In this post about Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: Chapters 11-15, we are going to read about Robin Hood’s further adventures in Sherwood Forest. Robin encounters the minstrel Allan-a-Dale and Friar Tuck. He disrupts a wedding, and he also saves a knight from ruin. This is a really exciting chunk of the book. It has more meetings between Robin and various allies, and it also shows him in triumphant in multiple vignettes.
Chapter 11: Allan-a-Dale
In this chapter, Robin runs into Allan-a-Dale, a rather upset minstrel. Why is he upset? Well, Sir Stephen of Trent, a knight, is marrying Allan’s true love. Robin, also upset at the man’s sorrow, agrees to help him.
As Robin states: “Methinks I have a plan might fit thy case, Allan,” said he. “But tell me first, thinkest thou, lad, that thy true love hath spirit enough to marry thee were ye together in church, the banns published, and the priest found, even were her father to say her nay?” (Pyle).
And after Allan agrees, Robin tells him: “Then give me thy hand, Allan,” cried Robin, “and let me tell thee, I swear by the bright hair of Saint AElfrida that this time two days hence Ellen a Dale shall be thy wife. I will seek this same Friar of Fountain Abbey tomorrow day, and I warrant I will get upon the soft side of him, even if I have to drub one soft” (Pyle).
Allan then sings a beautiful song titled: “May Ellen’s Wedding.”
The final stanza of this 18-stanza poem tells of Allan’s want to spirit Ell o’ the Dale (his love) away:
"There's ancient men at weddings been,
For sixty years and more,
But such a wondrous wedding day,
They never saw before.
But none could check and none could stay,
The swans that bore the bride away."
Chapter 12: Robin Hood Seeks the Curtal Friar
And so, Robin ventures out to find the Friar, so they have somebody willing to marry the minstrel.
“Now will I go to seek this same Friar of Fountain Abbey of whom we spake yesternight, and I will take with me four of my good men and these four shall be Little John, Will Scarlet, David of Doncaster, and Arthur a Bland,” Robin says of his venture.
They travel far and eventually come to a place where there is a “shallow ford” and where just on the other side of the stream is a “little hermitage.” Here, the Friar of Fountain Dale dwells. Robin, walking toward the hermitage, suddenly stops. He believe he hears two voices nearby instead of the expected singular voice of the friar.
“Tis strange … surely there be two people that spoke the one to the other, and yet methinks their voices are mightily alike.”
Upon seeing that it is in fact the Friar alone and talking to himself, Robin lies in wait. He sees what else the man is up to by his lonesome in the forest. The Friar finished his meal and drank from his flask while talking to himself in two separate voices. Eventually, he began to sing “The Loving Youth and the Scornful Maid.”
The Meeting of Robin and the Friar
Toward the end of the song, Robin Hood joins in with the Friar and they sing together:
“So it’s hark! hark! hark!
To the joyous lark
And it’s hark to the cooing dove!
For the bright daffodil
Groweth down by the rill
And I’ll be thine own true love.”
After a tense confrontation between the two involving men and dogs, both parties settle down. The men exchange their pleasantries.
“Why, truly,” said the Friar demurely, “some do call me the Curtal Friar of Fountain Dale; others again call me in jest the Abbot of Fountain Abbey; others still again call me simple Friar Tuck.”
“I like the last name best,” quoth Robin, “for it doth slip more glibly off the tongue. But why didst thou not tell me thou wert he I sought, instead of sending me searching for black moonbeams?”
Robin then asks the Friar to accompany them back to Sherwood forest so that he may explain the problem they have. The friar agrees and they venture to back home.
Chapter 13: Robin Hood Compasses a Marriage
On the day of the wedding, Robin and his Merry Men awake and prepare for their honorable assignment. Robin disguises himself and he and his men travel to the church where Ellen is to be married.
After waiting awhile, guests and participants begin to arrive at the church. They were “holy men” of the “church,” such as the Bishop and the Prior; they were “jesting and laughing between themselves about certain fair dames, their words more befitting the lips of laymen … than holy clerks.”
Then, Sir Stephen and Ellen arrive–and Robin notes her beauty and her sadness in the moment. Just before the ceremony begins, Robin blows his horn and his trusty men take charge. The men at arms who protect the church fall away quickly. Allan-a-Dale arrives with 18 “yeomen all clad in Lincoln green.”
In quick succession, Robin and his men convince Sir Stephen and the Bishop to leave Ellen o’ the Dale alone. She then weds Allan-a-Dale. Robin and his companions–including Ellen o’ the Dale–leave and travel back to Sherwood Forest. “That night there was such a feast held in the greenwood as Nottinghamshire never saw before. To that feast you and I were not bidden, and pity it is that we were not; so, lest we should both feel the matter the more keenly, I will say no more about it.”
Chapter 14: Robin Hood Aids a Sorrowful Knight
Changing Seasons
As time moves on in our story, the community is saving for the long, arduous winter season. The “gentle springtime” fell away and passed the “yellow sunlight” and “quivering heat and deep, bosky foliage.”
In the text, the author writes: “So passed the seasons then, so they pass now, and so they will pass in time to come, while we come and go like leaves of the tree that fall and are soon forgotten.”
The merry men, meanwhile, convalesce in Sherwood Forest and ready themselves for the winter by hosting a feast. Robin splits the group between he and Little John to go seek admirable guests for the feast. They then travel and wait for guests to come to them from the road.
