Robin Hood

Robin Hood
and other outlaw

heroes
by Wikipedians
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................1
Robin Hood................................................................................................................................................2
Basil Fool for Christ.................................................................................................................................24
Eustace Folville........................................................................................................................................25
Ishikawa Goemon....................................................................................................................................30
Hong Gildong...........................................................................................................................................32
Juraj Jánošík.............................................................................................................................................34
Kobus van der Schlossen.........................................................................................................................40
Lampião...................................................................................................................................................41
Ned Kelly.................................................................................................................................................44
Nezumi Kozō...........................................................................................................................................68
Roberto Cofresí........................................................................................................................................70
Louis Riel.................................................................................................................................................77
Ustym Karmaliuk.....................................................................................................................................97
Salvatore Giuliano..................................................................................................................................100
William de Wendenal.............................................................................................................................106
Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd......................................................................................................................109
William Wallace.....................................................................................................................................112
Introduction
Introduction
Note. This book is based on the Wikipedia article: “Robin Hood”. The supporting
articles are those referenced as major expansion of selected sections.
1
Robin Hood and other outlaw heroes at http://bit.ly/cDxWJe
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English
folklore. A highly skilled archer and
swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the
rich and giving to the poor," assisted by a
group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry
Men." Robin and many of his men wore
Lincoln green clothes.
Robin Hood became a popular folk figure
starting in medieval times continuing through
modern literature, films, and television. In the
earliest sources Robin Hood is a commoner,
but he was often later portrayed as an
aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands
and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous
sheriff.
Overview
In popular culture, Robin Hood and his band
Illustration 1: Robin Hood statue in of merry men are usually portrayed as living
Nottingham in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire,
where much of the action in the early ballads
takes place. So does the very first recorded Robin Hood rhyme, four lines from
the early 15th century, beginning: "Robyn hode in scherewode stod." To
reinforce this belief, the University of Nottingham in 2010 has begun the
Nottingham Caves Survey with the goal "to increase the tourist potential of these
sites". The project "will use a 3D laser scanner to produce a three dimensional
record of more than 450 sandstone caves around Nottingham". However, the
overall picture from the surviving early ballads and other early references
suggest that Robin Hood may have been based in the Barnsdale area of what is
now South Yorkshire (which borders Nottinghamshire).
Other traditions point to a variety of locations as Robin's "true" home both inside
Yorkshire and elsewhere, with the abundance of places named for Robin causing
further confusion. A tradition dating back at least to the end of the 16th century
gives his birthplace as Loxley, Sheffield in South Yorkshire, while the site of
Robin Hood's Well in Yorkshire has been associated with Robin Hood at least
since 1422. His grave has been claimed to be at Kirklees Priory, Mirfield in West
Yorkshire, as implied by the 18th-century version of Robin Hood's Death, and
there is a headstone there of dubious authenticity.
2
Robin Hood
The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the late 14th-century
poem Piers Plowman, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads
which tell his story have been dated to the 15th century or the first decade of the
16th century. In these early accounts Robin Hood's partisanship of the lower
classes, his Marianism and associated special regard for women, his outstanding
skill as an archer, his anti-clericalism, and his particular animus towards the
Sheriff of Nottingham are already clear. Little John, Much the Miller's Son and
Will Scarlet (as Will "Scarlok" or "Scathelocke") all appear, although not yet
Maid Marian or Friar Tuck. It is not certain what should be made of these latter
two absences as it is known that Friar Tuck, for one, has been part of the legend
since at least the later 15th century.
In popular culture Robin Hood is typically seen as a contemporary and supporter
of the late 12th-century king Richard the Lionheart, Robin being driven to
outlawry during the misrule of Richard's evil brother John while Richard was
away at the Third Crusade. This view first gained currency in the 16th century,
but it has very little scholarly support. It is certainly not supported by the
earliest ballads. The early compilation A Gest of Robyn Hode names the king as
"Edward," and while it does show Robin Hood as accepting the King's pardon he
later repudiates it and returns to the greenwood.
The oldest surviving ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk gives even less support to
the picture of Robin Hood as a partisan of the true king. The setting of the early
ballads is usually attributed by scholars to either the 13th century or the 14th,
although it is recognised they are not necessarily historically consistent.
The early ballads are also quite clear on Robin Hood's social status: he is a
yeoman. While the precise meaning of this term changed over time, including
free retainers of an aristocrat and small landholders, it always referred to
commoners. The essence of it in the present context was "neither a knight nor a
peasant or 'husbonde' but something in between." We know that artisans (such
as millers) were among those regarded as "yeomen" in the 14th century. From
the 16th century on there were attempts to elevate Robin Hood to the nobility
and in two extremely influential plays Anthony Munday presented him at the
very end of the 16th century as the Earl of Huntingdon, as he is still commonly
presented in modern times.
As well as ballads, the legend was also transmitted by "Robin Hood games" or
plays that were an important part of the late medieval and early modern May
Day festivities. The first record of a Robin Hood game was in 1426 in Exeter, but
the reference does not indicate how old or widespread this custom was at the
time. The Robin Hood games are known to have flourished in the later 15th and
16th centuries. It is commonly stated as fact that Maid Marian and a jolly friar
(at least partly identifiable with Friar Tuck) entered the legend through the May
Games.
3
The early ballads link Robin Hood to identifiable real places and many are
convinced that he was a real person, more or less accurately portrayed. A
number of theories as to the identity of "the real Robin Hood" have their
supporters. Some of these theories posit that "Robin Hood" or "Robert Hood" or
the like was his actual name; others suggest that this may have been merely a
nick-name disguising a medieval bandit perhaps known to history under another
name.
At the same time it is possible that Robin Hood has always been a fictional
character; the folklorist Francis James Child declared "Robin Hood is absolutely
a creation of the ballad-muse" and this view has not been disproved. Another
view is that Robin Hood's origins must be sought in folklore or mythology;
Despite the frequent Christian references in the early ballads, Robin Hood has
been claimed for the pagan witch-religion supposed by Margaret Murray to have
existed in medieval Europe.
Early references
The oldest references to Robin Hood are not historical records, or even ballads
recounting his exploits, but hints and allusions found in various works. From
1228, onwards the names 'Robinhood', 'Robehod' or 'Hobbehod' occur in the rolls
of several English Justices. The majority of these references date from the late
13th century. Between 1261 and 1300, there are at least eight references to
'Rabunhod' in various regions across England, from Berkshire in the south to
York in the north.
In a petition presented to Parliament in 1439, the name is used to describe an
itinerant felon. The petition cites one Piers Venables of Aston, Derbyshire, "who
having no liflode, ne sufficeante of goodes, gadered and assembled unto him
many misdoers, beynge of his clothynge, and, in manere of insurrection, wente
into the wodes in that countrie, like as it hadde be Robyn Hude and his meyne."
The name was still used to describe sedition and treachery in 1605, when Guy
Fawkes and his associates were branded "Robin Hoods" by Robert Cecil.
The first allusion to a literary tradition of Robin Hood tales occurs in William
Langland's Piers Plowman (c. 1362–c. 1386) in which Sloth, the lazy priest,
confesses: "I kan [know] not parfitly [perfectly] my Paternoster as the preest it
singeth,/ But I kan rymes of Robyn Hood."
The first mention of a quasi-historical Robin Hood is given in Andrew of
Wyntoun's Orygynale Chronicle, written in about 1420. The following lines occur
with little contextualisation under the year 1283:
• Lytil Jhon and Robyne Hude
4
Robin Hood
• Wayth-men ware commendyd gude

• In Yngil-wode and Barnysdale
• Thai oysyd all this tyme thare trawale.
The next notice is a statement in the Scotichronicon, composed by John of
Fordun between 1377 and 1384, and revised by Walter Bower in about 1440.
Among Bower's many interpolations is a passage which directly refers to Robin.
It is inserted after Fordun's account of the defeat of Simon de Montfort and the
punishment of his adherents. Robin is represented as a fighter for de Montfort's
cause. This was in fact true of the historical outlaw of Sherwood Forest Roger
Godberd, whose points of similarity to the Robin Hood of the ballads have often
been noted.
Bower writes:
Then [c. 1266] arose the famous murderer, Robert Hood, as well as Little John,
together with their accomplices from among the disinherited, whom the foolish
populace are so inordinately fond of celebrating both in tragedies and
comedies, and about whom they are delighted to hear the jesters and minstrels
sing above all other ballads.
The word translated here as "murderer" is the Latin siccarius, from the Latin for
"knife." Bower goes on to tell a story about Robin Hood in which he refuses to
flee from his enemies while hearing Mass in the greenwood, and then gains a
surprise victory over them, apparently as a reward for his piety.
Another reference, discovered by Julian Luxford in 2009, appears in the margin
of the "Polychronicon" in the Eton College library. Written around the year 1460
by a monk in Latin, it says:
Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw named Robin
Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of
England with continuous robberies.
William Shakespeare makes reference to Robin Hood in his late 16th-century
play The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of his earliest. In it, the character
Valentine is banished from Milan and driven out through the forest where he is
approached by outlaws who, upon meeting him, desire him as their leader. They
comment, "By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat friar, This fellow were a king for
our wild faction!" implying that they imagine themselves as similar to the Robin
Hood story.
5
References to Robin as Earl of Huntington

Another reference is provided by Thomas Gale, Dean of York (c. 1635–1702), but
this comes nearly four hundred years after the events it describes:
[Robin Hood's] death is stated by Ritson to have taken place on the 18th of
November, 1247, about the 87th year of his age; but according to the following
inscription found among the papers of the Dean of York...the death occurred a
month later. In this inscription, which bears evidence of high antiquity, Robin
Hood is described as Earl of Huntington - his claim to which title has been as
hotly contested as any disputed peerage upon record.
1. Hear undernead dis laitl stean
2. Lais Robert Earl of Huntingun
3. Near arcir der as hie sa geud
4. An pipl kauld im Robin Heud
5. Sic utlaws as hi an is men
6. Vil England nivr si agen.
1. Obiit 24 Kal Dekembris 1247
This inscription also appears on a grave in the grounds of Kirklees Priory near
Kirklees Hall (see below).
Robert is largely fictional by this time. The Gale note is inaccurate. The medieval
texts do not refer to him directly, but mediate their allusions through a body of
accounts and reports: for Langland, Robin exists principally in "rimes," for
Bower, "comedies and tragedies," while for Wyntoun he is, "commendyd gude."
Even in a legal context, where one would expect to find verifiable references to
Robert, he is primarily a symbol, a generalised outlaw-figure rather than an
individual. Consequently, in the medieval period itself, Robin Hood already
belongs more to literature than to history. In fact, in an anonymous song called
Woman of c. 1412, he is treated in precisely this manner - as a joke, a figure that
the audience will instantly recognise as imaginary:
He that made this songe full good,
Came of the northe and the sothern blode,
And somewhat kyne to Robert Hoad.
6
Robin Hood
Sources
There is little scholarly support for the
view that tales of Robin Hood have
stemmed from mythology or folklore;
from fairies (such as Puck under the
alias Robin Goodfellow) or other
mythological origins.
When Robin Hood has been connected
to such folklore, it is apparently a later
development. Maurice Keen provides a
brief summary and useful critique of the
once-popular view that Robin Hood had
mythological origins, while (unlike
some) refraining from utterly and finally
dismissing it. While Robin Hood and his
men often show superb skill in archery,
swordplay, and disguise, they are no
more exaggerated than those
characters in other ballads, such as
Kinmont Willie, which were based on
historical events.
Robin Hood's role in the traditional May
Day games could suggest pagan
connections but that role has not been
traced earlier than the early 15th
Illustration 2: "Robin shoots with Sir Guy" by Louis century. However, it is uncontroversial
Rhead
that a Robin and Marion figured in
13th-century French "pastourelles" (of
which Jeu de Robin et Marion c. 1280 is a literary version) and presided over the
French May festivities, "this Robin and Marion tended to preside, in the intervals
of the attempted seduction of the latter by a series of knights, over a variety of
rustic pastimes."
In the Jeu de Robin and Marion Robin and his companions have to rescue Marion
from the clutches of a "lustful knight." Dobson and Taylor in their survey of the
legend, in which they reject the mythological theory, nevertheless regard it as
"highly probable" that this French Robin's name and functions travelled to the
English May Games where they fused with the Robin Hood legend.
The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual
outlaws, or from tales of outlaws, such as Hereward the Wake, Eustace the
Monk, Fulk FitzWarin, and William Wallace. Hereward appears in a ballad much
7
like Robin Hood and the Potter, and as the Hereward ballad is older, it appears
to be the source. The ballad Adam Bell, Clym of the Cloughe and Wyllyam of
Cloudeslee runs parallel to Robin Hood and the Monk, but it is not clear whether
either one is the source for the other, or whether they merely show that such
tales were told of outlaws.
Some early Robin Hood stories appear to be unique, such as the story where
Robin gives a knight, generally called Richard at the Lee, money to pay off his
mortgage to an abbot, but this may merely indicate that no parallels have
survived.
There are a number of theories that attempt to identify a historical Robin Hood.
A difficulty with any such historical search is that "Robert" was in medieval
England a very common given name, and "Robin" (or Robyn) especially in the
13th century was its very common diminutive. The surname "Hood" (or Hude or
Hode etc), referring ultimately to the head-covering, was also fairly common.
Unsurprisingly, therefore, there are a number of people called "Robert Hood" or
"Robin Hood" to be found in medieval records. Some of them are on record for
having fallen foul of the law but this is not necessarily significant to the legend.
The early ballads give a number of possible historical clues, notably the Gest
names the reigning king as "Edward," but the ballads cannot be assumed to be
reliable in such details. For whatever it may be worth, however, King Edward I
took the throne in 1272, and an Edward remained on the throne until the death
of Edward III in 1377.
On the other hand what appears to be the first known example of "Robin Hood"
as stock name for an outlaw dates to 1262 in Berkshire where the surname
"Robehod" was applied to a man after he had been outlawed, and apparently
because he had been outlawed. This could suggest two main possibilities: either
that an early form of the Robin Hood legend was already well established in the
mid-13th century; or alternatively that the name "Robin Hood" preceded the
outlaw hero that we know; so that the "Robin Hood" of legend was so-called
because that was seen as an appropriate name for an outlaw.
It has long been suggested, notably by John Maddicott, that "Robin Hood" was a
stock alias used by thieves. Another theory of the origin of the name needs to be
mentioned here. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica remarks that 'hood' was a
common dialectical form of 'wood'; and that the outlaw's name has been given as
"Robin Wood." There are indeed a number of references to Robin Hood as Robin
Wood, or Whood, or Whod, from the 16th and 17th centuries. The earliest
recorded example, in connection with May games in Somerset, dates from 1518.
One well-known theory of origin was proposed by Joseph Hunter in 1852. Hunter
identified the outlaw with a "Robyn Hode" recorded as employed by Edward II in
1323 during the king's progress through Lancashire. This Robyn Hood was
identified with (one or more people called) Robert Hood living in Wakefield
8
Robin Hood
before and after that time. Comparing the available records with especially the
Gest and also other ballads Hunter developed a fairly detailed theory according
to which Robin Hood was an adherent of the rebel Earl of Lancaster, defeated at
the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322.
According to this theory Robin Hood was pardoned and employed by the king in
1323. (The Gest does relate that Robin Hood was pardoned by "King Edward"
and taken into his service.) The theory supplies Robin Hood with a wife, Matilda,
thought to be origin of Maid Marian; and Hunter also conjectured that the author
of the Gest may have been the religious poet Richard Rolle (1290–1349) who
lived in the village of Hampole in Barnsdale.
This theory has long been recognised to have serious problems, one of the most
serious being that "Robin Hood" and similar names were already used as
nicknames for outlaws in the 13th century. Another is that there is no direct
evidence that Hunter's Hood had ever been an outlaw or any kind of criminal or
rebel at all, the theory is built on conjecture and coincidence of detail. Finally
recent research has shown that Hunter's Robyn Hood had been employed by the
king at an earlier stage, this casting doubt on this Robyn Hood's supposed earlier
career as outlaw and rebel.
Another theory identifies him with the historical outlaw Roger Godberd who was
a die-hard supporter of Simon de Montfort; which would place Robin Hood
around the 1260s. There are certainly parallels between Godberd's career and
that of Robin Hood as he appears in the Gest, John Maddicott has called Godberd
"that prototype Robin Hood." Some problems with this theory are that there is no
evidence that Godberd was ever known as Robin Hood, and no sign in the early
Robin Hood ballads of the specific concerns of de Montfort's revolt.
Another well-known theory, first proposed by the historian L. V. D. Owen in 1936
and more recently floated by J. C. Holt and others, is that the original Robin
Hood might be identified with an outlawed Robert Hood, or Hod, or Hobbehod,
all apparently the same man, referred to in nine successive Yorkshire Pipe Rolls
between 1226 and 1234. There is no evidence however that this Robert Hood,
although an outlaw, was also a bandit.
Ballads and tales

The earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood ballad is "Robin Hood and the Monk."
This is preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48, which was written
shortly after 1450. It contains many of the elements still associated with the
legend, from the Nottingham setting to the bitter enmity between Robin and the
local sheriff.
9
The first printed version is A Gest of

Robyn Hode (c. 1475), a collection of
separate stories which attempts to
unite the episodes into a single
continuous narrative. After this
comes "Robin Hood and the Potter,"
contained in a manuscript of c. 1503.
"The Potter" is markedly different in
tone from "The Monk:" whereas the
earlier tale is "a thriller" the latter is
more comic, its plot involving
trickery and cunning rather than
straightforward force. The difference
between the two texts recalls
Bower's claim that Robin-tales may
be both 'comedies and tragedies'.
Other early texts are dramatic pieces
such as the fragmentary Robyn Hod
and the Shryff off Notyngham
(c. 1472). These are particularly
noteworthy as they show Robin's
integration into May Day rituals
Illustration 3: Douglas Fairbanks as Robin Hood; the sword towards the end of the Middle Ages.
with which he is depicted was common in the oldest ballads
The plots of neither "the Monk" nor
"the Potter" are included in the Gest; and neither is the plot of "Robin Hood and
Guy of Gisborne" which is probably at least as old as those two ballads although
preserved in a more recent copy. Each of these three ballads survived in a single
copy, so it is unclear how much of the medieval legend has survived, and what
has survived may not be typical of the medieval legend. It has been argued that
the fact that the surviving ballads were preserved in written form in itself makes
it unlikely they were typical; in particular stories with an interest for the gentry
were by this view more likely to be preserved. The story of Robin's aid to the
"poor knight" that takes up much of the Gest may be an example.
The character of Robin in these first texts is rougher edged than in his later
incarnations. In "Robin Hood and the Monk," for example, he is shown as quick
tempered and violent, assaulting Little John for defeating him in an archery
contest; in the same ballad Much the Miller's Son casually kills a "little page" in
the course of rescuing Robin Hood from prison. No extant ballad actually shows
Robin Hood "giving to the poor," although in a "A Gest of Robyn Hode" Robin
does make a large loan to an unfortunate knight which he does not in the end
require to be repaid; and later in the same ballad Robin Hood states his intention
of giving money to the next traveller to come down the road if he happens to be
poor.
10
Robin Hood
Of my good he shall haue some,

