Discovering Robin Hood
The Life of Joseph Ritson—Gentleman, Scholar & Revolutionary
Stephen Basdeo
- The
- name
- of
- Joseph
- Ritson,
- born
- in
- Stockton-on-Tees
- in
- 1752,
- will
- be
- familiar
- to
- very
- few
- people.
- The
- name
- of
- Robin
- Hood
- is
- known
- the
- world
- over.
- Yet
- it
- was
- Ritson
- whose
- research
- in
- the
- late
- eighteenth
- century
- ensured
- the
- survival
- of
- the
- Robin
- Hood
- legend.
- He
- traveled
- all
- over
- the
- country
- looking
- for
- ancient
- manuscripts
- which
- told
- of
- the
- life
- and
- deeds
- of
- England’s
- most
- famous
- outlaw.
- Without
- his
- efforts,
- the
- legend
- of
- Robin
- Hood
- might
- have
- gone
- the
- way
- of
- other
- medieval
- outlaws
- such
- as
- Adam
- Bell
- —
- famous
- in
- their
- day
- but
- not
- so
- much
- now.
- Yet
- this
- is
- not
- only
- a
- story
- about
- the
- formation
- of
- the
- Robin
- Hood
- legend.
- Ritson’s
- story
- is
- one
- of
- rags
- to
- riches.
- Born
- in
- humble
- circumstances,
- his
- aptitude
- for
- learning
- meant
- that
- he
- rose
- through
- society’s
- ranks
- and
- became
- a
- successful
- lawyer,
- local
- official,
- and
- a
- gentleman.
- However,
- underneath
- the
- genteel
- and
- bourgeois
- façade
- of
- Joseph
- Ritson,
- Esq.
- was
- a
- revolutionary:
- having
- traveled
- to
- Paris
- at
- the
- height
- of
- the
- French
- Revolution,
- he
- was
- captivated
- by
- the
- revolutionaries’
- ideology
- of
- liberté,
- egalité,
- fraternité.
- He
- returned
- to
- England
- as
- a
- true
- democrat
- who
- sought
- the
- abolition
- of
- the
- British
- monarchy
- and
- the
- ‘rotten’
- parliamentary
- system
- and
- wished
- for
- French
- Revolution
- and
- its
- reign
- of
- terror
- to
- spread
- over
- to
- England.
- This
- the
- history
- of
- the
- life
- and
- times
- of
- Joseph
- Ritson:
- gentleman,
- scholar,
- and revolutionary.
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