Robin Hood Forester and Knight
Foresters lived in a forester's lodge, sometimes fortified, and acted as barristers or mediators when enforcing the law. Local landholders engaged them to patrol the woods, capture or disperse offenders, and collect pavage tax. We read of Robin and Little John carrying out a forester's duties in Robin and the Potter.
Robin carried a bow, a sword, a knife, and a small, round shield called a buckler. His dark green uniform, updated by King Edward, provided excellent camouflage. Tights replaced the hose, and the outer tunics became shorter. Before the Battle of Auray on 29 September 1364, the King said to Robin, “Have you any green cloth to sell me?” “Yes,” said Robin, “thirty poles and three.” “Sell me your green cloth to clothe my archers well and true.” “Yes sir,” said Robin, “and you will also clothe me in green before Christmas too.”
When at war, the king needed as many soldiers as possible. Foresters were exceptional archers, and skilled in stalking, so they were well able to spy on the enemy as they manoeuvred into battle position. In 1356, the English army won a remarkable victory at Poitiers, thanks to England’s longbowmen. Froissart wrote, “Truly, the archers gave their company that day an important advantage. The Frenchmen did not know where to run after the English archers had obscured the sun with hails of arrows.” Next, they engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. English archers took four, five, or six prisoners at the town gates of Poitiers. Among the French captives were King John, his young son Philip, and many other nobles. When the noise of battle faded, the Black Prince knighted a young man on the battlefield.
Battle over, the soldiers returned to England. Meantime, the Black Prince remained behind to negotiate a peace treaty with King John's eldest son, Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor. His adolescent daughter was to marry the future King Richard II, and they crowned the ten-year-old Bolingbroke King of France. The French say a faction did it; perhaps they were the English victors? Charles did not ratify the Treaty of Bretigny to the later advantage of France.
After settling the terms of the French surrender, the Black Prince, with the Cheshire Archers dressed in green and white, returned to England. As they took the King of France and other prisoners to London for ransom, a group of yeomen sprang out from among the trees. They looked like robbers dressed in green, armed with bows, arrows, swords, and bucklers. When King John asked what manner of men they were, the Black Prince told him they were Englishmen. They lived in the forest by choice, and arrayed themselves thus every day. (Holt-Anonimalle Chronicle, ed. by V. H. Galbraith, p. 41)
Tired but happy with the victory at Poitiers, these gallant men of England returned home, caring for their ill and dying comrades on the way. Robin’s men continued north to Yorkshire, where minstrels, players, and balladeers gave Robin a hero’s welcome, and Robin became a legend. His fame continues today in books and films. On a more sombre note, our armed forces deserve our grateful thanks for everything they have done down the ages, giving their lives for the king, country, and all of us. Thank you.
NOTES:
"Good” has various meanings, but in the 15th century, it meant skilled or excellent. Outlaw has several definitions, but this one appears to be the most appropriate: “a person who rebels against established rules or practices; “a nonconformist.” Courteous means gracious and benevolent.
Interestingly, Geoffrey Chaucer, contemporary with Robin, described yeomen of the forest like this:
“He was clad in coat and hood of green.
A sheaf of Peacock arrows bright and keen
Well could he dress his takel yeomanly
His arrows drooped not with feathers low
And in his hand he bare a mighty bow.
Upon his arm he had a gay bracer,
And by his side a sword and buckler,
And on that other side a gay dagger,
Harnessed well, and sharp as point of spear;
A Christopher upon his breast of silver sheen;
An horn he bears, his baldric was of green.
A forester was he truly as I guess.
Translation
Takel: tackle. Armour: equipment. Bracer: a wrist guard worn over the sleeve on the left arm as a protection against the friction of the bowstring. Christopher: a broach carrying the figure of St. Christopher worn by foresters and travellers. Baldric: the strap or belt from which the horn was suspended.
Apart from Chaucer’s talents as a writer of both prose and poetry, he also worked as a forester, page, esquire, diplomat, customs controller, justice of the peace, member of parliament, and clerk of works for Westminster. He was also a commissioner of walls and ditches. John O’Gaunt and Chaucer were close friends. John O’Gaunt married Katherine Swynford, his third wife, and Katherine’s sister married Chaucer. It would be strange if the two men did not pursue the sport of kings and hunt together in Barnsdale. Chaucer once said the journey to the king’s northern kingdom was more difficult than going to France and back.