Yf he be a por man.
As it happens the next traveller is not poor, but it seems in context that Robin
Hood is stating a general policy. From the beginning Robin Hood is on the side of
the poor; the Gest quotes Robin Hood as instructing his men that when they rob:
loke ye do no husbonde harme
That tilleth with his ploughe.
No more ye shall no gode yeman
That walketh by gren-wode shawe;
Ne no knyght ne no squyer
That wol be a gode felawe.
And in its final lines the Gest sums up:
he was a good outlawe,
And dyde pore men moch god.
Within Robin Hood's band medieval forms of courtesy rather than modern ideals
of equality are generally in evidence. In the early ballads Robin's men usually
kneel before him in strict obedience: in A Gest of Robyn Hode the king even
observes that "His men are more at his byddynge/Then my men be at myn." Their
social status, as yeomen, is shown by their weapons; they use swords rather than
quarterstaffs. The only character to use a quarterstaff in the early ballads is the
potter, and Robin Hood does not take to a staff until the 18th century Robin
Hood and Little John.
The political and social assumptions underlying the early Robin Hood ballads
have long been controversial. It has been influentially argued by J. C. Holt that
the Robin Hood legend was cultivated in the households of the gentry, and that it
would be mistaken to see in him a figure of peasant revolt. He is not a peasant
but a yeoman, and his tales make no mention of the complaints of the peasants,
such as oppressive taxes. He appears not so much as a revolt against societal
standards as an embodiment of them, being generous, pious, and courteous,
opposed to stingy, worldly, and churlish foes. Other scholars have by contrast
stressed the subversive aspects of the legend, and see in the medieval Robin
Hood ballads a plebeian literature hostile to the feudal order.
Although the term "Merry Men" belongs to a later period, the ballads do name
several of Robin's companions. These include Will Scarlet (or Scathlock), Much
the Miller's Son, and Little John - who was called "little" as a joke, as he was
quite the opposite. Even though the band is regularly described as being over a
hundred men, usually only three or four are specified. Some appear only once or
11
twice in a ballad: Will Stutely in Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly and Robin
Hood and Little John; David of Doncaster in Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow;
Gilbert with the White Hand in A Gest of Robyn Hode; and Arthur a Bland in
Robin Hood and the Tanner.
Printed versions of the Robin Hood
ballads, generally based on the Gest,
appear in the early 16th century,
shortly after the introduction of
printing in England. Later that century
Robin is promoted to the level of
nobleman: he is styled Earl of
Huntingdon, Robert of Locksley, or
Robert Fitz Ooth. In the early ballads,
by contrast, he was a member of the
yeoman classes, which included
common freeholders possessing a small
landed estate.
By the early 15th century at the latest,
Robin Hood had become associated
with May Day celebrations, with
revellers dressing as Robin or as
members of his band for the festivities.
This was not common throughout
England, but in some regions the
custom lasted until Elizabethan times,
and during the reign of Henry VIII, was
briefly popular at court. Robin was
often allocated the role of a May King,
presiding over games and processions,
but plays were also performed with the Illustration 4: "Little John and Robin Hood" by Frank
characters in the roles, sometimes Godwin
performed at church ales, a means by
which churches raised funds.
A complaint of 1492, brought to the Star Chamber, accuses men of acting
riotously by coming to a fair as Robin Hood and his men; the accused defended
themselves on the grounds that the practice was a long-standing custom to raise
money for churches, and they had not acted riotously but peaceably.
It is from this association that Robin's romantic attachment to Maid Marian (or
Marion) stems. The naming of Marian may have come from the French pastoral
play of c. 1280, the Jeu de Robin et Marion, although this play is unrelated to the
English legends. Both Robin and Marian were certainly associated with May Day
festivities in England (as was Friar Tuck), but these were originally two distinct
12
Robin Hood
types of performance - Alexander Barclay, writing in c. 1500, refers to "some

merry fytte of Maid Marian or else of Robin Hood" - but the characters were
brought together. Marian did not immediately gain the unquestioned role; in
Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage, his sweetheart is 'Clorinda
the Queen of the Shepherdesses'. Clorinda survives in some later stories as an
alias of Marian.
In the 16th century, Robin Hood is given a specific
historical setting. Up until this point there was
little interest in exactly when Robin's adventures
took place. The original ballads refer at various
points to "King Edward," without stipulating
whether this is Edward I, Edward II, or Edward
III. Hood may thus have been active at any point
between 1272 and 1377. However, during the
16th century the stories become fixed to the
1190s, the period in which King Richard was
absent from his throne, fighting in the crusades.
This date is first proposed by John Mair in his
Historia Majoris Britanniæ (1521), and gains
popular acceptance by the end of the century.
Giving Robin an aristocratic title and female love
interest, and placing him in the historical context
of the true king's absence, all represent moves to
domesticate his legend and reconcile it to ruling
Illustration 5: Robin Hood and Maid
powers. In this, his legend is similar to that of
Marian
King Arthur, which morphed from a dangerous
male-centred story to a more comfortable,
chivalrous romance under the troubadours serving Eleanor of Aquitaine. From
the 16th century on, the legend of Robin Hood is often used to promote the
hereditary ruling class, romance, and religious piety. The "criminal" element is
retained to provide dramatic colour, rather than as a real challenge to
convention.
In 1598, Anthony Munday wrote a pair of plays on the Robin Hood legend, The
Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington (published 1601). The 17th
century introduced the minstrel Alan-a-Dale. He first appeared in a 17th century
broadside ballad, and unlike many of the characters thus associated, managed to
adhere to the legend. This is also the era in which the character of Robin became
fixed as stealing from the rich to give to the poor.
In the 18th century, the stories become even more conservative, and develop a
slightly more farcical vein. From this period there are a number of ballads in
which Robin is severely "drubbed" by a succession of professionals including a
tanner, a tinker and a ranger. In fact, the only character who does not get the
13
better of Hood is the luckless Sheriff. Yet even in these ballads Robin is more
than a mere simpleton: on the contrary, he often acts with great shrewdness. The
tinker, setting out to capture Robin, only manages to fight with him after he has
been cheated out of his money and the arrest warrant he is carrying. In Robin
Hood's Golden Prize, Robin disguises himself as a friar and cheats two priests
out of their cash. Even when Robin is defeated, he usually tricks his foe into
letting him sound his horn, summoning the Merry Men to his aid. When his
enemies do not fall for this ruse, he persuades them to drink with him instead.
The continued popularity of the Robin Hood tales is attested by a number of
literary references. In As You Like It, the exiled duke and his men "live like the
old Robin Hood of England," while Ben Jonson produced the (incomplete)
masque The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood as a satire on Puritanism.
Somewhat later, the Romantic poet John Keats composed Robin Hood. To A
Friend and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a play The Foresters, or Robin Hood and
Maid Marian, which was presented with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan
in 1892. Later still, T. H. White featured Robin and his band in The Sword in the
Stone - anachronistically, since the novel's chief theme is the childhood of King
Arthur.
The Victorian era generated its own distinct
versions of Robin Hood. The traditional tales were
often adapted for children, most notably in
Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin
Hood, which influenced accounts of Robin Hood
through the 20th century. These versions firmly
stamp Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man
who takes from the rich to give to the poor.
Nevertheless, the adventures are still more local
than national in scope: while King Richard's
participation in the Crusades is mentioned in
passing, Robin takes no stand against Prince John,
and plays no part in raising the ransom to free
Richard. These developments are part of the 20th
century Robin Hood myth.
The idea of Robin Hood as a high-minded Saxon
fighting Norman lords also originates in the 19th
century. The most notable contributions to this
idea of Robin are Jacques Nicolas Augustin
Thierry's Histoire de la Conquête de l'Angleterre
par les Normands (1825) and Sir Walter Scott's
Illustration 6: Errol Flynn and Olivia de Ivanhoe (1819). In this last work in particular, the
Havilland as Robin Hood and Maid modern Robin Hood - "King of Outlaws and prince
Marian of good fellows!" as Richard the Lionheart calls
him - makes his debut.
14
Robin Hood
The 20th century has grafted still further details on to the original legends. The
1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de
Havilland, portrayed Robin as a hero on a national scale, leading the oppressed
Saxons in revolt against their Norman overlords while Richard the Lionheart
fought in the Crusades; this movie established itself so definitively that many
studios resorted to movies about his son (invented for that purpose) rather than
compete with the image of this one.
In the 1973 animated Disney film
Robin Hood, the title character is
portrayed as an anthropomorphic fox
voiced by Brian Bedford. Years
before Robin Hood had even entered
production, Disney had considered
doing a project on Reynard the Fox.
However, due to concerns that
Reynard was unsuitable as a hero,
animator Ken Anderson lifted many
elements from Reynard into Robin
Hood, thus making the titular
character a fox.
The 1976 British and American film
Robin and Marian, starring Sean
Connery as Robin Hood and Audrey
Hepburn as Maid Marian, portrays
the figures in later years after Robin
has returned from service with
Richard the Lion Hearted in a
foreign crusade and Marian has gone
into seclusion in a nunnery.
Since the 1980s, it has become
commonplace to include a Saracen Illustration 7: The title page of Howard Pyle's 1883 novel,
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
among the Merry Men, a trend which
began with the character Nasir in
the Robin of Sherwood television series. Later versions of the story have followed
suit: the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and 2006 BBC TV series
Robin Hood each contain equivalents of Nasir, in the figures of Azeem and Djaq
respectively. The latest movie version to be released summer of 2010 is simply
entitled Robin Hood is directed by Ridley Scott, with Robin played by Russell
Crowe.
The Robin Hood legend has thus been subject to numerous shifts and mutations
throughout its history. Robin himself has evolved from a yeoman bandit to a
national hero of epic proportions, who not only supports the poor by taking from
15
the rich, but heroically defends the throne of England itself from unworthy and
venal claimants.
Connections to existing locations

In modern versions of the legend, Robin Hood is said to have taken up residence
in the verdant Sherwood Forest in the county of Nottinghamshire. For this
reason the people of present-day Nottinghamshire have a special affinity with
Robin Hood, often claiming him as the symbol of their county. For example,
major road signs entering the shire depict Robin Hood with his bow and arrow,
welcoming people to 'Robin Hood County.' BBC Radio Nottingham also uses the
phrase 'Robin Hood County' on its regular programmes. The Robin Hood Way
runs through Nottinghamshire and the county is home to literally thousands of
other places, roads, inns and objects
bearing Robin's name.
Specific sites linked to Robin Hood
include the Major Oak tree, claimed
to have been used by him as a
hideout, Robin Hood's Well, located
near Newstead Abbey (within the
boundaries of Sherwood Forest), and
the Church of St. Mary in the village
of Edwinstowe, where Robin and
Maid Marian are historically thought
to have wed.
However, the Nottingham setting is
a matter of some contention. While
Illustration 8: The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest the Sheriff of Nottingham and the
town itself appear in early ballads,
and Sherwood is specifically mentioned in the early ballad Robin Hood and the
Monk, certain of the original ballads (even those with Nottingham references)
locate Robin on occasion in Barnsdale (the area between Pontefract and
Doncaster), some fifty miles north of Sherwood in the county of Yorkshire;
furthermore, it has been suggested that the ballads placed in this area are far
more geographically specific and accurate. This is reinforced for some by the
alleged similarity of Locksley to the area of Loxley, South Yorkshire in Sheffield,
where in nearby Tideswell, which was the "Kings Larder" in the Royal Forest of
the Peak, a record of the appearance of a "Robert de Lockesly" in court is found,
dated 1245. As "Robert" and its diminutives were amongst the most common of
names at the time, and also since it was usual for men to adopt the name of their
hometown ("De Lockesly" means simply, "Of [or from] Lockesly"), the record
could just as easily be referring to any man from the area named Robert.
16
Robin Hood
Although it cannot be proven whether or not this is the man himself, it is further
believed by some that Robin had a brother called Thomas - an assertion with no
documentary evidence whatsoever to support it in any of the stories, tales or
ballads. If the Robert mentioned above was indeed Robin Hood, and if he did
have a brother named Thomas, then consideration of the following reference may
lend this theory a modicum of credence:
24) No. 389, f0- 78. Ascension Day, 29 H. III., Nic Meverill, with John Kantia, on
the one part, and Henry de Leke. Henry released to Nicholas and John 5 m.
rent, which he received from Nicolas and John and Robert de Lockesly for his
life from the lands of Gellery, in consideration of receiving from each of them
2M (2 marks). only, the said Henry to live at table with one of them and to
receive 2M. annually from the other. T., Sampson de Leke, Magister Peter
Meverill, Roger de Lockesly, John de Leke, Robert fil Umfred, Rico de Newland,
Richard Meverill. (25) No. 402, p. 80 b. Thomas de Lockesly bound himself that
he would not sell his lands at Leke, which Nicolas Meveril had rendered to him,
under a penalty of L40 (40 pounds).
A pound was 240 silver pence, and a mark was 160 silver pence (i.e., 13 shillings
and fourpence).
It is again, however, equally likely that Nicolas, John, Robert and Thomas were
simply members of a family which came from the area.
In Barnsdale Forest, Yorkshire, there is a well known as Robin Hood's Well (by
the side of the Great North Road), a Little John's Well (near Hampole) and a
Robin Hood's stream (in Highfields Wood at Woodlands). There is something of a
modern movement amongst Yorkshire residents to attempt to claim the legend of
Robin Hood, to the extent that South Yorkshire's new airport, on the site of the
redeveloped RAF Finningley airbase near Doncaster, although ironically in the
historic county of Nottinghamshire, has been given the name Robin Hood Airport
Doncaster Sheffield. Centuries ago, a variant of "as plain as the nose on your
face" was "Robin Hood in Barnesdale stood."
There have been further claims made that he is from Swannington in
Leicestershire or Loxley, Warwickshire.
17
This debate is hardly surprising,

given the considerable value that the
Robin Hood legend has for local
tourism. The Sheriff of Nottingham
also had jurisdiction in Derbyshire
that was known as the "Shire of the
Deer," and this is where the Royal
Forest of the Peak is found, which
roughly corresponds to today's Peak
District National Park. The Royal
Forest included Bakewell, Tideswell,
Castleton, Ladybower and the
Derwent Valley near Loxley. The
Sheriff of Nottingham possessed
property near Loxley, amongst other Illustration 9: Robin Hood Tree aka Sycamore Gap,
places both far and wide including Hadrian's Wall, UK. This location was used in the 1991 film
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Hazlebadge Hall, Peveril Castle and
Haddon Hall. Mercia, to which
Nottingham belonged, came to within three miles of Sheffield City Centre. The
supposed grave of Little John can be found in Hathersage, also in the Peak
District.
Robin Hood himself was once thought to have been buried in the grounds of
Kirklees Priory between Brighouse and Mirfield in West Yorkshire, although for
the reasons given above this theory has now largely been abandoned. There is an
elaborate grave there with the inscription referred to above. The story said that
the Prioress was a relative of Robin's. Robin was ill and staying at the Priory
where the Prioress was supposedly caring for him. However, she betrayed him,
his health worsened, and he eventually died there.
Before he died, he told Little John (or possibly another of his Merry Men) where
to bury him. He shot an arrow from the Priory window, and where the arrow
landed was to be the site of his grave. The grave with the inscription is within
sight of the ruins of the Kirklees Priory, behind the Three Nuns pub in Mirfield,
West Yorkshire. The grave can be visited on occasional organised walks,
organised by Calderdale Council Tourist Information office.
Further indications of the legend's connection with West Yorkshire (and
particularly Calderdale) are noted in the fact that there are pubs called the Robin
Hood in both nearby Brighouse and at Cragg Vale; higher up in the Pennines
beyond Halifax, where Robin Hood Rocks can also be found. Robin Hood Hill is
near Outwood, West Yorkshire, not far from Lofthouse. There is a village in West
Yorkshire called Robin Hood, on the A61 between Leeds and Wakefield and close
to Rothwell and Lofthouse. Considering these references to Robin Hood, it is not
surprising that the people of both South and West Yorkshire lay some claim to
Robin Hood, who, if he existed, could easily have roamed between Nottingham,
18
Robin Hood
Lincoln, Doncaster and right into

West Yorkshire.
A British Army Territorial (reserves)
battalion formed in Nottingham in
1859 was known as the The Robin
Hood Battalion through various
reorganisations until the "Robin
Hood" name finally disappeared in
1992. With the 1881 Childers
reforms that linked regular and
reserve units into regimental
families, the Robin Hood Battalion
became part of The Sherwood
Foresters (Nottinghamshire and
Derbyshire Regiment).
A Neolithic causewayed enclosure on
Salisbury Plain has acquired the
name Robin Hood's Ball, although
had Robin Hood existed it is doubtful
that he would have travelled so far
south.
Illustration 10: Elizabethan song of Robin Hood
List of traditional ballads

Ballads are the oldest existing form of the Robin Hood legends, although none of
them are recorded at the time of the first allusions to him, and many are much
later. They share many common features, often opening with praise of the
greenwood and relying heavily on disguise as a plot device, but include a wide
variation in tone and plot. The ballads below are sorted into three groups, very
roughly according to date of first known free-standing copy. Ballads whose first
recorded version appears (usually incomplete) in the Percy Folio may appear in
later versions and may be much older than the mid 17th century when the Folio
was compiled. Any ballad may be older than the oldest copy which happens to
survive, or descended from a lost older ballad. For example, the plot of Robin
Hood's Death, found in the Percy Folio, is summarised in the 15th-century A Gest
of Robyn Hode, and it also appears in an 18th-century version.
19
Early ballads (i.e., surviving in 15th- or early 16th-

century copies)
•A Gest of Robyn Hode
•Robin Hood and the Monk
•Robin Hood and the Potter
Ballads appearing in 17th-century Percy Folio

NB. The first two ballads listed here (the "Death" and "Gisborne"), although
preserved in 17th century copies, are generally agreed to preserve the substance
of late medieval ballads. The third (the "Curtal Friar") and the fourth (the
"Butcher"), also probably have late medieval origins.
•Robin Hood's Death
•Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne
•Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar
•Robin Hood and the Butcher
•Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly
•Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires
•The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield
•Little John and the Four Beggars
•Robin Hood and Queen Katherine
Other ballads
•A True Tale of Robin Hood
•Robin Hood and the Bishop
•Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford
•Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow
•Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon
•Robin Hood and the Ranger
•Robin Hood and the Scotchman
•Robin Hood and the Tanner
20
Robin Hood
•Robin Hood and the Tinker

•Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight
•Robin Hood Newly Revived
•Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage
•Robin Hood's Chase
•Robin Hood's Delight
•Robin Hood's Golden Prize
•Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham
•The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood
•The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood
•The Noble Fisherman
Some ballads, such as Erlinton, feature Robin Hood in some variants, where the
folk hero appears to be added to a ballad pre-existing him and in which he does
not fit very well. He was added to one variant of Rose Red and the White Lily,
apparently on no more connection than that one hero of the other variants is
named "Brown Robin." Francis James Child indeed retitled Child ballad 102;
though it was titled The Birth of Robin Hood, its clear lack of connection with the
Robin Hood cycle (and connection with other, unrelated ballads) led him to title
it Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter in his collection.
Bibliography
•Baldwin, David (2010). Robin Hood: The English Outlaw Unmasked. Amberley
Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84868-378-5.
•Barry, Edward (1832). Sur les vicissitudes et les transformations du cycle
populaire de Robin Hood. Rignoux.
•Blamires, David (1998). Robin Hood: A Hero for All Times. J. Rylands Univ. Lib.
of Manchester. ISBN 0-86373-136-8.
•Child, Francis James (1997). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 1–5.
Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-43150-5.
•Coghlan, Ronan (2003). The Robin Hood Companion. Xiphos Books. ISBN 0-
9544936-0-5.
•Deitweiler, Laurie, Coleman, Diane (2004). Robin Hood Comprehension Guide.
Veritas Pr Inc. ISBN 1-930710-77-1.
21
•Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (2006). The Robin Hood Handbook. Sutton Publishing.

