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Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly (Roud 3957,Child 143) is a traditional English-language folk song aboutRobin Hood.[1]
Robin Hood is brought news that theSheriff of Nottingham surprisedWill Stutely, and though he killed two of the Sheriff's men, he was captured. They set out to rescue him, confirm the story from apalmer, and arrive as he is being brought out. Will Stutly offers to fight the sheriff's men, with his bare hands, if need be, but the sheriff is resolved to hang him.Little John jumps out to cut his bonds and give him a sword. Robin's men rouse up, and the sheriff and his men flee, and Robin's men go back to Sherwood.
Francis James Child believed this to be derived fromRobin Hood Rescuing Three Squires.[2]
The entire tale was used byHoward Pyle in hisMerry Adventures of Robin Hood, often with no more changes than rendering the verse as prose. An anonymous "brave young man" was identified asDavid of Doncaster, as part of his development of that character.