The Knight
While waiting, a sorrowful knight approaches and Robin strikes a up a conversation with him.
Robin tells his men: “Yon is verily a sorry-looking gallant, and doth seem to have donned ill-content with his jerkin this morning; nevertheless, I will out and talk with him, for there may be some pickings here for a hungry daw. Methinks his dress is rich, though he himself is so downcast. Bide ye here till I look into this matter.”
The knight introduces himself as Sir Richard of the Lea. The man explains his sorrow as a debt owed to the Priory of Emmet. He also stands to lose his lands. The knight, contrary to standard, is poor due to a ransom paid to save his son and other unfortunate events.
The knight tells Robin that he should not be “ashamed” but, “friend, I tell thee the truth, when I say that in my purse are ten shillings, and that that is every groat that Sir Richard of the Lea hath in all the wide world.”
Robin invites him to Sherwood, where they find the Bishop of Herford. Little John has done well capturing the man. For entertainment, Robin and his men engage in contests, such as archery and singing. Then, Robin tells of Sir Richard of the Lea’s problem and passively implies the bishop’s duty to relieve the man.
They send the knight off with gifts and hold fast to the bishop for three days. After which, they send him with an escort. Though, the Bishop rode away untroubled, “he vowed within himself that he would sometime make Robin rue the day that he stopped him in Sherwood.”
Chapter 15: How Sir Richard of the Lea Paid His Debts
The Travels of Sir Richard
Sir Richard of the Lea travel down a long, dusty highway toward Emmet Priory. Once there, he tells one of his men to knock on the door. A porter tells Sir Richard that he was expected.
Inside, they enter and find a feast underway. Here, Prior Vincent, the Sheriff of Nottingham, a doctor of law and others join them. Before Sir Richard attends, they converse about the knight’s debt. They also discuss his penury and land. Sir Richard arrives and begs them for mercy. They insist that he pays for his debt. While they are unrelenting in their insistence, Sir Richard produces a bag of money and pays his debt.
Little John reveals himself to be one of the knight’s men. Then he tells him that he will report back to Robin Hood.
The author tells us that: “At this, the tall man-at-arms, who was no other than Little John, turned, grinning, to the Sheriff. ‘I give thee good den, fair gossip,’ quoth he. ‘I would say, sweet Sheriff, that I have heard all thy pretty talk this day, and it shall be duly told unto Robin Hood. So, farewell for the nonce, till we meet again in Sherwood Forest.’ Then he, also, turned and followed Sir Richard down the hall, leaving the Sheriff, all pale and amazed, shrunk together upon his chair.”
Sometime Later
After some time has elapsed (twelvemonth and a day), we see that Sir Richard’s money has grown. As such, he means to repay Robin Hood.
“But the year had brought great change, I wot, to the lands of Sir Richard of the Lea; for, where before shaggy wild grasses grew upon the meadow lands, now all stretch away in golden stubble, betokening that a rich and plentiful crop had been gathered therefrom. A year had made a great change in the castle, also, for, where were empty moats and the crumbling of neglect, all was now orderly and well kept.”
On his journey to Sherwood, the knight stops to witness a wrestling match at the Denby Fair. The match is controversial. A new entrant, David of Doncaste, outwrestles the local champion, William of the Scar. Doncaster receives the grand prize. The crowds accost the young man (and new champion) as he leaves. He is then attacked by a blacksmith and leader of the mob. However, the blacksmith is smacked down accordingly by the young champion
Then, Sir Richard intervenes to assert the fairness of the bout.
As the young man frees himself, he states that, “Sir Richard of the Lea, mayhap thou hast saved my life this day,” and the knight responds, “Who art thou that knowest Sir Richard of the Lea so well?” quoth the Knight. “Methinks I have seen thy face before, young man.” Of course, the recognition is based on Sir Richard’s familiarity with the merry men of Sherwood, which causes the knight to laugh out loud. Afterward, the knight reintroduces David of Doncaster to the militant group of citizens and excuses the crowd, giving them wine as a consolation prize.
The Aftermath
Sir Richard then ventures to Robin Hood to pay his respects. He gives each man a bow and a quiver of arrows. For Robin, he gives him “a stout bow inlaid with the cunningest workmanship in gold, while each arrow in his quiver was innocked with gold.” Soon after, they lead the knight out of Sherwood through a parade of lit torches. The chapter ends with, “Thus Robin Hood helped a noble knight out of his dire misfortunes, that else would have smothered the happiness from his life.”
Analysis
Much like the previous set of chapters, we find that the merry men are attracting more characters and talent. Allan-a-Dale, Ellen o’ the Dale, Friar Tuck, and so on have all been well met in their travels with Robin Hood. Therefore, this adds an element to the group (intelligence, cleverness, and kindness). The addition shows that the merry men are capable of change. They evolve when new members join, as long as it is helping some one in need in some way.
Moreover, these chapters really show Robin Hood’s character as a charitable, kind individual who looks to exact justice where he sees malice and oppression. Allan-a-Dale for instance is upset at a lost love, but it is the oppressive nature of marriage that turns Robin into a justice seeker. That is to say, he saves Ellen o’ the Dale from a marriage that would cause great sadness. Additionally, Robin’s understanding of unfair taxation and debts leads him to help a knight who has simply had a round of bad luck. These acts give us keen insight into who Robin Hood is and what he stands for in the long run.
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