Search results

The site of Robin Hood's Well. By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-01-19. Revised by … Includes information kindly provided by an anonymous contributor. A no longer existing Robin Hood's Well in Knutsford is first mentioned in 1847 and figures on maps published in 1882 and 1899. It was probably named after Robin Hood, a race horse belonging to a Matthew Miller. Henry Green in his Knutsford (see 1859 allusion below), tells us that over the well, presumably as an inscription or on a signboard, was the motto 'If Robin Hood be not at home | Stop and take a drink with little John'. Just beside the well was an enclosed mound and a stone on which the words 'Alas! poor Bob!' were engraved. On making enquiries, Green learned that the Robin Hood in question was a race horse which lay buried under the mound and that 'little John's drink' was strong ale rather than pure water. Perhaps unknown to Green, the motto over the well was a variant of a piece of verse that was inscribed near the …