18th century… Joseph Ritson (1752-1803) 5 Feb 2016 One of the more interesting characters that I have come across in the course of my research is the antiquarian, Joseph Ritson (1752-1803). Ritson was born in Stockton-on-Tees northern England.…
17th century… John Dryden’s “A Ballad of Bold Robin Hood, Shewing his Birth, Breeding, and Valour” 20 Dec 2015 But see where artful Dryden next appears, Grown old in rhyme, but charming ev’n in years, Great Dryden next, whose tuneful muse affords The sweetest numbers, and the fittest words.…
18th century… Dick Turpin (1705-1739) 1 Nov 20151 Nov 2015 Dick Turpin (1705-1739) is perhaps the most famous highwayman in English history after Robin Hood (fl. 12th-13th centuries). He is remembered today as a heavily romanticised noble, gallant figure, having…
18th century… The Birth of Robin Hood 29 Oct 201529 Oct 2015 The ballad The Birth of Robin Hood is of uncertain date, and never appeared in Joseph Ritson’s influential Robin Hood: A Collection of all the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads…
16th Century… Female Highwaymen 18 Oct 201518 Oct 2015 Highway robbery is predominantly thought of as a male-gendered crime, and it is true that the vast majority of those found in the dock at the Old Bailey in eighteenth-century…
15th Century… Recidivism in “A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode” (c.1450)? 4 Sep 20154 Sep 2015 Recidivism is one of the most fundamental concepts in criminal justice. It refers to a person's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for…
