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A 350-year-old ring belonging to the Sheriff of Nottingham is set to fetch thousands at auction after being unearthed by a metal detectorist in a find 'worthy of Robin Hood'.The ancient, high-carat gold signet ring was uncovered by chance by a lucky detectorist on farmland in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, last summer.The treasure once belonged to Sir Matthew Jenison, who served as High Sheriff of Nottingham between 1683 and 1684 and looked after trees in Sherwood Forest.His family were known for gleaning wealth from a hoard of valuables left in their safekeeping during the English Civil War which were never reclaimed.The ring,...

Robin Hood was not a jacobin nor a socialist, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. But here, I will highlight where he was transformed into one. The title of the book is: "Robin Hood: A Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, Now Extant Relative to that Celebrated English Outlaw ; to which are Prefixed Historical Anecdotes of His Life", authored by Joseph Ritson, who was sympathetic to Jacobinism. This book was first printed in 1795. This book is a collection of his works, which means that he was spreading this filth around in who...

The very latest laser technology combined with old fashioned pedal power is being used to provide a unique insight into the layout of Nottingham’s sandstone caves — where the city’s renowned medieval ale was brewed and, where legend has it, the country’s most famous outlaw Robin Hood was imprisoned. The Nottingham Caves Survey, being carried out by archaeologists from Trent & Peak Archaeology at The University of Nottingham, has already produced extraordinary, three dimensional, fly through, colour animation of caves that have been hidden from view for centuries. Below the grounds of Nottingham Castle and across the city there is...

LONDON - A British academic says he's found proof that Britain's legendary outlaw Robin Hood wasn't as popular with the poor as folklore suggests. Julian Luxford says a newly found note in the margins of an ancient history book contains rare criticism of the supposedly benevolent bandit. According to legend, Hood roamed 13th-century Britain from a base in central England's Sherwood Forest, plundering from the rich to give to the poor. But Luxford, an art history lecturer at the University of St. Andrews, in Fife, Scotland, says a 23-word inscription in a history book, written in Latin by a medieval...

Folklore holds that Robin Hood was a fearless outlaw loathed by the rich and loved by the poor. Fighting injustice and tyranny, his gallantry became the stuff of legend - and Hollywood movies. But according to a newly-discovered manuscript entry it appears that Robin and his Merry Men may not have been as popular as the stories would have us believe.Written in Latin and buried among the treasures of Eton's library, the 23 sparse words shed new light on the Sheriff of Nottingham's mortal foe. Translated, the 550-year-old note reads: 'Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw...

A bottle-necked pit where hated outlaws including Robin Hood were imprisoned and starved or driven to insanity in the Middle Ages has been discovered by archaeologists in the underground caves of the Galleries of Justice Museum in Nottingham. Known as an oubliette (“to forget” in French), the hole was used as a holding cell for dissenters against the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the city’s favourite wealth-regulating son is believed to have been cast into it after being arrested by the Sheriff and his men at the nearby St Mary’s Church. “The opening was bricked over centuries ago, probably in the...

ROBIN HOOD'S PRISON? SHERIFF'S DUNGEON FOUND AT NOTTINGHAM GAOL By Caroline Lewis 17/10/2007 One of the above ground prison cells at the Galleries of Justice. © Galleries of Justice New evidence has been discovered that the medieval caves under Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice museum were once used by the Sheriff of Nottingham as a prison. The dark dungeon cells would have been in use when the Sheriff resided at the Shire Hall and County Gaol. “It is an exciting discovery,” said Tim Desmond, Chief Executive at the Galleries. “The cave has always been known as the ‘Sheriff’s Dungeon’, but until...

Robin Hood was really a Welsh freedom fighter who never even set foot in Nottingham let alone Sherwood Forest, a historian has claimed. The medieval outlaw - said to have robbed from the rich to give to the poor - never once met Maid Marian nor the Sheriff of Nottingham, according to Stephen Lawhead. The American blows apart the widely accepted version of the legend in his new book, Hood, arguing that Robin Hood was really a hardened Guerrilla based in the Valleys. But tourism chiefs in Nottingham have rubbished the theory, warning: "Hands off our Robin!" Lawhead, 56, believes...

A merry mess: Yorkshire claims Robin Hood Lizette Alvarez/NYT Tuesday, February 17, 2004 NOTTINGHAM, England Not since Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union has there been such a fuss over a man in tights. For centuries, Robin Hood, the dashing, chivalrous hero to the oppressed, has been the property of Nottinghamshire in the midlands - land of Sherwood Forest, Nottingham Castle and one nefarious sheriff. But now, in a brazen grab for bragging rights, Yorkshire, an adjacent county, is laying claim to the 800-year-old legend and demanding, by way of a parliamentary motion, immediate redress. In a country where...

'Robin Hood's escape tunnel found' Experts believe they've found a tunnel that allowed Robin Hood to escape from the Sheriff of Nottingham. The secret passageway found under the Galleries of Justice museum in Nottingham is eight feet below street level. Archaeologists excavating 14th-century manmade caves beneath the museum stumbled upon it accidentally when they broke through a rotten wood floor. The museum's curator Louise Connell says the tunnel leads towards St Mary's Church, where ancient documents say Robin sought sanctuary from the Sheriff 's men. The Evening Post says it's believed he used the tunnel to escape from the church,...

An enigma spanning thousands of years, the Green Man is a symbol of mysterious origin and history. Permeating various religious faiths and cultures, the Green Man has survived countless transformations and cultural diversities, enduring in the same relative physical form to this day. Although specifics about his beginnings and his worship are not fully known, due in large part to how far back and to what initial cultures he can be traced to, it is a testament to the widespread reach of his character that he is still remembered and worshipped to this day. The Green Man is most highly...

GERMANS and Austrians are uniting against a kindly old man who brings joy to children all over the world. Their call: Ban Santa.Campaigners in both countries claim Father Christmas is an invention of the Coca-Cola company in the United States and should be ditched. In Austria, "Pro Christkind" - it means "For Christ Child" - want images of the baby Jesus and St Nicholas to replace the white-haired, portly old man dressed in red and white, who they see as symbolic of the commercialisation of Christmas. Their campaign, with a logo featuring a picture of Santa with a red line...