ISBN 0-7509-3977-X.
•Dobson, R. B.; Taylor, John (1977). The Rymes of Robin Hood: An Introduction
to the English Outlaw. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-750916613.
•Doel, Fran, Doel, Geoff (2000). Robin Hood: Outlaw and Greenwood Myth.
Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-1479-8.
•Green, Barbara (2001). Secrets of the Grave. Palmyra Press. ISBN 0-9540164-0-
8.
•Hahn, Thomas (2000). Robin Hood in Popular Culture: Violence, Transgression
and Justice. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-564-6.
•Harris, P. V. (1978). Truth About Robin Hood. Linney. ISBN 0-900525-16-9.
•Hilton, R.H., The Origins of Robin Hood, Past and Present, No. 14. (Nov., 1958),
pp. 30–44. Available online at JSTOR.
•Holt, J. C. (1982). Robin Hood. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27541-6.
•Hutton, Ronald (1997). The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in
Britain. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-288045-4.
•Hutton, Ronald (1996). The Rise and Fall of Merry England: The Ritual Year
1400–1700. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-285327-9.
•Knight, Stephen T. (1994). Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English
Outlaw. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-19486-X.
•Knight, Stephen T. (2005). Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography. Four Courts Press.
ISBN 1-85182-931-8.
•Phillips, Helen (2003). Robin Hood: Medieval and Post-medieval. Cornell
University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3885-3.
•Pollard, A. J. (2004). Imagining Robin Hood: The Late Medieval Stories in
Historical Context. Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd. ISBN 0-
415-22308-3.
•Potter, Lewis (1998). Playing Robin Hood: The Legend as Performance in Five
Centuries. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0874136636.
•Pringle, Patrick (1991). Stand and Deliver: Highway Men from Robin Hood to
Dick Turpin. Dorset Press. ISBN 0-88029-698-4.
•Ritson, Joseph (1832). Robin Hood: A Collection of All the Ancient Poems,
Songs, and Ballads, Now Extant Relative to That Celebrated English Outlaw: To
Which are Prefixed Historical Anecdotes of His Life. William Pickering. ISBN 1-
4212-6209-6.
22
Robin Hood
•Rutherford-Moore, Richard (1999). The Legend of Robin Hood. Capall Bann

Publishing. ISBN 1-86163-069-7.
•Rutherford-Moore, Richard (2002). Robin Hood: On the Outlaw Trail. Capall
Bann Publishing. ISBN 1-86163-177-4.
•Vahimagi, Tise (1994). British Television: An Illustrated Guide. Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-818336-4.
•Wright, Thomas (1847). Songs and Carols, now first imprinted. Percy Society.
23
Basil Fool for Christ

Basil the Blessed (known also as Basil, fool for
Christ, Basil, Wonderworker of Moscow, or
Blessed Basil of Moscow, fool for Christ; Russian:
Василий Блаженный, Vasily Blazhenny) is a Russian
Orthodox saint of the type known as yurodivy or "holy
fool for Christ".
He was born to serfs in December of 1468 or 1469 in
Yelokhovo, near Moscow (now in Moscow). His father
was named Jacob and his mother Anna. According to
tradition, he was born on the portico of the local
church. He is thought to have died in 1552.
Originally an apprentice shoemaker in Moscow, he
adopted an eccentric lifestyle of shoplifting and giving
to the poor to shame the miserly and help those in
need. He went naked and weighed himself down with
chains. He rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying
attention in church, and for his violent behaviour
towards the innocent.
When he died on August 2, 1552 or 1557, St.
Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, served his funeral
with many clergy. Ivan the Terrible himself acted as
Illustration 11: Icon of St. Basil pallbearer and carried his coffin to the cemetery. He
the Blessed(Bas relief, St. Basil's
Cathedral, Moscow) is buried in St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, which
was commissioned by Ivan and is named after the
saint. Basil was formally canonised around 1580. His
feast day is celebrated on August 2 (August 15, N.S.).
References
•Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints.
3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0140513124.
24
Eustace Folville
Eustace Folville
Eustace Folville (d.1346) was the leader of a
robber band active in Leicestershire and
Derbyshire in the first half of the 14th century.
With four of his younger brothers, he was
responsible for two of the most notorious crimes
of early 14th century England: no mean
achievement, considering the same period saw
Richard of Pudlicott ransack the royal treasury,
and Adam the Leper seize the port of Bristol.
The Folville family

Eustace's family had its seat at Ashby Folville,
Leicestershire. They were landholders of some Illustration 12: The Folville Cross, said to
mark the site of Sir Roger Bellere's murder
prominence. The family name, ultimately derived in 1326. Photographed by Bob Trubshaw
from Folleville in the French region of Picardy, is
attached to several other sites in Leicestershire,
such as the deserted village of Newbolt Folville. They seem to have gained most
their estate at the beginning of the 12th century. Several of their possessions,
such as Ashby and the manor at Teigh, were in the hands of other parties at the
time of the Domesday survey, but had passed to the Folvilles by the reign of
Stephen (1135-1154). The family were certainly well-established in
Leicestershire by the mid 13th century. In 1240 a member of the family donated
a large sum to the church at Cranoe.
The father of Eustace was most likely Sir John Folville, by all accounts a
respectable member of the gentry. Under Edward I, John represented
Leicestershire at six Parliaments, and in 1301 he was summoned 'to attend the
royal standard, with horse and arms well fitted, at Berwick-upon-Tweed, on the
nativity of John the Baptist, in the prosecution of the Scottish wars'. He may also
have held the office, ironically enough, of Deliverer of Warwick Gaol in 1277 and
1287. With his wife Alice he produced seven sons. The oldest, also named John,
inherited his father's estates in 1310, and passed them in turn to his second son,
Jeffrey. John is the only one of the seven Folville brothers who was not implicated
in large-scale theft, kidnapping, extortion and murder.
25
The Folville Gang

Eustace, named for his grandfather, was the second oldest of the Folville
brothers. His criminal career apparently began in 1326 when, on 19 January, he
led an ambush against Sir Roger Bellere, in which the victim was cruelly
murdered. Bellere was attacked in a 'small valley' near Rearsby, Leicestershire,
apparently with a retinue of fifty men. With Eustace were his brothers Roger and
Walter, and fellow local landowners Roger la Zouche and Robert Halewell. While
la Zouche may have inflicted the death-blow, the blame was squarely laid with
Eustace: the chronicler Henry Knighton, a native of Leicestershire himself, refers
to him as Eustachius de Fuluyle qui Robertum Bellere interfecerat ('Eustace de
Folville who assassinated Roger Bellere'). Even by contemporary standards the
crime was one of extreme audacity, made all the more shocking by the standing
of the victim. Bellere was not only a local nobleman of some repute, the
possessor of some nine manors and the founder of the chantry chapel at Kirby,
he was also a baron of the exchequer, and at one stage its chief treasurer. The
so-called Folville Cross, a 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high fragment of an ancient crucifix, is
supposed to mark the site of the murder.
The Folvilles were immediately summoned to stand trial for Bellere's death.
However, like many other medieval felons, they could not be traced by the
authorities: they may have fled to Wales or France. They were declared outlaws
in their absence. This new status seems to have suited them, as within a few
years petitions were issued to the Sheriff of Nottingham, 'complaining that two
of the Folville brothers were roaming abroad again at the head of a band,
waylaying persons whom they spoiled and held to ransom'. In the period of 1327-
1330, Eustace was either directly accused of, or mentioned in connection with,
three robberies, four murders, and a rape. This last charge, it should be noted,
may not necessarily imply sexual violation. The medieval term raptus is
notoriously slippery, and contained a range of meanings, from bodily violence to
abduction. The Folvilles also seem to have allied themselves with the infamous
Cotterel gang. The Cotterels certainly gave the Folvilles shelter in their territory,
the Peak District, Derbyshire. They were at one stage pursued here by officers of
the crown, but managed to evade capture after a local informer warned them of
the danger.
Various indictments from the period portray Eustace and his brothers as
freelance mercenaries, hired 'by the ostensibly law-abiding...to commit acts of
violence on their behalf'. Members of Sempringham Priory and Haverholm
Abbey, both in Lincolnshire, seem to have made use of their services, and at one
stage they were under the patronage of Sir Robert Tuchet, a major lord of
Derbyshire and Cheshire. In 1332 the Folvilles launched what may be seen as a
sequel to the murder of Roger Bellere, and attacked another agent of the crown,
the justice Sir Richard Willoughby. This time the victim was ransomed for the
26
Eustace Folville
sum of 1300 marks, close to £900. Willoughby was easily able to raise this
substantial amount, and was freed within twenty-four hours.
Rehabilitation
A year after the kidnap of Willoughby, Eustace was serving in the armies of
Edward III against the Scottish. He may well have fought at the Halidon Hill.
Perhaps most surprisingly, in recognition of this military service, Eustace
received a full pardon for his crimes. He was in combat again in 1337 and 1338,
at Scotland and Flanders respectively. He finally died in 1346, a member of the
council of the abbot of Crowland, having stood trial for none of the charges
lodged against him. He is buried at St Mary's church, Ashby Folville. His
monument has been badly damaged: a Victorian description states that 'the
fragments of his helmet form the only part of his funeral achievement now
remaining'.
Assessment
For a modern reader, it may seem
strange that Eustace Folville faced
such little resistance in his lifetime,
and suffered no form of legal
penalty. After all, he was well-known
as an habitual offender for two full
decades. During this time he went
wholly unpunished, unlike his
unfortunate brother Richard. But two
factors may explain Folville's
apparent good fortune. Firstly, the
political turbulence of the 1320s
Illustration 13: The churchyard of St Mary's, Ashby Folville worked in his favour, particularly in
the case of his worst crime, the
murder of Bellere. While this was
undeniably an outrage, and at least partly an affront to royal authority, Bellere
had been closely connected to the Despensers: he was appointed attorney to
Hugh Despenser the Younger in 1322, and used the revenues of confiscated
lands to curry favour with the family. Owing to the Despensers' proximity to
Edward II, after the downfall of that King, official opinion had little sympathy for
an ally of the family. In fact Eustace was pardoned for the murder as early as
1327, the same year that Edward was deposed, and again in 1329. Neither
27
pardon seems to have tempted him back to a more honest life, but they did bring
an end to the first wave of prosecution against him.
Secondly, and most importantly, there does seem to be a widespread perception
that Eustace and others like him were basically honest and forthright, at least
more so than the authorities that pursued them. This would mean that the
justices and their clerks, reliant as they were on testimonies from local people,
would find their job extremely difficult in the Folville's home territory. As E.L.G.
Stones notes, complaints along these lines are frequently made by the trailbaston
and other commissions: 'in all these things they are aided and abetted by local
people, who incite them to their evil deeds and shield them after they are done'.
While these laments might seem to excuse the commissions' own failures, there
is undoubtedly some truth to them. After all, a tip-off from a local source allowed
the Folvilles and Cotterels to elude capture in the Peak District.
This popular support seems to be rooted in a sense that the Folvilles were allies
of the common people, combating the crooked establishment which oppressed
them. There is at least some justification for this view. Eustace's two principal
victims were certainly highly corrupt individuals. Bellere used his office to seize
land and syphon money to his patrons, and his murder should be regarded less
as a crime by the Folvilles alone, and more a conspiracy by several
Leicestershire landowners. Eustace's accomplices were members of the Halewell
and Zouche families, which suggests a breadth of ill-feeling against Sir Roger,
going well beyond any one group. Willoughby was no more popular. In 1340 he
was targeted by a second gang, who trapped him in Thurcaston castle. He was
later imprisoned by Edward III on charges of corruption, indicted by several
juries across the country, and forced to pay 1200 marks for the king's pardon.
Eustace was respected as an opponent of such figures, even if this opposition
was not his primary motive.
Later reputation
For the generations after Eustace's death, the positive view of the Folville gang
only increased. In later sources they are not merely regarded as law-breakers,
but agents of an unofficial law, outside human legislation and less susceptible to
abuse. In the B-text of Piers Plowman (c.1377-9), William Langland, a Midlander
himself, sees them as instruments of the divine order. While he is scathing about
popular veneration of 'Robyn Hood and Ralph Erl of Chestre', he speaks
approvingly of 'Folvyles lawes'. The crimes of the family are presented as
correctives to the 'false' legal establishment. The 'Folvyles' are listed among the
'tresors' that Grace has given to reassert God's pattern against the 'Antecrist'.
Langland states: "Forthi," quod Grace, "er I go, I wol gyve yow tresor/ And
wepne to fighte with whan Antecrist yow assailleth...some to ryde and to
recovere that unrightfully was wonne ('"Therefore," said Grace, "before I go, I
28
Eustace Folville
will give you treasure and weaponry to fight with when Antichrist attacks
you...some men to ride and to recover that which was unjustly taken'). Henry
Knighton is no less sympathetic. He portrays Bellere and Willoughby as entirely
legitimate targets: Willoughby's ransom is reduced to a less avaricious 90 marks,
while Bellere becomes the aggressor of his killers, not only 'heaping threats and
injustices' on to his neighbours but coveting their 'possessions'. Most
interestingly, the kidnap of Willoughby is portrayed as a direct conflict between
the two codes represented by the outlaws and the justice: Sir Richard is
abducted as punishment for trespassing on the territory of a rival order,
specifically 'because of the trailbaston commissions of 1331'.
For his contemporaries and near-contemporaries, Eustace Folville was clearly
more than an acquisitive thug. He was something closer to an enforcer of 'God's
law and the common custom, which was different from the state's or the lord's
law, but nevertheless a social order'. Whether he in fact merited such a
reputation is a matter of debate.
29
Ishikawa Goemon
In this Japanese name, the family name is Ishikawa.
Ishikawa Goemon ( 石川五衛門 or 石川五右衛門 , 1558-1594) was a legendary

bandit hero who stole gold and valuables and gave them to the poor. He is
notable for being boiled alive after a failed assassination attempt on Toyotomi
Hideyoshi. A large iron kettle-shaped bathtub is now called a Goemon-buro
("Goemon bath").
Biography
There is little historical information on Goemon's life,
and thus he has become a folk hero, whose
background and origins have been widely speculated
upon.
In one version of the story, Goemon tried to
assassinate Hideyoshi to avenge the death of his wife
and capture of his son, Gobei. He entered Hideyoshi's
room but knocked a bell off a table. The noise awoke
the samurai guards and Goemon was captured. He
was sentenced to death by being boiled alive in an iron
cauldron along with his young son, but was able to
save his son by holding him above the oil.
In another version, Goemon wanted to kill Hideyoshi
because he was a despot. When he entered
Hideyoshi's room, he was detected by a mystical Illustration 14: Ishikawa Goemon
incense burner. He was executed on August 24 along played by kabuki actor Arashi
with his whole family by being boiled in oil. Hinasuke II (painting by Toyokuni
III, 1863)
In yet a third version, Goemon stole a prized songbird
of Hideyoshi's, but the bird sang. His whole family was executed, but Gobei was
saved by Goemon.
In popular culture
Ishikawa Goemon is the subject of many kabuki plays. The only one still in
performance today is Kinmon Gosan no Kiri (The Golden Gate and the Paulownia
Crest), a five-act play written by Namiki Gohei in 1778. The most famous act is
"Sanmon Gosan no Kiri" ("The Temple Gate and the Paulownia Crest") in which
30
Ishikawa Goemon
Goemon is first seen sitting on top of the Sanmon gate at Nanzen-ji in Kyoto. He
is smoking an over-sized silver pipe called a kiseru and exclaims "The spring
view is worth a thousand gold pieces, or so they say, but 'tis too little, too little.
These eyes of Goemon rate it worth ten thousand!" Goemon soon learns that his
father, a Chinese man named So Sokei, was killed by Mashiba Hisayoshi (a
popular kabuki alias for Toyotomi Hideyoshi) and he sets off to avenge his
father's death.
Goemon was the titular character of the long-running Legend of the Mystical
Ninja (Ganbare Goemon) series of video games and was the subject of Tomoyoshi
Murayama's Shinobi no Mono novels, which in the 1960s became a film series
starring Ichikawa Raizō VIII as Ishikawa. (In the series, Goemon escapes
execution.)
He appears as a playable character in the Samurai Warriors and Ninja Master's
video game series. The character Goemon Ishikawa XIII of the manga and anime
series Lupin III is purported to be Ishikawa Goemon's descendant (the opening
sequence in Burn, Zantetsuken! shows Goemon Ishikawa XIII weeping while
watching the famed kabuki performance based on his ancestor's life).
Most recently, Goemon was portrayed by Yosuke Eguchi in the Kazuaki Kiriya
film Goemon.
31
Hong Gildong
This is a Korean name; the family
name is Hong
Hong Gildong is a fictitious
character in an old Korean novel,
Tale of Hong Gildong (Hangul: 홍길
동 전 ; Hanja: 洪吉童傳 ; RR: Hong
Gildong-jeon), written in the Joseon
Dynasty. The story was authored by
Heo Gyun and is believed to have
been written in the late 16th or early
17th century. Hong Gildong is
famous for his robbing the rich to
feed the poor, much like the English Illustration 15: Opening page of Tale of Hong Gildong.
folk hero Robin Hood.
The author of the novel, Heo Gyun (허균), is usually known in Korea as the writer
of the first Korean novel, but was also a radical intellectual. He was born in a
studious scholar family, as Korea at the time was a Confucianist state. His half-
brother Heo Seong was at that time a famous poet, and his sister Heo
Nanseolheon one of Korea's few famous female poets and artists. Heo Gyun had
long dreamed to change Korea into a fair society with no pressures within a
hierarchy.
Hong Gildong is also a common placeholder name, similar to John Doe in the
United States.
The Story of Hong Gildong

Due to the strict Confucian laws of the Joseon Dynasty, Heo expressed his ideas
in this novel, where Hong, born an illegitimate child, is not accepted by his
father and family. His father, after hearing from a shaman that his son is cursed,
attempts to kill him but fails. Shocked and appalled at his father's actions, he
goes out into the world, where he becomes a bandit leader. He becomes a bandit
for the people, and steals from the rich only to give to the poor. His popularity
within the peasant society soars, and many view him as a hero. Because of this,
he is wanted by the government under Yeonsangun and is marked as a national
traitor. With the order from the King, the government forces try to capture him
many times, only to capture three hundred of his manifestations. Eventually, to
control him, the government offers him the job of War Minister in which he
32
Hong Gildong
accepts. For a while, he is satisfied with his occupation, but later, he realizes
that the people still suffer. To find out the truth, he departs for Nanking to seek
truth there. On his way, by chance he discovers the nation of Yul-do, which was
oppressed by demons. He defeats the demons, and is elected the king of Yul-do.
However, he hears the news of his father’s death, and hurries back to Joseon to
serve his father’s funeral for three years, according to tradition. After his
service, he returns to Yul-do, where he lives happily as a king and hero.
Interestingly, Hong is shown as returning to serve his father's funeral for three
years, whereas his father attempted to murder him years ago. This reveals
Hong's heroic state of mind furnished by Heo Gyun.
Adaptations
The story was adapted into a South Korean animated feature film of the same
name in 1967. A North Korean martial arts film, Hong Kil Dong, was released in
1986.
A character from Hong Gildong was also adapted in the Shin Agyo Onshi manga
as female bandit leader.
A South Korean TV series based on the same story, entitled Hong Gil-Dong, The
Hero (a.k.a Hong Gil Dong), first aired on January 2, 2008 on KBS2.
A modern day film adaptation named Descendants of Hong Gil-Dong was made in
2009.
33
Juraj Jánošík
Juraj Jánošík (first name also Juro or Jurko, Slovak pronunciation: [ˈjuraj ˈjaːnɔʃiːk];
Polish: Jerzy Janosik Polish pronunciation: [ˈjɛʐɨ jaˈnɔɕik], Hungarian: György Jánosik;
baptised January 25, 1688, died
March 17, 1713) was a famous
Slovak outlaw.
Jánošík has been the main character
of many Slovak and Polish legends,
novels, poems, and films. According
to the legend, he robbed nobles and
gave the loot to the poor. The legend
were also known in neighboring
Silesia, the Margraviate of Moravia
and later spread to the Kingdom of
Bohemia. The actual robber had little
to do with the modern legend, whose
content partly reflects the ubiquitous
folk myths of a hero taking from the
rich and giving to the poor. However,
the legend was also shaped in
important ways by the activists and
writers in the 19th century when
Jánošík became the key highwayman
character in stories that spread in
the north counties of the Kingdom of
Hungary (present Slovakia) and
among the local Gorals and Polish
tourists in the Podhale region north
of the Tatras (Tatra). The image of
Jánošík as a symbol of resistance to
oppression was reinforced when
poems about him became part of the
Slovak and Czech middle and high Illustration 16: Janosik, wood engraving by Władysław
school literature curriculum, and Skoczylas. Reads "The name of Janosik will never die".
then again with the numerous films
that propagated his modern legend in the 20th century. During the anti-Nazi
Slovak National Uprising, one of the partisan groups bore his name.
34
Juraj Jánošík
Biography
The actual future highwayman Juraj Jánošík was born shortly before his baptism
on January 25, 1688. His parents were Martin Jánošík and Anna Čišníková from
Terchová. His godparents were Jakub Merjad and Barbara Krištofíková. His first
name, ("George" in English) has been a very common name all over Europe and
his last name is still common around his birthplace.
Jánošík was born and most certainly grew up in the village of Terchová
(Tyerhova) in the Habsburg monarchy's Kingdom of Hungary area, (present-day
Žilina District in northwestern Slovakia). He fought with the Kuruc insurgents
when he was fifteen. After the lost Battle of Trenčín, Jánošík was recruited by the
Habsburg army. In autumn, 1710, as a young prison guard in Bytča
(Nagybiccse), he helped the imprisoned Tomáš Uhorčík escape. They created a
forest robber group and Jánošík became the leader at the age of 23, after
Uhorčík left the group to settle in Klenovec. The group was active mostly in
northwestern Kingdom of Hungary (today's Slovakia), around the Váh (Vág) river
between Važec (Vázsec) and Východná (Vichodna), but the territory of their
activity extended also to other parts of today's Slovakia, as well as to Poland and
Moravia. Most of their victims were rich merchants. Under Jánošík's leadership,
the group was exceptionally chivalrous: They did not kill any of the robbed
victims and even helped an accidentally injured priest. They are also said to
share their loot with the poor and this part of the legend may be based on the
facts too.
Jánošík was captured in the fall of 1712 and detained at the Mansion of Hrachov,
but was released soon afterward. He was captured again in spring of 1713, in the
Uhorčík's residence in Klenovec (Klenóc). Uhorčík lived there under the false
name Martin Mravec at that time. According to a widespread legend, he was
caught in a pub run by Tomáš Uhorčík, after slipping on spilled peas, thrown in
his way by a treacherous old lady. Jánošík was imprisoned and tried in Liptovský
Svätý Mikuláš (Liptószentmiklós, present Liptovský Mikuláš).
His trial took place on March 16 and March 17, 1713 when he was sentenced to
death. The date of his execution was not recorded, but it was customary to carry
it out as soon as the trial was over. The manner of his execution, not in public
awareness until the early 19th century, became part of his modern legend. A
hook was pierced through his left side and he was left dangling on the gallows to
die. This brutal way of execution was reserved for leaders of robber bands.
However, sources diverge about the way of his execution, and it is also possible,
that Jánošík was hanged. A legend says that he refused the grace offered in
exchange for enlisting soldiers of his abilities with the words: "If you have baked
me so you should also eat me!" and jumped on the hook.
35
Other members of Jánošík's group

