Many of these ballads still survive, but in all these
traditions it is quite impossible to disentangle fact from fiction.
traditions it is quite impossible to disentangle fact from fiction.
Keats
INTRODUCTION TO ROBIN HOOD.
Early in 1818 John Hamilton Reynolds, a friend of Keats, sent him two
sonnets which he had written 'On Robin Hood'. Keats, in his letter of
thanks, after giving an appreciation of Reynolds's production, says: 'In
return for your Dish of Filberts, I have gathered a few Catkins, I hope
they'll look pretty. ' Then follow these lines, entitled, 'To J. H. R. in
answer to his Robin Hood sonnets. ' At the end he writes: 'I hope you
will like them--they are at least written in the spirit of outlawry. '
Robin Hood, the outlaw, was a popular hero of the Middle Ages. He was a
great poacher of deer, brave, chivalrous, generous, full of fun, and
absolutely without respect for law and order. He robbed the rich to give
to the poor, and waged ceaseless war against the wealthy prelates of the
church. Indeed, of his endless practical jokes, the majority were played
upon sheriffs and bishops. He lived, with his 'merry men', in Sherwood
Forest, where a hollow tree, said to be his 'larder', is still shown.
Innumerable ballads telling of his exploits were composed, the first
reference to which is in the second edition of Langland's _Piers
Plowman_, c. 1377.
Many of these ballads still survive, but in all these
traditions it is quite impossible to disentangle fact from fiction.
NOTES ON ROBIN HOOD.
PAGE 133. l. 4. _pall. _ Cf. _Isabella_, l. 268.
l. 9. _fleeces_, the leaves of the forest, cut from them by the wind as
the wool is shorn from the sheep's back.
PAGE 134. l. 13. _ivory shrill_, the shrill sound of the ivory horn.
