Holiday

I will be laying down my quill for a couple of weeks as I am off on Holiday.

I would like to say a big thank you to Neil and Mike, my regular contributors, for their continued support.

If you enjoyed the film, have any information about the making of it, or are interested in the remarkable legend of Robin Hood, you are welcome to get in touch at disneysrobin@googlemail.com., in the Guest Book or in the Comments at the bottom of the page. It would be great to hear from you, so please do!

The Whistling Arrows are always looking for new members, so just click on the Label ‘The Whistling Arrows’ and answer the ten questions to become a unique member of this merry band.

Adele has been in touch to say her ‘Robin Hood’ gig with Wrens Song went well at the St. Louis Festival of Nations, which is great news. Well done Adele!

Finally, don’t forget that every post has a ‘Label’ (e.g. Robin Hood Ballads, Joan Rice, Sherwood Forest) so to see all the pages about a subject, just click on the particular ‘Label’ at the bottom of the page or in the right hand column.

See you soon.

Robyn and Gandelyn

Historians often slip into their various tomes on Robin Hood, the ‘ballad’ Robyn and Gandelyn and then try to dismiss it; by saying that ‘no way can the Robyn of the lyric be identified with the outlaw Robin Hood.’ But I feel it cannot be ruled out-but more on that later. In the meantime let’s look at this controversial and enigmatic tale.The unique manuscript dated from about 1450 was preserved in the Sloane MS 2593 and was first published by Joseph Ritson in 1790, and has been reprinted many times since. Francis. J. Child in his monumental English and Scottish Ballads (1858) (Vol. III, pp.12-13) pointed out that in regards to Robyn and Gandelyn, 'thought is free'. Child also goes on to quote Thomas Wright in his Songs and Carols, who remarks on the similarity of the name Gandelyn to Gamelyn in the tale assigned to the Cook in some manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales, and on the resemblance of the ‘Tale of Gamelyn’ to the Robin Hood story.
Walter Skeat (Oxford, 1893, p. ix) believed that the Robyn of this poem was Robin Hood, and that Gandeleyn is a mere corruption of Gamelyn from the Tale of Gamelyn. Douglas Gray, in his The Robin Hood Poems (1984) just described the ‘carol’ as ‘mysterious and evil’.

Below is a modern translation:

ROBYN AND GANDELYN

Robin lies in the greenwood wrapped in a shroud.

I heard the singing of a clerk,

All at the yonder wood's end,

Of good Robin and Gandelyn;

There was no other company.

Strong thieves those children were not,

But bowmen good and honorable;

They went to the woods to get some meat,

If God would send it to them.

All day went those children two,

And flesh they did not find,

Until it was again evening;

The children desired to go home.

Half a hundred of fat fallow deer

They came upon,

And all were fair and fat enough,

And blemishes there were none;

"By dear God," said good Robin,

"Of these we shall have one."

Robin bent his jolly bow,

Therein he set an arrow;

The fattest deer of all,

Its heart he cleft in two.

He had not flayed the deer,

Not half out of the hide,

When there came a shrewd arrow out of the west,

That felled Robin's pride.

Gandelyn looked east and west,

Be every side:

"Who has slain my master?

Who has done this deed?

I shall never go out of the greenwood

Till I see his sides bleed."

Gandelyn looked east and looked west,

And sought under the sun;

He saw a little boy

They call Wrennok of Donne.

A good bow in his hand,

A broad arrow therein,

And four and twenty good arrows,

Tied in a bundle:

"You beware, beware,

Gandelyn,

You shall have some of the same.

"Beware, beware, Gandelyn,

Of this you will get plenty.

""Ever one for another," said Gandelyn;

"Misfortune have he who should flee."

"Where shall our mark be?"Said Gandelyn.

"Each at the other's heart,"

Said Wrennok again.

"Who shall give the first shot?" Said Gandelyn:

"I shall give the one before."Said Wrennok again.

Wrennok shot a full good shot,

And he shot not too high;

Through the clothes of his breeches,

It touched neither thigh.

"Now you have given me one before,"

All thus to Wrennok he said,

"And through the might of our Lady

A better one I shall give you."

Gandelyn bent his good bow,

And set therein an arrow;

He shot through his green kirtle,

His heart he cleft in two.

"Now shall you never boast,

Wrennok,

At ale nor at wine,

That you have slain good Robin,

And his knave Gandelyn."

"Now shall you never boast,

Wrennok,

At wine nor at ale,

That you have slain good Robin,

And Gandelyn his servant."

