Robin Goodfellow
Historical Records
Correspondence
In a letter dated 15 January 1604, Dudley Carleton (1st Viscount Dorchester), a politician whose career was on the upswing in 1603-4, gave his friend, John Chamberlain, the following information: "On New Year's night we had a play of Robin Goodfellow" (Lee 53).
Declared Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber
Item 115b:
To Iohn Hemynges one of his maties players vpon the Councelles warrt dated Hamptoncoute xviijou die Ianuary 1603 for his paynes and expences of himselfe and the rest of his Company in presenting sixe interludes or playes before the kinges maty and the prince viz one one St Stephins Day at night St Iohnes Day at night Innocentes Day and Newyers day at night before the kinges matie … and for two playes before the prince on the xxxth of December and the firste of Ianuary 1603 .... (Cook 38)
Theatrical Provenance
"Robin Goodfellow" was performed at court on 1 January 1604 by the King's Men for their patron and his heir, James I and Prince Henry. Carleton provides the play title (Lee 53), and the Chamber Accounts provide the date (the date cannot be 1 January 1605, for the Revels Accounts document that the Children of the Revels/Queen's Chapel performed George Chapman's All Fools on New Year's 1605). Although the court had recessed from London to Hampton Court for the winter of 1603-4, the performance of Robin Goodfellow would have been their first opportunity to entertain their new patron during the traditional holiday period at Christmastide.
Probable Genre(s)
Comedy (Harbage)
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
Two sources of stories about Robin Goodfellow were published in 1628, but according to John Payne Collier the "matter" of Robin was well known long before. He cites as evidence
Internet Archive Internet Archive
References to the Play
Any revival of A Midsummer Night's Dream after January 1604 would have alluded to Robin Goodfellow in its five instances of calling Puck by that name: 2.1.osd, 34; 3.2.355; 4.1.180; 5/1/438. Unfortunately, no revivals of the play are on record.
? a reference to Robin in Wily Beguiled
Critical Commentary
Chambers popularized the identification of "Robin Goodfellow" with A Midsummer Night's Dream, apparently on the basis of Puck/Robin as a memorable character from Shakespeare's play (1.362).
Knutson discusses "Robin Goodfellow" as a repertorial mate with The Merry Devil of Edmonton, which was apparently new early in 1603 and which enjoyed a long stage history (it was revived in 1612-3, 1638-9, and 1661-2). She suggests that it would have captured the same spirit of madcap matchmaker as in the play about the merry devil, Peter Fabell (113-4).
For What It's Worth
Biographies of Dudley Carleton (Oxford DNB) and John Chamberlain (Oxford DNB) provide insight into their credibility as witnesses of activities at court.
Someone wanted there to be a play in the repertory of Worcester's Men
There was a tune called "Robin Goodfellow" to which at least one ballad, "The Downfall of Dancing," was sung. EBBA
Works Cited
Chambers, E. K. William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930.
Collier, John Payne (ed.) The Mad Pranks and Merry Jests or Robin Goodfellow. London: Percy Society, 1841. Internet Archive
Hindley, Charles (ed.) The Roxburghe Ballads. vol 2, p. 387. Internet Archive
Knutson, Roslyn Lander. The Repertory of Shakespeare's Company, 1594-1613. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1991.
Lee, Maurice, Jr. (ed.) Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603-1624. New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press.
Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated 10 February 2010.