Robin Hood's Scar (Southowram)
[[File:|500px|thumbnail||right|Strollers in Elland Park Wood, early 1900's postcard / Scanned by David Greaves for Malcolm Bull's Calderdale Companion.]]
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-30. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-02-21.
Robin Hood's Scar (or Robin Hood Scar) was situated at the top of Elland Park Wood, a wooded slope by the Calder in Southowram. It was evidently an area of exposed rock that stood out in an otherwise densely wooded area. This place-name has not, to my knowledge, been noted in previous studies. It is first mentioned in James Bolton's classic 1788 work on fungi in the Halifax area,[1] which in turn is cited in a few other works on fungi. In 1797 appeared a German translation of Bolton's work,[2] which together with translations of the works of Shakespeare is very likely among the earliest works in German to mention the name Robin Hood. However, apart from works on fungi, the only later source currently known to mention Robin Hood's Scar is an article on Halifax place-names from 1902,[3] from which I think a reader with first hand knowledge of Elland Park Wood may well be able to determine exactly to which natural feature or area the name referred.
Allusions
1788 - Bolton, James - History of Fungusses growing about Halifax
It [sc. woolly boletus] is a rare plant here. The specimen from which this description and these figures are taken, grew in Robin Hood's Scar, in Southowram, near Halifax, in September, 1784.[4]
Quotations
[1902:]
CROMWELL BOTTOM
The crom in Cromwell Bottom refers to the winding course of the Calder as it passes through that locality. The Celts had "crwm" (krumb, German) and the Saxons "crumb," both signifying crooked or winding. Anyone standing on Robin Hood Scar at the top of Elland Park Wood, and looking down on the Calder, will see that it answers perfectly to this term in that part of its course. It is quite serpentine. "Well" may be a corrupt form of Celtic pwl = a pool. Bottom applies to the valley. The local pronunciation is Crum-il Botham.[3]
Gazetteers
- 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.
Sources
- Bolton, James. An History of Fungusses, Growing about Halifax (Halifax; London; Oxford; Cambridge; York; Edinburgh; Huddersfield; Leeds, 1788-91), p. 87 and plate 87.
- Bolton, Jacob; Willdenow, Carl Ludwig, transl. Jacob Boltons Geschichte der Merkwürdigsten Pilze (Berlin, 1797), p. 65.
- 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, p. 19.
Maps
- 1:25,000 O.S. map SE12 (1955); Elland Wood Park left of centre; Robin Hood's Scar not indicated.
Brief mention
- Crump, William B.; Crossland, Charles. The Flora of the Parish of Halifax ([Halifax], 1904), p. 266.
- Massee, G.; Crossland, C. The Fungus Flora of Yorkshire. A Complete Account of the known Fungi of the County (London; Hull; York, 1905), p. 151.
Notes
- ↑ Bolton, James. An History of Fungusses, Growing about Halifax (Halifax; London; Oxford; Cambridge; York; Edinburgh; Huddersfield; Leeds, 1788-91), p. 87.
- ↑ Bolton, Jacob; Willdenow, Carl Ludwig, transl. Jacob Boltons Geschichte der Merkwürdigsten Pilze (Berlin, 1797), p. 65.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 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, p. 19.
- ↑ Bolton, James. An History of Fungusses, Growing about Halifax (Halifax; London; Oxford; Cambridge; York; Edinburgh; Huddersfield; Leeds, 1788-91), p. 87; and see plate 87.
Strollers in Elland Park Wood, early 1900's postcard / Scanned by David Greaves for Malcolm Bull's Calderdale Companion.
Elland Park Wood in the background, from across the Calder / Humphrey Bolton, Geograph, Creative Commons.)
Elland Park Wood seen from Park Nook / Richard Kay)