Turns out Robin Hood might not have been so popular after all . . .

A recently-discovered note in a fourteenth-century manuscript in England is shedding new light on the character known to history as Robin Hood.

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 named Robin Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies.'

An unknown monk wrote the words in the margin of a medieval history book called the Polychronicon.

The reference to Robin Hood was found in an inscription from around 1460 which appears in an English manuscript owned by Eton College

Julian Luxford found it while researching the library's 15th century drawings.

'Most scholars go to Oxford or Cambridge but I've found the private schools set in rural England have just as fascinating collections,' said Dr Luxford.

'It was as I was looking through the manuscripts that I found the Polychronicon and started to have a look through.

'When I saw the reference to Robin Hood I knew I'd found something significant.'

Dr Luxford, a lecturer in art history at St Andrews University in Scotland, said the Polychronicon dates back to the late 1340s.

'The book itself has a very large margin for those reading it to make additions or corrections,' he added.




'The copy at Eton dates back to 1420 and I believe the comments left by the monk about Robin Hood date back to about 1460.'

Dr Luxford said it revealed resentment towards Robin Hood among the general population and the clergy.

Unlike anything else it contains a uniquely negative assessment of the outlaw, and provides rare evidence for monastic attitudes towards him,' he added.

'Some say he was pretty bad, but had some good qualities while others refer to him as a man of honour who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. This [entry] is just entirely negative.'

The manuscript note - a very rare early mention of the outlaw - was made at Witham monastery in Somerset. It has been at Eton since 1913 and the link to Robin Hood appears to have been overlooked.

Dr Luxford said the find placed Robin Hood in the reign of Edward I (1239-1307) rather than Richard I (1189-1199).

Hmm . . . I wonder how Errol Flynn would have reacted?

Peter