•Vrabel and Hunčiak (aka Huncaga) (so-called Turiak) from Staškov (Sztaskó)
•Jakub Chliastkov from Oščadnica (Ócsad)
•Ondráš from Dlhá nad Kysucou (Dlhavölgy)
•Ondrej Kindis from Dlhé Pole (Dlhepole)
•Plavčík from Dunajov (Dunajó)
•Pavol Bernatík from Nová Bystrica (Újbeszterce)
•Kovalský and Bagaj from Raková (Trencsénrákó)
•Kovalíček, Holubek and Valíček from Moravia
•Gavora, Satora and Oresiak from Poland
Jánošík in film
•1921 Jánošík – first Slovak feature film; financed by Slovak-American Tatra Film
Co.; director: Jaroslav Jerry Siakeľ, Jánošík: Theodor Pištěk. (Based on this film
UNESCO registers Slovakia as the tenth national cinema in the world that began
to produce feature films).
•1935 Jánošík – Slovak and Czech film; director: Martin Frič, Jánošík: Paľo Bielik.
•1954 Janosik – first Polish animation; director: Włodzimierz Haupe and Halina
Bielińska.
•1963 Jánošík I and II – Slovak film; director: Paľo Bielik, Jánošík: František
Kuchta.
•1974 Janosik – Polish film; director: Jerzy Passendorfer, Janosik: Marek
Perepeczko.
•1974 Janosik – Polish 13-episode TV series; director: Jerzy Passendorfer,
Janosik: Marek Perepeczko.
•1976 Highwayman Jurko / Zbojník Jurko – Slovak animated film; director: Viktor
Kubal.
•1991 Highwayman Jurošík / Zbojník Jurošík – Slovak 28-episode animated TV
series; director: Jaroslav Baran.
•2009 Jánošík. The True Story / Jánošík. Pravdivá história / Janosik. Prawdziwa
historia – Slovak-Polish-Czech co-production; director: Agnieszka Holland and
Katarzyna Adamik, Janosik: Václav Jiráček.
36
Juraj Jánošík
Jánošík in literature
•1785 Slovak – Anon., "An Excellent Sermon by a Certain Preacher in the Days of
the Chief Highwayman Jánošík." Staré nowiny liternjho uměnj, May 1785.
•1809 Slovak – Bohuslav Tablic, "Jánošík, the Highwayman of Liptov County."
Slowensstj Werssowcy. Collecta revirescunt. Swazek druhý.
•1814 Slovak – Pavol Jozef Šafárik, "Celebrating Slavic Lads." Tatranská Můza s
ljrau Slowanskau.
•1829 Slovak lower nobleman in German – Johann Csaplovics, "Robbers."
Gemälde von Ungern.
•1845 Slovak lower nobleman – Štefan Marko Daxner, "Jánošík's Treasure." Orol
Tatránski.
•1846 Slovak – Ján Botto, "Jánošík's Song." Holubica, Zábavník Levočskích
Slovákou.
•1846 Slovak – Samo Chalupka, "Jánošík's Contemplation." Orol Tatránski.
•1862 Ján Botto, "The Death of Jánošík. A Romance." Lipa. — A key poem in
Slovak literature and culture.
•1867 Slovak lower nobleman – Jonáš Záborský, Jánošík's Dinner. A Play in Four
Acts With an Historical Background. A supplement to the journal Sokol.
•1875 Hungarian – "Jánosik and a Snitch." Nyitramegyei Szemle.
•1884 Polish – August Wrześniowski, "A Story About Janosik." Pamięci
Towarzystwa Tatrzańskiego.
•1884 Czech – Alois Jirásek, "About Jánošík." Staré pověsti české.
•1893 American in Slovak – Dobrý Slovák, Jánošík, the Lad of Freedom: A
Legend of Times Gone By.
•1894 American in Slovak – Gustáv Maršall-Petrovský, Jánošík, Captain of
Mountain Lads – His Tumultuous Life and Horrific Death. A Novel. — A source of
the screeenplay for the 1921 Slovak film Jánošík.
•1900 American – George J. Krajsa, Janosik.
•1905 Polish – Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, "The Legend of Janosik's Death."
Poezje.
•1910 Czech – Jiří Mahen, Jánošík. — A play, a source of the screeenplay for the
1921 Slovak film Jánošík.
•1933 Slovak – Ján Hrušovský, "Jánošík." Slovenská politika. — Narrative
newspaper strips published later as a novel.
37
•1937 Polish – Stanisław Ryszard Dobrowolski, Janosik of Terchová.

•1943 Slovak – Mária Rázusová-Martáková, Jánošík: A Rhymed Play in Five Acts.
•1947 Polish – Stanisław Nedza-Kubiniec, Janosik: A Poem About the
Highwayman who Wanted to Make the World Equal.
•1955 Slovak – Mária Rázusová-Martáková, Tales about Jánošík.
•1958 Polish – Jalu Kurek, Janosik...
•1964 German – Käthe Altwallstädt, "Janosik and the Students." Die blaue Rose:
Märchen aus Polen.
•1969 Polish – Katarzyna Gaertner, music, and Ernest Bryll, lyrics, Painted on
Glass. — A musical whose Bratislava production had the longest run in the
history of Slovak theater.
•1970 Slovak – Stanislav Štepka, Jááánošííík. — A spoof and the Slovak play with
the longest run.
•1972 Polish – Tadeusz Kwiatkowski, Janosik. — A graphic novel.
•1972 Serbian in Slovak – Štefan Gráf, Jur Jánošiak. — Parallel publication in
Serbia (Yugoslavia) and Slovakia (Czechoslovakia).
•1976 Polish – Viera Gašparíková and Teresa Komorowska, Highwaymen's
Bounty. Polish and Slovak Tales from the Tatras.
•1979 Slovak – Ľubomír Feldek, Jánošík According to Vivaldi. — A spoof play.
•1980 Slovak – Margita Figuli, A Ballad of Jur Jánošík.
•1980 Slovak – Ladislav Ťažký, Jánošík's Tear.
•1984 Polish – Andrzej Kijowski, About A Good Commander and Ironcald
Champion.
•1985 American – John H. Hausner, "Jánošík, We Remember!" And Other Poems.
•1993 Ukrainian in Polish – Василь Iванович Сави, Яносик, польська народна
казка. — A picture book.
•1994 Slovak – Anton Marec, Jánošík, Jánošík... (33 Legends About the Famous
Highwayman Commander.)
•2007 Polish – Sebastian Miernicki, Pan Samochodzik i Janosik.
In music
•Polish folk music group Trebunie-Tutki issued two albums:
1. 1992: Żywot Janicka Zbójnika ("Life of Janosik the Robber")
38
Juraj Jánošík
2. 1993: Ballada o śmierci Janosika ("Ballad on the Death of Janosik")
References
•Kočiš, Jozef (1986). Neznámy Jánošík. Martin: Vydavatel´stvo Osveta. (Slovak) -
contains also list of published literature, German, French, Russian and
Hungarian resumé.
•Melicherčík, Andrej (1963). Juraj Jánošík, hrdina protifeudálného odboja
slovenského l´udu. Martin. (Slovak)
39
Kobus van der Schlossen

Kobus (or Jacobus) van der
Schlossen (? - 1695) was a late-
seventeenth century Dutch thief who
features prominently in folktales from
the Noord-Brabant region. After
serving as a soldier in the many wars
which left the Netherlands in turmoil,
he joined a gang of ex-soldiers called
'de zwartmakers'. Eventually he was
captured in Uden and imprisoned in
Ravenstein Castle (since demolished).
He was executed in 1695 near Velp.
According to folklore, he had Robin
Hood-like qualities and protected poor
widows against greedy landlords, but
he also sold his soul to the devil in
exchange for magical powers. With his
robber band 'De Zwarte Bende' he
made his home in the vast and
impenetrable Slabroek forests near
Uden.
Stories were told about his miraculous
escapes from the forces of law. De Illustration 17: Ravenstein
Brobbelbies, an area of Slabroek which
still exists, received its name from one of these stories. One day, so the story
goes, Kobus accidentally ran into some law-officers in the woods. When he found
he couldn't outrun them he jumped into a pond and turned into a water plant
('Bies'). Because of the magical transformation the water started bubbling
('brobbelen'; hence 'Brobbelbies').
Sources
•Reggie Naus, Zwartmakerij in het land van Ravenstein: de Geschiedenis van
Jacobus van der Schlossen, 2006.
40
Lampião
Lampião
Lampião ("Oil Lamp" in Portuguese) was the nickname of "Captain" Virgulino
Ferreira da Silva, the most famous leader of a Cangaço band (marauders and
outlaws who terrorized the Brazilian Northeast in the 1920s and 1930s).
Biography
Virgulino was born in June 7, 1897 in
the village of Serra Talhada, in the
semi-arid backlands (sertão) of the
state of Pernambuco, as the third
child of José Ferreira da Silva and
Maria Lopes, a humble family of
peasants. Until 21 years old, he was
a hard-working leather-craft artisan
(he was also literate and used
reading glasses-both quite unusual
features for the rough and poor
region where he lived). He lived with
Illustration 18: Legal bill printed by ths State of Bahia his family in a deadly feud with other
Government (Brazil), announcing a reward for the outlaw local families until his father was
Lampião capture, 1930.
killed in a confrontation with the
police in 1919. Virgulino sought
vengeance and proved to be extremely violent in doing so. He became an outlaw
and was incessantly pursued by the police (whom he called macacos or
monkeys). For the next 19 years, he traveled with his small band of cangaceiros
(men of cangaço) which was never larger than about 50 heavily armed men on
horses wearing leather outfits including hats, jackets, sandals, ammunition belts,
and trousers to protect them from the thorns of the caatinga (dry shrubs and
brushwood typical of the dry hinterland of Brazil's Northeast.) Their weapons
were mostly stolen from the police and paramilitary units and consisted of
Mauser military rifles and a variety of smaller firearms including Winchester
rifles, revolvers and the prized Mauser semi-automatic pistol. Lampião used to
attack small cities and farms in seven states, kill people and cattle, take hostages
for ransom, torture, fire-brand, maim, rape, and ransack. He was joined in 1930
by his girlfriend, Maria Déa, nicknamed Maria Bonita (Beautiful Maria), who, like
other women in the band, dressed like cangaceiros and participated in many of
their actions. They had a daughter in 1932.
41
Death
Finally, on July 28, 1938, Lampião
and his band were betrayed by one
of his supporters and were
ambushed in one of his hideouts, the
Angico farm, in the state of Sergipe,
by a police troop armed with
machine guns. In a quick battle,
Lampião, Maria Bonita and 9 of his
troops were killed. Their heads were
cut and sent off to Salvador, the
capital of Bahia, for examination by
specialists at the State Forensic
Institute, and later, for public
exhibition, and only after 1971 were
the families of Lampião and Maria Illustration 19: The heads of Lampião's band exposed before
Bonita able to reclaim the preserved the SFI
heads to finally bury them.
Notable band members

Lampião was active for a number of years and thus many men and women
passed through his band. More notable ones included:
•Antonio Ferreira - Lampião's eldest brother, died in an accident in 1926.
•Levino Ferreira - Lampião's brother, killed in battle with police in July 1925.
•Luis Pedro - a member of the band for over a decade, he returned to die by
Lampião's side even though he may have been able to escape.
•Corisco - feared for his cruelty. There was speculation that he would take
control of the band after Angicos, where had not been present. He was killed by
police in 1940.
•Angelo Roque - a trusted lieutenant who was also not present when Lampião
was finally killed. Operated until 1940 when he surrendered to police after being
assured that he would not be killed for his crimes. He was initially sentenced to
95 years in prison, which was later reduced to 30 years and then commuted in
1950.
42
Lampião
Folk hero
Thus started the legend of Lampião and Maria Bonita,
who became subjects of innumerable folk stories,
books, popular pamphlets (cordel literature), songs,
movies, and a number of TV soap operas, with all the
elements of drama, passion, and violence typical of
"Far West" stories. By many, he was considered a folk
hero, a kind of Robin Hood and the head of a peasant
revolt against the all-dominant, feudal farmers of the
region (the so-called coronels). The fact remains that
he was the most notorious of the many rural bandits (in
Illustration 20: Lampião dolls his own admission) that infested the poor hinterland of
Northeast Brazil. Lampião was mentioned in the lyrics
of "Ratamahatta", song of Brazil metal band Sepultura, from their Roots record.
References
•Chandler, Billy Jaynes (1984). The Bandit King: Lampião of Brazil. Texas A&M
University Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-0890961940.
43
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly (June 1854/June 1855 – 11
November 1880) was an Irish-Australian
bushranger, and, to some, a folk hero for his
defiance of the colonial authorities. Kelly was
born in Victoria to an Irish convict father, and
as a young man he clashed with the Victoria
Police. Following an incident at his home in
1878, police parties searched for him in the
bush. After he killed three policemen, the colony
proclaimed Kelly and his gang wanted outlaws.
A final violent confrontation with police took
place at Glenrowan. Kelly, dressed in home-
made plate metal armour and helmet, was
captured and sent to jail. He was hanged for
murder at Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880. His
daring and notoriety made him an iconic figure
in Australian history, folk lore, literature, art
and film.
Illustration 21: Ned Kelly the day before his
execution.
Early life
John "Red" Kelly, the father of Ned Kelly, was born and raised in Ireland, where
he was convicted of criminal acts sometime during his adulthood. There is
uncertainty surrounding the exact nature of his crime as most of Ireland's court
records were destroyed during the Irish Civil War. Ian Jones claims that Red
Kelly stole two pigs and was an informer, but the claim is contested in Kenneally
who said 'Red' was a patriot. Red Kelly was sentenced to seven years of penal
servitude and transported to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), arriving in
1843.
After his release in 1848, Red Kelly moved to Victoria and found work in
Beveridge at the farm of James Quinn. At the age of 30 he married Quinn's
daughter Ellen, then 18. Their first child died early, but Ellen then gave birth to
a daughter, Annie, in 1853. Seven of their children survived past infancy.
Their first son, Edward (Ned), was born in Beveridge, just north of Melbourne.
His date of birth is not known, but it occurred between June 1854 and June 1855.
Ned was baptised by an Augustinian priest, Charles O'Hea. As a boy, he obtained
some basic schooling and once risked his life to save another boy, Richard
Shelton, from drowning. As a reward he was given a green sash by the boy's
44
Ned Kelly
family, which he wore under his armour during his final showdown with police in
1880.
The Kellys were suspected many times of cattle or horse stealing, though never
convicted. Red Kelly was arrested when he killed and skinned a calf claimed to
be the property of his neighbour. He was found innocent of theft, but guilty of
removing the brand from the skin and given the option of a twenty-five pound
fine or a sentence of six months with hard labour. Without money to pay the fine
Red served his sentence in Kilmore gaol, with the sentence having an ultimately
fatal effect on his health. The saga surrounding Red, and his treatment by the
police, made a strong impression on his son Ned.
Red Kelly died at Avenel on 27 December 1866 when Ned was eleven and a half
years old. Several months later the Kelly family acquired 80 acres of uncultivated
farmland at Eleven Mile Creek near the Greta area of Victoria, which to this day
is known as "Kelly Country".
In all, eighteen charges were brought against members of Ned's immediate
family before he was declared an outlaw, while only half that number resulted in
guilty verdicts. This is a highly unusual ratio for the time, and is one of the
reasons that has caused many to posit that Ned's family was unfairly targeted
from the time they moved to northeast Victoria. Perhaps the move was necessary
because of Ellen's squabbles with family members and her appearances in court
over family disputes. Antony O'Brien, however, argued that Victoria's colonial
policing had nothing to do with winning a conviction, rather the determinant of
one's criminality was the arrest. Further, O'Brien argued, using the "Statistics of
Victoria" crime figures that the region's or family's or national criminality was
determined not by individual arrests, but rather by the total number of arrests.
Rise to notoriety
In 1869, the 14-year-old Ned Kelly was arrested for assaulting a Chinese pig
farmer named Ah Fook. Ah Fook claimed that he had been robbed by Ned, who
stated that Ah Fook had a row with his sister Annie. Kelly spent ten days in
custody before the charges were dismissed. From then on the police regarded
him as a "juvenile bushranger".
The following year, he was arrested and accused of being an accomplice of bush-
ranger Harry Power. No evidence was produced in court and he was released
after a month. Historians tend to disagree over this episode: some see it as
evidence of police harassment; others believe that Kelly’s relatives intimidated
the witnesses, making them reluctant to give evidence. Ned's grandfather, James
Quinn, owned a huge piece of land at the headwaters of the King River known as
Glenmore Station, where Power was ultimately arrested. Following Power's
arrest it was rumoured that Ned had informed on him and Ned was treated with
45
hostility within the community. Ned wrote a letter to police Sergeant Babington
pleading for his help in the matter. The informant was in fact Ned's uncle, Jack
Lloyd.
In October 1870, Kelly was arrested again for assaulting a hawker, Jeremiah
McCormack, and for his part in sending McCormack's childless wife an indecent
note that had calves' testicles enclosed. This was a result of a row earlier that
day caused when McCormack accused a friend of the Kellys, Ben Gould, of using
his horse without permission. Gould wrote the note, and Kelly passed it on to one
of his cousins to give to the woman. He was sentenced to three months' hard
labour on each charge.
Upon his release Kelly returned home. There he met Isaiah "Wild" Wright who
had arrived in the area on a chestnut mare. While staying with the Kelly's, the
mare had gone missing and Wright borrowed one of the Kelly horses to return to
Mansfield. He asked Ned to look for the chestnut and keep it until his return.
Kelly found the mare and used it to go to Wangaratta where he stayed for a few
days but while riding through Greta on his way home, Ned was approached by
police constable Hall who, from the description of the animal, knew the horse
was stolen property. When his attempt to arrest Kelly turned into a fight, Hall
drew his gun and tried to shoot him, but Kelly overpowered the policeman and
humiliated him by riding him like a horse. Hall later struck Kelly several times
with his revolver after he had been arrested. Ned always maintained that he had
no idea that the mare actually belonged to the Mansfield postmaster and that
Wright had stolen it. After just three weeks of freedom, 16-year-old Kelly, along
with his brother-in-law Alex Gunn, was sentenced to three years imprisonment
with hard labour for "feloniously receiving a horse". "Wild" Wright escaped
arrest for the theft on May 2 following an "exchange of shots" with police, but
was arrested the following day, Wright received only eighteen months for
stealing the horse. After his release from prison in 1874, Ned allegedly fought
and won a bare-knuckled boxing match with 'Wild' Wright that lasted 20 rounds.
While Kelly was in prison, his brothers Jim (aged 12) and Dan (aged 10) were
arrested by Constable Flood for riding a horse that did not belong to them. The
horse had been lent to them by a farmer for whom they had been doing some
work, but the boys spent a night in the cells before the matter was cleared.
Two years later, Jim Kelly was arrested for cattle-rustling. He and his family
claimed that he did not know that some of the cattle did not belong to his
employer and cousin Tom Lloyd. Jim was given a five-year sentence, but as
O'Brien pointed out the receiver of the 'stolen stock' James Dixon was not
prosecuted as he was 'a gentleman'
In September 1877 Ned was arrested for drunkenness. While being escorted by
four policemen he broke free and ran into a shop. The police tried to subdue him
but failed and Ned later gave himself up to a Justice of the Peace and was fined.
During the incident Constable Lonigan, who Ned was to later shoot dead, "black-
46
Ned Kelly
balled" him (grabbed and squeezed his testicles). Legend has it that Ned told
Lonigan "If I ever shoot a man, Lonigan, it'll be you!".
In October 1877, Gustav and William Baumgarten were arrested for supplying
stolen horses to Ned Kelly and were later sentenced in 1878. William served time
in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.
Following Red Kelly's death, Ned's mother, Ellen, had married a Californian
named George King, by whom she had three children. He, Ned and Dan became
involved in a cattle rustling operation.
The Fitzpatrick Incident

