> A.L. Lloyd > Songs > Robin Hood and the Bold Pedlar
> Steeleye Span > Songs > Gamble Gold (Robin Hood)

The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood / Robin Hood and the (Bold) Pedlar / Gamble Gold

[ Roud 333 ; Master title: The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood ; Child 132 ; Ballad Index C132 ; VWML GB/6a/24 ; DT RHPEDLAR ; Mudcat 22864 , 76455 ; trad.]

Lucy E. Broadwood: English Traditional Songs and Carols John Jacob Niles: The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of English Country Songs, Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams Sam Richards, Tish Stubbs, The English Folksinger Ralph Vaughan Williams, A.L. Lloyd: Penguin Book of English Folk Songs

Robin Hood and the Pedlar is a Child ballad (#132) printed in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ and A.L. Lloyd’s Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Geordie Robertson sang The Bold Pedlar in August 1954 to Hamish Henderson in Aberdeen. This recording was included in 1975 on the Tangent album The Muckle Sangs (Scottish Tradition Vol. 5).

A.L. Lloyd sang Robin Hood and the Bold Pedlar on his and Ewan MacColl’s 1956 anthology on the Riverside Label The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Volume II, All of his tracks from this series were reissued in 2011 on the Fellside album Bramble Briars and Beams of the Sun.

Denny Smith sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar to Peter Shepheard in the Tabard Bar, North Street, Gloucester, on 27 April 1966. This track was included in 2000 on the Musical Traditions anthology of the Smith family, Band of Gold. Peter Shepheard himself sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival in Collessie, Fife, in May 2007. This recording was published a year later on the festival’s anthology Nick-Knack on the Waa (Old Songs & Bothy Ballads Vol. 4). The latter album’s note commented:

A rare ballad […] that has, never-the-less, been found in the living tradition both in England and in Scotland in the last decades. This version is from the singing of Denny Smith, a Romany traveller from Gloucester, and recorded by Pete from Denny in the Tabard Bar, North Street, Gloucester in April 1966. This is one of a large cycle of Robin Hood ballads that excited enormous public interest after they were first compiled together from early broadsheets and manuscript collections and published in two small volumes by Joseph Ritson in 1795.

Barry Dransfield sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar in 1972 on his eponymous Polydor album, Barry Dransfield. He noted:

I like this song because it shows the defiance of one man against the belligerence of two.

Steeleye Span recorded this ballad in a shortened version that they called Gamble Gold (Robin Hood) in 1975 on their best-selling album, All Around My Hat.

Benji Kirkpatrick sang The Bold Pedlar in 1999 on his WildGoose CD Dance in the Shadow. He noted:

Ye seconde Childe ballade, based on the version sung by Henry Burstow of Horsham, Sussex, as collected by Broadwood in 1893 [VWML GB/6a/24] .

Emily & Hazel Askew sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar in 2005 on their first WildGoose CD, Six By Two. They noted:

We slightly adapted this song from a version collected from George Trainer in Sussex. We like to think of it as an old fashioned mugging tale, it makes us feel more at home, being from London!

Stanley Robertson sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar on his 2009 Elphinstone Institute anthology The College Boy.

The Owl Service sang Robin Hood and the Bold Pedlar on their 2012 album Garland Sessions.

Arthur Watson sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar in 2012 on Shepheard, Spiers & Watson’s album Over the High Hills. They noted:

A rare ballad (#132 in F.J. Child’s collection) that has, never-the-less, been found in the living tradition both in England and in Scotland in the last decades. This version is largely from the singing of Willie Robertson recorded by Hamish Henderson in Aberdeen in the 1950s.

The ballad is one of a large cycle of Robin Hood ballads that excited enormous public interest after they were first compiled together from early broadsheets and manuscript collections and published in two small volumes by Joseph Ritson in 1795.

