Robin Hood's Stone (Barnsdale)
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-07. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-04-05.
Recorded already in 1422, Robin Hood's Stone is located in or very near Barnsdale. Dobson & Taylor[1] followed Hunter[2] and Walker[3] in concluding that this was on the site of Robin Hood's Well. i.e. the well-spring, not the well house which was moved a little to the south-east in the early 1960's. As Holt[4] argued, the record evidence suggests a locality somewhere to the west of the Great North Road and north of the well but probably not very far from it. As noted by David Hepworth,[5] it is possible that the "stone of Robert Hode", which in the 1422 Evidence below is cited as a boundary marker, was simply named after the owner of the land on which it stood. This landowner may have been a peaceful and law abiding citizen, and his stone may then later have been reinterpreted as a memento of the famous outlaw. No such historical Robert Hood is known to have owned land in the area, but David Hepworth points to the existence of persons surnamed Od in the area in the late 14th century. However, stones carrying the full name of the owner of the land on which they stood do not seem to be at all common. The volumes of the English Place-Name Society published from the 1960's on include many field names; I do not recall ever seeing any other such name in them than the stone of Robert Hode. The position of the stone of Robert Hode can hardly be established with precision from the data in the 1422 record cited belowr, but it seems clear that all the land in question lay to the west of the Great North Road, and the stone does not appear to have been situated between the acres, but more probably just east of them, i.e. very close to the road. If accepted, this would suggest a position quite close to Robin Hood's Well. Template:PnItemQry
Gazetteers
- Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), p. 310, s.n. "Robin Hood's Well" (Doncaster).
- 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, p. 264.
Discussion
- Dobson, R.B.; Taylor, J. 'The Medieval Origins of the Robin Hood Legend: a Reassessment', Northern History, vol. 7 (1972), pp. 1-30, p. 19.
- Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 23-24.
- Hepworth, David. 'Life versus Fiction: A Consideration of Real Northern Outlaws and their Background versus the Early Ballads of Robin Hood' (unpublished paper from the Third Biannual Robin Hood Conference at York, 2003). Unpublished paper.
- Holt, J.C. Robin Hood (London, 1982), pp. 102-103.
- Hunter, Joseph. The Great Hero of the Ancient Minstrelsy of England, "Robin Hood." His Period, Real Character, etc. investigated and perhaps ascertained (Critical and Historical Tracts, No. 4) (London, 1852), pp. 60-61.
- Smith, A.H. 'Robin Hood', Modern Language Review, vol. 28 (1933), pp. 484-85.
- Smith, A.H. The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire (English Place-Name Society, vols. XXX-XXXVII) (Cambridge, 1961-63), pt. II, p. 36.
Notes
- ↑ Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 23-24.
- ↑ Hunter, Joseph. The Great Hero of the Ancient Minstrelsy of England, "Robin Hood." His Period, Real Character, etc. investigated and perhaps ascertained (Critical and Historical Tracts, No. 4) (London, 1852), pp. 60-61.
- ↑ Walker, J. W., ed., Abstracts of the Chartularies of the Priory of Monkbretton (Yorkshire Archæological Society, Record Series, vol. LXVI) (1924).
- ↑ Holt, J.C. Robin Hood (London, 1982), pp. 102-103.
- ↑ Hepworth, David. 'Life versus Fiction: A Consideration of Real Northern Outlaws and their Background versus the Early Ballads of Robin Hood' (unpublished paper from the Third Biannual Robin Hood Conference at York, 2003). Unpublished paper.