The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood 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 '' ...

132 (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

333), featuring

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 ...

. It is a traditional version of ''

Robin Hood Newly Revived Robin Hood Newly Revived is Child ballad 128, and an origin story for Will Scarlet. Synopsis Robin Hood and Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. H ...

''.

Synopsis

A pedlar meets

and

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, alo ...

, and Little John asks what he has in his pack. Little John demands half of it. They fight. The pedlar winning, Robin laughs and says he has a man who could defeat him. They fight, and the pedlar wins again, and refuses to hold his hand, or tell his name, until they had told them theirs. They do, and he says his name is Gamble Gold, and he is fleeing because he killed a man in his father's lands. Robin identifies him as his mother's sister's son, and they go to the tavern and drink together. A version of this song was recorded by Ed Mc Curdy in the mid-1950s on

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

' ''Folk Sampler''. In this version the pedlar identifies himself as "Gambolling Gold of the gay green woods". Barry Dransfield recorded a version on his eponymous 1972 album, called "Robin Hood and the Peddlar". This album is one of the rarest folk albums, hugely sought-after by collectors. A version of the song entitled "Gamble Gold (Robin Hood)" was recorded on the 1975

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

album '' All Around My Hat''. There is also a

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 ...

on the subject.

References

External links

''The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood''
with historical notes Child Ballads Robin Hood ballads Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown {{Folk-song-stub

Synopsis

See also

References

External links