Kate Locksley sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar in 2016 on Night Fall’s EP Night Fall. They noted on their website:

Robin Hood & the Pedlar (Child 132) is similar to a modern tale of a Friday night punch up. Robin Hood & Little John decide to rob a pedlar, and have a bit of a scrap before determining that the pedlar is Gamble Gold, Robin’s cousin. Clearly this makes everything that has passed perfectly alright, because they then all head for the nearest pub. We’ve paired it with Laridé à Six Temps, a Breton dance tune.

Joshua Burnell sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar on his 2018 album Songs From the Seasons.

Nick Hart sang The Bold Pedlar & Robin Hood on his 2022 album Nick Hart Sings Ten English Folk Songs. He noted:

From a recording of the English Gypsy singer Denny Smith, recorded by Peter Shepheard in Gloucester in 1966. As is usually the case, I’ve filled in some gaps with bits of text from other sources, but I can no longer remember what those sources are.

This is a live studio recording of Nick Hart at Slow Worm Records, Norfolk, in December 2020. It was filmed by George Moore:

Jon Doran sang Robin Hood and the Pedlar on the 2024 album Jon Doran & The Northern Assembly. He noted:

A popular story in British folklore and variations on this melody can be found all over. Our version is probably closest to Mervyn Plunkett’s recording of George Tompsett in 1960.

Lyrics

Steeleye Span sing Gamble Gold

There chanced to be a pedlar bold,
A pedlar bold he chanced to be;
He rolled his pack all on his back
And he came tripping o’er the lea.

By chance he met two troublesome blades,
Troublesome blades they chanced to be,
One of them was Robin Hood
The other was little John so free.

Chorus (after every other verse):
Gentlemen on highborn blood,
Gamble Gold and Robin Hood

“Oh pedlar, pedlar what’s in the pack?
Come speedily and tell to me!”
“I’ve several suits of the gay green silk
And silken bowstrings two or three.”

“If you have suits of the gay green silk
And silken bowstrings two or three,
Then, by my body,” cries Robin Hood,
“Half your pack belongs to me!”

“Oh no, oh no,” says the pedlar bold,
“No that can never be.
There’s never a man in Nottingham
Can take one half my pack from me!”

Then Robin Hood he drew his sword
And the pedlar by his pack did stand;
They fought till the blood in streams did flow
And he cried, “Pedlar, hold your hand!”

“Oh pedlar, pedlar what’s thy name?
Come speedily and tell to me!”
“I’m Gamble Gold of the gay green woods,
I’ve travelled far beyond the sea.”

“If you’re Gamble Gold of the gay green woods
Then my cousin you must be!
Let us away to a tavern near
And bottles crack most merrily.”

Peter Shepheard sings Robin Hood and the Pedlar

Oh it’s of a pedlar and a pedlar bold,
Some fine pedlar he seemed for to be;
He had a pack all at his back,
And away went whistling right over the lea.

Now the first two men that he met,
Two quarrelsome men they seemed for to be,
There was one of them called Bold Robin Hood,
And the other called Little John so free.

“Now what brings you there all in your pack?” cried Little John,
“Come tell to me right speedily!”
“I have three yards of the gay green cloth,
And silken bowstrings by two and three.”

“Now if you have three yards of the gay green cloth,
And silken bowstrings by two and three;
Then by my life,” cried Little John,
“It’s your pack and all shall go along with me!”

“Oh no, oh no,” said the pedlar bold,
“Oh no, oh no, that never could be;
For there’s never a man from fair Nottingham town,
Could take one half of my pack from me!”

Then the pedlar he set down his pack,
He lowered it right a-past his knee,
Saying, “If you can make me fly three yards from this,
Then my pack and all shall go along with thee.”

Then Little John, oh, he drew his sword,
And the pedlar by his pack did stand;
They fought until they both did sweat,
When Little John cried, “Pedlar, you’re too good a man!”
They fought until they both did sweat,
When Little John cried, “Pedlar, oh you’re too good a man!”

Then Bold Robin Hood he drew his sword,
And the pedlar by his pack did stand;
They fought until the blood did run,
When Bold Robin Hood said, “Pedlar, you’re too good a man!”

