Tag: Medieval

Categories
Maid Marian and Robin Hood

Maid Marian and Robin Hood #11

Bernadette O’Farrell found fame as Maid Marian in the 1950s television series The Adventures of Robin Hood. From the Midland Counties Advertiser, Tipperary, 27 June 1946, this is how she broke into acting.

Tracing the career of Bernadette “Maid Marian” O’Farrell

4 October 1946

The Daily Express on Bernadette’s film breakthrough

Midland Counties Advertiser, Tipperary, 26 June 1947 Bernadette’s career is progressing nicely with regular stage and film work.

12 November 1949

With her stage and film career developing well, Bernadette O’Farrell took time to model this hat.

21 November 1949

Bernadette O’Farrell takes time out to model another hat.

23 January 1950

Bernadette O’Farrell continues her climb to fame.

🏹 🏹 🏹

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Episode 9: The Challenge

Introductory minstrel song: “Giles Black and Robin Hood, archers of undoubted skill; loose their shafts on target range, but one is champion still!”

Regular Cast

Sir Robin of Locksley – Richard Greene

Maid Marian – Bernadette O’Farrell

The Sheriff of Nottingham – Alan Wheatley

Little John – Archie Duncan

Friar Tuck – Alexander Gauge 

Original air date: 20 November 1955

Screenplay: Eric Heath (pseudonym of Ring Lardner Jr.)

Director: Ralph Smart

Ian Hunter as Sir Richard and Alan Wheatley as the Sheriff

Plot: Sir Richard of the Lea, the down on his luck knight from the previous episode, returns – still down on his luck. The Sheriff of Nottingham wagers him that his archer, Giles Black, can defeat Robin Hood in an archery contest, thus establishing a scene common to all Robin Hood stories.

This is a playful episode – Maid Marian even dances on a table. The cast are on top form, clearly enjoying themselves and they offer some great interplay all round. In a long-running series you need variety, and this episode provided that. 

After the archery contest, the Sheriff of Nottingham besieges Sir Richard of the Lea’s castle. Robin is having such a great time with Marian, he doesn’t want to leave. Meanwhile, Little John and Friar Tuck are scoffing their way through Sir Richard’s larder. The domestic scenes with Sir Richard and his lady – it’s nice to have dinner guests, but when on earth will they leave – are timeless and amusing.

Standout scene: Robin Hood splitting an arrow in the archery contest, of course.

Sword fights – 0. Bow fights/bow skills – 5.

Running total: Sword fights – 6. Bow fights/bow skills – 11.

🏹 🏹 🏹

Nettlefold Studios

From 1899 a film studios existed on a site in Walton-on-Thames. Archibald Nettlefold purchased the studios in 1926, and renamed them Nettlefold Studios, initially producing silent films, then sound films. 

During the Second World War, the studio buildings were requisitioned by the government and used as a storage facility for the war effort. After the war, and under new ownership, the studios were made available for hire, a move that ensured their survival.

In 1955 Sapphire Films, owned by Hannah Weinstein, rented the studios to make The Adventures of Robin Hood. Hannah subsequently bought the studios and renamed them The Walton Studios producing The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, The Buccaneers, Sword of Freedom and The Four Just Men on the site.

🏹 🏹 🏹

Coming soon, my Adventures of Maid Marian series

🏹 🏹 🏹

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

Categories
Maid Marian and Robin Hood

Maid Marian and Robin Hood #7

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Episode 5: Maid Marian

Introductory minstrel song: “Robin Hood bold and free, of every man is unafraid; ’til one day he meets his match, with Marian the maid!”

Regular Cast

Sir Robin of Locksley – Richard Greene

Maid Marian – Bernadette O’Farrell

The Sheriff of Nottingham – Alan Wheatley

Little John – Archie Duncan

Friar Tuck – Alexander Gauge 

Joan of the Blue Bull Inn – Simone Lovell

John Drake, who appeared as Harold the Smith in episode four, features here as  Ned, an outlaw.

Original air date: 23 October 1955

Screenplay: Anne Rodney (pseudonym of Howard Koch and Anne Koch)

Director: Ralph Smart

Plot: Disguised as a (very shapely) page, Lady Marian Fitzwalter infiltrates the outlaw camp to capture Robin Hood, whom she suspects of stealing her jewels. However, Robin turns the tables and Marian ends up cooking for the outlaws and doing the washing up.

Maybe the subtitle for this episode should have been “Fifty Shades of Lincoln Green”. Read on for an explanation.

Standout scene: bear in mind, this series was broadcast in the 1950s, at teatime.

Robin to Marian: “The years have given you a taste for strange pleasures.”

Marian to Robin. “Quickly, Robin, tie me up and bind me.”

Which he did.

Sword fights – 1. Bow fights/bow skills – 2.

