Arthur a Bland is, in English

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, a member 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 ...

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 ...

, though his chief appearance is in the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

in which he joins the band. ''Arthur a Bland'' is also the name of an ex British Waterways tug.

Plays

Arthur a Bland appears in "Robin Hood" by Larry Blamire, where he is there with Robin and the other soon to be merrymen after the ransacking of the Blue Boar Inn.

Ballads

Arthur a Bland appears in one

in the Child collection, ''

Robin Hood and the Tanner Robin Hood and the Tanner is Child ballad 126 (Roud 332). It is a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad and one of several ballads about the medieval folk hero Robin Hood that form part of the Child ballad collection, which is one of ...

''. He is going through Sherwood when Robin accuses him of poaching. When they fight and Arthur beats Robin, Robin invites him to join the band. In some versions, he 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 ...

's cousin.

Mummer's Plays

In English Mummer's Plays, Arthur a Bland's fight with Robin is incorporated into the general fight/death/healed setting. Most of the lines derive from the ballad, though there seems to be material from Robin Hood and the Shepherd mixed in. The lines of the Mummer's Play versions tend to be less refined than the Childe Ballads, perhaps indicating a more original type of language. For instance, when Robin Hood has been beaten by Arthur, Little John comes over the hill and Robin tells him what has happened: Childe's version: ''"O what is the matter?" then said Little John,'' ''"Master, I pray you tell;'' ''Why do you stand with your staff in your hand?'' ''I fear all is not well."'' ''"O man, I do stand, and he makes me to stand,'' ''The tanner that stands thee beside;'' ''He is a bonny blade, and master of his trade,'' ''For soundly he hath tanned my hide."''

Mummer's Play version: ''"What is the matter master?'' ''Pray unto me tell'' ''To see you stand'' ''Your staff in hand'' ''I fear it's all not well."'' ''"This tanner he stands he makes me to stand'' ''He's the tanner-hood that stand by my side'' ''He's a bonny blade o his master's trade'' ''So well he a'tanned me hide."''

Later adaptations

The story reappeared in later versions.

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 ...

in his ''

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire'' is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Pyle compiled the traditional Robin Hood ballads as a series of episodes of a coherent narrative. For ...

'' set the bout between

and Arthur a Bland, and had Arthur appear in various later adventures as a minor character.

References

External links

An example of a Robin Hood Mummer's play, from Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire, England
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur A Bland English outlaws Merry Men Robin Hood characters