I have recently up-dated my blog’s template, so I would like your opinions on it. I was pleased with its new look, but Geoff Waite contacted me and told me he is now unable to access my blog. A message comes up from Blogger Support advising him that there is a problem.
I am not sure if a change in the template is connected with this, so if any other of my readers has encountered this problem would you please let me know?
Thanks
Clement
An Interview with Avalon
Avalon has visited my blog several times and has recently allowed me to use some of her research on the American place-names that are linked with the legend of Robin Hood. I know that some of my regular readers were keen to know a little more about Avalon and her fascinating culture, so she has kindly let me reproduce part of an interview she had on the ‘Fly High’ blog run by Maria Grazia. This was posted on the 7th June and the full interview can be found at: http://flyhigh-by-learnonline.blogspot.com/
Avalon says:
“My family is from the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina, which is sovereign nation. I have a shop there but I live in North Georgia which is about 3 hours from our Cherokee home.
I am the mother of two little boys who are pow wow dancers and historical re-enactors, which means we get to travel frequently. We are enrolled members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. I have a degree in American History and work in Native American Preservation. I am also a volunteer genealogist and the owner of a quaint antique shop located in The Great Smoky Mountains. I have a very large close-knit family. My mother is an anthropologist, my father is a large animal veterinary, and I have five siblings, seven nieces and nephews, two great nieces, and over thirty cousins. I like to hike, river raft, and hang-glide. I also love reading and history. I am interested in the Medieval Era, America's Civil War, and Native American History. And I like Ben Barnes and Richard Armitage.
My parents are history fanatics and named each of us after an historical person or place. I was named for Avalon and Michelle for Michele De Nostredame. My brothers are Tsali (Cherokee Warrior) Lancelot (Arthurian), Aramis (Musketeer) Victorio (Apache Chief), Ottawa (Native Tribe) Capulet (Shakespeare's Juliet's last name). My sisters are Nazareth (biblical) Isis (Egyptian Goddess), and Scarlett (Gone with the Wind) Josephine (for Napoleon's Josephine). And yes everyone teases us.
I am in no way an expert of the legend of Robin Hood. I think I like it because I am a dreamer, silly-hearted as some has so amply put it. I love heroes; Robin Hood, King Arthur, Jesse James, Crazy Horse; small people who sacrificed themselves to stand up against powerful tyranny.
I think I studied the legend for so long because I want proof that he existed. Native people use oral stories to tell history and I would like to think that Europeans are not that much different than us and that the legends of King Arthur and the ballads of Robin Hood originated from truth. It is sad when I hear people say they are fables used to entertain children and it is even sadder when those same people exploit Native Lore.
I have seen probably seen every version of Hood and I did not approve of the 1992 version of Robin Hood (with Kevin Costner). I am excited about Robin Hood 2010 and hope to see it soon.”
Avalon’s blog is at: http://avalon-medieval.blogspot.com/
Thank you very much Avalon, for allowing me to share this. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Souvenir Programme from the Premier of Disney's Robin Hood
One of the most rewarding things about running this blog is hearing from my new readers and fellow enthusiasts of Disney’s Story of Robin Hood. So it was great to hear from Laurence last week, when he contacted me with this original copy of the lavish souvenir programme from the premiere of the film.
Laurence says:
“It has always been my favourite childhood film. I have collected film memorabilia for many years and do have a few pieces connected with the movie. (I have an original programme from the premiere, cover of which is attached.) I also used to draw quite a bit and send portraits off to get them signed and managed to get one or two actors from the Story of Robin Hood, when they were still with us. I also got to meet Richard Todd on one occasion in the early eighties.”
I will be posting some more fascinating items that Laurence has sent in, so stay tuned. If you have an interest in Disney’s Robin Hood or the legend that inspired it, please get in touch, I will be pleased to hear from you. Just email me at disneysrobin@gmail
In the meantime a special thanks to Laurence for sharing this very rare item with us.
King John and Newark Castle
Newark Castle
It was at Newark Castle, in Nottinghamshire on 18th (possibly 19th) October, 1216 that King John died of Dysentery, brought on by too much hard riding and over-eating. Six days earlier his baggage train, carrying his treasure and jewels, had been trapped in the quicksands crossing the old River Ouse. The wagons had lost their way in the autumn mist, got stuck in the whirlpools and were overwhelmed by a rush of 'waters retuning from the sea'. After this King John is said to have worsened his fever by supping too greedily on peaches and new cider, probably to try and drown his sorrows.
King John's Tower
One in particular states that Friar Tuck poisoned ‘the ‘evil' king in revenge for the murder of Maid Marian. Also that during the night a terrific thunderstorm was said to have swept over Sherwood Forest and was later described in it's ferocity as 'the Devil himself coming to claim King John's soul'.
