12. Caught Red Handed

But further down the forest road another group of foresters were dragging and beating a captive towards the Sheriff.

“Another poacher?” He asked.

“Caught red handed, sire, shooting the king’s fallow deer.” The head forester boasted.

“I had no other meat,” Will Stutely said simply. “To pay the tax to graze my swine, I sold my calf. For the tax to build a sheepfold I sacrificed my pigs. And when you foresters ate me out of house and home, while taxing me for gathering hazel nuts, I fared into the forest and killed a deer…..”

The head forester pulled out a knife, “shall I give him his ears to eat?”

“Nay,” said the Sheriff, “use your knife on the deer. Bring me the hide to Nottingham and this carrion with it.”

Alfred Noyes: Sherwood

O.K. Time for a bit of self indulgence! My Favourite Robin Hood painting by Edmund George Warren in 1858, with my favourite Robin Hood poem by Alfred Noyes (1880-1959) and my favourite Robin Hood film stars!


A SONG OF SHERWOOD

Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake?
Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake,
Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn,
Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn.

Robin Hood is here again: all his merry thieves
Hear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves,
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

All the gnarled old thorn-trees are blossom-white for June.
All the elves that Marian knew were here beneath the moon –
Younger than the wild thyme, older than the trees,
Lob and Mab and Bramblescratch, on their unbridled bees.

Oaken-hearted England is waking as of old,
With eyes of blither hazel and hair of brighter gold:
For Robin Hood is here again beneath the bursting spray
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Love is in the greenwood building him a house
Of wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs:
Love is in the greenwood, dawn is in the skies,
And Marian is waiting with her laughter-loving eyes.

Hark! The dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep!
Marian is waiting: is Robin Hood asleep?
Where the last dark arrow fell, the white scuts flash away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Oberon, Oberon, the hazel copses ring,
Time to hush the night-jar and let the throstle sing,
Time to let the blackbird lift a bonny head,
And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.

Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down together
With quarter-staff and drinking-can and grey goose feather.
The dead are coming back again; the years are rolled away
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows.
All the heart of England hid in every rose
Hears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?

Hark, the voice of England wakes him as of old
And, shattering the silence with a cry of brighter gold,
Bugles in the greenwood echo from the steep,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?

Where the deer are gliding, down the shadowy glen,
All across the glades of fern he calls his merry men –
Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the may
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day –

Calls them and they answer: from aisles of oak and ash
Rings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash,
The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly,
And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by.

Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves
Answer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves,
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Your Review

The recent article was a review in the New York Times of the movie in 1952.

What I would like is a review of this Blog. Up until today there have been 260 visits from people all over the world. So what do you think of this Blog? Have you ever seen the movie? Would you like to see the DVD on worldwide release? Do you like reading the historical facts?

Please let me know in the comment section below.

New York Times Review

New York Times, June 27, 1952

"In presenting his latest picture package at the Criterion—a trio including the feature, The Story of Robin Hood ; the newest entry in the True-Life Adventure series, "Water Birds," and the cartoon short, "The Little House"—Walt Disney is again proving that his organization can provide the variety that is the spice of entertainment. Equally important is the fact that this film tryptych is likely to meet with the tastes of a variety of audiences. "Robin Hood" may not have the adult approach or credibility of "Water Birds," or the youthful charm of "The Little House," but it is an expert rendition of an ancient legend that is as pretty as its Technical hues and as lively as a sturdy Western.

Appropriately enough, the producer thought enough of this centuries-old saga to film it in England, its obvious locale, and with a British cast. His principals, from Plantagenet royalty to outlaw yeomanry, speak dialogue which does not grate on the ear. And, the action—the courtly speeches and romance are kept to a sensible minimum—is robust and fairly continuous.

The tale, for those who have never been to the movies or haven't heard it before, is still as true to form as Robin's fabulous archery. England, with Richard the Lion Heart held captive in Austria and his brother, the treacherous Prince John, mulcting the Midlands, is hardly a merry area. So, Robin again is ensconced in Sherwood Forest with his bold band, robbing "the rich to aid the poor."

