THE ELIZABETHAN FAIRIES

256 ROBIN GOODFELLOW
tale and in folk belief he was never regarded as a fairy,
and his connection with the fairy kingdom seems to have
been one of association rather than one of blood kinship.
His second classification - that of a lesser devil -
which occurred in the plays concerning Satan and the
proved more detrimental to the preservation of
his personality and his reputation. In them, he is pre-
sented, at least in two cases, in Hell, in subjection to
Satan and to Beelzebub, and is sent to earth, disguised as
a servant, to further human wickedness and to bring
about human disaster.
In both capacities - as a devil in Hell and as a devil
on earth- he is represented as a failure. He is by
no means clever enough to gain preference in Hell, or
Wily Beguiled; Jonson, The Devil is an Ass; and Grim, the
Collier.
In Wily Beguiled, as Mr. W. S. Johnson notes, " Robin Goodfellow
is a malicious intriguer, whose nature, whether human or diabolical,
is left somewhat in doubt." He appears as a well-known ale com-
panion, wicked and evil and interested in injuring mortals, claims to
practise a devilish trade, plays the part of an arrant coward and ends
in disgrace, desiring to live in Hell as a reward for his acts. He
possesses, however, a number of the traditional characteristics of
Robin Goodfellow, and can be taken as a somewhat distorted repre-
sentation of Robin Goodfellow as a devil. (Introd. by W. S. John-
son to The Devil is an Ass.)
Mr. Johnson states that one of the leading ideas of the Jonson
comedy, The Devil is an Ass, is derived from the legend of Friar
Rush, which, according to Mr. Johnson's statement again, had become
by this time already partially identified with that of Robin Goodfel-
low. Mr. Johnson adds further that Jonson's character of Pug was
certainly i.ifluenced in some degree both by the popular and the literary
conception of this lubber fiend who appears in the mysteries in the
shape of Titivillus. Introd., The Devil is an. Ass. Cf. also Herford
and Simpson, Ben Jonson, Vol. 11, pp. 154-161.
In Grim, the Collier of Croydon, the devil, Akercock, is introduced
as Robin Goodfellow in 11, I, and in the prologue.