David of Doncaster
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David of Doncaster is a member of Robin Hood's Merry Men in English folklore. Doncaster is a town near Barnsdale, where early ballads placed Robin Hood.
Ballads[]
He appears in one ballad in the Child collection, Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow.[1] The sheriff is giving an archery contest, and David, "a brave young man," warns Robin against going, because it is a trap, which advice inspires Robin to take precautions against capture.[2]
Later adaptations[]
He reappears in later adaptations, both books and movies. In Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, he appears as one of the youngest in the band, and a wrestler. As in Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, he warns Robin that a competition is a trap, inspiring Robin to take the same precautions as in the ballad, but also, in A Gest of Robyn Hode, Sir Richard at the Lee saves an anonymous yeoman wrestler, who had won in a bout but was nearly murdered because he was a stranger, and apologised for the delay, with Robin saying that helping any yeomen pleases him, but in Pyle's account, the wrestler is David of Doncaster, and Robin is deeply grateful. He also appears in various other adventures as a minor character; where Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly has an unnamed "brave young man" questioning a palmer to learn about the hanging, Pyle specifies that David asks.
Daniel Peacock portrayed him in the 1991 film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, though his character went by the nickname "Bull".
In Clayton Emery's Tales of Robin Hood, David is a dependable Merry Man who wears his dark hair long since Royal Foresters cut off his ears.
References[]
- ^ Stephen Knight (Editor) , Thomas H. Ohlgren Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, note 35
- ^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow"
- English outlaws
- Merry Men
- Robin Hood characters