On the 15 April 1878, 21 year old Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick arrived at
Benalla suffering from an alleged bullet wound to his left wrist. He claimed that
he had been attacked by Ned, Dan, Ellen, their associate Bricky Williamson and
Ned's brother-in-law, Bill Skilling. Fitzpatrick claimed that all except Ellen had
been armed with revolvers. Williamson and Skilling were arrested for their part
in the affair. Ned and Dan were nowhere to be found, but Ellen was taken into
custody along with her baby, Alice. She was still in prison at the time of Ned's
execution. (Ellen would outlive her most famous son by several decades and died
on 27 March 1923.) The Kellys claimed that Fitzpatrick came into their house to
question Dan over a cattle duffing incident. While there, he made a pass at
Ellen's daughter Kate. Her mother hit his hand with a coal shovel and the men
knocked Fitzpatrick to the floor. They then bandaged his injured wrist, and he
had left saying that no real harm had been done. No guns, they claimed, were
used during the incident, and Ned was not involved since he had been away in
New South Wales. The belief that Ned was in New South Wales is still disputed,
although Fitzpatrick's testimony of events is coloured by the fact that he was
later dismissed from the force for drunkenness and perjury.
The trial at Beechworth
Despite Fitzpatrick's treating doctor reporting a strong smell of alcohol on the
constable and his inability to confirm the wrist wound was caused by a bullet,
Fitzpatrick's evidence was accepted by the police and the Judge. Ellen Kelly,
Skillon and Williamson appeared on 9 October 1878 before Judge Redmond
Barry charged with attempted murder and were convicted on Fitzpatrick's
unsupported evidence. Barry stated that if Ned were present he would 'give him
15 years'.
47
The Killings at Stringybark Creek

Dan and Ned Kelly doubted they
could convince the police of their
story. Instead they went into hiding,
where they were later joined by
friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart.
On 25 October 1878, Sergeant
Kennedy set off to search for the
Kellys, accompanied by Constables
McIntyre, Lonigan, and Scanlon. The
wanted men were suspected of being
in the Wombat Ranges north of
Mansfield, Victoria. The police set up
a camp near two shepherd huts at
Stringybark Creek in a heavily
timbered area. A second police party
had set off from Greata near the
Wangaratta end, with the intention
of closing in on Ned in a pincer
movement.
The Mansfield team of police under
Kennedy on arrival at Stringybark
split into two groups: Kennedy and
Scanlon went in search of the Kellys,
Illustration 22: Monument erected in Mansfield, Victoria in while the others, Lonigan and
honour of the three policemen murdered by Kelly's gang, McIntyre remained to guard their
Lonigan, Scanlon and Kennedy camp. Brown suggested in,
Australian Son (1948) that Sgt.
Kennedy was tipped off as to the whereabouts of the Kellys. O'Brien (1999) drew
attention to the 1881 Royal Commission's questioning of McIntyre, which
explored a possibility that Kennedy and Scanlon may have searched for the
Kellys to gain a reward for themselves. Jones stated (p. 131) that Kennedy and
Scanlon had once split a reward for the arrest of 'Wild Wright'. O'Brien's
research focus on the practice of splitting rewards highlighted that it was known
as 'going whacks'.
The Mansfield police team (Lonigan and McIntyre) remaining in the base camp
fired at parrots, unaware they were only a mile away from the Kelly camp.
Alerted by the shooting, the Kellys searched and discovered the well-armed
police camped near the "shingle hut" at Stringybark Creek. Although the police
were disguised as prospectors, they had pack horses with leather strap
arrangements suitable for carrying out bodies.
48
Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly and his brother Dan considered their chances of survival against the
well-armed party and decided to overpower the two officers, then wait for the
two others to return. According to Jones (p. 132) the Kellys knew that a police
member (Strahan), from Greta team boasted he would shoot Ned 'like a dog' and
Kelly believed these police were that Greta party. He was unaware of the
Mansfield group. Ned's plan was for the police to surrender, allowing the Kellys
to take their arms and horses. Ned and Dan advanced to the police camp,
ordering them to surrender. Constable McIntyre threw his arms up. Lonigan
drew his revolver and Ned shot him. Lonigan staggered some distance, and
collapsed dead.
When the other two police returned to camp, Constable McIntyre, at Ned's
direction, called on them to surrender. Scanlon went for his pistol; Ned fired.
Scanlon was killed. Kennedy ran, firing as he sought cover moving from tree to
tree. In an exchange of gunfire, Kennedy was mortally shot. Ned fired a fatal
shot into Kennedy. McIntyre, in the confusion, escaped on horseback uninjured.
The exact place at Germans Creek where this occurred has only recently been
identified. On leaving the scene Ned stole Sergeant Kennedy's handwritten note
for his wife and his gold fob watch. Asked later why he stole the watch, Ned
replied, "What's the use of a watch to a dead man?" Kennedy's watch was
returned to his kin many years later.
In response to these killings the Victorian parliament passed the Felons'
Apprehension Act which outlawed the gang and made it possible for anyone to
shoot them. There was no need for the outlaws to be arrested and for there to be
a trial. The Act was based on the 1865 Act passed in New South Wales which
declared Ben Hall and his gang outlaws.
Bank robberies
Following the killings at Stringybark, the gang committed two major robberies,
at Euroa, Victoria and Jerilderie, New South Wales. Their strategy involved the
taking of hostages and robbing the bank safes.
Euroa
On the 10 December 1878, the gang raided the National Bank at Euroa. They
had already taken a number of hostages at Faithful Creek station and went to the
bank claiming to be delivering a message from McCauley, the station manager.
They got into the bank and held up the manager, Scott, and his two tellers. After
obtaining all the money available, the outlaws ordered Scott, along with his wife,
family, maids and tellers to accompany them to Faithful Creek where they were
49
locked up with the other hostages,

who included the station's staff and
some passing hawkers and
sportsmen.
It is claimed that Ned, posing as a
policeman, took one of the men
prisoner on the grounds of being the
"notorious Ned Kelly". The man was
locked up in the storeroom saying
that he would report the "officer" to
his superiors. It was only then that
he was told who his captor was.
The outlaws gave an exhibition of
horsemanship which entertained and
Illustration 23: 8000 pound reward notice for the capture of surprised their hostages. After
the Ned Kelly gang, 15 February 1879 having supper, and telling the
hostages not to raise the alarm for
another three hours, they left. The entire crime was carried out without injury
and the gang netted £2,260, a large sum in those days and equivalent to around
$100,000 today.
In January 1879 police arrested all known Kelly friends and sympathisers and
held them without charge for three months. This action caused resentment of the
government's abuse of power that led to condemnation in the media and a
groundswell of support for the gang that was a factor in their evading capture
for so long.
Jerilderie
The raid on Jerilderie is particularly noteworthy for its boldness and cunning.
The gang arrived in the town on Saturday 8 February 1879. They broke into the
local police station and imprisoned police officers Richards and Devine in their
own cell. The outlaws then changed into the police uniforms and mixed with the
locals, claiming to be reinforcements from Sydney.
On Monday the gang rounded up various people and forced them into the back
parlour of the Royal Mail Hotel. While Dan Kelly and Steve Hart kept the
hostages busy with "drinks on the house", Ned Kelly and Joe Byrne robbed the
local bank of £2,414. Kelly also burned all the townspeople's mortgage deeds in
the bank.
New South Wales issued rewards totaling £4,000. The Victorian Government
increased its reward to match making the total reward for the Kelly gang £8,000
(AUS$400,000).
50
Ned Kelly
From early March 1879 to June 1880 nothing was heard of the gang's
whereabouts with one possible exception. In late march 1879 Ned's sisters Kate
and Margaret approached the captain of the Victoria Cross, then docked in
Melbourne, and enquired as to how much he would charge to take four or five
gentlemen friends to California if they boarded in Queenscliff. Nothing definite
was arranged but on March 31, a man he described as having a somewhat
suspicious appearance called on the captain to confirm the passage discussed by
the Kelly sisters. The captain arranged an appointment at the General Post Office
that afternoon to give a definite answer for the cost then contacted police who
placed a large number of detectives and plain-clothes police throughout the
building, however the man failed to appear. There is no evidence that Ned's
sisters were enquiring on behalf of the gang but it was reported in Melbourne
media as probable with speculation that the number of police present at the Post
Office had alerted them.
In April 1880 a Notice of Withdrawal of Reward was posted by Government. It
stated that after July 20, 1880 the Government would "absolutely cancel and
withdraw the offer for the reward".
The Jerilderie Letter

Months prior to arriving in Jerilderie, and with help from Joe Byrne, Ned Kelly
dictated a lengthy letter for publication describing his view of his activities and
the treatment of his family and, more generally, the treatment of Irish Catholics
by the police and the English and Irish Protestant squatters.
The Jerilderie Letter, as it is called, is a document of 7,391 words and has
become a famous piece of Australian literature. Kelly had written a previous
letter (14 December 1878) to a member of Parliament stating his grievances, but
the correspondence had been suppressed from the public. The letter highlights
the various incidents that led to him becoming an outlaw (see Rise to notoriety).
The letter was never published and was concealed until re-discovered in 1930. It
was then published by the Melbourne Herald.
The handwritten document was donated anonymously to the State Library of
Victoria in 2000. Historian Alex McDermott says of the Letter, "... even now it's
hard to defy his voice. With this letter Kelly inserts himself into history, on his
own terms, with his own voice...We hear the living speaker in a way that no other
document in our history achieves..." Kelly's language is colourful, rough and full
of metaphors; it is "one of the most extraordinary documents in Australian
history".
The National Museum of Australia in Canberra holds publican John Hanlon's
transcript of the Jerilderie Letter.
51
Capture, trial and execution

On 26 June 1880 the Felons'
Apprehension Act 612 expired, with
the result that not only was the
gang's outlaw status no longer in
effect but that their arrest warrants
also expired. While Ned and Dan still
had prior warrants outstanding for
the attempted murder of Fitzpatrick,
technically Hart and Byrne were free
men although the police still retained
the right to re-issue the murder
warrants.
The gang discovered that Aaron
Sherritt, Joe Byrne's erstwhile best Illustration 24: The trial of Ned Kelly
friend, was a police informer. On 26
June 1880, the same day their outlaw status expired, Dan Kelly and Joe Byrne
went to Sherritt's house and killed him. (Superintendent Hare later testified that
Sherritt was the "scout of the district" and regularly informed Kelly of police
movements however, he also testified that following the Jerilderie robbery he
paid Sherritt for informing on Kelly's whereabouts. Ian Jones, authority on the
Kelly Gang, has made a compelling case in his book, The Fatal Friendship that
the police manipulated events so that Sherritt appeared a traitor and to provoke
the gang into emerging from hiding to dispose of him.) The four policemen who
were living openly with him at the time hid under the bed and did not report the
murder until late the following morning. This delay was to prove crucial since it
upset Ned's timing for another ambush.
The Kelly Gang arrived in Glenrowan on 27 June forcibly taking about seventy
hostages at the Glenrowan Inn. They knew that a passenger train carrying a
police detachment was on its way and ordered the rail tracks pulled up in order
to cause a derailment.
52
Ned Kelly
The gang members were equipped

with armour that was tough enough
to repel bullets (but left the legs
unprotected). It is not known exactly
who made the armour, although it
was likely forged from stolen or
donated plough mouldboards. Each
man's armour weighed about 96
pounds (44 kg); all four had helmets,
and Byrne's was said to be the most
well done, with the brow reaching
down to the nose piece, almost
forming two eye slits. All wore grey
cotton coats reaching past the knees
over the armour.
While holed up in the Glenrowan Inn,
the Kelly gang's attempt to derail the
police train failed due to the actions
of a released hostage, schoolmaster
Illustration 25: Kelly in the dock Thomas Curnow. Curnow convinced
Ned to let him go and then as soon
as he was released he alerted the authorities by standing on the railway line near
sunrise and waving a lantern wrapped in his red scarf. The police then stopped
the train before it would have been derailed and laid siege to the inn at dawn on
Monday 28 June.
The accounts of who opened fire first are contradictory. According to
Superintendent Hare he was close to the inn when he saw the flash of a rifle and
felt his left hand go limp. Three more flashes followed from the veranda and then
whoever had first fired at him stepped back and began to fire again after which
the police opened fire. Kelly testified in court that he was dismounting from his
horse when a bolt in his armour failed. While he was fixing the bolt the police
fired two volleys into the inn. Kelly claimed that as he walked towards the inn the
police fired a third volley with the result that one bullet hit him in the foot and
another in the left arm. It was at that moment he claimed his gang began
returning the fire. Kelly now walked in what police called a "lurching motion"
towards them from 30 metres (98 ft) away. Due to the restrictions of his armour,
and now only being able to hold his revolving rifle in one hand, he had to hold
the rifle at arm’s length to fire, and claimed he fired randomly, two shots to the
front and two shots to his left. Constable Arthur fired three times, hitting Kelly
once in the helmet and twice in his body, but despite staggering from the
impacts he continued to advance. Constables Phillips and Healy then fired with
similar effect. Kelly's lower limbs, however, were unprotected, and when
15 metres (49 ft) from the police line he was shot repeatedly in the legs. As he
53
fell he was hit by a shotgun blast

that injured his hip and right hand.
The other Kelly Gang members died
in the hotel; Joe Byrne perished due
to loss of blood from a gunshot
wound that severed his femoral
artery as he allegedly stood at the
bar pouring himself a glass of
whisky, Dan Kelly and Steve Hart
committed suicide (according to
witness Matthew Gibney). No
autopsy was done to determine
cause of death, as their bodies were
burnt when the police set fire to the
inn. The police suffered only one
minor injury: Superintendent Francis
Hare, the senior officer on the scene,
received a slight wound to his wrist,
then fled the battle. For his
cowardice the Royal Commission
later suspended Hare from the
Victorian Police Force. Several
hostages were also shot, two fatally.
The body of Joe Byrne was taken to
Benalla and strung up as a curiosity Illustration 26: Ned Kelly's death mask in the Old Melbourne
for photographers and spectators. Gaol
His body was not claimed by his
family, and he was buried by police in an unmarked grave in Benalla Cemetery.
Dan Kelly and Steve Hart were buried in unmarked graves by their families in
Greta Cemetery 30 km (19 mi) east of Benalla.
Ned Kelly survived to stand trial, and was sentenced to death by the Irish-born
judge Justice Redmond Barry. This case was extraordinary in that there were
exchanges between the prisoner Kelly and the judge, and the case has been the
subject of attention by historians and lawyers. When the judge uttered the
customary words "May God have mercy on your soul", Kelly replied "I will go a
little further than that, and say I will see you there when I go". At Ned's request,
his photographic portrait was taken and he was granted farewell interviews with
family members. His mother's last words to Ned were reported to be "Mind you
die like a Kelly".
He was hanged on 11 November 1880 at the Melbourne Gaol for the murder of
Constable Lonigan. Although two newspapers (The Age and The Herald)
reported Kelly's last words as "Such is life", another source, Kelly's gaol warden,
wrote in his diary that when Kelly was prompted to say his last words, the
54
Ned Kelly
prisoner opened his mouth and mumbled something that he couldn't hear. Sir
Redmond Barry died of the effects of a carbuncle on his neck on 23 November
1880, twelve days after Kelly.
Although the exact number is unknown, it is estimated that a petition to spare
Kelly's life attracted over 30,000 signatures.
Reward
There was considerable controversy over the division of the £8,000
(AUS$400,000 in 2008 dollars) reward before the enquiry into the siege was
conducted although the money itself was not actually paid until it had concluded.
Most commentators complained that Curnow should have received more while
many of the police deserved less pointing out that some police who received
large amounts were of little value at Glenrowan, whilst others receiving lesser
amounts distinguished themselves. Public opposition was such that
Superintendent Hare and Sub-inspector O’Connor, who was in charge of the
Aboriginal trackers, declined to collect their shares of £800 (AUS$40,000 in
2008 dollars) and £237 (AUS$11,850 in 2008 dollars) respectively.
Despite being suspended for cowardice at Glenrowan, Superintendent Hare
received the largest share, £800 while Thomas Curnow, who alerted police to the
ambush thus saving many lives, received £550. Seven senior police officers
received from £165 to £377 each, seven constables £137, Mr. C. C. Rawlins
(civilian volunteer) £137, one constable £125, 15 constables £115, the three train
engineers £104, one detective £100, one senior constable £97, the train driver,
fireman and guard £84 each, assistant engine fireman £69, assistant engine
driver £68, one senior constable £48, 14 constables £42 each and Messrs
Cheshire and Osborne, £25 each. Nine civilians, 13 constables and two police
agents applied for a share of the reward but were rejected. The board
acknowledged that some who received nothing deserved a share but adherence
to the terms of the proclamation precluded rewarding them. Four members of
the media had accompanied the police and the board stated that, had they
applied for a share, it would have been approved.
Seven native trackers also received £50 each although the board deemed it
undesirable to place any sum of money in the hands of persons unable to use it
and recommend that the sums set opposite the names of the black trackers be
handed to the Queensland and Victorian Governments to be dealt with at their
discretion.
55
Kelly Gang Armour

All four suits consisted of a breast-plate, back-plate, and a helmet. Joe Byrne's
suit was the only one without an apron to protect the groin and thighs, as a
result he died from a shot to the groin. Ned's suit was the only one to also have
an apron at the back. The suits' separate parts were strapped together on the
body while the helmet was separate and sat on the shoulders allowing it to be
removed easily when the need arose. Padding is only known from Ned's armour
and it is not clear if the other suits were similarly padded. Ned wore a padded
skull cap and his helmet also had internal strapping so his head could take some
of the weight. All the men wore
dustcoats over the armour.
The Victorian Police had been told
three times by informants of the
existence of the armour and that it
was capable of deflecting bullets but
Police Superintendents Hare and
Sadlier both dismissed the
information as "nonsense" and "an
impossibility". Despite these
warnings none of the police realised
the gang were wearing armour until
after the siege was over. Until Ned
fell the police even questioned
whether he was human. Constable
Arthur, who was closest, thought he
was a "huge blackfellow wrapped in Illustration 27: Ned Kelly's armour, from an 1880
a blanket", Constable Dowsett illustration
exclaimed it was "old Nick" and
Senior Constable Kelly called out "Look out, boys, it’s the bunyip. He’s bullet-
proof!". Constable Gascoigne, who recognised Ned's voice, told Superintendent
Sadlier he had "fired at him point blank and hit him straight in the body. But
there is no use firing at Ned Kelly; he can't be hurt". Although aware of the
information supplied by the informant prior to the siege, Sadlier later wrote that
even after Gascoigne's comment "no thought of armour" had occurred to him.
Following the siege of Glenrowan the media reported the events and use of
armour around the world. The gang were admired in military circles and Arthur
Conan Doyle commented on the gang's imagination and recommended similar
armour for use by British infantry. The police announcement to the Australian
public that the armour was made from ploughshares was ridiculed, disputed, and
deemed impossible even by blacksmiths.
56
Ned Kelly
After Ned Kelly's capture there was

considerable debate over having the
armour destroyed, all four
disassembled suits of armour were
eventually stored by Police
Superintendent Hare in Melbourne.
Hare gave Ned Kelly's armour to Sir
William Clarke, and it was later
donated to the State Library of
Victoria. Joe Byrne's suit of armour
was kept by Hare and now belongs to
his descendants. Dan Kelly and Steve
Hart's armour are still owned by the
Victorian Police force. As no effort
was made to maintain the armour's
integrity while stored, the suits were
reassembled by guesswork. In 2002
several parts were identified from
photographs taken shortly after the
siege and reunited with their original
suits. As a result the State Library of
Victoria was able to exchange their
backplate, which was found to be
Steve Hart's breastplate, for Ned
Kelly's own backplate, making their
suit currently the most original. In
January 2002 all four suits were
displayed together for an exhibition
in the Old Melbourne Gaol.
According to legend the armour was
made on a Stringybark log by the
Illustration 28: Ned Kelly's armour on display in the State gang themselves. Due to the quality
Library of VictoriaThe apron and one shoulderplate are not of the workmanship and the
Ned's and comes from either Dan Kelly's or Steve Hart's difficulties involved in forging,
armour. historians and blacksmiths had long
believed the armour could only have
been made by a professional blacksmith in a forge. A professional blacksmith
would have heated the steel to over 1000 °C (1832 °F), before shaping it. A bush
forge would only be able to get the metal to 750 °C (1382 °F), which would make
shaping the metal very difficult. In 2003 Byrne's suit of armour was
disassembled and tested by ANSTO at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in
Sydney to determine how the armour was made and what temperatures were
involved. The results of testing indicated the heating of the metal was "patchy".
57
Some parts had been bent cold while other parts had been subjected to extended
periods in a heat source of not much more than 700 °C (1292 °F), which is
consistent with a bush forge. The quality of forging was also determined to be
less than believed, and it is now considered unlikely to have been done by a
blacksmith. The method now widely accepted is that mouldboards were heated in
a makeshift bush forge and then beaten straight over a green log before being
cut into shape and riveted together to form each individual piece.
Ned Kelly's remains and grave