Robin lies in the greenwood wrapped in a shroud.

No matter how many times I read this ballad- or carol as it sometimes called, I see something different in it. There is certainly an intoxicating mixture of elements. I love it. It takes us right back to our medieval past and possibly earlier. There are many who link it with the ancient ritual of hunting the Wren. Robert Graves (English and Scottish Ballads, 1957, pp. 149-50) thought that: 'Although this seems to be a ballad about Robin Hood the Archer, its real subject is the ‘New Year's hunting of the wren in vengeance of the robin murdered at midsummer'

The ‘Annual Wren Hunt’ is an ancient tradition wrapped in folk-lore and mythology, best described thus:

“At Yule, the Robin, symbolic of the waxing year, Kills the Wren, the bird symbolic of the waning year, A wren used to be sacrificed at midwinter solstice. It would be carried on a bed of holly and taken from house to house to ask for money. (To bury the wren) meaning to bury winter.”

So the wren was the symbol of the old year, a tradition that has possibly descended from Celtic mythology, killed by the robin, representing the new year. In Ireland, the men would hunt the wren on St. Stephen's Day, the day after Christmas. Christian legend said that the wren gave away the Christian martyr, St. Stephen as he hid in the furze from the Jews. This mythological association with treachery is a probable reason why in past times the bird was hunted by Wrenboys on St. Stephen's Day.

The boys would chase down the birds, beating them from bushes with long sticks and general carousing. Once the bird was dead, the boys would carry it around the town, singing. The song, of which there are many variations, asked for donations from the townspeople. Often, the young men gave a feather from the bird to patrons for good luck. The money was used to host a dance for the town, held that night. The Wren was then put on top of a pole which was decorated with ribbons, wreaths, and flowers and was the centre of the dance.

So in this haunting ritualistic piece I believe we can not only see glimpses of our ancient past, but also-from the shrouded ‘ good and honorable’ Robin, poaching deer in the forest with his ‘jolly bow’ -we also witness the evolution of the legend of the outlaw Robin Hood.

What do you think?

Russell Crowe - Too Merry, But Kind To Those In Need!

According to the press Russell Crowe has been making a little too ‘merry’ in the taverns near to where the forthcoming £200 million Robin Hood epic is being filmed. It seems that the film star has been banned from The Brickmakers pub in Windlesham, Surrey.

A local resident reported that Crowe offered money to be allowed to keep drinking after closing time, but he was refused. According to a duty manager he eventually left, but not before smashing a plate on the way out. Crowe was told never to return!

This apparently is not the only local pub the Hollywood star has been barred from-at least two other drinking establishments in the area have ‘outlawed’ the next Robin Hood!

But like the hero of legend, Russell Crowe has been extremely kind to the people in need and reports of a big charity donation have made the local newspapers. Julia Deane, the branch manager of the Cancer Research shop in Sunningdale, Berkshire, said Crowe had been drinking in a cafe next door then decided to come in and take a look around. He asked a volunteer how he could go about making a donation. She took him to the back of the store and he kindly gave the very generous sum of £1,000. But the volunteer hadn’t recognised the Hollywood star, so she asked what name she could put into the donation book. When he replied ‘Crowe’, she asked: ‘As in Russell Crowe?’

Then the penny dropped!

Locals say that Russell Crowe was furious after news of his charity donation was leaked to the press, but Cancer Research UK said his publicity agents had approved the gesture being made public.

To read more about Russell Crowe and the filming of the new blockbuster ‘Nottingham’ please click on the label Robin Hood Movies.

Clifton Parker (1905 -1989)

Clifton Parker was regarded by film makers and music fans as "the composer who never disappoints." He certainly didn’t disappoint when he composed the wonderful film score for Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood in 1951. Parker received very little recognition for his film scores in his own lifetime, but during his distinguished career, he composed for 50 feature films, as well as numerous documentary shorts, radio and television scores and over 100 songs and music for ballet and theatre. Sadly today, many of his compositions are lost.

Edward John Clifton Parker was born in Forest Hill in London on the 5th February 1905, the third and youngest son of bank officer Theophilis Parker. He was encouraged by his father to go into the commercial profession like his two brothers - which he did, but he also studied music privately. In 1926 he obtained a diploma for music teaching from the Royal College of Music and eventually he left commerce and became employed as a music copyist, whist also writing works for the BBC. His first mature piece, ‘Romance for Violin and Piano’, was good enough to secure publication when he was only sixteen years old.

