I'm curious to know whether anyone has any thoughts on the following,
from a 17th-century Robin Hood ballad:
1 In Nottingham there lives a jolly tanner,
With a hey down down a down down
His name is Arthur a Bland;
There is nere a squire in Nottingham****re
5 Dare bid bold Arthur stand.
(Full text at http://www.jonathandewbre.com/RobinHood/r.php?NUM=3D8)
A possible relation****p is claimed at
http://www.maryjones.us/jce/arthurobower.html
with the following rhyme
commonly held to refer to Arthur's Wild Hunt (quoted here from a
version said to be current in the Lake District in the 18th-century):
Arthur's bower has broken his band,
And he comes roaring up the land;
King o' Scots wi' a' his power
Cannot turn Arthur's bower
The suggestion seems a little far-fetched to me, I must admit, though
there are some similarities. Nonetheless the idea of Robin and Arthur
fighting in the woods, and Arthur as Little John's cousin, tickled me
and had me wondering what other 'guest appearances' of Arthur we might
have in the legends of other popular and famous figures. Aside from
the Saints' Lives, which don't really fit the bill anyway, the earliest
example that comes to mind is Arthur's apparent appearance as a villain
to be roundly defeated by the famous Irish Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn
MacCool) in the probably 12th-century 'Acallam na Sen=F3rach'.
Alternatively we have Arthur's vaguely comic appearance in the Triad no
26 as a thief trying to steal King Mark's (March) piglings from Drystan
(Tristan), who is meant to be guarding them, if this goes back to the
12th-century -- though as this is a semi-Arthurian cycle anyway it
perhaps doesn't count. Any other good examples?
Cheers,
Tom Green
Arthurian Resources - http://www.arthuriana.co.uk
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