Meet the Merry
Men
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Arthur A'Bland
is Little John's cousin. He's tall and strong, but not
nearly as capable or bright as his famous cousin. Arthur
was a King's Forester loyal to the Crown. |
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When he met Robin
Hood, and then Little John (after many years apart), he switched
allegiances without a thought (key phrase) and joined the Merry
Men. As Robin pointed out, "Arthur might be one of
the foresters who cut off David's ears." Arthur is a doughty soldier: Robin knows he can rely on Arthur to carry any job through without question, even unto death. From years of practice, Arthur is the band's second-best shot. For some reason, Arthur and Red Tom hate each other, and sometimes resort to fisticuffs. Arthur A'Bland was introduced in the ballad "Robin and the Forester". Art by John Green from Life in a Medieval Castle and Village Coloring Book. |
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Mary is wife to Arthur A'Bland. She follows orders well, helping Clara with the cooking. Just don't ask her to make any decisions. In a crisis she tends to panic and say/shout anything. |
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Mary was created by Clayton Emery. Image from medieval times. |
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Ben Barrel
was an uninspired merchant until he met Robin Hood along Sherwood's
green roads. |
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Ben is lazy as they make 'em, and only works when prodded by his wife Clara. Ben goes along with whatever scheme is easiest. Sensing this, Robin actually had no interest in recruiting Ben - until, after one particularly excruciating meal, he learned Clara could cook. Ben's one spot of ambition is he plays the bagpipes. Robin christened him "Barrel" for his girth and fondness of beer. Ben Barrel was created by Clayton Emery. Artist unknown from Robin Hood: A Wishing Well Adventure Classic. |
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Clara
is Ben Barrel's wife. Hardheaded and practical, she runs
the Sherwood kitchen with an iron spoon. |
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Which is good, because Marian steadfastly refused to cook. Clara offered that Ben join the Merry Men, seeing that as a better money-making activity than Ben's lackluster merchanting. Clara was created by Clayton Emery. Clara was my grandmother's name. Image origin uncertain. |
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Tub
(real name unknown) is son to Ben Barrel: a tub is a small barrel. |
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Tub is a friend and rival to Tam Gamwell. Clara apprenticed
him to Black Bart. The grouchy Bart scares the stuffing
out of Tub, but he is learning to be an excellent blacksmith
- until he succumbs to plague in London.
The children were created by Clayton Emery. Art from Robin Hood by Eugene Pawczuk. |
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Shonet the Sower
was a prioress. Met during some adventure, she left the
church to marry David of Doncaster, who built and furnished a
hut for her in the Greenwood. |
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Their happiness was cut short when Shonet died of a crab (cancer) in BEASTS. Shonet, and the devout Sherwooders, couldn't help but wonder if her agonizing death weren't a punishment for quitting the cloister to marry. Shonet is a creation of Clayton Emery. She's a counterpoint to the evil prioress of the later legend who bleeds Robin to death. |
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David of Doncaster was always quiet and moody, subject to depression
and plagued by bad luck. |
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large and hungry family, but was caught by King's Foresters.
They cut off his ears, so he wears his black hair long.
Though gloomy, David is a handsome man, but dresses carelessly.
In summer his shirt is ragged and sleeveless, and his black hat
has the brim pushed up out of the way. He was married briefly to Shonet the Sower, and views her early death as a punishment for his sins, which could only be too much happiness. David has many relatives in Doncaster. He visits them and supports them in lean times. He clings to Robin Hood like a drowning man. David of Doncaster appears in many early ballads. Jim Lees thought his only description was he was a young boy. Artist unknown from Robin of Sherwood Annual 1986. |
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Black Bart
is the band's blacksmith. He's a wonderful smith, probably
as good as the legendary Wayland, whom Bart met and trained under
- and was ultimately betrayed by. |
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magic" and is unphased by, say, salamanders crawling out
of his forge or devils swirling in the smoke. Phelgmatic
about everything, Bart pays homage to the gods of the underground,
earning him the name "devil worshipper". In fact,
Bart doesn't worship, or fear, anything. To judge by a
story he once told while drunk, The Man Who Was Always Afraid,
Bart was a coward as a youth and banished from his village.
