The Early Plays of Robin Hood

Robin Hood was the subject of many fifteenth and sixteenth century folk-plays of which only traces remain. As a result the ballads many of which have survived have usually been regarded as the main-spring of traditions about the famous outlaw. David Wiles however argues that the dramatic tradition was equally if not more important. He sees the plays associated with Whitsun revels died out much earlier and so must be reconstructed from fragmentary scripts and the tantalising glimpses afforded by sources such as churchwardens' accounts. Robin Hood emerges as an emblem both of the Spring and of rebellion; as a Summer king the player of Robin Hood flouted and parodied regular authority. With such a background the plays ceased to be an acceptable part of parish life after the Reformation and the games were suppressed while the myth of RObin Hood was manipulated and made respectable.