Running total: Sword fights – 5. Bow fights/bow skills – 5.

Bernadette O’Farrell

Born in Ireland, Bernadette O’Farrell broke into film and television in her twenties, after meeting director Carol Reed. Maid Marian became her career-defining role. She left the series in 1957 to avoid type-casting. Ironically, she basically retired from acting shortly after, to live on a Buckinghamshire farm with her husband, film writer, director and producer Frank Launder.

Little John – Fact or Fiction?

Little John aka John Little is one of the regular characters in the Robin Hood legends. A giant, sometimes portrayed as seven feet tall, and a master of the quarterstaff, Little John could be relied upon to provide muscle whenever Robin Hood needed it.

🖼️ Robin Hood and Little John by Louis Rhead

In folklore, Little John met Robin Hood on a tree bridge that spanned a river. They fought for the right to cross, and developed a mutual respect. This is a standard scene in most Robin Hood films.

Little John appears in Robin Hood ballads throughout the fourteenth century. In these ballads he is portrayed as intelligent and cunning, or uneducated and slow-witted. In Thomas Love Peacock’s Maid Marian, published 1822, Little John serves as Robin Hood’s treasurer, distributing the money taken from the rich to give to the poor.

Numerous actors have portrayed Little John in films and on television. This list is far from exhaustive – it merely offers my personal highlights.

James Robinson Justice in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, 1952

Archie Duncan in the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1955-59

Nigel Green in Sword of Sherwood Forest, 1960

Leon Greene in A Challenge for Robin Hood, 1967

In the medieval compilation, A Gest of Robyn Hode, Little John takes the alias Reynold Greenleaf, and it’s been suggested that Reynold Greenleaf was a real person. However, Reynold Greenleaf appears in his own right in other ballads. All of which offers thin evidence to support the idea that Little John was based on a real person. 

With no solid trail to follow, I think it’s safe to say that Little John is purely fictional.

🏹 🏹 🏹

What to make of this film, a modern German take on the Robin Hood legend seen from Maid Marian’s point of view?

I enjoyed the forest scenes and the medieval buildings (many of these were in ruins, but that was built into the script). Also, good to see a story from Marian’s point of view. The legends were well adapted and made sense in the film’s narrative.

I’m was not so sure about the plot-line and some of the action scenes. The film reminded me of my sons’ video games – lots of running through a landscape, a violent encounter, then a moment of reflection. Repeat, ad infinitum. 

Marian was the main protagonist in the violent scenes, some of which I thought were unrealistic. Robin received two injuries where he was basically sliced in half – his role in the film was as an invalid.

If you enjoy modern action-adventures, you will enjoy this film. If you prefer something more traditional, you can give this a miss.

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

Categories
Maid Marian and Robin Hood

Maid Marian and Robin Hood #5

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Episode 3: Dead or Alive

Introductory minstrel song: “Freedom is calling to Little John, the giant; Robin helps him understand, a serf can be defiant!”

Regular Cast

Sir Robin of Locksley – Richard Greene

Maid Marian – Bernadette O’Farrell

The Sheriff of Nottingham – Alan Wheatley

Little John – Archie Duncan

Original air date: 9 October 1955

Screenplay: Eric Heath (a pseudonym for Ring Lardner Jr.)

Director: Dan Birt

Plot: Little John escapes from his feudal lord – after lifting him off his feet and placing him on a window ledge. He’s then enticed by the Sheriff’s men to capture Robin Hood in exchange for his freedom.

The Bayeux Tapestry again features, this time in a lord’s hall.

Agnes Bernelle guests as a Countess from an unnamed European country. In equal measure, she is impressed with Little John’s strength and appalled by the cold British weather.

More regulars are introduced to the cast: Simone Lovell as Joan, a servant at the Blue Bull Inn, and Bernadette O’Farrell as Maid Marian in a brief scene with the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Marian’s scene is brief because this story serves as Little John’s introduction. Archie Duncan was well-cast in the role. He had the physical build for Little John and mannerisms that suggested, intellectually, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the forest.

Simone Lovell was a regular in historical television series – The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1956), The Count of Monte Cristo (1956), Ivanhoe (1958), and The Adventures of William Tell (1959). She also appeared in Emergency Ward 10 (1961), Z-Cars (1965) and Public Eye (1968).

🏹 🏹 🏹

Archie Duncan appeared in over fifty television series and films including The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), Saint Joan (1957) and Lancelot and Guinevere (1963).  He also appeared as Inspector Lestrade in the 1954 series Sherlock Holmes.

Archie’s association with Robin Hood was twofold: as well as his best remembered career role as Little John, he also played Red Gill in the 1952 film The Story of Robin Hood.

📷 Archie Duncan as Little John

Standout scene: an evergreen – the quarterstaff fight between Robin Hood and Little John as they try to cross a river.