He was seized by trolls(?), dragged underground, and enslaved
and apprenticed to an ancient crippled wonder-smith who was probably
Wayland of legend. Betrayed by his master, Bart walked out of the underground past horrors beyond imagining. After that, the story goes, he was never afraid again. Considered unkillable, Black Bart was blasted to atoms by a monstrous demon of black glass. Typically, he stayed to fight while everyone else ran for their lives. It bothers Robin to have a devil worshipper in his band, but then, he's associated with worst. Bart is always dirty and grimy and grumpy. Black Bart was created by Clayton Emery. Art by Victor G Ambrus from Robin Hood, His Life and Legend by Bernard Miles. |
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Bold Jane Downey
is Sherwood's tomboy grown up. Robin named her "Bold"
Jane because she was painfully shy. With Marian as her
role model, and having fled an arranged marriage, her goal is to excel as a Merry MAN. After Little John saved Jane's life - on the fly
during an escape - she fell in love with the big lug. |
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London, using her own initiative, she adopted a disguise (after
Robin Hood) to infiltrate a castle where he was imprisoned. Bold Jane handles all her weapons well, and can swing nimbly on a rope. Because she's small, she wears her longsword down her back (to gentle joshing), and has problems controlling horses. Bold Jane Downey is a creation of Clayton Emery. Art by Larry Elmore from Robin Hood and the Beasts of Sherwood by Clayton Emery. |
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Grace is a tall ungainly redheaded woman who fled her marriage bed and ran to Sherwood - |
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| - after breaking a chamberpot over her very
elderly husband's head. Fleeing was her entire plan, and
though she's competent with weapons - Robin nicknamed her "Grace"
as a jest - she never really embraced the outlaw life.
She did serve well in BEASTS, when Robin matched her against
one of King Richard's knights in a sword fight. While in London,
she marries a local weaver named Anselm and settles there.
Grace was created by Clayton Emery. Art by Piero Cattaneo from The Legend of Robin Hood. |
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Simon left his plow for the exciting life of an outlaw. He was killed within a year. |
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Simon was created by Clayton Emery (he thinks). Art by Piero Cattaneo from The Legend of Robin Hood. |
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| But seeing so many of Robin's men come out of battle unscathed, Brian emulated Black Bart and charged a phalanx of archers - and
was swept from the saddle by arrows.
Brian was created (as cannon fodder) by Art by Benvenuit from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. |
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Friar Tuck is the old man of the gang. Over 40, he finds it hard to live in the forest, sleep on damp ground, and go stomping through wet woods to ambush people. As such, Tuck takes his luxuries as he can find them. |
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| And he's fairly tough to begin with
from all that walking: friars usually traveled from village to
hamlet on a regular circuit, giving open-air sermons and collecting
coins in places too small to have a permanent priest. Tuck was invited to join the band because Robin, a devout Catholic, knew his comrades' immortal souls were in jeopardy by living away from civilization and its church. So he went looking for the legendary "fighting friar". Robin and Tuck ferried each other across the stream, both getting soused, had a rousing sword fight, and came out even when Robin summoned his Merry Men and Tuck whistled up his dogs. Tuck is only allowed two dogs in Sherwood, Gog and Magog. He's called "Tuck" for tucking his kirtle or cassock into his belt for battle (so seems the universal explanation). And despite that clerics aren't supposed to use a blade in battle - for instance, Bishop Odo carried a mace at Hastings - Tuck swings a mean sword. As Sherwood's conscience, he nags the Merry Men onto the straight and narrow. His devotion occasionally trips him up. To fight Vikings, the fairies provided the band with acorns as good luck charms. Tuck threw his away as "pagan witchcraft" and fell sick - the only Sherwooder to succumb. Friar Tuck appears in the earliest Robin Hood ballads. Supposedly he's based on a real historical person, but I haven't researched it. Art by Victor G Ambrus from Robin
Hood, His Life and Legend by Bernard Miles.
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