Copyright © 2020, Graham Kirkby. All rights reserved. NEXT PAGE
Battle of Poitiers by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Robin carried a bow, a sword, a knife, and a small, round shield called a buckler. His dark green uniform, updated by King Edward, provided excellent camouflage. Tights replaced the hose, and the outer tunics became shorter. Before the Battle of Auray on 29 September 1364, the King said to Robin, “Have you any green cloth to sell me?” “Yes,” said Robin, “thirty poles and three.” “Sell me your green cloth to clothe my archers well and true.” “Yes sir,” said Robin, “and you will also clothe me in green before Christmas too.”
When at war, the king needed as many soldiers as possible. Foresters were exceptional archers, and skilled in stalking, so they were well able to spy on the enemy as they manoeuvred into battle position. In 1356, the English army won a remarkable victory at Poitiers, thanks to England’s longbowmen. Froissart wrote, “Truly, the archers gave their company that day an important advantage. The Frenchmen did not know where to run after the English archers had obscured the sun with hails of arrows.” Next, they engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. English archers took four, five, or six prisoners at the town gates of Poitiers. Among the French captives were King John, his young son Philip, and many other nobles. When the noise of battle faded, the Black Prince knighted a young man on the battlefield.
Battle over, the soldiers returned to England. Meantime, the Black Prince remained behind to negotiate a peace treaty with King John's eldest son, Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor. His adolescent daughter was to marry the future King Richard II, and they crowned the ten-year-old Bolingbroke King of France. The French say a faction did it; perhaps they were the English victors? Charles did not ratify the Treaty of Bretigny to the later advantage of France.
After settling the terms of the French surrender, the Black Prince, with the Cheshire Archers dressed in green and white, returned to England. As they took the King of France and other prisoners to London for ransom, a group of yeomen sprang out from among the trees. They looked like robbers dressed in green, armed with bows, arrows, swords, and bucklers. When King John asked what manner of men they were, the Black Prince told him they were Englishmen. They lived in the forest by choice, and arrayed themselves thus every day. (Holt-Anonimalle Chronicle, ed. by V. H. Galbraith, p. 41)
Tired but happy with the victory at Poitiers, these gallant men of England returned home, caring for their ill and dying comrades on the way. Robin’s men continued north to Yorkshire, where minstrels, players, and balladeers gave Robin a hero’s welcome, and Robin became a legend. His fame continues today in books and films. On a more sombre note, our armed forces deserve our grateful thanks for everything they have done down the ages, giving their lives for the king, country, and all of us. Thank you.
NOTES:
"Good” has various meanings, but in the 15th century, it meant skilled or excellent. Outlaw has several definitions, but this one appears to be the most appropriate: “a person who rebels against established rules or practices; “a nonconformist.” Courteous means gracious and benevolent.
Interestingly, Geoffrey Chaucer, contemporary with Robin, described yeomen of the forest like this:
“He was clad in coat and hood of green.
A sheaf of Peacock arrows bright and keen
Well could he dress his takel yeomanly
His arrows drooped not with feathers low
And in his hand he bare a mighty bow.
Upon his arm he had a gay bracer,
And by his side a sword and buckler,
And on that other side a gay dagger,
Harnessed well, and sharp as point of spear;
A Christopher upon his breast of silver sheen;
An horn he bears, his baldric was of green.
A forester was he truly as I guess.
Translation
Takel: tackle. Armour: equipment. Bracer: a wrist guard worn over the sleeve on the left arm as a protection against the friction of the bowstring. Christopher: a broach carrying the figure of St. Christopher worn by foresters and travellers. Baldric: the strap or belt from which the horn was suspended.
Apart from Chaucer’s talents as a writer of both prose and poetry, he also worked as a forester, page, esquire, diplomat, customs controller, justice of the peace, member of parliament, and clerk of works for Westminster. He was also a commissioner of walls and ditches. John O’Gaunt and Chaucer were close friends. John O’Gaunt married Katherine Swynford, his third wife, and Katherine’s sister married Chaucer. It would be strange if the two men did not pursue the sport of kings and hunt together in Barnsdale. Chaucer once said the journey to the king’s northern kingdom was more difficult than going to France and back.
Copyright © 2020, Graham Kirkby. All rights reserved. NEXT PAGE
Battle of Poitiers by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.