This, of course, brings him into constant contact with the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham and an occasional rendezvous with the Maid Marian, an ever-loving wench who can recognize a hero when she sees one. And, with the aid of such stalwarts as Little John and Friar Tuck, it is no time before Prince John's coffers are emptied to ransom Richard and Robin is rewarded with an Earldom and, naturally, the Maid Marian.

Richard Todd seems rather puny but is agile enough as the most feared long bowman of the greenwood. Joan Rice is pretty and mischievous as the dark-haired Maid Marian. And such veteran British character actors as James Hayter, James Robertson Justice, Peter Finch, Martita Hunt and Hubert Gregg contribute the proper adventurous and villainous assists as Friar Tuck, Little John, the Sheriff, the Queen Mother and Prince John, respectively. They all help to give a shining veneer to what could have been a dull story.

On the other hand, "Water Birds" is an old story in the finest tradition that does nothing to tarnish the reputation gained by the producer with such excellent predecessors as "Seal Island," "Beaver Valley" and "Nature's Half-Acre."

This time, more than a dozen cameramen, in cooperation with the National Audubon Society and the Denver Museum of Natural History, have trained their Technicolor sights on gannets, fairy terns, pelicans, coots, grebes, snowy egrets, flamingos, curlews and other water fowl to come up with a film document which again both educates and entertains. Especially edifying are such slow-motion shots as gannets plummeting from great heights into the waters below and a mating dance of the Western grebe which is as comic as a Chaplin fandango. And the integration of the musical background and the intelligent and humorous narration by Winston Hibler makes "Water Birds" a treat for both the eye and the ear."

A.W.

Walt Disney's 'Story Of Robin Hood' was released in the United States of America on June 26th 1952.

Rupert Evans

Ex-Royal Marine Physical Training Instructor, Rupert Evans puts Peter Finch, as the Sheriff of Nottingham, through his paces. Evans was a member of ‘Mickey Wood’s Tough Guys’ and had been brought in to see that all the actors were trained in the use of swords and quarterstaffs, before using such weapons in Disney’s ‘Story of Robin Hood.’

© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007

Peter Finch





















The Sheriff of Nottingham was played by Peter Finch, in one of his first major film roles. ‘Finchie’ was a protégé of Laurence Olivier and became a good friend of film producer Ken Annakin.

Born in South Kensington, London, on 28th September 1916, Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch was the natural son of Major Jock Campbell, a Highlander in the Black Watch and Alicia Ingle-Finch, during her marriage to George Ingle-Finch a notable mountaineer from New South Wales.

After his parents divorced in 1926 he went to live with his grandmother in Paris and later they moved to India. Aged ten he arrived in Sydney, Australia, where during the Depression he took on several dead end jobs, before working as a comedians stooge in vaudeville. In 1935 he made his stage acting debut, touring New South Wales with his travelling theatre company 'Mercury’ performing the classics in little theatres. A year later he debuted onscreen in ‘Dad and Dave Come to Town’.

‘Finchie’ served with the Australian First Army in the anti-tank battalion in the Middle East during WWII. But later on ‘civvie-street’ in 1948 his artistic ability gained his first film credit as assistant director and casting director for ‘Eureka Stockade’. He was now Australia’s top radio actor and his talents were soon noticed by Laurence Olivier who invited him to London to join the Old Vic and signed him to a personal contract. His impressive stage debut was alongside Edith Evans in ‘Daphne Laureda.’

At this time Finch started his long affair with Olivier’s wife, Vivian Leigh. But although personally humiliated, Olivier kept Finch under contract and his acting career continued to flourish. During his life he was also to have well-publicised affairs with Kay Kendall and Mai Zetterling.

Although he was now becoming an experienced performer, 'Finchie’ began suffering with severe stage fright (he also had a fear of flying). So much so, that he decided to put all his creative energy into acting on film and he made his Hollywood debut with ‘The Miniver Story’ and ‘The Wooden Horse’ in 1950.

In 1951 Finch took on the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham for Disney.

“Peter brought a freshness and a snide threat to the villainous character, without the histrionics of his predecessors in the role," said his friend and ‘Robin Hood’ producer Ken Annakin. “We became close friends and over the years I was sad to see how the strain of show business made Peter hit the bottle. He drank in order to cope with theatrical challenges he had never dreamed of in the outback or truly prepared for. But I don’t think he was ever as happy as his days in Denham, strutting around the stages as the Sheriff of Nottingham.”

