Robin Hood and the Potter is

Child ballad The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...

121, and among the oldest existing tales 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 depic ...

. The device of disguising himself as a potter may have been taken from the older legends of

Hereward the Wake Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resista ...

Synopsis

demands a toll of a potter (

pavage Pavage was a medieval toll for the maintenance or improvement of a road or street in medieval England, Wales and Ireland. The king by letters patent granted the right to collect it to an individual, or the corporation of a town, or to the "bailif ...

) for crossing a bridge in Sherwood

Royal Forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

. They fight and the potter wins. Robin Hood strikes a deal with this Potter, who will stay in the Forest, while Robin disguises himself as the Potter and travels to Nottingham to sell the pots. He charges ridiculously low prices and so sells them all; by his doing so, the Sheriff's wife is intrigued, and when Robin gives her his last pots for free, she invites him to dinner with her and the

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

. While at dinner the Sheriff's men are having an archery contest, Robin shows the Sheriff that he can shoot far better than the Sheriff's men, and he then explains that he can shoot that well because he was taught by Robin Hood. The sheriff asks him to lead him to the outlaw. Robin agrees, and when back in the forest the sheriff is ambushed by Robin's men. They take his money and his clothes. Because of the hospitality of the sheriff's wife in Nottingham, Robin lets him go free, telling him he must give his wife a white

palfrey A palfrey is a type of horse that was highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It was a lighter-weight horse, usually a smooth gaited one that could amble, suitable for riding over long distances. Palfreys were not a specific breed a ...

. On returning to Nottingham, the wife laughs at the Sheriff and exclaiming that now Robin has been paid back for the pots he gave to her. The story ends with Robin paying the Potter generously for the stolen pots and telling him that he is always welcome in the green wood.

Adaptations

This is the oldest existing instance of a motif to be common in latter ballads: Robin Hood meets his match. No more than that is the plot of ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Robin Hood and the Ranger Robin Hood and the Ranger is catalogued as Child ballad 131 and Roud Folk Song Index No. 933. Synopsis Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature ...

'', and it is an element of ''

Robin Hood and the Tinker Robin Hood and the Tinker is Child Ballads, Child Ballad 127. Synopsis Robin Hood meets with a tinker and tells him that two tinkers were put in the stocks for drinking ale and beer. The tinker tells him that he has a warrant for Robin Hood in h ...

''.Holt, J. C. Robin Hood p 170 (1982) Thames & Hudson. .

References

External links

''Robin Hood and the Potter: Introduction''
Child Ballads Robin Hood ballads {{Folk-song-stub