I was very pleased to receive this latest instalment from Albie on his visit to Newark Castle. Albie has included once again some of his great pictures. This time of the surviving parts of Newark Castle and information on its amazing history:
"Originally this was the site of an Anglo-Saxon fortified manor house. A motte and bailey castle was erected shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066 replacing the house. The 1st stone castle was built by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln between 1125 and 1135. The castle was heavily modified during the next 500 years and eventually became more a palace than a fort in the late 1400’s.
It was heavily involved in the English Civil War between 1642 and 1646 and was garrisoned by Royalist troops loyal to King Charles I. Newark was strategically important as it stands on the River Trent and on the Great North Road (London-York-Edinburgh road) which passed in front of the gatehouse. The king visited several times during the Civil War and rode out from there in May 1646 to surrender to Scottish troops in nearby Southwell. The castle suffered badly after being laid siege to by Parliamentary soldiers. It was slighted after the war with just the curtain wall and gatehouse being left standing – the demolition would have been complete had not a worker been killed and destruction stopped as it was seen as a bad omen.
Norman Gatehouse
There are several dungeons and a vaulted under croft (hall) below the ground. These can be entered via the river walk but are only open on certain days of the year. The castle was renovated in the early 1980’s and rooms in the North West and King John’s towers can be accessed. There are no surviving drawings or paintings showing how the castle looked before its destruction took place.
Albie."
(Pictures taken - Saturday 29th May 2010)
Many thanks Albie!
Joan Rice at the Premier of Disney's Robin Hood
As many of you know, Horace was a press photographer who attended the premier of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men at the Leicester Square Theatre on Thursday 13th March 1952. He explained that this stunning photograph was taken with an Ilford Glass Plate and a Philips Flashbulb.
The Whistling Arrows were sent a slightly different version of this photograph after winning the blog competition a year ago. But this picture of beautiful Joan Rice (Maid Marian) posing for the world’s press, reveals more detail of the amazing display in the theatre.
Patrick Bergin as Robin Hood
Patrick Bergin played the part of Sir Robert Hode, Earl of Huntington along with Uma Thurman as Maid Marian in the 20th Century-Fox movie, Robin Hood which was released in 1991. But it has almost been relegated to obscurity due to the hype that surrounded Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which was released by Warner Brothers in the same year. Bergin was also sadly overlooked in my recent Robin Hood Poll, so for WoodsyLadyM and others here are a couple of stills from this excellent movie, hopefully to help compensate.
I have watched this movie several times and thoroughly enjoyed it. Many film critics have described it as ‘the most historically authentic screen interpretation,’ and with Professor James Holt acting as historical advisor, how could it be anything else? Holt is former president of the Royal Historical Society, Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at Cambridge, an expert on the reign of King John and the Magna Carta and wrote, without doubt, the best book on the historical search for a ‘real’ Robin Hood. I shall certainly give this film some more attention in the future!
Old Friends
Mike has recently sent me a rather heartwarming account of how Walt Disney’s motion picture the ‘Story of Robin Hood,’ helped him get through the trauma of moving to new surroundings:
“Hi Clement,
I thought I would tell you how the film helped me. Back in 1958 living in Plaistow, East London, an old EastEnders type house is all I knew, we were happy there, my brother, Mum and step dad. All at once life changed, Mum was given notice to quit the house after living there for 32 years, I was 17, and a non driver (still am). We searched and searched but had no luck in finding a new home, so we tried for an exchange to Basildon, Essex. To me at that time it was deep in the country. So it happened I had to leave my friends and my familiar surroundings, places I had known all my life.
Basildon then was a new town; there was nothing as far as entertainment goes not even a cinema at that time. I soon became unhappy but just struggled on, I missed Wanstead Park where we played at Robin Hood years earlier, all my memories were back there in Plaistow, and Basildon had none. One day in the local paper I saw the magic words “The Story of Robin Hood," it was showing at nearby Stanford Le Hope, it was a summer’s day when I caught the train and arrived two hours before the film started, I was excited to see it after what were quite a few years. No videos then of course, I walked the town streets trying to kill time, eventually I got in the cinema.
It was wonderful, like all my old friends were back, as fresh and colourful as ever, I felt so much better, and although my life had changed it made me realize that no matter where you are, you can still enjoy the things you love, things got better for me from then on and I thank our film for that, it was the turning point for me. And now all these years later it is shining brighter than ever, thanks in no small part to you my friend and Neil of course.
Best regards, Mike.”
When I asked Mike if he minded me posting his letter, he replied:
“ Go ahead by all means, I too would like to see how our film as affected others lives, there’s a sadness there as well , knowing that these people who gave us and continue to give us pleasure are no longer around, they live in our hearts and minds, that 90 minutes or so is kind of our Holy Grail.”
