1854 - Roby, John - Literary and Poetical Remains (1)
| Allusion | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1854 |
| Author | Roby, John |
| Title | The Literary and Poetical Remains of John Roby, Author of "Traditions of Lancashire": with a Sketch of His Life and Character |
| Mentions | Robin Hood's Bed (Blackstone Edge); Robin Hood's Quoit (Monston Edge) |
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-02-14. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-07.
Allusion
"Be of good cheer," said the lover; "there be troubles enow, believe me, without building them up out of our own silly fears—like boys with their snow hobgoblins, terrible enough in the twilight of fancy, but a gleam of sunshine will melt and disspiate them. Thou art sad to-night without reason. Imaginary fears are the worst to cope [p. 251:] withal; having nor shape nor substance, we cannot combat with them. 'Tis hard, indeed, fighting with shadows."
"I cannot smile to-night, Gervase; there's a mountain here—a foreboding of some deadly sort. I might as soon lift 'Robin Hood's Bed,' yonder, as remove it."
"No more of this, my dearest Grace; at least, not now. Let us enjoy this bright and sunny landscape. How sharply cut are those crags, yonder, on the sky. Blackston-edge looks almost within a stride, or at least a good stone's throw. Thou knowest the old legend of Robin Hood; how that he made yonder rocks his dormitory, and by way of amusement pitched or coited huge stones at a mark on the hill just above us, being some four or five miles from his station. It is still visible along with several stones lying near, and which are evidently from the same rock as that on which it is said he slept."
"I've hard such silly tales often. Nurse had many of these old stories wherewith to beguile us o'winter nights. She used to tell, too, about Eleanor Byron, who loved a fay or elf, and went to meet him at the fairies' chapel away yonder where Spodden gushes through its rocky cleft,—'tis a fearful story—and how she was delivered from the spell. I sometimes think on't till my very flesh creeps, and I could almost fancy that such an invisible thing is about me."
With such converse did they beguile their evening talk, ever and anon making the subject bend to the burden of their own sweet ditty of mutual unchanging love![1]
Source notes
IRHB's brackets. Italics as in printed source. The passage occurs in Roby's retelling of 'Mother Red Cap'.
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.
Sources
- Roby, John; [Trestrail, Elizabeth Ryland Dent], introd. The Literary and Poetical Remains of John Roby, Author of "Traditions of Lancashire": with a Sketch of His Life and Character (London, 1854), pp. 250-51
- Roby, John. Traditions of Lancashire (London, 1867); not seen
- Roby, John. Traditions of Lancashire (London; Manchester, 1872), vol. II, p. 348
- Roby, John. Traditions of Lancashire (London; Edinburgh, 1879); not seen
- Roby, John. Traditions of Lancashire (Manchester, [189?]); not seen
- Roby, John; Milner, George, introd. Traditions of Lancashire (Manchester, [1906]); not seen
Background
Also see
- Robin Hood's Bed (Blackstone Edge)
- Robin Hood's Quoit (Monston Edge)
- 1829 - Roby, John - Traditions of Lancashire (1)
- 1829 - Roby, John - Traditions of Lancashire (2)
- 1831 - Roby, John - Traditions of Lancashire, Second Series (1)
- 1831 - Roby, John - Traditions of Lancashire, Second Series (2)
- 1831 - Roby, John - Traditions of Lancashire, Second Series (3)
- 1831 - Roby, John - Traditions of Lancashire, Second Series (4)
- 1854 - Roby, John - Literary and Poetical Remains (2).
Notes