Sword fights – 1. Bow fights/bow skills – 0.

Running total: Sword fights – 2. Bow fights/bow skills – 3.

🏹 🏹 🏹

Book One in my Maid Marian and Robin Hood series will be The Tourney. The Sheriff of Nottingham organises a May festival (1215) and the various characters arrive to display their skills. Chapter One opens with Marian practicing her archery skills. However, because she’s a woman, the sheriff will not allow her to participate in the tourney. 

Marian has other matters to concern her – Sir Piers Longespèe arrives with a claim on Marian’s hall, Huntington Hall. Her problems are compounded when the deeds proving her ownership of the hall are stolen. Into this milieu strides Robert of Locksley, with an interest in all the above.

🖼️ Women Defending a Castle with Bows and Crossbows – Walter de Milemere, c1326, Christ Church, Oxford.

Medieval tournaments developed as a training ground for warfare. As time moved on, the tournaments became entertainments with music, dancing, various sporting events, betting and stalls. 

In 1348, a shocked monastic chronicler recorded that forty “wonton” women dressed as men in multi-coloured garments and paraded through the lists on chargers and palfreys. They “forgot” their marriage vows and indulged in “lewd behaviour”.

🖼️ Artist unknown

Available for order and pre-order, my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

Categories
Maid Marian and Robin Hood

Maid Marian and Robin Hood #4

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Episode 2: The Moneylender

Introductory minstrel song: “Trapped by the Sheriff, stands Robin like a mighty rock; and falls heir to the brave Will Scatlock!”

Regular Cast

Sir Robin of Locksley – Richard Greene

The Sheriff of Nottingham – Alan Wheatley

Edgar – Alfie Bass

Guest Stars

Herbert of Doncaster – Leo McKern

Original air date: 2 October 1955

Screenplay: Ian Larkin and Eric Heath (a pseudonym for Ring Lardner Jr.)

Director: Ralph Smart 

Plot: Robin questions the outlaws’ methods and who they choose to rob. He offers suggestions and, as events unfold, is vindicated.

The opening scenes with Leo McKern’s character are played for laughs. Thereafter, the story settles into a solid adventure tale. 

This was Leo McKern’s second appearance. Producer Hannah Weinstein assembled a stock company and the main supporting roles were played by about seven regular actors – full use made of false beards and wigs.

A strong point was made in this episode regarding the redistribution of wealth. The line, “The Sheriff protects those who steal from the poor” still resonates.

A note on the set design – a section of the Bayeux Tapestry can be seen in the Sheriff’s hall.

If you like flames, there’s a spectacular display of arson in this episode.

Alan Wheatley (pictured) was a regular in films, on television, the stage and radio. During the Second World War his voice became familiar to listeners on the Continent as he broadcast to occupied Europe.

In 1951 Wheatley played Sherlock Holmes in a series of six televised dramatisations. This was the first series to feature Conan Doyle’s famous character. He achieved another first in 1964 when his character was the first ever killed by a Dalek on screen.

Alan Wheatley’s most prominent role was the Sheriff of Nottingham. He played the sheriff in fifty-four episodes, offering the character a degree of gravitas, eschewing the cartoon-style approach often seen in Robin Hood films.

Standout scene: Robin breaking a sword at the end, offering respect – a genuinely moving scene.

Sword fights – 0. Bow fights/bow skills – 2.

Running total: Sword fights – 1. Bow fights/bow skills – 3.

Fashion, c1215

Isabelle d’Angoulême (pictured) was the second wife of King John. In her own right, she was Countess of Angoulême and Countess of La Marche.

For noble ladies at that time, the fashion was for open necks and edging with a passement at the wrists and neck. In 1215 the girdle was worn at the waistline with the gown draping over it. As the decades rolled on, it became fashionable to highlight the waistline and fully reveal the girdle.

The common girdle image of the thirteenth century, with the girdle sloping down from the top of the hip bone to a point at the front, didn’t become fashionable until c1250.

The Sheriff of Nottingham – Fact or Fiction?

The Sheriff of Nottingham is one of the main antagonists in the Robin Hood legends. Usually, he is in league with Sir Guy of Gisborne or King John. Three villains trying to capture Robin Hood is viewed as overkill, so these antagonists rarely feature together.

🖼️ The Sheriff of Nottingham by Louis Rhead, 1912

In some stories, the Sheriff swaps places with Sir Guy in regard to a lecherous interest in Maid Marian. He’s often depicted as corrupt and cruel – think modern-day tyrants.

What of the medieval reality? The post of Sheriff of Nottingham came into existence in 1449. However, well before that date, from 1068, a High Sheriff of Nottingham, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests existed. This neatly dovetails with the Robin Hood legends.

