A. L. Lloyd and Reynardine: authenticity and authorship in the afterlife of a British broadside ballad

Even if "Reynardine" is the "real" name, and all the others are corrupted versions, there are many ways in which Reynardine may have fox-like characteristics without having supernatural powers. In English-language folksongs such as "Bold Reynard" (Roud 1994a, no. 190), "Reynard the Fox" (ibid., no. 2349), "Tally Ho, Hark Away" (ibid., no. 1182) and "John Peel" (ibid., no. 1239), Reynard the fox has two major characteristics: he is tricky, and he is being hunted. Outlaws, too, are hunted, and live by their wits. Thus in the conceptual world of folksongs, the fox is a perfectly appropriate symbol of the outlaw trickster, and in this sense "Reynardine" is a fitting name for any outlaw hero, supernatural or mortal. [12]

Lloyd nevertheless seems to have encouraged the idea of a supernatural Reynardine. The ballad itself is called "The Mountains High" on most broadsides, and its standard academic name is "Rinordine." Lloyd actually used this latter title in his academic writings, but when singing and teaching the song he called it "Reynardine." There seems no other good reason to do this than to stress the character's possible connections to the supernatural. Furthermore, Lloyd liked to imply a connection between "Reynardine" and the brutal and bestial Mr Fox of English versions of The Robber Bridegroom (AT 955) (Briggs 1970, vol. 2, part A, 446-50; Aarne and Thompson 1987). In the notes to the LP First Person, Lloyd wrote:

   Reynardine: A vulpine name for a crafty hero. Mr. Fox is a
   disquieting figure in folk tales [...], an elegant witty lover with
   a cupboard full of bones and tubs of blood. The dread uncertainty is
   whether he is man or animal. A similar unease broods within this
   song. Some commentators have thought it concerns a love affair
   between an English lady and Irish outlaw, and have set its date in
   Elizabeth's time. Others believe the story is older and consider
   Reynardine, the "little fox" to be a supernatural, lycanthropic
   lover (Lloyd 1966).

Note that the "Mr. Fox" material is essentially extraneous, that it is apparently introduced to set an uneasy mood and to suggest a supernatural interpretation for the ballad protagonist, Reynardine. Meanwhile, by also presenting the other view, that Reynardine is a mere mortal, an "Irish outlaw," Lloyd leaves the song open to either interpretation. He is, in other words, arguing for the song's ambiguity.

It was in this ambiguity, this mystery, that Lloyd the romantic located the song's essence. This is made perfectly clear in his sleeve note from the 1950s:

   Who was Reynardine, with his irresistible charm, his glittering eye,
   his foxy smile? An ordinary man, or an outlaw maybe, or some
   supernatural lover? Is he the dreadful Mr. Fox in the English
   folk-tale, the elegant gentleman whose bedroom was full of skeletons
   and buckets of blood? The song does not say. It puts its fingers to
   its lips and preserves the mystery, letting the enigmatic text and
   dramatic tune hint at unspeakable things (Lloyd 1956?).