At the age of 31 he was appointed organist and arranger with the Folkestone Municipal Orchestra, during which time he had begun composing light popular items. A year later he became pianist and composer at the Jooss-Leeder School of Dance. It was there that he met Yoma Sasburgh, the dancer who would become his second wife. It was for her that he wrote the overture- The Glass Slipper.

As more of his ‘part-time’ classical compositions became published, it attracted the attention of British film pioneer and film conductor Muir Mathieson. Soon, although initially uncredited, he began composing for films like Battle Is Our Business, Unpublished Story, and In Which We Serve (1942).

In 1944 his name appeared as the composer for the government-sponsored colour documentary Western Approaches, which later included a 4 minute orchestral piece ‘Seascape,’ recorded by Muir Mathieson on Decca 12’’ 78 rpm. This became very popular in concert halls and today it is regarded by many as one of the finest scores ever written for the cinema. Parker was paid £100 for his composition. Because of his swirling and surging orchestrations, he became first choice composer for any British producer that was making a movie involving the sea.

After his work on the successful post-war film 'The Blue Lagoon' (1949) and the huge sales of the film’s soundtrack on 78rpm records, he caught the attention of Walt Disney. Parker was invited to score for the legendary cartoon producer’s live-action British productions Treasure Island (1950), The Story of Robin Hood (1952) and The Sword and the Rose (1953), for which he also supplied on-scene music for the court dance in the style of the Tudor period.

Parker’s lively symphonic style went on to become greatly admired, leading to him composing scores for 50 feature films over a 21 year period including: This Happy Breed (1944), The Wooden Horse (1950), The Gift Horse (1950), A Day To Remember (1953), Night of the Demon (1957) Campbell’s Kingdom (1957), The 39 Steps (1959) Sink The Bismark (1960) and HMS Defiant (1962).

In 1963 Parker controversially quit scoring for film production and joined a protest along with three other movie composers against the exorbitant percentage of royalties being claimed by the music publishers. He limited his work to the theatre, including RADA and many Shakespearean productions, but gradually his health began to decline. In the last 13 years of his life, Parker was immobile due to ulcers and emphysema and sadly passed away in Marlow, Buckinghamshire in 1989 aged 85.

Peter Finch as the Sheriff of Nottingham

Meet a Singing Wren

I have recently introduced Hern’s Son, alias Mike who is a founder member of our loyal blog group known as The Whistling Arrows. It is now time to meet another of my regular visitors to the site, Adele Treskillard.

Adele is a multi talented young lady who first visited my site way back in October 2008. She was interested by the Sloane ‘Life of Robin Hood’, as she is intensely researching the legend through the perspective of the ancient ballads.

After corresponding with her a couple of times I discovered her website at http://epictales.org/blog/adeleblog.php which under the title ‘Greenwood Shadows’ and ‘Robin Hood’s Audacity’ puts forward her refreshingly new theories of how the legend evolved.

This is all the more interesting when you consider that Adele is a ‘sean-nos’ style singer specializing in Scottish, Irish, and Welsh songs in both the native languages (Scots, Scots Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, and Welsh) as well as English. Along with her brother and sister, she has formed a band known as Wren’s Song that focuses on traditional Celtic ballads and songs. Adele plays a 24 string Harp which uses bronze-phosphor strings in the Irish/Scottish Clarsach style.

But this is not all; Adele is currently taking her B.A. in Archaeology through the University of Leicester and began writing her first novel ‘Wolf’s Bard’ in 2005!

Amongst her birthday presents in June this year, Adele received a copy of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood. She was so impressed by the movie, not only did she complete the questionnaire to join The Whistling Arrows, but she posted an article on her web site, describing it as a ‘nearly perfect film.’ Her father also contacted this site at the time, to say that the whole family had enjoyed the movie.

So the magic and quality of the film continues to spread.

Wren’s Song will be appearing at the St. Louis Festival of Nations on Saturday, August 29th, 2009. Their performance will also include a ‘Robin Hood Play’ involving a quarter staff fight! So on behalf of all of The Whistling Arrows, I would like to wish Adele and her brother and sister the very best of luck!

Adele’s Blog can be found here: http://epictales.org/blog/adeleblog.php or in the side bar of this site under “My Blog List.”

If you are a regular visitor to this site - are interested in the legend of Robin Hood and enjoyed Disney’s Story of Robin Hood please get in touch. If you click on the Label marked The Whistling Arrows you will be able to see the questions you will need to answer to join the merry band. If you answer them correctly you will receive a very rare picture of Joan Rice (Maid Marian) at the World Premier in London.