Many thanks Mike for sharing this with us. I’m sure we all agree with those sentiments. If you have fond memories of seeing any Robin Hood productions like this, please get in touch at: disneysrobin@googlemail.com
Who Was Your Favourite Robin Hood?
This is the result of a poll that I have had sitting on my blog for a couple of years now. As Russell Crowe is now a contender, since the release of his new film, I thought I would finally remove it and perhaps run a similar poll in the future. What do you think of the final outcome?
The 'Carps' and the Ghosts
Albie is lucky enough to live, in what is known as ‘Robin Hood Country’-Nottinghamshire. He has recently provided some stunning pictures of Sherwood Forest which were very popular with my readers. This time Albie has very kindly sent in a fascinating history of two of his local taverns in the Nottinghamshire village of Walesby, The Carpenters Arms and The Red Lion.
"The old and new pictures show the Carpenters Arms public house in Walesby. The older picture was taken in the early years of the 20th century and was copied from one of a series of post cards popular in that era. The pub was built in 1830 and is currently owned by the Everard’s brewery of Leicester. The interior has been re-styled over the years with the accommodation for the landlord now being upstairs, previously being downstairs around the current fireplace on the right of the building.
The man standing at the top of the stairs was possibly the landlord at the time. The cottage to the right (furthest cottage) was the original Methodist chapel in the village. It is known that the son of the founder of Methodism, Charles Wesley, preached there, and possibly Charles himself. The chapel now forms part of the house living area. The house in the right foreground is of a similar date (1770’s) or slightly later. Behind the pub, but obscured by it, near the top of the hill was the bakery which is also from the same era.
The Carpenters is not the only pub in the village, the other being the Red Lion situated 400 yards down Main Street, which starts where the now demolished cottage is to the left of the pictures. The Lion has a large portion of the building dating to some 400 years ago and is near the heart of the old village.
Although only 180 years old at the time of writing, the Carps (as it is known locally) main claim to fame is its resident ghosts. The most seen one is that of the Grey Lady. She has been seen by many people (including this author!) and wears a Victorian style bonnet and long dress. Often seen upstairs in the landlords apartment, she has also been seen by regulars in the bar area. It is unknown who she was but is a ‘friendly’ ghost. A second ‘visitor’ is a gentleman wearing tweed clothing with a red complexion. He is thought to be a former landlord who was accidentally killed when a shot gun went off in his kitchen area, in front of the fireplace in the current bar area. This happened in 1947.
A third reported ghost is to be found in the cellar situated below the steps where the landlord stands in the old picture. The cellar is low, cramped and eerie as there is no natural light. A rumour persists that a previous landlord hung himself down there but no proof of this exists. The stories could have more to do with the fact the pub is built on an old crossroads. In medieval times, criminals were hanged and executed at crossroads outside of inhabited areas (the old village centre being 400 yards away at that time). Once dead, the bodies would be buried at the crossroad so their spirits would not know which way to wander and hence enter the village to haunt the locals! It is likely this crossroad was used for such purposes in the distant past.
Another legend of a 4th spectre is that of the White Lady. She reputedly walks from Rufford Abbey into Edwinstowe. There she turns right and heads towards the current junction of the A614 and the A616 Sheffield – Newark road and onwards to the carps at Walesby. She then turns back to return to Rufford, thus completing a triangle of around 12 miles distance in total. Theory is she was a lover of a monk from the Abbey (dissolved with the other entire Abbeys by Henry VIII in the 1540’s). Why she would come from Edwinstowe to Walesby is confusing but when the Abbey was shut down by Henry, one of the monks from there became the vicar of St Edmunds Church in Walesby. No one has seen this ghost for a number of years.”
I recently asked Albie where he saw ‘The White Lady?’
“I saw the ghost whilst sitting at the bar one evening. I'd only just sat down and when I looked up something caught my eye. This grey figure glided from the right of the bar from the eating area and dissolved by the front door. I have also seen another figure sat on one of the bench seats inside which stayed a few moments before fading away. A number of times items on the back of the bar have either moved or flown across the serving area - a pen did so when I was there when no one was stood anywhere near the bar. Nothing malevolent, just strange things and I can add that a previous landlord saw the ‘Grey Lady’ and ‘Tweed Man’ standing at the foot of the accommodation stairs together. His father also the Grey Lady but never said anything about. When he did (rather sheepishly) his son said, 'yeah many have see it, you are not on your own'.
Terry (father) was a university lecturer so a fairly sober and learned man. Take this one with a pinch of salt, the current landlords partner (who is from Thailand) has both seen and talked to the Grey Lady. She apparently came and sat down at the end of her bed and talked with his partner.
Not so sure how valid the last story is (though Neil, our current mine host says it is true and he is not one for telling tall stories) but the others are!”
Albie-May 2010
Albie has very kindly sent in more details about the local history and countryside around Sherwood and Nottinghamshire, which I will post very soon.
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