First mentioned by William Langland in the late fourteenth century, Robin Hood comes down to us through ballads and folksongs, old chronicles and plays, medieval allusions, folklore and place names. Today Robin Hood folk songs are found in the USA as well as in England and Scotland, and place names and traditions are widely located in England. The earliest stories are centred on Barnsdale in Yorkshire, but later the emphasis shifts to Nottingham and Sherwood Forest. Originally a yeoman, Robin was upgraded to aristocrat in the sixteenth century, but he remains essentially a champion of the poor and oppressed and a social nonconformer. How far Robin Hood was based on a historical character and how far he is an archetypal outlaw or a Greenwood myth (who must withdraw from society and commune with nature) is the subject of the Doels' wide-ranging study. This new edition is complete with an updated gazetteer of Robin Hood sites and an annotated filmography. It includes almost 50 illustrations (including performances by present-day mummers).

The Green Man has many facets, many dimensions. He peers through his leaf mask in hundreds of church misericords and stone carvings. His innate link with the changing seasons and fertility is revealed in the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and in summer folk customs such as Jack in the Green, the Castleton Garland and the Burry Man. Perhaps he even lurks in the legendary hero of the Greenwood, Robin Hood. The Authors have been running summer schools and courses on the Green Man for many years, and in this fascinating study they discuss his significance in medival times and explore the modern development of the concept of the Green Man. The book also contains a detailed gazetteer of over 200 sites, featuring almost 1000 carvings (many photographed by Felicity Howlett).

An exploration of the traditional culture of Sussex through its folklore, seasonal customs, folksongs and legends and traditional occupations such as shepherding and inshore fishing and those outside the law, such as smugglers, highwaymen and poachers. From saints to smugglers, from may garlands to mummers, from wife-sales to witchcraft and legends in the landscape-this book gives an insight into the traditional culture, beliefs and practices of rural Sussex in the context of landscape, antiquities, settlement patterns, belief practices and economics. The Book contains much original research and an examination of primary sources. Topics include: 'Legends in the Landscape'; 'Spring & Summer Customs'; 'Religion and Folklore-Saints, Witches and Guy Fawkes Night'; 'The Winter Solstice and Celebration of Christmas; 'The Law of the Forest and Poaching'; 'Folk Drama'; 'Songs of the People'; 'The Shepherds of the Downs' and 'The Cinque Ports & Smuggling'.

For 400 years Kent was associated with the cultivation of hops. The harvesting of the hop was done by an itinerant workforce drawn mainly from London's east end, and gypsies coming from as far away as Ireland. This book evokes the bygone world of hopping through a fascinating illustrated selection of tales, songs, anecdotes and social records covering 400 years of local history, featuring both the 'rose-tinted' image and the harsher reality of a distinctive aspect of Kentish life.

In 1909, Canterbury antiquarian Percy Maylam published his research and remarkable photographs of the fascinating Kent tradition of the hooden horse. He caught the custom in its last traditional phase, but his work inspired a revival after the Second World War. Percy Maylam also published a famous essay on the Kent custom of Gavelkind when this was abolished by Act of Parliament just before the First World War. Percy's great-nephew Richard Maylam has long-wished for these two works to be reprinted. For this special edition Richard has unearthed additional, unpublished photographs and written a biographical essay on his great-uncle. Together with Richard, Mick Lynn and Geoff Doel have worked to make Percy Maylam's text available to a new generation of potential hoodeners and their audiences.

Who exactly was King Arthur? What is the evidence for him as a historical figure, and how does this figure relate to the hero of medieval romances and other legends? Fran and Geoff Doel trace the cultural development of the legendary and literary Arthur, through medieval Welsh sources, the French Romances, and the tradition of courtly love to Thomas Malory's "Le Morte D'Arthur" and the Tudor myth.

Providing readers with a seasonal anthology of the county, this collection of Sussex carols and customs, seasonal recipes and literary tales, re-examines the rich heritage of Christmas past from around the county. It features Christmas disasters, such as the Lewes avalanche, to well-known seasonal songs - such as Good King Wenceslas.

Kent boasts a plethora of characterising traditions which include hop-growing, smuggling and saints. All this reflects the curious history and geography of the area. It is bounded by sea on three sides, has the longest coastline of any English county and was the base for much maritime activity. This included trade and invasions, which gave rise to communities rich in sea-lore. This book also covers topics such as seasonal customs including harvest traditions; drama; witchcraft, saints and holy wells; and the background and songs surrounding fruit and hop-growing. This book charts the traditional culture of a populous and culturally significant southern county.

Folklore of Dorset explores the rich heritage of the county's traditions, seasonal customs and songs. Included are saints' lore and smugglers, wife sales, wrecking, witchcraft, wise men and West Gallery Music, hill figures, hempseed divination and holy wells, mummers' plays, May garlands and maypoles, Oosers and Oak Apple Day, bonfires and Beating the Bounds. The sources used include the poems and non-fiction of William Barnes, Thomas Hardy, the historian of Dorset John Hutchins, the Victorian and early twentieth-century folklorist John Udal and the Hammmond Brothers' collection of Dorset folksongs. The authors critically engage with the extent to which Hardy and Barnes can be regarded as primary sources for Dorset folklore. There is also considerable original research and use of oral material. Nearly 100 fascinating photographs illustrate the text and there is an appendix of a full mummers' play.