1860 - Bland, John Salkeld - Vale of Lyvenett (2)
| Allusion | |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1860 |
| Author | Bland, John Salkeld |
| Title | The Vale of Lyvenett: Its Picturesque Peeps and Legendary Lore |
| Mentions | Robin Hood's Grave [Crosby Ravensworth Fell, Westmorland] |
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-05-11. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-17.
Allusion
Robin Hood's Grave is an oblong mound, seven yards by three. It is situated at the bottom of a narrow rocky dell at the head of Crosby Gill, where the footpath from Orton to Crosby enters the woods, once the chase of Sir Lancelot Threlkeld. It is noticed by Mr. Sullivan in his "Cumberland and Westmorland," but he speaks of two heaps: this is, however, a mistake, there being only one. Of this mound he says "It was once customary for every person who went a-nutting in the wood, at the south end of which this heap is situated, to throw a stone on Robin's grave, repeating the following rhyme:—
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, here lie thy bones;
Load me with nuts as I load thee with stones."
Whoever was the original of the famous outlaw, and whether he was properly Robin of the Wood or Robin with the Hood, his name is now connected with mounds and stones innumerable in various parts of England, On [p. 16:] Ploverigg Edge are two large stones, known as Robin Hood's Chair and Punch Bowl; in short, too much popularity has converted him, according to the view of critical investigation, into a myth. Probably the well-known rhyme of schoolboy notoriety may be in allusion also to the famed outlaw of Sherwood Forest:—
Robin a Ree, Robin a Ree, if I let thee dee
Many sticks, many steanes be heaped o' my weary beanes
If I sud set Robin a Ree to dee:
This game is usually attendant on bonfires, near which, those joining the game stand in a row; the first then takes a fiery stick, and whirling it round and round repeats the rhyme, then handing it to the next, who repeats it, and so on till the stick dies out; the unfortunate individual, in whose hand this happens, is then at the mercy of the grimy sticks and wet sods of his companions.
Not far from Robin Hood's Grave is a spring known as "King's Well," which is supposed to bear its royal title from being visited by King Henry VII.; but of this we have no more reliable proof than we have that Robin Hood's remains lie beneath the mound, which, on being opened, was found to contain only an old sheep's skull.[1]
Source notes
IRHB's brackets. The MS was written in 1860 or perhaps a year or two later.[2] The work referred to in the cited passage is Sullivan, J. Cumberland & Westmorland, Ancient & Modern: The People, Dialect, Superstitions and Customs (London; Kendal, 1857). See further 1857 - Sullivan, Jeremiah - Cumberland and Westmorland (1).
Lists
- Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-11.
- Outside scope of Sussex, Lucy, compil. 'References to Robin Hood up to 1600', in: Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), pp. 262-88.
Editions
- Bland, John Salkeld; Parker, F. H. M, ed. The Vale of Lyvennet, its Picturesque Peeps and Legendary Lore: a Manuscript Book (Kendal, 1910); see pp. 15-16.
Also see
- Robin Hood's Grave (Crosby Ravensworth Fell)
- Robin Hood's Chair (Reagill)
- Robin Hood's Punch Bowl (Reagill)
- Crosby Ravensworth Fell place-name cluster
- Edge place-name cluster
- 1860 - Bland, John Salkeld - Vale of Lyvenett (1)
- 1857 - Sullivan, Jeremiah - Cumberland and Westmorland (1).
Notes
- ↑ Bland, John Salkeld; Parker, F. H. M, ed. The Vale of Lyvennet, its Picturesque Peeps and Legendary Lore: a Manuscript Book (Kendal, 1910), pp. 15-16.
- ↑ Bland, John Salkeld; Parker, F. H. M, ed. The Vale of Lyvennet, its Picturesque Peeps and Legendary Lore: a Manuscript Book (Kendal, 1910), p. iii.