''King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France'' ( Child 164;

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 ...

251) is a British ballad which recounts a highly fictionalized version of the Battle of Agincourt and the events surrounding it. King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415

King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415

Synopsis

In the ballad, King Henry sends his page to France to collect a tribute in gold that has not been paid for some while. Instead, the king of France sends back three

tennis ball A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis. Tennis balls are fluorescent yellow in organised competitions, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous felt which modifies their aerodyna ...

s, so that the young king can "learn to play." (The gift of tennis balls also appears in Shakespeare's ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

'' and in film adaptations of it, including '' The King''; the play and other versions of the story refer to a tun of tennis balls.) Henry raises an army and invades France, and the king of France agrees to pay the tribute and give Henry " the finest flower that is in all France" for his wife.

Historical inaccuracies

Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of ...

and

John Jacob Niles John Jacob Niles (April 28, 1892 – March 1, 1980) was an American composer, singer and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers," Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 195 ...

point out some of the ballad's historical inaccuracies: France did not pay tribute to England, the English did not march to Paris after the battle, and the estimate of 10,000 Frenchmen killed is high. Henry's conscription, which in the ballad called on Cheshire, Lancashire and Derby and spared married men and widow's sons, did not do so in real life. The tennis balls are also disputed; some chroniclers mention them, but other historians conclude that they are probably a legend, possibly borrowed from a story of Darius and

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

Recording

The song appears on Richard Thompson's '' 1000 Years of Popular Music''.

References

Child Ballads Cultural depictions of Henry V of England {{Folk-song-stub