Title: Robin-Hood-msg
Subject: The Robin Hood legend through the Middle Ages.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: Robin Hood, archery, legend, tale, peasant, longbow, England

Robin-Hood-msg - 5/18/08

Comments on the Robin Hood legend through the Middle Ages.

NOTE: See also the files: archery-msg, hunting-msg, peasants-msg, venison-msg, arch-shoots-msg, quarterstaff-msg.

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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 09:52:44 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Re: Eat well, well to do?

> >Certainly it was true under the first Norman kings of England that most
> >of the forests of England were relegated to being the King's personal
> >hunting  preserve, so no one outside of royal hunting parties could
> >legally hunt in, say, for a common example, Sherwood Forest in
> >Yorkshire. (It is in Yorkshire, isn't it?)
>
> errr... no it's in Nottinghamshire - although in some of the RH tales he's in
> Barnsdale which I believe might be in Yorkshire.  At one point the boundary of
> Nottinghamshire was about 10 - 15 miles south of the Yorkshire though (in 11th
> century modern depictions on England).  Now it's a little more southerly.
>
> Elysant

Robert, Earl Huntington, had a gravestone in Yorkshire, which names him
Robin Hood, but that could be a medieval hoax.

The earliest of the Robin Hood ballads connects him to Barnsdale which is on
the Great North Road.  North of the town, there is a hill on the road which
allows one to see the road for several miles.  Robin would watch for
travellers on the road and "invite" them to dine with him.  Since there were
no fixed rates for innkeepers at the time, he could legally deprive his
"guests" of their wealth.  The earliest ballads were usually about some poor
"guest" outwitting Robin.

In the later ballads, he cleans up nicely, moves down to Sherwood, and
becomes a tax protestor.

Bear

Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 15:06:38 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Back to the Forest! Fwd: RE: forestry
	reference?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

>> Robin Hood, who used to stand triumphantly in the
>> thick branches of a mighty oak tree, seems now to be more likely skulking
>> through the brush, and I can't help but picture him vainly trying to hide
>> in the nest of branches at the top of a knobby old pollard!
>>
>> Morwyn / Linda

I hate to disillusion you further, but the earliest tales of Robin Hood
place him at Barnstable rather than in Sherwood.  To the north of Barnstable
there is a high hill which has a perfect view of the Great North Road for
about half a day's travel.  Rather than standing around in trees, Robin
could ramble to the top of the hill choose his future guests as they made
their way down the road and have plenty of time to prepare a proper welcome.
So much more dignified.

Bear

Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 15:41:02 -0700
From: James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Back to the Forest! Fwd: RE: forestry
	reference?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

At 15:06 -0600 2004-11-06, Terry Decker wrote:
> I hate to disillusion you further, but the earliest tales of Robin Hood
> place him at Barnstable rather than in Sherwood.  To the north of Barnstable
> there is a high hill which has a perfect view of the Great North Road for
> about half a day's travel.  Rather than standing around in trees, Robin
> could ramble to the top of the hill choose his future guests as they made
> their way down the road and have plenty of time to prepare a proper  
> welcome. So much more dignified.

To see the Great North Road from Barnstaple one must have very
good eyes indeed.  Barnstaple is in Devon.

I think you meant to say Barnsdale, through which Watling Street
passes.

Thorvald

<the end>

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