Placing Maid Marian and Robin Hood during the reigns of King Richard and King John, we discover two possible contenders for the Sheriff of Nottingham in the Robin Hood legends

Contender number one – William de Wendenal. William was High Sheriff from 

1191 to 1194, during King Richard’s absence. He is mentioned in the book Chronica magistri Rogeri de Hoveden by the twelfth century chronicler Roger of Howden. However, upon King Richard’s return, William de Wendenal simply disappeared from the historical record.

Contender number two – Philip Marc. In 1207, Marc “requested” 100 pounds from “three men of Newark”. The request was accompanied by a threat – pay up, or be burned to the ground. Sound familiar?

Unsurprisingly, Marc was not popular. Indeed, Item 50 in the Magna Carta specifically mentioned Marc. It insisted on Marc and his brothers’ removal, and that in the future they should “have no bailiwick in England”. 

In the Robin Hood legends, the Sheriff of Nottingham is rarely mentioned by name, but in Philip Marc, I think we have a serious contender.

Numerous actors have portrayed the Sheriff of Nottingham in films and on television. This list is far from exhaustive – it merely offers my personal highlights.

Peter Finch in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, 1952

Alan Wheatley in the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1955-59

Peter Cushing in Sword of Sherwood Forest, 1960

John Arnatt in A Challenge for Robin Hood, 1967

🏹 🏹 🏹

Available for order and pre-order, my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

Categories
1963 Maid Marian and Robin Hood

Maid Marian and Robin Hood #3

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Episode 1: The Coming of Robin Hood 

Introductory minstrel song: “Robin of Locksley, a knight bold and good; back from the Holy Wars, becomes Robin Hood!”

📷 Richard Greene as Robin Hood

Regular Cast

Sir Robin of Locksley – Richard Greene

The Sheriff of Nottingham – Alan Wheatley

Edgar – Alfie Bass

Guest Stars

Sir Roger de Lisle – Leo McKern

Original air date: 25 September 1955

Screenplay: Eric Heath on UK prints, Lawrence McClellan on US prints – both pseudonyms of Ring Lardner Jr. From what I’ve seen, the UK prints are far superior to the US prints – no idea why 🤷‍♀️

Director: Ralph Smart 

Plot: After four years in the Holy Land, Sir Robin of Locksley Hall returns home to claim his inheritance. However, Sir Roger de Lisle has other ideas.

There is a serious, sombre tone to this story. The plot establishes Robin’s character as the Royal Forester and the Master of Locksley Hall. Spoiler (or maybe not) he’s destined to become an outlaw.

Leo McKern (pictured – Wikipedia) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous film, stage and television roles. Among the most noted are A Man For All Seasons, The Prisoner and Rumpole of the Bailey. After a factory accident when aged 15, he was fitted with a glass eye. In 1997, he appeared in a party political broadcast for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

The role of Sir Roger de Lisle was one of Leo McKern’s first on television. He played a villain, a man looking to steal from Robin Hood.

Standout scene: Robin is queuing to meet the Sheriff of Nottingham, to discuss his inheritance. When he’s invited to queue-jump, he protests. Quite rightly too – after all, this is England.

Sword fights – 1. Bow fights/bow skills – 1. (I will be keeping a running score).

🏹 🏹 🏹

Researching Maid Marian in my library, I went off on a tangent and discovered this image, The Marriage of Guinevere and King Arthur by Lancelot Speed. Don’t look for historical accuracy – in his notes, Lancelot explained that he based this image on the fashions of 1460.

The picture is the frontispiece of Sir James Knowles’ The Legends of King Arthur and his Knights, originally published in 1860. My copy is a ninth edition, published 1912.

Maid Marian – Fact or Fiction?

Maid Marian was not mentioned in the earliest Robin Hood ballads. She appears to have developed through the May Games festivities, commonly held around Whitsun. Some traditions regarded her as a shepherdess, while others gave her a noble background.

Writing c1500, Alexander Barclay referred to “some merry fytte of Maid Marian or else of Robin Hood”. She was also mentioned around this time in association with Friar Tuck.

In Anthony Munday’s 1598 play, The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon, Marian appeared as Matilda, Robin’s lawfully-wedded wife – she changed her name to Marian when she joined him in the forest. So, in fiction at least, we have a Marian based on a Matilda. 

The Robin Hood stories are usually set during the reign of King Richard/Prince John or King John. In his play, Anthony Munday identified Maid Marian with the historical Matilda, daughter of Robert Fitzwalter, who had to flee England because of an attempt to assassinate King John in response to his unwanted advances towards Maid Marian.

Did Anthony Munday invent this background for Marian, or did he base his story on historical sources? I haven’t found conclusive evidence one way or the other, but in all these legends there tends to be a grain of truth somewhere.

🖼️ 17th century woodcut of Maid Marian

Available for order and pre-order, my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