“Now what is your name?” cried Bold Robin Hood,
“Come tell to me right speedily!”
“Oh no, oh no,” said the pedlar bold,
“But it’s your name you will tell unto me.”

“Oh the one of us is called Bold Robin Hood,
And the other’s called Little John so free.”
“Then by my life,” said the pedlar bold,
“It’s my name I will tell unto thee.”

“Now my name is Bill Scarlet from a foreign part,
From a many’s a long mile beyond the sea;
For killing a man on my own father’s land,
My own native country I was forced to flee.”

“Now if your name is Bill Scarlet from a foreign part,
From a many’s a long mile beyond the sea;
Then it’s you and I’s two sister’s sons;
And what nigh first cousins, oh could we be?”

Then they sheathed their swords with friendly words,
And at the joke they laughed quite free;
They went in an alehouse that was close by,
And they cracked bottles by two and three;
They went in an alehouse that was close by,
And they drank bottles by two and three.

Arthur Watson sings Robin Hood and the Pedlar

A pedlar busk and a pedlar thrum,
A pedlar he linked ower the lea;
There he spied two troublesome men,
Two troublesome men they proved tae be.

“Fit’s in your pack ma pedlar man?
Fit’s in your pack ma gey fellee?”
“There’s seiven shirts, aye, and three cravats,
Likewise ma bowstrings two and three.”

“If there’s seiven shirts and three cravats,
Likewise yer bowstrings two and three;
It’s by ma soul,” cried Little John,
“The pack and aa will pass tae me.”

Then the pedlar taen his pack doun aff his back,
He’s set it low doun by his knee;
“If ye can fecht me three steps back,
Then the pack an aa will faa tae ye.”

An Little John drew a guid broadsword,
The pedlar mannie he drew the same;
They swakkit swords till sair they swat,
Crying, “Pedlar man, noo haud your hand.”

“Fit is yer name, ma pedlar man?
O fit is yer name ma gey fellee?”
“It’s ne’er a word o ma name I’ll tell,
Till baith yer names ye’ve tellt tae me.”

“And the one of is bold Robin Hood,
The ither, Little John, sae free.”
“It’s noo ye’ve tellt me baith yer names,
Then ma name an ma place I’ll tell tae ye.”

“I’m Gammel Gold o the gey green wood,
I’ve traivelled far across the sea;
For killin a man in ma faither’s land,
Fae ma faither’s land I’m forced tae flee.”

“If ye’re Gammel Gold o the gey green wood,
That has traivelled far fae across the sea;
Then you an me’s two sister’s sons,
And fit closer cousins could we be?”

They sheathed their swords wi richt guid will,
And they hae spoke richt merrily;
Then tae the alehoose that stood close by,
Where they crackit bottles by two and by three.

Jon Doran sings Robin Hood and the Pedlar

It’s of a pedler, a pedlar bold,
A pedlar bold he chanced to be;
He rolled his pack all on his back
And away went pedlar over the lea.

By chance he met two troublesome men,
Troublesome men they chanced to be,
And one of them was bold Robin Hood
The other one little John so free.

“Oh pedlar, pedlar what’s in the pack?
Come speedily and tell to me!”
“I’ve several suits of the gay green silk
And silken bowstrings all two or three.”

“If you have suits of the gay green silk
And silken bowstrings two and three,
Then, by my body,” cries Robin Hood,
“Then half your pack belongs to me!”

“Oh no, oh no,” says the pedlar bold,
“Oh no that can never be.
There’s never a man in all Nottingham
Can take one half my pack from me!”

Then Robin Hood he drew his sword
And the pedlar by his pack did stand;
They fought till the blood in streams did flow
Then he cried, “Pedlar, hold your hand!”

“Oh what’s thy name?” cried bold Robin Hood,
“Oh what’s thy name? Come tell to me!”
“I’m Gamble Gold of the gay green woods,
I’ve travelled far now beyond the sea.”

“If you’re Gamble Gold of the gay green woods
Then my cousin oh you must be!
Let us away to a tavern near
Where bottles crack now most merrily.”