Robin Hood Hay (Agden)

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Agden, the township in which Robin Hood Hay was located

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-01-16. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-07-12.

Somewhere in the township of Agden, Cheshire, was a field named 'Robin Hood Hay' according to John McNeal Dodgson. He does not cite any etymology for 'Hay', but this would seem more likely to be OE (ge)hæg, 'enclosure', or OE hege ('a hedge, a fence) than hēg, 'hay, mowing grass', since the latter is almost exclusively found as the first element of compound names. This field-name is recorded in a tithe award dated either 1839 or 1848. I have consulted the tithe awards for several townships in the area that are available at the Genealogist – Agden, Bowdon, Rostherne, Bollington, and High Leigh – without finding the entry on Robin Hood Hay. However, this does not necessarily mean that Dodgson's source reference is incorrect. The records available at the Genealogist are mainly tithe apportionments and accompanying maps. The work of a tithe commission tended to generate several other types of records some of which may have been included in the tithe award used by Dodgson and his collaborators. Pending further research, I have indicated the coordinates of Agden (53.368470,-2.429242) for this field-name.

As of January 2017, Robin Hood Hay does not seem to be mentioned elsewhere on the World Wide Web.

Gazetteers

• Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-311.

Sources

• Dodgson, John McN.; Rumble, Alexander R. The Place-Names of Cheshire, pts. I-V (English Place-Name Society, vols. XLIV-XLVIII, LIV, LXXIV) (Cambridge, 1970-72; [s.l.], 1981; Nottingham, 1997), vol. II, p. 43; also see vol. V, pt. 1:ii, p. 401.

Background

• The Genealogist.

Notes