As the Sheriff, ‘Finchie’ had to ride a horse, something, although he was brought up in Australia, he had never done. So the majority of riding shots were completed by a double. But for some of his spoken lines he had to film on horseback. These caused particular problems because, Peter’s horse, although supposedly a trained animal, seemed to have a dislike for actors and directors!

Every time ‘Finchie’ tried to mount his horse, it moved away from its mark, causing all sorts of problems for the film crew. This was an example, according to Annakin, of how amateurish the supply of trained horses and wranglers were for film companies in Britain, compared to the States.

Eventually the wrangler had to climb under the camera and hold down the horses hooves, while Peter Finch as the Sheriff spoke his lines. Even then as soon as ‘Finchie’ opened his mouth, the animal started snorting. This scene was used and appears in the early part of ‘Robin Hood’ when the Sheriff arrests William Scathelok for not paying his taxes.

As Peter Finch approached middle age his film career took off, with movies like the romantic comedy ‘Simon and Laura’ in 1965, the sombre war drama, ‘A Town like Alice’ in 1956, ‘Nuns Story’ in 1959 and back with Disney as Alan Breck Stewart in ‘Kidnapped’ in 1960.

Between 1956-71 he won five BAFTA awards, one of these for an exceptional performance in ‘The Trials of Oscar Wilde’ in 1960 . His debut as a film director, writer and producer came with his short, ‘Antonito’ and he went on to acclaimed roles in 'No Love for Johnnie’ in 1961, 'The Pumpkin Eater’ in 1964 and 'Far from the Madding Crowd’ in 1967. During his career he received two Oscar nominations, one for his portrayal as a gay doctor in ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ in 1971 and as the crazed television anchor man in ‘Network’ in 1976.

Sadly 64 year old Peter Finch collapsed and died in the lobby of the Beverley Wiltshire Hotel during a promotional campaign for ‘Network,’ on January 14th 1977. He was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in California. His part in ‘Network’ had received rave reviews and he was nominated for an Oscar. He went on to win the award, which was accepted by his widow, Eletha. ‘Finchie’ remains the only actor to have received a nomination and Oscar posthumously.

Peter Finch was married three times. He had a daughter by his first wife Tamara Tchinarova, two children by his second, Yolande Turner and one child by Eletha Finch.


© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007

11. Scathelok Is Arrested

Every day for the following weeks and months, the Sheriff’s men were kept busy collecting the new crippling taxes. These were dreadful times as Prince John tried to invent more ingenious ways of raising money.

William Scathelok was a poor farmer who had already paid one levy, when the Sheriff and his men were demanding more.

“I cannot pay the tax sir!” He cried falling to his knees. “I paid my Lord’s levy and if you take my cattle…….”

The Sheriff interrupted him coldly, “would you keep your cattle and go free of the tax?”

“Show me how, sire,” said Scathelok eagerly.

“Report has it,” said the Sheriff, “that you gave aid to the outlaw and know of his whereabouts.”


There was silence. Defiantly Scathelok rose to his feet and folded his arms, then he took two paces back. In a rage the Sheriff wheeled his horse around.


“Bring him along!” He commanded to his men.


As the Sheriff angrily put his spurs into his horse and galloped off he did not notice a Palmer (a pilgrim from the Holy Land) watching him from the shadows of the trees.

Outlaws





















In Disney’s ‘Story of Robin Hood’, Robin’s father is shot in the back by Red Gill, one of the Sheriff’s foresters, who had been hiding up in the fork of a tree in the forest. After waiting in the bushes for a while, Robin soon discovers the tree in which his fathers assassin is concealed. Robin quickly let fly a shaft that thudded into Red Gill’s chest. The murderer swayed unsteadily then fell backwards crashing to the ground. Robin is in turn, outlawed by the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Twice a year in early medieval times, the sheriff made a tour of his county, visiting each hundred and hearing presentments of criminal activities. If a person failed to attend their trial after four successive occasions, they were placed outside the protection of the law. They were ‘outlawed’ and this meant their property was confiscated and they were banished from society. The sheriff and his bailiffs had to track down and arrest suspects once they were appealed or indicted. The arrest process was not always easy because suspects had ample time to escape.

