Robin hood how old is the legend

However, the Tudor writer Richard Grafton thought that the prioress had interred Robin by the side of the road:. And upon his grave the sayde prioresse did lay a very fayre stone, wherein the names of Robert Hood, William of Goldesborough, and others were graven. And the cause why she buryed him there was, for that the common strangers and travailers, knowyng and seeyng him there buryed, might more safely and without feare take their jorneys that way, which they durst not do in the life of the sayd outlawes.

Robin Hood could have been buried in a grave that already contained other bodies, but if the monument was erected shortly after his death whenever that was , it is curious that there is no mention of it before about Kirklees Priory came into the possession of the Armitage family following the Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, and in the 18th century Sir Samuel Armitage had the ground beneath the stone excavated to a depth of three feet.

His main fear was that grave robbers had been there before him, but in fact the real problem was the lack of a grave to rob. The stone was regularly attacked by souvenir hunters and by others who believed that pieces of it could cure toothache. The Armitages subsequently enclosed the site within a low brick wall topped by iron railings, the remains of which are still visible today. Of these, Little John is undoubtedly the most prominent, but there are almost as many references to Little Johns — or John Littles — in contemporary documents as there are to Robin Hoods.

The historical John is as elusive as his master, but what is alleged to be his grave in Hathersage churchyard in Derbyshire is not without interest. The lack of precise information is frustrating, but we should always remember that we are here dealing with popular literature, not with documents intended to record facts. Sign in. However, his gravestone is the apex stone of the old church tower, and whether there is a grave underneath is a matter of conjecture.

Robin has always changed with the times, but the one thing that never alters is the fact that he is linked to the gently rolling countryside and ancient woodland of Nottinghamshire — although Yorkshire and Lancashire occasionally try to claim him as their own.

This can partly be explained by the fact that the Royal Forest of Sherwood once stretched as far north as the border with South Yorkshire.

However, over the past years or so large tracts of forest and heath have given way to urban development — although there has always been villages, and even towns, within the forest.

It can be difficult for us today to comprehend the concept of a royal forest. The term simply refers to the fact that the hunting rights belonged to the crown — the forest itself was never an unbroken swathe of trees. They are as bound to the present — in the form of tourist revenue — as they are to the past.

The Merry Men are a group of outlaws who followed Robin Hood in folklore legends. They make an appearance in early ballads and Robin and his men are always depicted in clothes of Lincoln green, a shade so-called because the dyers of Lincoln produced a distinctive verdant cloth by colouring it with woad to give it a blue hue, then overdyeing it yellow with weld. The stories of Robin Hood are believed to be so loved through the centuries because they are constantly adapted to the tastes of the times.

The size of the band of merry men varies from a small group of around five to strong, according to the telling. Compete in a Golden Arrow competition and fight Little John on the bridge with a quarterstaff in our digital interactive games.

Contact us. The Legend of Robin Hood. A rebel. A revolutionary. An icon. But what is the story under the hood?