Following his execution Kelly's body was dissected, with his head and organs
removed for study. In line with the practice of the day, as no records are kept
regarding the disposal of a condemned person's body or body parts, Kelly's
remains may, or may not have, been buried in Melbourne Gaol's mass graveyard.
Kelly's head was given to phrenologists for study then returned to the police,
who used it for a time as a paperweight. In 1929, Melbourne gaol was closed,
and the bodies in its graveyard were transferred to Pentridge prison. During the
transfer of bodies, workers stole skeletal parts from a grave marked with the
initials EK in the belief they belonged to Kelly. The site foreman retrieved the
skull and gave it to the Australian Institute of Anatomy in Canberra. The skull in
the possession of police was also given, at some unknown date, to the Institute of
Anatomy in Canberra who, in 1971, gave it to the National Trust. It was
displayed at the Old Melbourne Gaol until it was stolen in December 1978. Tom
Baxter, a farmer from West Australia claims he has the skull stolen in 1978 but
has refused to hand it over for identification or burial. Despite attempts, the
police have been unable to locate the stolen skull. The skull does not match
photographs of the stolen skull, and a facial reconstruction based on a cast made
from the skull in Baxter's possession does not resemble Kelly, but does resemble
the death mask of Ernest Knox, who was executed in 1894 for murder. If this is
indeed the skull stolen in 1978, it means that Kelly's skull was on display
originally, but was taken off display at some time and thereafter replaced with
Knox's skull.
On 9 March 2008 it was announced that Australian archaeologists believed they
had found Kelly's grave on the site of Pentridge prison. The bones were
uncovered at a mass grave, and Kelly's are among those of 32 felons who had
been executed by hanging. Jeremy Smith, a senior archaeologist with Heritage
Victoria said, "We believe we have conclusively found the burial site but that is
very different from finding the remains."
Forensic pathologists have examined the bones, which are much decayed and
jumbled with the remains of others, making identification difficult. However,
Kelly's remains were identified by an old wrist injury and by the fact that his
58
Ned Kelly
head was removed for phrenological study. Mrs. Ellen Hollow, Kelly's 62-year-old
great-niece, offered to supply her own DNA to help identify Kelly's bones.
The Kelly aftermath and the lessons

After Ned Kelly's death, the Victorian Royal Commission (1881–83) into the
Victorian Police Force led to many changes to the nature of policing in the
colony. The Commission took 18 months and its findings put many of the police
involved in the Kelly hunt in a less than favourable light, yet neither did it excuse
or sanction the actions of the Kelly Gang. As a result of the Commission a
number of members of the Victorian police, including senior staff, were
reprimanded, demoted, or dismissed.
Some dismiss the Kelly Outbreak as simply a spate of criminality. These
included: Boxhall, The Story of Australian Bushrangers (1899), Henry Giles
Turner, History of the Colony of Victoria (1904) and several police writers of the
time like Hare and more modern writers like Penzig (1988) who wrote
legitimising narratives about law and order and moral justification.
Others, commencing with Kenneally (1929), and McQuilton (1979) and Jones
(1995), perceived the Kelly Outbreak and the problems of Victoria's Land
Selection Acts post-1860s as interlinked. McQuilton identified Kelly as the "social
bandit" who was caught up in unresolved social contradictions — that is, the
selector-squatter conflicts over land — and that Kelly gave the selectors the
leadership they so lacked. O'Brien (1999) identified a leaderless rural malaise in
Northeastern Victoria as early as 1872-73, around land, policing and the
Impounding Act.
Though the Kelly Gang was destroyed in 1880, for almost seven years a serious
threat of a second outbreak existed because of major problems around land
settlement and selection (McQuilton, Ch. 10).
McQuilton suggested two police officers involved in the pursuit of the Kelly Gang
— namely, Superintendent John Sadleir (1833–1919), author of Recollections of a
Victorian Police Officer, and Inspector W.B. Montford — averted the Second
Outbreak by coming to understand that the unresolved social contradiction in
Northeastern Victoria was around land, not crime, and by their good work in
aiding small selectors.
59
The Kellys and the modern era

Ned's mother Ellen died in 1923 at the age of 92, by which time planes, cars and
radio had been introduced to Australia. Photographs have recently been
discovered showing her sitting in a motor car.
November 2007 auctioning of claimed Kelly revolver

On 13 November 2007, a weapon claimed to be Constable Fitzpatrick's service
revolver was auctioned for approximately $70,000 in Melbourne and is now
located in Westbury Tasmania.
The vendor's representative, Tom Thompson, claimed that the revolver was left
by Constable Fitzpatrick at the Kelly house after the melee in 1878, given to Kate
Kelly, and then (much later) found in a house or shed in Forbes, New South
Wales.
According to press reports in the days following the auction, firearms experts
assessed the revolver as being of a design (a copy of an English Webley .32
revolver) not manufactured until 1884, well after the claimed provenance had
the weapon changing hands from Constable Fitzpatrick to the Kellys. In addition,
a stamp on the gun which the auction catalogue interpreted as R*C, an indication
that the revolver was of the Royal Constabulary, was instead read as a European
manufacturer's proof mark.
Further, evidence by Constable Fitzpatrick said that when he left the Kelly
homestead after the incident, he had his revolver and handcuffs; (cited in Keith
McMenomy (1984), p. 69.)
Cultural effect
One of the gaols in which Kelly was incarcerated has become the Ned Kelly
Museum in Glenrowan, Victoria, and many weapons and artifacts used by him
and his gang are in exhibit there. Since his death, Kelly has become part of
Australian folklore, the language and the subject of a large number of books and
several films. The Australian term "as game as Ned Kelly" entered the language
and is a common expression.
Films included the first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang (Australia,
1906), another with Mick Jagger in the title role (1970), and more recently Ned
Kelly (2003) starring Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush. A TV
mini series of six episodes The Last Outlaw (1980) highlighted the plight of the
selector and the social conflicts and battles between selector and squatters.
60
Ned Kelly
During the 1960s, Ned Kelly graduated from folk lore into the academic arena.
His story and the social issues around land selection, squatters, national identity,
policing and his court case are studied at universities, seminars and lectures.
Ned Kelly as a political icon

In the time since his execution, Ned Kelly has been mythologised among some
into a Robin Hood, a political revolutionary and a figure of Irish Catholic and
working-class resistance to the establishment and British colonial ties. It is
claimed that Kelly's bank robberies were to fund the push for a "Republic of the
North-East of Victoria", and that the police found a declaration of the republic in
his pocket when he was captured, which has led to him being seen as an icon by
some in the Australian republicanism cause.
Ned Kelly captures President Kruger and wins the Boer War,
1900
In early June 1900, when the Boer Transvaal capital Pretoria fell to the British
assault, President Paul Kruger and his government fled east on a train and
evaded capture. In the Melbourne Punch of 21 June 1900, a cartoon titled "BAIL-
UP!" depicted the Kelly Gang capturing Kruger's train and seizing Kruger's gold,
thus winning the Boer War for the British. This is among the first of the
Australian political cartoons to invoke Kelly's memory.
Ned Kelly the honest bushranger, 1915

During the tough days during World War I cartoons in the Queensland Worker,
later re-printed in Labor Call, 16 September 1915, showed profiteers robbing
Australian citizens, while Ned Kelly in armour watched on saying; "Well Well! I
never got as low as that, and they hung me."
Ned Kelly - invoked to fight the Japanese in 1942

During World War II, Clive Turnbull published Ned Kelly: Being His Own Story
of His Life and Crimes. In the introduction Turnbull invoked the Kelly historical
memory to urge Australians to adopt the Kelly spirit and resist the oppression of
the potential invader.
61
Ned Kelly in iconography

The distinctive homemade armour Kelly wore for his final unsuccessful stand
against the police was the subject of a famous series of paintings by Sidney
Nolan.
Jerilderie, one of the towns Kelly
robbed, built its police station
featuring numerous structural
components mimicking his
distinctive face plate. Some
examples include walls made of
differently toned bricks making up
his image to storm drains with
holes cut in them to form it.
An image of Kelly, based on Sidney
Nolan's imagery, appeared in the
"Tin Symphony" segment of the
opening ceremony for the year
2000 Olympic Games. He has also
Illustration 29: Sidney Nolan's painting The Trial, depicting
Ned Kelly on trial appeared in advertisements, most
notably in television spots for
Bushell's tea. A man drinking tea in
the iconic suit of armour is the focal point of part of the ad.
Australia Post produced a stamp/envelope set The Siege Of Glenrowan -
Centenary 1980 to mark the capture of Kelly 100 years before. The 22-cent
'stamp' printed on the envelope shows Kelly 'at bay' wearing his armoured
helmet and Colt revolver in hand.
Advertising
In the 1990s British ads for the cereal Weetabix implied that it made the eater so
strong and powerful that others were terrified of him. One such TV ad had Kelly
in full armour in a hut under siege by the police. As the officer in charge calls for
his surrender, Kelly emerges from the hut with a spoon and cereal bowl,
threatening to "eat the Weetabix" if they make a false move. The officer tells his
men to stand back since Kelly is not bluffing. One of them cocks his rifle,
whereupon Kelly brings the spoon to his mouth only to find that the mouthpiece
in his helmet is too small for the spoon. Thus he cannot carry out his threat and
is forced to surrender.
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Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly in fiction

A. Bertram Chandler's novel Kelly Country (1983) is an alternate history in which
Kelly leads a successful revolution; the result is that Australia becomes a world
power.
Our Sunshine (1991) by Robert Drewe was the basis of the 2003 film, Ned Kelly,
that starred Heath Ledger.
Peter Carey's novel True History of the Kelly Gang was published in 2000, and
was awarded the 2001 Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.
Films and television

The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) now recognised as the world's first feature-
length film had a then-unprecedented running time of 60 minutes. One of the
actual suits worn by the gang (believed to be Joe Byrne's) was borrowed from a
private collection and worn in the film. Two pieces of film totalling 21 minutes
still exist and one piece includes the key scene of the Kelly's last stand.
Harry Southwell wrote, directed and produced three films based on the Kelly
Gang: The Kelly Gang (1920), When the Kellys Were Out (1923) and When the
Kellys Rode (1934), as well as the unfinished, A Message to Kelly (1947).
The Glenrowan Affair was produced by Rupert Kathner in 1951, featuring the
exploits of Kelly and his "wild colonial boys" on their journey of treachery,
violence, murder and terror, told from the perspective of an aging Dan Kelly. It
starred the famous Carlton footballer Bob Chitty as Ned Kelly. It was one of the
last films to portray him with an Australian accent.
In 1967, independent filmmaker Garry Shead directed and produced Stringybark
Massacre, an avant garde re-creation of the murder of the three police officers at
Stringybark Creek.
The next major film of the Kelly story was Ned Kelly (1970), starring Rolling
Stone Mick Jagger and directed by Tony Richardson. It was not a success and
during its making it led to a protest by Australian Actors Equity over the
importation of Jagger, with complaints from Kelly family descendants and others
over the film being shot in New South Wales, rather than in the Victoria
locations where most of the events actually took place.
Ian Jones and Bronwyn Binns wrote a script for a four-part television mini-series,
The Last Outlaw 1980, which they co-produced. The series premiered on the
centenary of the day that Kelly was hanged. The film's detailed historical
accuracy distinguished it from many other Kelly films. Actor John Jarratt starred
as Kelly.
63
Yahoo Serious wrote, directed and starred in the 1993 satire film Reckless Kelly
as a descendant of Ned Kelly.
In 2003, Ned Kelly, a $30 million budget movie about Kelly's life was released.
Directed by Gregor Jordan, and written by John M. McDonagh, it starred Heath
Ledger as Kelly, along with Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, and Naomi Watts.
Based on Robert Drewe's book Our Sunshine, the film covers the period from
Kelly's arrest for horse theft as a teenager to the gang's armour-clad battle at
Glenrowan. It attempts to portray the events from the perspectives of both Kelly
and of the authorities responsible for his capture and prosecution. It was not a
success; one review dismissed it as fiction.
That same year (2003) a low budget satire movie called Ned was released.
Written, directed and starring Abe Forsythe, it depicted the Kelly gang wearing
fake beards and tin buckets on their heads.
In 2008 the DC Comics comic arc Batman RIP introduced a Batman villain named
Swagman who appears identical to Ned Kelly in his armour.
Bush poems and verse

Many poems and ditties emerged during the Kelly era (1878–80) relating their
exploits. Some were later put to music. Stringybark Creek (below) was often
sung during the Outbreak. Offenders caught chanting or singing this piece were
fined £2 or £5, in default one or two months.
Stringybark Creek
A sergeant and three constables They had grub and ammunition there
Set out from Mansfield town To last them many a week.
Near the end of last October Next morning two of them rode out,
For to hunt the Kellys down; All to explore the creek.
So they travelled to the Wombat, Leaving McIntyre behind them at
And thought it quite a lark, The camp to cook the grub,
And they camped upon the borders of And Lonigan to sweep the floor
A creek called Stringybark. And boss the washing tub.
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Ned Kelly
Music
Songs
•In 1971, US country singer Johnny Cash wrote and recorded the song "Ned
Kelly" for his album The Man in Black.
•The Australian band "The Kelly Gang" consisted of Jack Nolan, Scott Aplin, Rick
Grossman (bassist for Hoodoo Gurus) and Rob Hirst (drummer for Midnight Oil)
and recorded one album Looking for the Sun (2004) which has one of Sydney
Nolan's iconic "Ned Kelly" series as its album cover.
•"Shelter for my Soul" was written and recorded by Powderfinger's Bernard
Fanning for the 2003 film Ned Kelly. It was written from Kelly's perspective on
death row and played over the movie's closing credits.
•"888" was written and recorded by Melbourne Celt/Punk band The Currency. It
has a reference to the Old Melbourne Gaol. And its lyrics say "It says here, Ned's
parting words, it says here, such is life".
Other songs about Ned Kelly include those by Paul Kelly ("Our Sunshine"
(1999)), Slim Dusty ("Game as Ned Kelly" and "Ned Kelly Isn't Dead"), Ashley
Davies ("Ned Kelly" (2001)), Waylon Jennings ("Ned Kelly" (1970)), Redgum
("Poor Ned" (1978)), Midnight Oil ("If Ned Kelly Was King" (1983)), The
Whitlams ("Kate Kelly" (2002)), and Trevor Lucas ("Ballad of Ned Kelly",
performed by Fotheringay on their eponymous album). He was also referred to in
the Midnight Oil song "Mountains of Burma" (1990) ("The heart of Kelly's
country cleared"). Also one by Rolf Harris.
References
•Sadleir, J., Recollections of a Victorian Police Officer, George Robertson & Co.,
(Melbourne), 1913. (Facsimile reprint, Penguin Books, 1973, ISBN 0-140-70037-
4)
•O'Brien, Antony (2006). Bye-Bye Dolly Gray. Hartwell: Artillery Publishing.
(historical fiction with lots of Kelly oral and histories in a twisting & turning plot)
•Brown, Max (1948). Australian Son. Melbourne: Georgian House. (plus reprints)
(a sound pro-Kelly history of the events)
•'Cameron Letter', 14 December 1878, in Meredith, J. & Scott, B. Ned Kelly
After a Century of Acrimony, Lansdowne, Sydney, 1980, pp. 63–66. (Ned Kelly's
own words)
65
•Gibb, D. M. (1982). National Identity and Counsciousness: Commentary and

Documents. Melbourne: Nelson. (Chapter 1. Ned Kelly's view of his world and
others)
•Hare, F.A. (1892). The Last of the Bushrangers. London. (a police perspective of
the 'criminal class')
•Hobsbawm, E.J. (1972). Bandits. Ringwood: Pelican. (wide ranging world wide
history on social bandits in which he argues that Ned Kelly can be better
understood)
•Jones, Ian (1995). Ned Kelly : A Short Life. Port Melbourne: Lothian. (a
comprehensive and well researched piece of history and events)
•Kenneally, J.J. (1929). Inner History of the Kelly Gang. (plus many reprints) (the
first pro-Kelly piece of literature)
•McDermott, Alex, ed (2001). The Jerilderie Letter. Melbourne: Text Publishing.
(an insight into the famous Jerilderie Letter)
•McMenomy, Keith (1984). Ned Kelly: The Authentic Illustrated Story. South
Yarra: Curry O'Neill Ross. (lots of photos from the era, photos of records etc. a
sound research piece)
•McQuilton, John, The Kelly Outbreak 1788–1880; The geographical dimension
of social banditry, 1979. (among the most important academic works, which
expands on Hobsbawm; links the unresolved land problems to the Kelly
Outbreak)
•Penzig, Edgar, F. (1988). Bushrangers - Heroes or Villains. Katoomba: Tranter. (
a pro-police/establishment piece)
•Deakin University (1995). The Kelly Outbreak Reader. Geelong: Deakin
University. (is now hard to locate but it contains a wide selection of research
documents and commentary for university level history students)
•Turnbull, C (1942). Ned Kelly: Being his own story of his life and crimes.
Melbourne: Hawthorn Press. ( very hard to locate, but Ned Kelly become a
national figure)
•Wilcox, Craig (2005). Australia's Boer War: The War in South Africa 1899–1902.
South Melbourne: Oxford. (has a cartoon of 1900 depicting Ned Kelly and the
gang capturing The Boer President Paul Kruger)
•O'Brien, Phil (2002) "101 Adventures that got me Absolutely Nowhere" Vol 2
(p. 92 A resemblance to Ned Kelly's makeshift body armour of a child with a pot
overturned on his head)
•Keith Dunstan, Saint Ned, (1980), chronicles lesser known aspects of Ned
Kelly's life, whilst discussing the rise of the 'Kellyana' industry.
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Ned Kelly
Further reading
Fiction
•Carey, Peter (2000). Ned Kelly, True History of the Kelly Gang.
•O'Brien, Antony (2006) Bye-Bye Dolly Gray, Artillery Publishing, Hartwell.
(Though this work is set 20 years after the Ned's death it contains insights into
the Kelly story)
•Upfield, Arthur. (1960) Bony and the Kelly Gang,Pan Books, London. (Upfield's
famous fictional character, Inspector Boney, clashes with a new Kelly Gang)
Unpublished Kelly theses

•Morrissey, Douglas. "Selectors, Squatters and Stock Thieves: A Social History
of the Kelly Country", PhD, La Trobe (in Borchardt Library, La Trobe University,
Victoria)
•O'Brien, Antony. "Awaiting Ned Kelly: Rural Malaise in Northestern Victoria
1872-73", B.A. (Hons), Deakin University, 1999 (sighted in Burke Museum,
Beechworth) (See. p. 45, re Royal Commission questions)
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Nezumi Kozō
Nezumi Kozō (鼠小僧) is the nickname of Nakamura Jirokichi (仲村次郎吉 1797
- 1831), a Japanese thief and folk hero who lived in Edo (present-day Tokyo)
during the Edo period.
Capture and tattoo

