Robin Hood's Grave (Kirklees Priory)

From International Robin Hood Bibliography
Revision as of 19:59, 5 April 2019 by Henryfunk (talk | contribs) (Text replacement - "|service=leaflet}}" to "|service=leaflet|enablefullscreen=yes}}")

Template:PnItemTop

Loading map...
Robin Hood's Grave.

[[File:|thumb|right|500px|Anonymous. Robin Hood's Grave ([s.l.], [s.d.]). Photo­graphic post­card (b./w.). 87 x 137 mm. / Private collection.]]

Nathaniel Johnston's drawing of Robin Hood's grave.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-06. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-04-05.

Situated in a wooded spot within Kirklees Park, c. 650 m. SW of Kirklees Priory gatehouse, in the grounds of the long gone Kirklees Priory, this is one of the most well known and important localities connected with Robin Hood. As noted under Kirklees Priory, traditions connecting Robin Hood with the priory go back at least to the late 15th century. It is possible that there was originally at Kirklees a grave in which a person named Robert Hood (or similar) was buried. If this was the case, the belief that this was the grave of the famous outlaw may have originated as an etiological myth, a myth of origins[1]. It does not seem anybody was ever buried under the existing monument, but it is likely the original grave was located elsewhere within the priory grounds.

The garland version of the ballad of Robin Hood's Death (c. 1767) includes the earliest version of the famous death scene where Robin Hood shoots an arrow at random, asking to be buried where it lands. Although the ballad does not say so, it was a widespread belief that the Gatehouse at Kirklees Priory was the scene of his death. Several other pairs of localities are connected in popular tradition through arrows shot by Robin Hood and/or Little John. See the page on Places connected by bowshot.


Template:PnItemQry

Gazetteers

Sources

Maps

Discussion

Drawings

  • Nathaniel Johnston's famous drawing of the slab formerly at Robin Hood's Grave is reproduced in most illustrated monographs on the Robin Hood tradition. The original is found in volume 16 of William Stukeley's MS Diary, among his papers in the Bodleian Library.[2]

Background

Brief mention

Template:PnItemAlsoSee

Notes


Template:ImgGalleryIntro


Template:PnItemNav