Lionheart Airways?

A few years ago I read of a ‘Blooper’ in Disney’s Story of Robin Hood (1952). The article stated that you could see an aeroplane in one of the outdoor scenes; at the time I thought that this could not be possible and ignored this churlish statement-the film was perfect in every way!

But no! Mike (Hern’s Son) kindly sent me an excellent copy of the movie and described for me the scene in which it occurs. How did I miss it-I must have watched the film hundreds of times?

The scene is in Nottingham Market Place, the Sheriff (Peter Finch) has just addressed the town’s folk with, "Let this be a warning to evil doers that would flaunt our Midland Laws! Begin!”

As the camera switches to Will Stutely, who is sewn up in the skin of the deer, hanging above a brazier, an aeroplane can be seen in the top right hand corner of the screen (circled above in red), flying off into the distance!

How did that blooper get past such a legendry group of film makers?

Or was it King Richard flying off for the Holy Land?

Have you seen any more bloopers in this movie? If so please get in touch.

The Annual 'Robin Hood Festival' in Sherwood Forest

The week long Robin Hood Festival, held at the Sherwood Forest Visitors Centre near Edwinstowe is a wonderful experience for young and old alike and attracts more than 50,000 visitors every year. This year was its 25th Anniversary and it ran from the 3rd to the 9th August; the 2010 festival is provisionally expected to take place from August 2nd until August 8th.

In 1997 I took my family to this annual event and we had a fantastic day out. With the legendary Sherwood Forest as a backdrop we witnessed, the archery, juggling, jousting, falconry, puppetry and the story-telling by Allan-a Dale. The open air theatre is not to be missed neither is the medieval craft stalls; seeing those craftsmen is just like stepping back in time.

During our day-out, my young son was quite excited to see an ice cream van near the Visitor Centre, so he took to his heels to join the queue. Unfortunately he slipped on the gravel and cut his knee. A young girl in medieval costume, waiting there, picked him up and comforted him. Seeing his cut knee she asked our permission to take him to Robin Hood’s camp, clean his knee and apply some medieval ointment. We said that was fine, so we followed her through the forest to Robin’s camp where she sat him in Robin’s chair and applied some first-aid from the Middle-Ages. His tears very quickly dried up and his little face was a picture. This was a day he would never forget!

At the festival, children are always keen to collect the autographs of all the characters, especially Robin and the Sheriff, but for my son, pride-of-place went to the signature of the maiden who had come to his rescue-even though as it turned out, she was the daughter of the Sheriff of Nottingham!!!

So a very special thank you to that particular young lady, whom I believe was from the re-enactment group Legends.

If you would like to see more pictures from the annual Robin Hood Festival, I thoroughly recommend Charlotte White’s website at http://www.robinhood.org.uk/rhfa.htm. Not only are there some superb pictures from all the recent festivals, also the yearly Robin Hood Pageant held at Nottingham Castle. While on her site at http://www.robinhood.org.uk/ be sure to also check out her pages on the Robin Hood films and television programmes and have a go at her excellent Silver Arrow Competition.

If you click on the label Sherwood Forest below, there is a lot more information on the history of this legendary woodland.

Burnham Beeches - Disney's 'Sherwood Forest'

Above is a map of the beautiful Burnham Beeches. I have marked in red the areas that were used by Walt Disney’s film crew during the making of the Story of Robin Hood in 1951. Outlined is Mendelssohn’s Slope, where many scenes were filmed, including the death of Robin’s father. Also Middle Pond, where Robin (Richard Todd) and Marian (Joan Rice) took their romantic evening stroll, accompanied by Friar Tuck (James Hayter) and Allan a Dale (Elton Hayes) singing ‘Whistle My Love.’
Burnham Beeches was the location chosen to be ‘Sherwood Forest,’ not only because of its close proximity to Denham Studios (12 miles approx.), where two of the huge sound stages were used, but also because of its amazing ancient woodland that was ideal as a backdrop to this classic tale. I have noticed a number of film web sites state that Disney’s live-action movie was the only Robin Hood tale to be filmed in Sherwood Forest. This in incorrect, but shows what a good choice Burnham Beeches was.
My wife and I visited Burnham in April and were stunned by the breathtaking scenery, it is no wonder film and television crews have been queuing up to shoot scenes in various areas of the forest since 1946. I thoroughly recommend a visit, particularly to our band of Whistling Arrows. So if you do make the trip, please send in some photos from your visit and I will be pleased to post them on this site.