Before the Norman Conquest a person that fled the law was known as a caput lupinum a 'wolfs head’. Anyone had the right to hunt them down like a vicious animal. In the Great Roll of the Exchequer for 1195 there is an allowance by writ of ‘2 marks to Thomas de Preswude for bringing to Westminster the head of William de Elleford an outlaw.’

Roger of Hovedon informs us that after Richard ’s (1189-1199) Coronation his mother Queen Eleanor made a royal progress through England on behalf of the new king to proclaim that all persons in prison or outlawed for Forest Offences were to be freed at once.

“In as much as, in her own person, she had learnt by experience that confinement is distasteful to mankind and that it is most delightful to the spirits to be liberated there from.”

Therefore an outlaw ‘bore the wolf’s head’ and many thieves and political rebels that found themselves in this position took refuge in forests, such as Sherwood. Hidden in the dense greenwood, they were almost impossible to find.

At the Gloucester assizes in 1222 three hundred and thirty homicide cases were recorded. Fourteen men had been hung, but a hundred suspects were proclaimed outlaws because they could not be traced.

During the unrest in 1266 a royal letter describes conditions at this time:

“Through outlaws, robbers thieves and malefactors, mounted and on foot…..wandering by day and night, so many and great homicides and robberies were done that no one with a small company could pass through these parks without being taken and killed or spoiled of his goods……..and no religious or other person could pass without being taken and spoiled of his goods.”

A report given to a jury in 1287 gives an example of a‘ Robin Hood’ style incident in Sherwood Forest:

“John de Lascelles, then steward of the forest (Sherwood) , came to Salterford and there found Robert the Monk and Robert of Alfreton with bows and arrows; and he seized them and took them to Blidworth to hold them in custody until the morrow. And later that night twenty men armed with bows and arrows came to where the aforesaid men were under arrest, broke down the entrance to the buildings, sorely beat a certain Gilbert, page of the aforesaid John the Steward, who was keeping guard over the men, and released them from custody. Later all the aforesaid men attacked the chamber where the said John de Lascelles lay and broke the doors and windows of the said chamber. In which matter an enquiry was made by foresters, verderers, regarders and other officials of the forest.”

By the time the jury met, three of the accused had fled to Yorkshire, five could not be found. The rest, merely a handful were imprisoned.

There have been hundreds of Robert/Robin Hood’s discovered in records from the medieval period. Many have had brushes with the legal system. But none have been more tantalising than the 'Robert Hod, fugitive’, who failed to appear before the justices at the York assizes in 1225 and whose chattels, worth 32s.6d., were accordingly forfeit at the Michaelmas exchequer in 1226.

Many outlaws that were popular ballad heroes at this time faded from memory, Like Hereward, Fulk Fitzwarin, Gamelyn, Eustace the Monk and William Wallace. But these and many others had stories and ballads told to audiences by wandering entertainers. Their surviving tales contain remarkably similar themes and were the ‘soap operas’ of the day. Using disguise and trickery the outlaw of the minstrel’s ballad is always the champion of justice. An expert swordsman and hero of the oppressed.

So it becomes almost impossible to unravel fact from fiction.


Many ‘Robin Hood’ films and stories have the outlaw being pardoned by the king. This is not as fanciful as it seems. Only the monarch could reverse a sentence of outlawry and many were pardoned on condition that they served in the royal army.

From the Patent Rolls for 1326 we have a pardon “granted to Thomas Le Parker of Norwell for all his trespasses of Vert and Venison in Sherwood Forest upon condition that he go with king against invasion of his wages.”

Fulk Fitzwarin, a legendry outlaw during the reign of King John, was pardoned in 1203, along with thirty eight others who had been outlawed for being in his company.

During the reign of Edward III (1322-77) the laws on outlawry were repealed, allowing only a Sheriff the powers to put an outlaw to death. Outlawry originally had meant that the person was outside the law and could be killed outright if he was found, but by the fourteenth century most outlaws were arrested. The outlaw’s possessions were forfeited to the sovereign and his lands went to his lord.

Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343– 1400) compared a tyrant and an outlaw thus:

Right so betwixt a titeles tiraunt,

The same I say, ther is difference,

But, for the tiraunt is of greater might,

By force of meine for to sle down right,

And, for the outlawe hath but small meine,

And may not do so grete an harme as he,

Ne bring a contree to so grete meschiefe.

Geoffrey Chaucer was himself relieved of £20 near a certain ‘Fowle Oak’ in the Autumn of 1390 by highway robbers. He was ambushed while travelling to London on at least three separate occasions.

And John Selden (1584-1654) expressed the condition of an outlaw:

“ For she is a weyve whom no one will own, and it is equivalent to an outlaw, so far as penal consequences go. An outlaw and a weyve bear wolves heads which may be cut off by anyone with impunity, for deservedly they ought to perish with out law who would refuse to live according to law.”

The evidence shows that people from all ranks of society turned to crime, members of parliament, nobles, gentry, yeoman farmers. The chances of being caught were small, but in real life, living in the forest was hard and extremely uncomfortable. Evidence shows that that bandits trying to live in such wild conditions often stole ‘ordinary’ items just to keep alive. Almost always, the outlaw gangs of medieval England, robbed the poor and kept the takings for themselves.

In the thirteenth century, 40 per cent of all crime was larceny, consisting mainly of farm stock. Nearly twenty per cent was burglary and ten per cent was robbery. Homicide was recorded at nearly 20 per cent and around 6 percent was handling stolen goods. There were small percentages for arson, rape and treason.

The threat of murder or serious wounding in thirteenth century London was nearly twenty times higher than it is now.

About 12 percent of the army of English archers that beat off the French cavalry charges during the battle of Crecy in 1346 consisted of outlaws and between 1346-1347 several hundred grants of pardon were issued for service in Scotland and France.

On 21 November 1338, forty three archers joined the company of troops to enforce the garrison on the Isle of Wight from the French. Amongst the names recorded in the accounts of the new arrivals preserved at the Public Record Office is none other than ‘Robin Hood’.

Outlawry was abolished in civil proceedings in 1879. But it was as recent as 1938 in criminal proceedings.

Lythe and listin gentilmen,

That be of frebore blode;

I shall you tel of a gode yeman,

His name was Robyn Hode.


Robyn was a proud outlaw,

Whyles he walked on grounde;

So curteyse an outlawe as he was one

Was never non founde.


© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007

10. Robin Is Outlawed

Alan A Dale wandered towards a group of townspeople in Nottingham Square and began singing:


“Now Robin, who was called Fitzooth,

Is dwelling in the wood;

His coat is changed to Lincoln Green,

His name to Robin Hood.”


He stopped outside the Inn and the local people gathered around the merry minstrel and listened with interest. With a resounding chord, he started the second verse.


“Oh, Robin Hood doth hunt the deer,

That in the woodland prance;

But oft-times shoots the Sheriff’s men

By sorrowful mischance……..”



“He had good cause,” muttered somebody in the crowd, “’tis known who killed his father.”


Alan A Dale nodded, but before he could start his third verse, he was drowned out by the arrival of a villainous looking forester.

“Hearken! Hearken!” He called. “Having been informed of the felonies, robberies and murders committed by the man known as Robin Hood, our Liege Lord, Prince John hereby pronounces upon Robin Hood, sentence of outlawry!”

The forester turned away and began to hammer the proclamation onto a wooden post.

“You must catch Robin Hood before you can hang him, said a townsman.

The forester growled but made no reply, and as the crowd surged round the new proclamation Alan A Dale whirled round and came back towards the crowd, his fingers busy with a tune that had, all at once, become sprightly and mocking. The minstrel sang softly:


“He robs the rich to help the poor,

A most unusual practice,

And now that he has been outlawed

He needn’t pay his taxes….”


The crowd seethed with laughter and the minstrel picked out a few steps of an intricate dance. Then leaving the townspeople in a high good humour, he went marching jauntily off singing the song that was as much part of him as the shape of his nose or the colour of his hair:


“I’ll sing a song, a rollicky song

As I roll along my way;

With a hey derry down and a derry die do

And a riddle de diddle de day…..”