Date sent:      	Tue, 9 May 2000 19:17:17 -0700 (PDT)
Subject:        	Re: Ballad help needed
From:           	Rika Ruebsaat <[log in to unmask]>
To:             	[log in to unmask]
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> 
> 
> Thanks for your quick email, Stephen.  Some of the group (me included) are
> very interested in the Robin Hood cycle, so I'll direct them to your book.
> One of the problems, of course, for singers of RH ballads (and our group are
> primarily singers) is the immense paucity of tunes.  Perhaps you address the
> reasons for this in your book?  Or is it more text-based?
> 
> Jon Bartlett
> 
Dear Jon,

It's just text-based; I've got nothing to add to Bronson on this 
matter. But doing a re-edition makes it pretty clear that the early 
RH material is quite literary compared to the other ballad groups (2 
15thC manuscripts, many early prints, Gest only appearing in print 
for examples). My take on this is that the RH ballads are urban and 
narrative reconstructions of the events, ideas, ideologies that were 
embedded in the RH plays and games found in the context of 
rural/market town  - and very likely song - contexts as recorded 
with surprising frequency in the 15th and 16th Cs. The few surviving 
early RH plays are probably scripted versions of those play games, 
as they overlap with, but are not identical with, later ballads. 

So the RH ballads are generically and originarily different from the 
love or tragic or magical ballads, and the musical poverty is part of 
that difference. There's some argument along these lines in my 
1994 book on RH, but there is also quite a bit of new material 
coming out on the play games, as in Lois Potter's (editor) recent 
essay collection Playing Robin Hood and in Jeffrey Singman's 
recent book on Robin Hood.

Stephen



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