Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter (

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

102,

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

3910) is a traditional English-language folk ballad.

Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor ...

, ''English and Scottish Popular Ballads''
"Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter"
/ref> It recounts the birth of

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

, but is not part of the Robin Hood cycle;

rejected the title The Birth of Robin Hood for it on those grounds.Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 2, p 412, Dover Publications, New York 1965

Synopsis

Willie, or Archibald, and the earl's daughter fall in love, and she becomes pregnant. They steal away to the woods, where she gives birth to a son. In some variants, she survives and nurses him; in others, she dies, and Archibald laments that his son's being alive makes matters worse because he can not nourish the boy. The earl comes after and recovers the boy, and his daughter, dead or alive. He kisses his grandson and makes him his heir.

Motifs

The motifs for this ballad come from ''

Willie o Douglas Dale Willie o Couglas Dale or Willie O Douglas Dale ( Roud 65, Child 101) is a traditional English-language folk song. Synopsis Willie goes to court, and he and a lady fall in love. When she is pregnant, they flee, but she goes in labor on the way ...

'' and ''

Leesome Brand Leesome Brand ( Roud 3301, Child 15) is an English-language folk song. Synopsis Leesome Brand went to court when ten years old. An eleven-year-old girl fell in love with him, but nine months later, called on him to saddle horses, take her dowry, ...

''.

Performances

The ballad was recorded by

Spiers and Boden Spiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box. Spiers and Boden were founding members of the folk band Bell ...

under the title The Birth of Robin Hood on their 2008 album ''Vagabond''; a new recording appeared on their 2011 album ''The Works'', with harmony vocals by

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. Life and career Carthy was born i ...

References

Child Ballads Robin Hood ballads Year of song unknown Songs with unknown songwriters {{folk-song-stub