Robin Hood's Penny Stone (Wainstalls)
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-30. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-12-18.
Robin Hood's Penny Stone was a now vanished logan or rocking stone situated a few meters to the west of Lumb Lane in Wainstalls. It is indicated in black letter — which means the object itself was no longer there — on a 6" O.S. map of the area published in 1852 but surveyed 1847-49.[1] A.H. Smith,[2] followed by Dobson & Taylor,[3] seems to have been led by Watson's mentioning "the road leading to the village of Luddenden" in the 1775 Allusion into believing that the Robin Hood's Penny Stone concerned there is that on Midgley Moor. The distance between the two can only have been about 3 km, yet it is clear that the rock Watson was discussing must have been that near Wainstalls. The cut he prints — shown below — clearly does not show the Midgley Moor stone. Under the heading of "Warley", Watson discusses "what the country people call the Rocking-stone", which is situated on "a common called Saltonstall-moor".[4] "Saltonstall-moor" was at the southern end of what is now known as Warley Moor, where the Rocking Stone is located.[5] When Watson saw Robin Hood's Penny Stone "[s]oon after I had left the moor, on the right side of the road leading to the village of Luddenden" (1775 Allusion), this must therefore be at Wainstalls, which is close both to Saltonstall Moor and to a road that leads to Luddenden, the nearest village, 2.5 km to the south measured as the crow flies. Referring to Watson, Crossland noted in 1902 that "Robin Hood's Penny Stone, formerly at Wainstalls, has been broken up and removed".[6] He thus takes for granted that the rock mentioned by Watson was that at Wainstalls.
In 1836, John Crabtree published under his own name a book that is a somewhat condensed and modernized paraphrase of Watson (see 1836 Allusion). This sad example of plagiarism deserves to be ignored completely, but it does add this interesting tidbit about the penny stone: "Report says that it was surrounded with a circle, but a few years ago this relic of antiquity was broken up for building purposes".[7] I believe "this relic of antiquity" refers to the entire complex of rocking stone and base plus surrounding stone circle rather than just the latter, but this is of course not certain.
F.W. Fairholt's woodcut (reproduced below) from J.M. Gutch's 1847 collection of Robin Hood ballads purports to show "Robin Hood's Penny-stone, near Halifax".[8] It obviously does not show the same stone as the illustration in Watson 1775 (also preproduced below), while the other Robin Hood's Penny Stone is a big boulder, which if anything looks even less like the pillar in Fairholt's woodcut. I think this little mystery dissolves when one takes a look at the other illustrations Fairholt produced for Gutch's book. Several of them bear only the most general resemblance to the obejcts they purport to depict. Someone must have decided that any stone, well, grave etc. would do.
Allusions
Gazetteers
- Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 309-10.
Sources
- Bennett, Paul. The Old Stones of Elmet (Milverton, Somerset, 2001). Not seen; cf. Northern Antiquarian website (see below).
- Crabtree, John. A Concise History of the Parish and Vicarage of Halifax, in the County of York (Halifax: London, 1836), p. 28.
- Crossland, C. 'Some Place Names in the Parish of Halifax, Considered in relation to surrounding Natural Features', Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, part IV (June 1902), pp. 3-23.
- Faull, M. L., ed; Moorhouse, S. A., ed. West Yorkshire, an Archaeological Survey to A.D. 1500 (Wakefield, 1981). Not seen; cf. Northern Antiquarian website (see below).
- Northern Antiquarian: Robin Hood’s Penny Stone, Wainstalls, West Yorkshire.
- PastScape: Robin Hood's Penny Stone.
- Smith, A.H. The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire (English Place-Name Society, vols. XXX-XXXVII) (Cambridge, 1961-63), pt. III, pp. 129, 135.
- Varley, Raymond, 'A Stone-Axe Hammer, Robin Hood’s Penny Stone and Stone Circle at Wainstalls, Warley, near Halifax', Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, vol. 69 (1997), pp. 16-20. Not seen; cf. Northern Antiquarian website (see above).
- Watson, John. The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Halifax, in Yorkshire (London, 1775), pp. 26, 27, and plate between pp. 18 and 19.
Maps
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire Sheet 215 (1852, surveyed 1847-49) (at NLS); "Robin Hood's Penny Stone" indicated in Black Letter.
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire Sheet CCXV.SE (1894, surveyed 1892) (at NLS)] "Robin Hood's Penny Stone (Site of)".
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire Sheet CCXV.SE (1908, surveyed 1905) (at NLS)] "Robin Hood's Penny Stone (Site of)".
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire Sheet CCXV.SE (1934, revised 1934) (at NLS)] "Robin Hood's Penny Stone (Site of)".
- [6" O.S. map Yorkshire Sheet CCXV.SE (1949, revised 1948) (at NLS)] "Robin Hood's Penny Stone (Site of)".
Also see
- Standing Stone (Sowerby)
- Places named Robin Hood's Penny Stone
- Robin Hood's Penny Stone (Midgley Moor).
Notes
- ↑ 6" O.S. map Yorkshire Sheet 215 (1852, surveyed 1847-49) (at NLS). Also see Northern Antiquarian: Robin Hood’s Penny Stone, Wainstalls, West Yorkshire.
- ↑ Smith, A.H. The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire (English Place-Name Society, vols. XXX-XXXVII) (Cambridge, 1961-63), pt. III, pp. 129, 135.
- ↑ Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 309-10.
- ↑ Watson, John. The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Halifax, in Yorkshire (London, 1775), p. 26; for these place-names, see Smith. op. cit., pt. III, pp. 125, 129.
- ↑ It is clearly indicated on the 1852 6" map.
- ↑ Crossland, C. 'Some Place Names in the Parish of Halifax, Considered in relation to surrounding Natural Features', Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, part IV (June 1902), pp. 3-23.
- ↑ Crabtree, John. A Concise History of the Parish and Vicarage of Halifax, in the County of York (Halifax: London, 1836), p. 28.
- ↑ Gutch, John Mathew, ed. A Lytell Geste of Robin Hode, with Other Ancient & Modern Ballads and Songs relating to this Celebrated Yeoman (London, 1847), vol. II, p. 301, and see list ibid., p. v.