Notes and Queries, Number 51, October 19, 1850

Notes and Queries, Number 51,
October 19, 1850

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October 19,
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Title: Notes and Queries, Number 51, October 19, 1850 A Medium Of
Inter-Communication For Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries,
Genealogists, Etc.
Author: Various
Release Date: March 2, 2005 [EBook #15232]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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{321} NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN,
ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
* * * * *

"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
* * * * *
No. 51.] SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 16. 1850. [Price, with
Supplement, 6d. Stamped Edition, 7d.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
NOTES:-- Roberd the Robber, by R.J. King 321 On a Passage in the
Merry Wives of Windsor, and on Conjectural Emendation 322 Minor
Notes:--Chaucer's Damascene--Long Friday--Hip, hip, Hurrah!--Under
the Rose--Albanian Literature 322 QUERIES:-- Bibliographical
Queries 323 Fairfax's Tasso 325 Minor Queries:--Jeremy Taylor's
Ductor Dubitantium--First Earl of Roscommon--St.
Cuthbert--Vavasour of Haslewood--Bells in Churches--Alteration of
Title-pages--Weights for Weighing Coins--Shunamitis
poema--Lachrymatories--Egg-cups used by the
Romans--Meleteticks--Luther's Hymns--"Pair of
Twises"--Countermarks on Roman Coin 325 REPLIES:-- Gaudentio di
Lucca 327 Englemann's Bibliotheca Scriptorum Classicorum, by
Professor De Morgan 328 Shakspeare's Use of the Word "Delighted,"
by Samuel Hickson 329 Collar of Esses, by John Gough Nichols 329
Sirloin, by T.T. Wilkinson, &c. 331 Riots of London, by E.B. Price, &c.
332 Meaning of "Gradely" 334 Pascal and his Editor Bossut, by
Gustave Masson 335 Kings-skugg-sio, by E. Charlton, &c. 335 Gold in
California 336 The Disputed Passage from the Tempest, by Samuel
Hickson, &c. 337 "London Bridge is broken down," by Dr. E.F.
Rimbault 338 Arabic Numerals 339 Caxton's Printing-office, by J.
Cropp 340 Cold Harbour 340 St. Uncumber, by W.J. Thoms 342
Handfasting 342 Gray's Elegy--Droning--Dodsley's Poems 343 Replies
to Minor Queries:--Zündnadel Guns--Thompson of Esholt--Minar's
Books of Antiquities--Smoke Money--Holland Land--Caconac,
Caconacquerie--Discourse of national Excellencies of England--Saffron
Bags--Milton's Penseroso--Achilles and the Tortoise--Stepony
Ale--North Side of Churchyards--Welsh
Money--Wormwood--Puzzling Epitaph--Umbrella--Pope and Bishop
Burgess--Book of Homilies--Roman Catholic Theology--Modum
Promissionis--Bacon Family--Execution of Charles I., and Earl of
Stair--Watermarks on Writing-paper--St. John Nepomuc--Satirical

Medals--Passage in Gray--Cupid Crying--Anecdote of a Peal of Bells,
&c. 343 MISCELLANEOUS:-- Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c.
350 Books and Odd Volumes Wanted 351 Notices to Correspondents
351 Advertisements 351
* * * * *
NOTES.
ROBERD THE ROBBER.
In the Vision of Piers Ploughman are two remarkable passages in
which mention is made of "Roberd the robber," and of "Roberdes
knaves."
"Roberd the robbere, On Reddite loked, And for ther was noght wherof
He wepte swithe soore." Wright's ed., vol. i. p. 105.
"In glotonye, God woot, Go thei to bedde, And risen with ribaudie, The
Roberdes knaves." Vol. i. p. 3.
In a note on the second passage, Mr. Wright quotes a statute of Edw.
III., in which certain malefactors are classed together "qui sont appellez
_Roberdesmen_, Wastours, et Dragelatche:" and on the first he quotes
two curious instances in which the name is applied in a similar
manner,--one from a Latin song of the reign of Henry III.:
"Competenter per _Robert_, robbur designatur; Robertus excoriat,
extorquet, et minatur. Vir quicunque rabidus consors est Roberto."
It seems not impossible that we have in these passages a trace of some
forgotten mythical personage. "Whitaker," says Mr. Wright, "supposes,
without any reason, the 'Roberde's knaves' to be 'Robin Hood's men.'"
(Vol. ii. p. 506.) It is singular enough, however, that as early as the time
of Henry III. we find the term 'consors Roberto' applied generally, as
designating any common thief or robber; and without asserting that
there is any direct allusion to "Robin Hood's men" in the expression
"Roberdes knaves," one is tempted to ask whence the hero of Sherwood
got his own name?
Grimm (_Deutsche Mythol._, p. 472.) has suggested that Robin Hood
may be connected with an equally famous namesake, Robin
Goodfellow; and that he may have been so called from the hood or
hoodikin, which is a well-known characteristic of the mischievous
elves. I believe, however, it is now generally admitted that "Robin
Hood" is a corruption {322} of "Robin o' th' Wood" equivalent to
"silvaticus" or "wildman"--a term which, as we learn from Ordericus,

was generally given to those Saxons who fled to the woods and
morasses, and long held them against their Norman enemies.
It is not impossible that "Robin o' the Wood" may have been a