19th Century… Playing Robin Hood in the Victorian Nursery 21 Jun 202021 Jun 2020 By Stephen Basdeo Thomas Rowland argues that for most of the “mythic” outlaw’s history, “Robin was much more a character of ludic texts, of play games and festival culture, than…
1381… “The Life and Death of Jacke Straw” (1593) 17 May 202017 May 2020 By Stephen Basdeo The following is an excerpt from my book: The Life and Legend of a Rebel Leader: Wat Tyler (2018). It is available to buy from the publisher…
14th Century… Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough and William of Cloudeslie 20 Feb 2020 By Stephen Basdeo Stories of Robin Hood have been popular since at least the late fourteenth century, as we know from William Langland’s Vision of Piers Plowman (c.1377). However, around…
20th Century… “Like a faint echo from the Middle Ages”: George Orwell’s Time among the Tramps 18 Feb 202018 Feb 2020 By Stephen Basdeo It was the roaring 1920s. After the carnage of the Great War (1914–18), it truly seemed as if Britain was changing for the better in some respects.…
15th Century… Joseph Ritson’s Discovery of “Robin Hood and the Monk” (1465) 28 Jan 2020 By Stephen Basdeo While researching my book, Discovering Robin Hood: The Life of Joseph Ritson: Gentleman, Scholar, and Revolutionary, I came across some fascinating information. I give below a snippet…
18th century… The Working Man’s Robin Hood: The Writings of Allan Cunningham (1784–1842) 24 Jan 202024 Jan 2020 By Stephen Basdeo In 1832, the publisher Charles Knight had a bright idea: every Saturday he would publish a new magazine which whose aim was to educate working-class readers about…
