by pollen sampling cor ...
; he is not given a major role after he and Christabel are married by Little John (who takes the place of the
Bishop of Hereford), though he helps the Merry Men from time to time.
[Pierce Egan the Younger "Robin Hood and Little John of the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest", ]
Alan plays a prominent role in some later plays, children's novels, films, and television shows.
Modern incarnations
*
Florence Wickham and
Louise Le Baron shared the role of Alan-a-Dale in the comic opera ''Robin Hood'' by Reginald De Koven and Harry B. Smith (1913).
*Alan-a-Dale was played by Lloyd Talman in ''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
'' (1922).
*Alan-a-Dale is absent from ''
The Adventures of Robin Hood
''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia d ...
'' (1938) but is merged with the character
Will Scarlet
Scarlet (also Scarlett, Scarlock, Scadlock, Scatheloke, Scathelocke and Shacklock) is a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He is present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son.
The confusion of surn ...
portrayed by
Patric Knowles
Reginald Lawrence Knowles (11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995), better known as Patric Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second fi ...
.
*Alan-a-Dale was played by Leslie Denison in ''
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
''The Bandit of Sherwood Forest'' is a 1946 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Henry Levin & George Sherman and starring Cornel Wilde, Anita Louise, Jill Esmond and Edgar Buchanan.
Plot
Robin Hood's son (Cornel Wilde) returns to s ...
'' (1946).
*Alan-a-Dale was played by
Lester Matthews
Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. Matthews pla ...
in ''
Rogues of Sherwood Forest
''Rogues of Sherwood Forest'' is a 1950 Technicolor adventure film from Columbia Pictures, directed by Gordon Douglas, and starring John Derek as Robin, the Earl of Huntingdon, the son of Robin Hood, Diana Lynn as Lady Marianne, and Alan Hale, S ...
'' (1950).
*Alan-a-Dale is played by
Elton Hayes
Elton Hayes (16 February 1915 – 23 September 2001) was a British actor and guitarist.
Life and career
Elton Hayes was born in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England. Both his parents were actors and he made his first stage appearance aged nin ...
in the 1952 film ''
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
''The Story of Robin Hood'' is a 1952 action-adventure film produced by RKO- Walt Disney British Productions, based on the Robin Hood legend, made in Technicolor and filmed in Buckinghamshire, England. It was written by Lawrence Edward Watkin and ...
''.
*Alan-a-Dale was played by
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...
in two episodes of ''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
'' (1956).
*Alan-a-Dale is the musical narrator of
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's 1973
animated Robin Hood film. He is depicted as a
lute-playing
rooster
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
voiced by country singer
Roger Miller and played the role of both narrator and minor ally to Robin Hood and Little John. The songs are "Whistle Stop", "
Oo-De-Lally", and "
Not in Nottingham".
*Alan Dale is the main character in
Angus Donald's novels ''
Outlaw'', ''
Holy Warrior'' and ''
King's Man''.
*Alan-a-Dale was played by
Elric Hooper in
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's " Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his wor ...
's ill-fated musical, ''
Twang!!'' (1965). The show was revived in 2018 at the
Union Theatre, London
The Union Theatre is a fringe theatre situated in the borough of Southwark in London, England. It was established in 1998 by Sasha Regan, and has a reputation for staging musicals.
Original premises
In 1998, Sasha Regan took the initiative to c ...
, with James Hudson in the role.
*Alan A 'Dale was the subject of a comic song performed on
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...
and
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...
's show, ''
Not Only But Also'' in 1965. The lyrics consisted of little more than a repetition of his name. Along with Cook and Moore, the performers were
Joe Melia
Joe Melia ( Giovanni Philip William Melia;
23 January 1935, Camden, London - 20 October 2012, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire) was a British actor.
Educated at the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School and Downing College, Cambridge, where ...
,
Bill Wallis
William Wallis (20 November 1936 – 6 September 2013) was a British character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre.
Biography
Wallis was born in Guildford in Surrey, the only son of A ...
and
John Wells.
*He was played by
Bing Crosby in the rat pack film ''
Robin and the 7 Hoods''.
*
Robert O. Cornthwaite played Allan A. Dale, an accomplice to the supervillain The Archer, in season 2 of Batman (
Shoot a Crooked Arrow and
Walk the Straight and Narrow, 1966).
*He was played by Peter Hutchinson in the 1984 British television series ''
Robin of Sherwood
''Robin of Sherwood'' is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In th ...
'', appearing in the fifth episode, entitled "
Alan A Dale". In this version, Alan's sweetheart is named Mildred and is to be married to the
Sheriff of Nottingham
The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, ...
.
Friar Tuck
Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood.
History
The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th through 17th centur ...
weds Alan and Mildred.
*In the animated series
Young Robin Hood, Alan-a-Dale (Voiced by
Michael O'Reilly) is a very young, romantic minstrel and good friend of Robin.
*In the 2002 video game ''
Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood'', Allan appears briefly to disguise himself as
Prince John's man Guillame de Longchamps to deliver the ransom to save
King Richard.
*
LeVar Burton
Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''R ...
's character
Geordi La Forge
Geordi La Forge ( ) is a fictional character who appeared in all seven seasons of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and its four feature films. Portrayed by LeVar Burton, he served as helmsman o ...
was cast as Alan-a-Dale in a
Robin Hood fantasy episode of ''
Star Trek: The Next Generation''.
*
Allan A Dale is played by
Joe Armstrong in the 2006
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. Here he is portrayed as an expert pickpocket and a compulsive liar with a sarcastic nature and no musical ability, but at the same time is a skilled swordsman and fighter. After being charged and sentenced to death for hunting a deer in the King's forest, Allan is one of four people rescued by Robin in his first demonstration of defiance against the Sheriff of Nottingham. Upon their escape, Allan joins Robin's band of outlaws and helps them aid the poor. After being captured by
he sells him information. When Robin finds out that he has turned traitor, Allan goes to work for Gisborne, but he later reconciles with Robin and returns to the band of outlaws and tries to help them defeat the Sheriff of Nottingham.
*
, released in 2010. He is a war veteran who goes home with Robin Longstride and seems to have some musical talent.
*Alan O'Dell is the name of the character who takes on the identity of Rob Hood in "Robin Hood in the Wild West" and is played by the character of Bobby in Kander and Ebb's musical ''
''.