In 1822, he was caught and tattooed, and banished from Edo. On August 8, 1831,
he was captured again, and confessed to the burglary of over 100 samurai
estates and the impressive theft of over 30,000 ryō throughout his 15-year
career. He was tied to a horse and paraded in public before being beheaded at
the Suzugamori execution grounds. His head was then publicly displayed on a
stake. He was buried at Ekō-in located in the Ryōgoku section of Tokyo. So many
pilgrims chip away pieces of his tombstone for charms that substitute stones
have had to be constructed since shortly after his death.
Background
At the time of the arrest, Jirokichi was found to have very little money. This,
combined with the public humiliation he dealt out to the daimyo, resulted in the
popular legend that he gave the money to the poor, turning the petty crook into a
posthumous folk hero similar to Robin Hood. The fact that he died alone, serving
his wives with divorce papers just prior to arrest in order to protect them from
sharing in the punishment as the law decreed, further enhanced his stature.
Modern scholars are of the view that Jirokichi most likely spent his money on
women and liquor.
Nickname
Jirokichi's nickname, Nezumi Kozō, is not a name. Nezumi is the Japanese word
for "rat"; a kozō was a young errand-boy who worked in a shop in the Edo period.
The nickname can thus be roughly translated as "rat boy". Since a nickname
containing the term kozō was often given to pickpockets, who were often youngs
boys and girls since the profession required nimble fingers, it has been
suggested that Jirokichi was a well known pickpocket when he was younger.
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Nezumi Kozō
In popular culture
His exploits have been commemorated in kabuki theatre, folk songs, jidaigeki,
video games, and modern pop culture. See more in the Japanese historical
people in popular culture article.
69
Roberto Cofresí
Roberto Cofresí (June 17, 1791 – March 29, 1825), better
known as "El Pirata Cofresí", was the most renowned
pirate in Puerto Rico. He became interested in sailing at a
young age. By the time he reached adulthood there were
some political and economic difficulties in Puerto Rico,
which at the time was a colony of Spain. Influenced by this
situation he decided to become a pirate in 1818. Cofresí
commanded several assaults against cargo vessels
focusing on those that were responsible for exporting gold.
During this time he focused his attention on ships from the
United States and the local Spanish government ignored
several of these actions. On March 5, 1825, Cofresí
engaged a float of ships led by John Slout in battle. He
eventually abandoned his ship and tried to escape by land
Illustration 30: Monument before being captured. After being imprisoned he was sent
of Roberto Cofresí located to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where a brief military trial found
in Cabo Rojo him guilty and on March 29, 1825, he and other members
of his crew were executed by a firing squad. After his
death his life was used as inspiration for several stories and myths, which served
as the basis for books and other media.
Early years
Cofresí was born Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano in Cabo Rojo, Puerto
Rico. His father was Franz Von Kupferschein (1751-1814), an Italian national of
Austrian descent born in Trieste, Italy. According to Professor Ursula Acosta, a
historian and member of the Puerto Rican Genealogy Society, the Kupferschein
family immigrated from Austria to Trieste where Franz Von Kupferschein was
known as Francisco Confersin. Immigrants were required by the Italian
authorities to adopt Italian sounding names. When Francisco Confersin (Franz
Von Kupferschein) immigrated to Puerto Rico, he went to live in the coastal town
of Cabo Rojo and changed his name to Francisco Cofresí, which made it much
easier for the Spanish authorities to pronounce.
Francisco Cofresí met and married María Germana Ramírez de Arellano, whose
father was the cousin of Nicolás Ramírez de Arellano, the founder of Cabo Rojo.
The couple had four children, a daughter by the name of Juana and three sons,
Juan Francisco, Ignacio and their youngest Roberto. Roberto Cofresí was four
years old when his mother died.
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Roberto Cofresí
Cofresí and his siblings went to school in his hometown. Living in a coastal town
the Cofresí brothers often came in to contact with visiting sailors. They were
inspired to become seamen by the tales that they heard from the sailors who
visited their town. Cofresí eventually purchased a small boat, which he
christened El Mosquito ("The Mosquito").
He met and married Juana Creitoff, a native of Curaçao, in the San Miguel
Arcángel Parish of Cabo Rojo. They had two sons, both of whom died soon after
birth. In 1822, Cofresí and Juana had a daughter, whom they named Maria
Bernada.
Cofresí the pirate

In 1818, Cofresí decided to become a pirate and organized a crew composed of
eight to ten men from his hometown. The men established a hideout in Mona
Island, a small island located between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
It was a common practice then for the Spanish Crown to look the other way
when pirates such as Cofresí
attacked ships that did not carry the
Spanish flag.
Cofresí ignored the ships that came
from other nations including those
from France, Holland and England
and his attacks were mainly focused
on ships from the United States. His
dislike of American sailors originated
when he was once caught eating
sugar from an American cargo ship
without paying and was injured by
the ship's captain. After this event
Cofresí declared war on all of those
that operated under the flag of the
United States. He often displayed
cruel behavior against hostages that Illustration 31: Small schooner similar to El Mosquito
were on these vessels, including
reports that he ordered that his
captives were to be nailed alive to El Mosquito's deck.
Spain and the United States were having diplomatic and political differences,
therefore the Spanish colonial government did not pursue Cofresí or his crew as
long as he assaulted American ships. The government felt that Cofresí's actions
were patriotic. This situation changed because of various factors. Spain had lost
most of her possessions in the New World and her last two possessions, Puerto
71
Rico and Cuba were faced with economical problems and political unrest. Cofresí
was influenced by the separatist faction which was supporting Puerto Rico's
independence from Spain.
Cofresí felt that the Spaniards were oppressing the Puerto Ricans in their "own
home" and he began assaulting Spanish ships along with the American and
English vessels that were being used to export the island's resources, gold in
particular. He did this in order to debilitate the Spanish economy, justifying it by
saying that he "wouldn't allow foreign hands to take a piece of the country that
saw his birth". On January 23, 1824, Lieutenant General Miguel Luciano De La
Torre y Pando (1822-1837), the Spanish appointed governor of Puerto Rico,
issued several anti-piracy measures based on the economic losses that the
Spanish government was sustaining and the political pressure from the United
States.
Imprisonment in the Dominican Republic

On one occasion Cofresí and his crew
were captured after his ship arrived
at Santo Domingo in the Dominican
Republic. They were sentenced to six
years in prison and sent to Torre del
Homenaje. Cofresí and his men
escaped from prison, however they
were captured once again and
imprisoned. The group decided to Illustration 32: Area where Cofresí and his men operated
escape once more, they broke the
locks of their cell doors and climbed down the walls of the prison's courtyard
during a stormy night using a rope that was made of their clothes. The group
reached the providence of San Pedro de Macorís and boarded a ship. They sailed
to the island of Vieques where they established a new hideout and reorganized a
new crew of fourteen men. Cofresí then selected six of them and traveled to the
main island (Puerto Rico) where they hijacked a schooner named Ana forcing the
crew to jump into the ocean, an incident which they survived. Cofresí renamed
the captured ship El Mosquito. They then proceeded to steal a cannon from
another ship that was under construction. The crew members of El Mosquito
armed themselves, with the weapons found in the vessels that they boarded.
Final years
Cofresí set out once more to sea in his schooner, with his crew and continued to
attack merchant ships in the Caribbean. Among the ships which they attacked
was a cargo ship named Neptune. The Neptune's cargo consisted of fabrics and
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Roberto Cofresí
provisions and was attacked while it was docked in Jobos Port, located in the
vicinity of Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Cofresí then used the vessel as his pirate
flagship. On February 1825, Cofresí and his crew attacked a second cargo ship
owned by a company based on Saint Thomas and gained control of a load of
imported merchandise. After the assault, the pirates left the ship abandoned in
the ocean. Some time later they boarded another vessel owned by the same
company and repeated the same action as before.
The people on the coasts of Puerto Rico are said to have
protected him from the authorities and, according to the Puerto
Rican historian Aurelio Tio, Cofresí shared his spoils with the
needy, especially members of his family and his friends being
Illustration 33: regarded by many as the Puerto Rican version of Robin Hood.
Cofresí's Cofresí's crew continued to assault several ships and on one
earrings on
display at the occasion they attacked eight consecutive ships, including one
American from the United States. Cofresí's last successful assault took
Museum of place on March 5, 1825, when he commanded the hijacking of a
Natural History boat property of Vicente Antoneti in Salinas, Puerto Rico.
Capture and execution

The Spanish government received many complaints from the nations whose ships
were being attacked by "El Pirata Cofresí", as he became to be known. The
government felt compelled to have Cofresí pursued and captured. The Spanish
government requested the service of three military vessels. These were San José,
Las Animas which belonged to Spain and the Grampus which belonged to the
United States. In 1825, Captain John Slout, commander of the Schooner U.S.
"Grampus", engaged Cofresí in battle. There are two official accounts of this
event, submitted by those involved in it.
Spanish government's version

The Spanish government's version states that on March 2, 1825, the commander
of the island's south military division requested the service of three military
vessels. These were San José, Las Animas and the Grampus, which belonged to
the United States. The mayor of the municipality of Ponce asked Capt. John D.
Sloat to command a recon mission with the intention of capturing Cofresí. Three
American officers and a doctor accompanied Sloat in this mission, they were:
Garred S. Pedergrast, George A. Magrades and Francis Store plus a crew of
twenty-three sailors were assigned to the mission. The sailors were heavily
armed and a new canon was mounted on the ship. On the afternoon of the third
day one of the ships located Cofresí, near the port of Boca del Infierno. When the
73
pirates spotted the American vessel

they confused it with a merchant
ship, and proceeded to attack it.
Both vessels exchanged cannon fire.
Cofresí commanded El Mosquito to
go near land, but was forced to
disembark in the coast and to retreat
into a nearby forestal area.
Illustration 34: U.S. Schooner Grampus (1821-1843)Note:
The Grampus' crew sent their sailors the "Grampus" was lost at sea with all hands in 1843and is
to look for the pirates by land, while depicted flying her National Ensigns upside down, a sign of
the ships closed the access to the distress.
beach. Sloat estimated that Cofresí
had lost a third of his crew in the previous exchange, based on the number of
bodies on the water surrounding the boat. Later that day the mayor of the town
of Los Jobos issued a statement which detailed the pirate's entrance into the
beach, and he subsequently notified the local authorities about the event. A
search operation was launched and during the dusk hours six pirates were
captured. The Spanish government then sent military personnel to block all the
roads and plains surrounding the area. Two of the search groups believed that
the pirates would have to pass through a certain road in order to escape and
planned to ambush them there. The pirates reached the location at 10:30 p.m.
and tried to escape, but were intercepted. Cofresí was injured in the
confrontation, which facilitated their capture. His injuries were severe, but a
doctor dictated that they were not lethal. The rest of the crew was captured by
the police departments of Patillas and Guayama on March 7 and 8.
United States government version

The American version states that Commander Sloat solicited permission for the
use of two small ships after becoming aware of Cofresí's latest actions. The
report claims that Sloat was aware of a strategy that was used by the pirates to
escape from large ships, which consisted of traveling as close to the coast as
possible and thereby avoid being followed. Therefore, he used the small ships in
order to pursue them while attempting this strategy. Both vessels were armed
and began working in a exploratory manner, traveling through several ports and
coastal towns. On the third day while sailing near Ponce, the group located a
ship in Boca del Infierno and identified it as El Mosquito (Ana). When Cofresí
saw the American ship he confused it with a merchant vessel and began to attack
it. When his vessel approached the ship, the ship opened fire. The subsequent
exchange lasted forty-five minutes and ended when the pirates abandoned their
ship and swam to the nearby beach. Vicente Antoneti who was traveling with
Sloat, disembarked and notified the local Spanish military unit about the event.
74
Roberto Cofresí
Two of the pirates died in the battle and six others, including Cofresí, were
injured.
Aftermath
Cofresí was captured along with
eleven members of his crew, and
they were turned over to the Spanish
government. They were jailed in El
Castillo del Morro (Fort San Felipe
del Morro) in San Juan. The crew
was tried by a Spanish military court
and found guilty. On March 29,
1825, Cofresí and his men were
executed by a firing squad.
According to legend, Cofresí
"maldijo" (placed a curse on) Capt.
Sloat and the USS Grampus before Illustration 35: Fort San Felipe del Morro
he died. In 1848, the USS Grampus
was lost at sea with all hands aboard. Cofresí and his men were buried behind
the cemetery on what is now a lush green hill that overlooks the cemetery wall.
They were not buried in the Old San Juan Cemetery (Cementerio Antiguo de San
Juan), as believed in the local lore, since they were executed as a criminals and
therefore could not be laid to rest in this Catholic cemetery. His widow Juana
died a year later.
Cofresí's Cave is located in a sector of Cabo Rojo called "Barrio Pedernales"
which is just south of Boqueron Bay. According to local legend, after Cofresí
shared some of his treasure with his family and friends, he would hide what was
left over in the cave. Throughout the years no one has found any treasure in the
cave.
Legacy
Cofresí's life and death have inspired several myths and stories. These included
those depicting him as a generous figure, who used to share what he stole with
the region's poor population. In these myths he is generally described as a
benevolent person, with authors writing about his supposed personality. These
portray him as a noble gentleman who became a pirate out of necessity; as a
generous man, claiming that on one occasion he went as far as saving the life of
a baby in a confrontation and providing money for his upbringing and as a brave
man, showing disregard for his life on several occasions. Other myths and stories
75
describe Cofresí as an evil or demonic figure. Among them there are myths that
claim that during his life he had sold his soul to the devil in order to "defeat men
and be loved by women".
Accounts of apparitions of his spirit include accounts claiming that when
summoned in medium sections, the strength of Cofresí's spirit was excessive, to
the point of killing some of the hosts he possessed. A Fiat Lux, a magazine
published in Cabo Rojo, notes that several persons in that municipality have said
that they have witnessed the pirate's spirit. In the Dominican Republic, folktales
attribute magic abilities to Cofresí; these say that he was able to make his boat
disappear when surrounded. This was based on a hideout that he had established
in a cave located in a nearby beach.
Cofresí has been the subject of numerous biographical books which include the
following:
•"El Marinero, Bandolero, Pirata y Contrabandista Roberto Cofresí"; (Spanish) by
Walter R. Cardona Bonet
•"The Pirate of Puerto Rico" by Lee Cooper
•"El Mito de Cofresí en la Narrativa Antillana" (Spanish) by Robert Fernandez
Valledor
•"Das Kurge Heldenhafte Leben Des Don Roberto Cofresí" (German) by Angelika
Mectel and
•"Roberto Cofresí: "El Bravo Pirata de Puerto Rico" (Spanish) by Edwin Vazquez.
Other kinds of tributes have been made to commemorate Cofresí throughout the
Caribbean. In Puerto Rico, a monument to Cofresí was built by Jose Buscaglia
Guillermety in Boquerón Bay, a water body located in Cabo Rojo. The town of
Cofresí, 10 km west of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic was named after
him.
76
Louis Riel
Louis Riel
Louis David Riel (22 October 1844
– 16 November 1885, pronounced /
ˈluːi riːˈɛl/ in English) was a Canadian
politician, a founder of the province
of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis
people of the Canadian prairies. He
led two resistance movements
against the Canadian government
and its first post-Confederation
Prime Minister, Sir John A.
Macdonald. Riel sought to preserve
Métis rights and culture as their
homelands in the Northwest came
progressively under the Canadian
sphere of influence. He is regarded
by many as a Canadian folk hero
today.
The first resistance was the Red
River Rebellion of 1869–1870. The
provisional government established
by Riel ultimately negotiated the
terms under which the modern
province of Manitoba entered the
Illustration 36: Louis David Riel Canadian Confederation. Riel was
forced into exile in the United States
as a result of the controversial execution of Thomas Scott during the rebellion.
Despite this, he is frequently referred to as the "Father of Manitoba". While a
fugitive, he was elected three times to the Canadian House of Commons,
although he never assumed his seat. During these years, he was frustrated by
having to remain in exile despite his growing belief that he was a divinely chosen
leader and prophet, a belief which would later resurface and influence his
actions. He married in 1881 while in exile in Montana, and fathered two
children.
Riel returned to what is now the province of Saskatchewan to represent Métis
grievances to the Canadian government. This resistance escalated into a military
confrontation known as the North-West Rebellion of 1885. It ended in his arrest,
trial, and execution on a charge of high treason. Riel was viewed sympathetically
in Francophone regions of Canada, and his execution had a lasting influence on
relations between the province of Quebec and English-speaking Canada.
Whether seen as a Father of Confederation or a traitor, he remains one of the
77
most complex, controversial, and ultimately tragic figures in the history of

Canada.
Early life
The Red River Settlement was a community
in Rupert's Land nominally administered by
the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and
largely inhabited by First Nations tribes and
the Métis, an ethnic group of mixed Cree,
Ojibwa, Saulteaux, French Canadian,
Scottish, and English descent. Louis Riel was
born there in 1844, near modern Winnipeg,
Manitoba, to Louis Riel, Sr. and Julie
Lagimodière.
Riel was the eldest of eleven children in a
locally well-respected French Canadian-
Métis family. His father had gained
prominence in this community by organizing
a group that supported Guillaume Sayer, a
Métis imprisoned for challenging the HBC's
historical trade monopoly. Sayer's eventual
release as a result of agitations by Louis Sr.'s
group effectively ended the monopoly, and
the name Riel was therefore well known in Illustration 37: Louis Riel, age 14
the Red River area. His mother was the
daughter of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, one of the
earliest white families to settle in the Red River Settlement in 1812. The Riels
were noted for their devout Catholicism and strong family ties.
Riel was first educated by Roman Catholic priests at St. Boniface. At age 13 he
came to the attention of Alexandre Taché, the suffragan Bishop of St. Boniface,
who was eagerly promoting the priesthood for talented young Métis. In 1858
Taché arranged for Riel to attend the Petit Séminaire of the Collège de Montréal
in Montreal, Quebec under the direction of the Sulpician order. Descriptions of
him at the time indicate that he was a fine scholar of languages, science, and
philosophy, but exhibited a frequent and unpredictable moodiness.
Following news of his father's premature death in 1864, Riel lost interest in the
priesthood and he withdrew from the college in March 1865. For a time he
continued his studies as a day student in the convent of the Grey Nuns, but was
soon asked to leave following breaches of discipline. He remained in Montreal
over a year, living at the home of his aunt, Lucie Riel. Impoverished by the death
78
Louis Riel
of his father, Riel took employment as a law clerk in the Montreal office of
Rodolphe Laflamme. During this time he was involved in a failed romance with a
young woman named Marie-Julie Guernon. This progressed to the point of Riel
having signed a contract of marriage, but his fiancée's family opposed her
involvement with a Métis, and the engagement was soon broken. Compounding
this disappointment, Riel found legal work unpleasant, and by early 1866 he had
resolved to leave Quebec. Some of his friends said later that he worked odd jobs
in Chicago, Illinois while staying with poet Louis-Honoré Fréchette, and wrote
poems himself in the manner of Lamartine; also that he was then for a time
employed as a clerk in St. Paul, Minnesota prior to returning to the Red River
Settlement on 26 July 1868.
Red River Rebellion

The majority population of the Red River had historically been Métis and First
Nation people. Upon his return, Riel found that religious, nationalistic, and racial
tensions were exacerbated by an influx of Anglophone Protestant settlers from
Ontario. The political situation was also uncertain, as ongoing negotiations for
the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada had not
addressed the political terms of transfer. Finally, despite warnings to the
Macdonald government from Bishop Taché and the HBC governor William
Mactavish that any such activity would precipitate unrest, the Canadian minister
of public works, William McDougall, ordered a survey of the area. The arrival on
20 August 1869 of a survey party headed by Colonel John Stoughton Dennis
increased anxiety among the Métis. The Métis did not possess title to their land,
which was in any case laid out according to the seigneurial system rather than in
English-style square lots.
Riel emerges as a leader

In late August, Riel denounced the survey in a speech, and on 11 October 1869,
the survey's work was disrupted by a group of Métis that included Riel. This
group organized itself as the "Métis National Committee" on 16 October, with
Riel as secretary and John Bruce as president. When summoned by the HBC-
controlled Council of Assiniboia to explain his actions, Riel declared that any
attempt by Canada to assume authority would be contested unless Ottawa had
first negotiated terms with the Métis. Nevertheless, the non-bilingual McDougall
was appointed the lieutenant governor-designate, and attempted to enter the
settlement on 2 November. McDougall's party was turned back near the
American border, and on the same day, Métis led by Riel seized Fort Garry.
79
On 6 November, Riel invited Anglophones to attend a convention alongside Métis

representatives to discuss a course of action, and on 1 December he proposed to
this convention a list of rights to be demanded as a condition of union. Much of
the settlement came to accept the Métis point of view, but a passionately pro-
Canadian minority began organizing in opposition. Loosely constituted as the
Canadian Party, this group was led by John Christian Schultz, Charles Mair,
Colonel John Stoughton Dennis, and a more reticent Major Charles Boulton.
McDougall attempted to assert his authority by authorizing Dennis to raise a
contingent of armed men, but the Anglophone settlers largely ignored this call to
arms. Schultz, however, attracted approximately fifty recruits and fortified his
house and store. Riel ordered Schultz's home surrounded, and the outnumbered
Canadians soon surrendered and were imprisoned in Upper Fort Garry.
Provisional government
Hearing of the unrest, Ottawa sent
three emissaries to the Red River,
including HBC representative Donald
Alexander Smith. While they were en
route, the Métis National Committee
declared a provisional government
on 8 December, with Riel becoming
its president on 27 December.
Meetings between Riel and the
Ottawa delegation took place on
January 5 and 6, 1870, but when
Illustration 38: The Métis provisional government these proved fruitless, Smith chose
to present his case in a public forum.
Smith assured large audiences of the Government's goodwill in meetings on 19
January and 20 January, leading Riel to propose the formation of a new
convention split evenly between French and English settlers to consider Smith's
instructions. On 7 February, a new list of rights was presented to the Ottawa
delegation, and Smith and Riel agreed to send representatives to Ottawa to
engage in direct negotiations on that basis. The provisional government
established by Louis Riel published its own newspaper titled New Nation and
established the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia to pass laws.
80
Louis Riel
Canadian resistance and the execution of Scott

