If among the writers of the present day there is one whose opinion with
regard to Robin Hood and the cycle of ballads of which that renowned outlaw
is the hero would be looked for with anxiety and received with respect, it
is the Rev. Joseph Hunter, a gentleman in whom are happily combined that
thorough historical and antiquarian knowledge, and that sound poetic taste
which are required to do justice to so interesting a theme. The
announcement, therefore, that the fourth of Mr. Hunter's _Critical and
Historical Tracts_ is entitled _The Great Hero of the Ancient Minstrelsy of
England, Robin Hood_. _His Period, real Character, &c., investigated, and
perhaps ascertained_, will be received with welcome by all who rejoice
"that the world was very guilty of such ballads some three ages since," and
who, loving them and their hero, would fain know something of the history
on which they are founded. Mr. Hunter dissents, and we think rightly, from
two popular and recent theories upon the subject,--the one, that which
elevates Robin Hood into the chief of a small body of Saxons impatient of
their subjection to the Norman rule; the other, that which reduces him to
one among the "personages of the early mythology of the Teutonic people."
Mr. Hunter, on the other hand, _identifies_ him with one "Robyn Hood" who
entered the service of Edward II. a little before Christmas 1323, and
continued therein somewhat less than a twelvemonth:
"Alas then said good Robyn,
Alas and well a woo,
If I dwele longer with the kynge
Sorowe wyll me sloo:"
and the evidence which he adduces in favour of our popular hero having been
one of the _Contrariantes_ of the reign of the Second Edward; and the
coincidences which he points out between the minstrel testimony of the
_Little Geste_ and the testimony of records of different kinds and lying in
different places, will, we are sure, be read with great interest even by
those who may not think that our author has quite succeeded in unmasking
the "Junius" of those olden times.
_Richmondshire, its Ancient Lords and Edifices: a Concise Guide to the
Localities of Interest to the Tourist and Antiquary; with short Notes of
Memorable Men_, by W. Hylton Longstaffe, is a pleasant, chatty, and amusing
guide to a beautiful locality, which the author describes as "the capital
of a land whose riches of romance are scarcely exceeded by any other in
England, the chosen seat of its own Earls, the Scropes, Fitzhughs,
Marmions; and those setters up and pullers down of kings, the richest,
noblest, and most prudent race of the North, the lordly Nevilles:" and
which as such may well tempt the tourist and antiquary to visit it during
the coming autumn. Those who do will find Mr. Longstaffe's little volume a
pleasant companion.
BOOKS RECEIVED.--The second volume of Charlotte A. Eaton's _Rome in the
Nineteenth Century, containing, a Complete Account of the Ruins of the
Ancient City, the Remains of the Middle Ages, and the Monuments of Modern
Times_, which completes this lady's excellent guide to the Eternal
City.--The second volume of Miss Thomasina Ross's well-executed translation
of Humboldt's _Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of
America during the Years 1799-1804_, is the new volume of Bohn's
_Scientific Library_.--_The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to
the Constitution and Course of Nature; to which are added Two Brief
Dissertations; on Personal Identity, and on the Nature of Virtue; and
Fifteen Sermons_, by Joseph Butler, D.C.L., _late Lord Bishop of
Durham_.--The new volume of Bohn's _Standard Library_ is deserving of
especial mention. It is a reprint of Bishop Halifax's Standard Edition,
with the addition of Analytical Introductions, and Notes by a Member of the
University of Oxford; and we have no doubt will be found a really useful
_popular_ edition, such as may allure to the careful study of one of the
best works in our language those minds which, without such help, might
shrink from the task.
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