Robin Hood and the Potter

Robin Hood and the Potter is a 15th century ballad of Robin Hood. While usually classed with other Robin Hood ballads, it does not appear to have originally been intended to be sung, but rather recited by a minstrel, and thus is closer to a poem. It is one of the very oldest pieces of the surviving Robin Hood legend, with perhaps only Robin Hood and the Monk older than it. It inspired a short play intended for use in May Day games, attested to around 1560. It was later published by Francis James Child as Child ballad #121 in his influential collection of popular ballads in the 1880s.

The story of Potter includes some common motifs that would feature in later Robin Hood stories: single combat where victory is not guaranteed; Robin Hood taking a disguise to blend in; an archery competition; and a naive sheriff who enters the greenwood where he is dramatically outwitted by the crafty outlaws who know the forest better. The tone of Potter is more comic than other early Robin Hood stories that were more violent, such as Robin Hood and the Monk or Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne. Nobody dies, and the story concludes with the "lowde lawhyng" (loud laughing) of the Sheriff's wife.