Robin Hood

Robin Hood, legendary English hero, whose name first appears in Piers Plowman (1377). He typifies the chivalrous outlaw, champion of the poor against the tyranny of the rich. It is impossible to identify him with any historical personage, though Anthony Munday made him the exiled Earl of Huntingdon. Since he is always dressed in green he may be a survival of the Wood-man, or Jack-in-the-Green, of the early pagan folk festivals, or he may have been imported by minstrels from France. By the end of the 15th century he and his familiar retinue of Maid Marian, Little John, Friar Tuck and the Merry Men, with their hobby horse and morris dance, were inseparable from the May-Day revels, and the protagonists of many rustic dramas. These, however, cannot be considered folk plays, as were the mumming play and the Plough Monday Play, since they were specially written by minstrels. In due course, the May-Day festivities found their way to Court, where they became mixed up with allegory and pseudo-classicism: Henry VIII, in particular, enjoyed many splendid Mayings, including one in which he was entertained by Robin Hood to venison in a bower. After that their popularity waned, and they were finally suppressed by the Puritans. The story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men became a favourite subject for 19th- and 20th-century Christmas pantomime.