Despite the apparent progress on the political front, the Canadian party
continued to plot against the provisional government. However, they suffered a
setback on 17 February, when forty-eight men, including Boulton and Thomas
Scott, were arrested near Fort Garry.
Boulton was tried by a tribunal
headed by Ambroise-Dydime Lépine
and sentenced to death for his
interference with the provisional
government. He was pardoned, but
Scott interpreted this as weakness
by the Métis, whom he regarded with
open contempt. After Scott
repeatedly quarreled with his
guards, they insisted that he be tried
for insubordination. At his trial, he
was found guilty of defying the
authority of the provisional
government and was sentenced to
death. Riel was repeatedly entreated
to commute the sentence, but Donald
Smith reported that Riel responded Illustration 39: The execution of Thomas Scott
to his pleas by saying:
“I have done three good things since I have commenced: I have spared
Boulton's life at your instance, I pardoned Gaddy, and now I shall shoot
Scott.”
Scott was executed by firing squad on 4 March. Riel's motivations for allowing
the execution have been the cause of much speculation, but his own justification
was that he felt it necessary to demonstrate to the Canadians that the Métis
must be taken seriously.
Creation of Manitoba and the Wolseley expedition

The delegates representing the provisional government departed for Ottawa in
March. Although they initially met with legal difficulties arising from the
execution of Scott, they were soon able to enter into direct talks with Macdonald
and George-Étienne Cartier. An agreement enshrining the demands in the list of
rights was quickly reached, and this formed the basis for the Manitoba Act of 12
May 1870, which formally admitted Manitoba into the Canadian confederation.
81
However, the negotiators were unable to secure a general amnesty for the
provisional government.
As a means of exercising Canadian authority in the settlement and dissuading
American expansionists, a Canadian military expedition under Colonel Garnet
Wolseley was dispatched to the Red River. Although the government described it
as an "errand of peace", Riel learned that Canadian militia elements in the
expedition meant to lynch him, and he fled as the expedition approached the Red
River. The arrival of the expedition on 20 August marked the effective end of the
Red River Rebellion.
Intervening years
Amnesty question
It was not until 2 September 1870 that the new lieutenant-governor Adams
George Archibald arrived and set about the establishment of civil government.
Without an amnesty, and with the Canadian militia beating and intimidating his
sympathisers, Riel fled to the safety of the St. Joseph's mission across the border
in the Dakota Territory. However the results of the first provincial election in
December 1870 were promising for Riel, as many of his supporters came to
power. Nevertheless, stress and financial troubles precipitated a serious illness—
perhaps a harbinger of his future mental afflictions—that prevented his return to
Manitoba until May 1871.
The settlement now faced another threat, this time from cross-border Fenian
raids coordinated by his former associate William Bernard O'Donoghue. While
the threat proved overstated, Archibald proclaimed a general call to arms on 4
October. Companies of armed horsemen were raised, including one led by Riel.
When Archibald reviewed the troops in St. Boniface, he made the significant
gesture of publicly shaking Riel's hand, signaling that a rapprochement had been
affected. This was not to be—when this news reached Ontario, Mair and
members of the Canada First movement whipped up a significant resurgence of
anti-Riel (and anti-Archibald) sentiment. With Federal elections coming in 1872,
Macdonald could ill afford further rift in Quebec-Ontario relations. He therefore
quietly arranged for Taché to offer Riel what amounted to a bribe of $1,000 to
enter voluntary exile. This was supplemented by an additional £600 from Smith
for the care of Riel's family. Riel accepted, arriving in St. Paul on 2 March 1872.
However, by late June Riel was back in Manitoba and was soon persuaded to run
as a member of parliament for the electoral district of Provencher. However,
following the early September defeat of Cartier in his home riding in Quebec,
Riel stood aside so that Cartier—on record as being in favour of amnesty for Riel
82
Louis Riel
—might secure a seat. Cartier won

by acclamation, but Riel's hopes for a
swift resolution to the amnesty
question were dashed following
Cartier's death on 20 May 1873. In
the ensuing by-election in October
1873, Riel ran unopposed as an
Independent, although he had again
fled, a warrant having been issued
for his arrest in September. Lépine
was not so lucky; he was captured
and faced trial. Riel made his way to
Montreal and, fearing arrest or
assassination, vacillated as to
whether he should attempt to take
up his seat in the House of Commons
—Edward Blake, the Premier of
Ontario, had announced a bounty of
$5,000 for his arrest. Famously, Riel
was the only Member of Parliament
who was not present for the great
Pacific Scandal debate of 1873 that
led to the resignation of the
Macdonald government in
November. Liberal leader Alexander
Mackenzie became the interim prime
minister, and a general election was Illustration 40: Louis Riel circa 1875
held in January 1874. Although the
Liberals under Mackenzie formed the new government, Riel easily retained his
seat. Formally, Riel had to sign a register book at least once upon being elected,
and he did so under disguise in late January. He was nevertheless stricken from
the rolls following a motion supported by Schultz, who had become the member
for the electoral district of Lisgar. Undeterred, Riel prevailed again in the
resulting by-election, and although again expelled, his symbolic point had been
made and public opinion in Quebec was strongly tipped in his favour.
Exile and mental illness

During this period, Riel had been staying with priests of the Oblate order in
Plattsburgh, New York who introduced him to Father Fabien Martin dit Barnabé
in the nearby village of Keeseville. It was here that he received news of Lépine's
fate: following his trial for the murder of Scott, which had begun on 13 October
1874, Lépine was found guilty and sentenced to death. This sparked outrage in
83
the sympathetic Quebec press, and calls for amnesty for both Lépine and Riel
were renewed. This presented a severe political difficulty for Mackenzie, who
was hopelessly caught between the demands of Quebec and Ontario. However, a
solution was forthcoming when, acting on his own initiative, the Governor
General Lord Dufferin commuted Lépine's sentence in January 1875. This opened
the door for Mackenzie to secure from parliament an amnesty for Riel, on that
the condition that he remain in exile for five years.
During his time of exile, he was primarily concerned with religious rather than
political matters. Spurred on by a sympathetic Roman Catholic priest in Quebec,
he was increasingly influenced by his belief that he was a divinely chosen leader
of the Métis. Modern biographers have speculated that he may have suffered
from the psychological condition megalomania. His mental state deteriorated,
and following a violent outburst he was taken to Montreal, where he was under
the care of his uncle, John Lee, for a few months. But after Riel disrupted a
religious service, Lee arranged to have him committed in an asylum in Longue-
Pointe on 6 March 1876 under the assumed name "Louis R. David". Fearing
discovery, his doctors soon transferred him to the Beauport Asylum near Quebec
City under the name "Louis Larochelle". While he suffered from sporadic
irrational outbursts, he continued his religious writing, composing theological
tracts with an admixture of Christian and Judaic ideas. He consequently began
calling himself Louis "David" Riel, prophet of the new world, and he would pray
(standing) for hours, having servants help him to hold his arms in the shape of a
cross. Nevertheless, he slowly recovered, and was released from the asylum on
23 January 1878 with an admonition to lead a quiet life. He returned for a time to
Keeseville, where he became involved in a passionate romance with Evelina
Martin dit Barnabé, sister of his friend, the oblate father Fabien Barnabé. But
with insufficient means to propose marriage, Riel returned to the west, hoping
that she might follow. However, she decided that she would be unsuited to
prairie life, and their correspondence soon ended.
84
Louis Riel
Montana and family life

In the fall of 1878, Riel returned to St.
Paul, and briefly visited his friends and
family. This was a time of rapid change
for the Métis of the Red River—the
buffalo on which they depended were
becoming increasingly scarce, the influx
of settlers was ever-increasing, and
much land was sold to unscrupulous
land speculators. Like other Red River
Métis who had left Manitoba, Riel
headed further west to start a new life.
Travelling to the Montana Territory, he
became a trader and interpreter in the
area surrounding Fort Benton.
Observing rampant alcoholism and its
detrimental impact on the Native
American and Métis people, he engaged
in an unsuccessful attempt to curtail the
whisky trade. In 1881, he married
Marguerite Monet dit Bellehumeur
(1861–1886), a young Métis, "in the
fashion of the country" on 28 April, an
arrangement that was solemnized on 9
Illustration 41: Jean-Louis and Marie-Angélique Riel, March 1882. They were to have three
children of Louis Riel children: Jean-Louis (1882–1908); Marie-
Angélique (1883–1897); and a boy who
was born and died on 21 October 1885, less than one month before Riel was
hanged.
Riel soon became involved in the politics of Montana, and in 1882, actively
campaigned on behalf of the Republican Party. He brought a suit against a
Democrat for rigging a vote, but was then himself accused of fraudulently
inducing British subjects to take part in the election. In response, Riel applied for
United States citizenship and was naturalized on 16 March 1883. With two
young children, he had by 1884 settled down and was teaching school at the St.
Peter's Jesuit mission in the Sun River district of Montana.
85
The North-West Rebellion
Grievances in the Saskatchewan territory

Following the Red River Rebellion, Métis travelled west and settled in the
Saskatchewan Valley, especially along the south branch of the river in the
country surrounding the Saint-Laurent mission (near modern St. Laurent de
Grandin, Saskatchewan). But by the 1880s, it had become clear that westward
migration was no panacea for the troubles of the Métis and the plains Indians.
The rapid collapse of the buffalo herd was causing near starvation among the
Plains Cree and Blackfoot First Nations. This was exacerbated by a reduction in
government assistance in 1883, and by a general failure of Ottawa to live up to
its treaty obligations. The Métis were likewise obliged to give up the hunt and
take up agriculture — but this transition was accompanied by complex issues
surrounding land claims similar to those that had previously arisen in Manitoba.
Moreover, settlers from Europe and the eastern provinces were also moving into
the Saskatchewan territories, and they too had complaints related to the
administration of the territories. Virtually all parties therefore had grievances,
and by 1884 English settlers, Anglo-Métis and Métis communities were holding
meetings and petitioning a largely unresponsive government for redress. In the
electoral district of Lorne, a meeting of the south branch Métis was held in the
village of Batoche on 24 March, and thirty representatives voted to ask Riel to
return and represent their cause. On 6 May a joint "Settler's Union" meeting was
attended by both the Métis and English-speaking representatives from Prince
Albert, including William Henry Jackson, an Ontario settler sympathetic to the
Métis and known to them as Honoré Jackson, and James Isbister of the Anglo-
Métis. It was here resolved to send a delegation to ask Riel's assistance in
presenting their grievances to the Canadian government.
Return of Riel
The head of the delegation to Riel was Gabriel Dumont, a respected buffalo
hunter and leader of the Saint-Laurent Métis who had known Riel in Manitoba.
James Isbister was the lone Anglo-Métis delegate. Riel was easily swayed to
support their cause—which was perhaps not surprising in view of Riel's
continuing conviction that he was the divinely selected leader of the Métis and
the prophet of a new form of Christianity. Riel also intended to use the new
position of influence to pursue his own land claims in Manitoba. The party
departed 4 June, and arrived back at Batoche on 5 July. Upon his arrival Métis
and English settlers alike formed an initially favourable impression of Riel
following a series of speeches in which he advocated moderation and a reasoned
86
Louis Riel
approach. During June 1884, the Plains Cree leaders Big Bear and Poundmaker
were independently formulating their complaints, and subsequently held
meetings with Riel. However, the Indians' grievances were quite different from
those of the settlers, and nothing was then resolved. Inspired by Riel, Honoré
Jackson and representatives of other communities set about drafting a petition,
and Jackson on 28 July released a manifesto detailing grievances and the
settler's objectives. A joint English-Métis central committee with Jackson acting
as secretary worked to reconcile proposals from different communities. In the
interim, Riel's support began to waver. As Riel's religious pronouncements
became increasingly removed from Roman Catholicism, the clergy began to
distance themselves, and father Alexis André cautioned Riel against mixing
religion and politics. Also, in response to bribes by territorial lieutenant-governor
and Indian commissioner Edgar Dewdney, local English-language newspapers
adopted an editorial stance critical of Riel. Nevertheless, the work continued,
and on 16 December Riel forwarded the committee's petition to the government,
along with the suggestion that delegates be sent to Ottawa to engage in direct
negotiation. Receipt of the petition was acknowledged by Joseph-Adolphe
Chapleau, Macdonald's Secretary of State, although Macdonald himself would
later deny having ever seen it.
Break with the church

While Riel awaited news from Ottawa he considered returning to Montana, but
had by February resolved to stay. Without a productive course of action, Riel
began to engage in obsessive prayer, and was experiencing a significant relapse
of his mental agitations. This led to a deterioration in his relationship with the
Catholic hierarchy, as he publicly espoused an increasingly heretical doctrine.
On 11 February 1885, a response to the petition was received. The government
proposed to take a census of the North-West Territories, and to form a
commission to investigate grievances. This angered the Métis, who interpreted
this as a mere delaying tactic — a faction emerged that favoured taking up arms
at once. This was not supported by the Church, the majority of the English-
speaking community, or, indeed, by the Métis faction supporting local leader
Charles Nolin. But Riel, undoubtedly influenced by his messianic delusions,
became increasingly supportive of this course of action. In the church at Saint-
Laurent on 15 March, Riel disrupted a sermon to argue for this position,
following which he was barred from receiving the sacraments, and increasingly
frequently discussed his "divine revelations". But disenchanted with the status
quo, and swayed by Riel's charisma and eloquent rhetoric, Métis remained loyal
to Riel, despite his proclamations that Bishop Ignace Bourget should be accepted
as pope, and that "Rome has fallen".
At his trial, Riel denied allegations that his religious beliefs were as irrational as
were being (and continue to be) alleged. He explained as follows:
87
"I wish to leave Rome aside, inasmuch as it is the cause of division between
Catholics and Protestants. I did not wish to force my views...If I could have any
influence in the new world it would be to help in that way, even if it takes 200
years to become practical...so my children's children can shake hands with the
Protestants of the new world in a friendly manner. I do not wish those evils
which exist in Europe to be continued, as much as I can influence it, among the
(Metis). I do not wish that to be repeated in America.
Open rebellion
On 18 March it became known that the North-West Mounted Police garrison at
Battleford was being reinforced. Although only 100 men had been sent in
response to warnings from father Alexis André and NWMP superintendent L.N.F.
Crozier, a rumour soon began to circulate that 500 heavily armed troops were
advancing on the territory. Métis patience was exhausted, and Riel's followers
seized arms, took hostages, and cut the telegraph lines between Batoche and
Battleford. The Provisional Government of Saskatchewan was declared at
Batoche on 19 March, with Riel as the political and spiritual leader and with
Dumont assuming responsibility for military affairs. Riel formed a council called
the Exovedate (a neologism meaning "those who have left the flock"), and sent
representatives to court Poundmaker and Big Bear. On 21 March, Riel's
emissaries demanded that Crozier surrender Fort Carlton, but this was refused.
The situation was becoming critical, and on 23 March Dewdney sent a telegraph
to Macdonald indicating that military intervention might be necessary. Scouting
near Duck Lake on 26 March, a force led by Gabriel Dumont unexpectedly
chanced upon a party from Fort Carlton. In the ensuing Battle of Duck Lake, the
police were routed, and the Indians also rose up once the news became known.
The die was cast for a violent outcome, and the North-West Rebellion was begun
in earnest.
Riel had counted on the Canadian government being unable to effectively
respond to another uprising in the distant North-West Territories, thereby
forcing them to accept political negotiation. This was essentially the same
strategy that had worked to such great effect during the 1870 rebellion. But in
that instance, the first troops did not arrive until three months after Riel seized
control. However, Riel had completely overlooked the significance of the nascent
Canadian Pacific Railway. Despite major gaps in railway construction, the first
Canadian regular and militia units, under the command of Major-General
Frederick Dobson Middleton, arrived in Duck Lake less than two weeks after Riel
had made his demands. Knowing that he could not defeat the Canadians in direct
confrontation, Dumont had hoped to force the Canadians to negotiate by
engaging in a long-drawn out campaign of guerrilla warfare; Dumont realised a
modest success along these lines at the Battle of Fish Creek on 24 April 1885.
Riel, however, insisted on concentrating forces at Batoche in order to defend his
88
Louis Riel
"city of God". The outcome of the

ensuing Battle of Batoche which took
place from 9 May – 12 May was
never in doubt, and on 15 May a
disheveled Riel surrendered to
Canadian forces. Although Big Bear's
forces managed to hold out until the
Battle of Loon Lake on 3 June, the
rebellion was a dismal failure for
Métis and Indian alike, with most
surrendering or fleeing.
Trial for treason

Illustration 42: Louis Riel imprisoned in Middleton's camp at
Batoche, 16 May 1885
Illustration 43: Louis Riel testifies at his trial
Several individuals closely tied to the government requested that the trial be
held in Winnipeg in July 1885. There are historians who contend that the trial
was moved to Regina because of concerns with the possibility of an ethnically
mixed and sympathetic jury. Tom Flanagan states that an amendment of the
North-West Territories Act (which dropped the provision that trials with crimes
punishable by death should be tried in Manitoba) meant that the trial could be
convened within the North-West Territories and did not have to be held in
Winnipeg.
Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald ordered the trial to be convened in
Regina, where Riel was tried before a jury of six English and Scottish
Protestants, all from the area surrounding the city. The trial began on 28 July
1885, and lasted only five days.
Riel delivered two long speeches during his trial, defending his own actions and
affirming the rights of the Métis people. He rejected his lawyer's attempt to
argue that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting,
89
“Life, without the dignity of an intelligent being, is not worth having.”
The jury found him guilty but recommended mercy; nonetheless, Judge Hugh
Richardson sentenced him to death, with the date of his execution initially set for
18 September 1885. Fifty years later one of the jurors, Edwin Brooks, said that
Riel was tried for treason but hanged for the execution of Thomas Scott.
Execution
Boulton writes in his memoirs that, as the date of his execution approached, Riel
regretted his opposition to the defence of insanity and vainly attempted to
provide evidence that he was not sane. Requests for a retrial and an appeal to
the Privy Council in England were denied. Sir John A. Macdonald, who was
instrumental in upholding Riel's sentence, is famously quoted as saying:
“He shall hang though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour.”
Prior to his execution, Riel was

reconciled with the Catholic Church,
and assigned Father André as his
spiritual advisor. He was also given
writing materials so that he could
employ his time in prison to write a
book. Louis Riel was hanged for
treason on 16 November 1885.
Boulton writes of Riel's final
moments,
“… Père André, after explaining to
Riel that the end was at hand,
asked him if he was at peace with
men. Riel answered "Yes." The
next question was, "Do you
forgive all your enemies?" "Yes."
Riel then asked him if he might
speak. Father André advised him
not to do so. He then received the
kiss of peace from both the
priests, and Father André
exclaimed in French, "Alors, allez
au ciel!" meaning "so, to heaven!"
Illustration 44: Riel's tombstone at the St. Boniface
Cathedral
90
Louis Riel
… [Riel's] last words were to say good-bye to Dr. Jukes and thank him for his
kindness, and just before the white cap was pulled over his face he said,
"Remerciez, Madame Forget." meaning "thank, Ms. Forget".
The cap was pulled down, and while he was praying the trap was pulled.
Death was not instantaneous. Louis Riel's pulse ceased four minutes after the
trap-door fell and during that time the rope around his neck slowly strangled
and choked him to death. The body was to have been interred inside the
gallows' enclosure, and the grave was commenced, but an order came from
the Lieutenant-Governor to hand the body over to Sheriff Chapleau which was
accordingly done that night.”
Following the execution, Riel's body was returned to his mother's home in St.
Vital, where it lay in state. On 12 December 1886, his remains were laid in the
churchyard of the Saint-Boniface Cathedral following the celebration of a
requiem mass.
Legacy
Political
The Saskatchewan Métis' requested land grants were all provided by the
government by the end of 1887, and the government resurveyed the Métis river
lots in accordance with their wishes. The Métis did not understand the long term
value of their new land, however, and it was soon bought by speculators who
later turned huge profits from it. Riel's worst fears were realised—following the
failed rebellion, the French language and Roman Catholic religion faced
increasing marginalisation in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as exemplified
by the controversy surrounding the Manitoba Schools Question. The Métis
themselves were increasingly forced to live on undesirable land or in the shadow
of Indian reserves (as they did not themselves have treaty status). Saskatchewan
did not attain provincehood until 1905.
Riel's execution and Macdonald's refusal to commute his sentence caused lasting
upset in Quebec, and led to a fundamental alteration in the Canadian political
order. In Quebec, Honoré Mercier exploited discontent over Riel's execution to
reconstitute the Parti National. This party, which promoted Quebec nationalism,
won a majority in the 1886 Quebec election by winning a number of seats
formerly controlled by the Quebec Conservative Party. The federal election of
1887 likewise saw significant gains by the federal Liberals, again at the expense
of the Conservatives. This led to the victory of the Liberal party under Sir Wilfrid
Laurier in the federal election of 1896, which in turn set the stage for the
91
domination of Canadian federal politics by the Liberal party in the 20th century.
That Riel's name still has resonance in Canadian politics was evidenced on 16
November 1994, when Suzanne Tremblay, a Bloc Québécois member of
parliament, introduced private members' bill C-228, "An Act to revoke the
conviction of Louis David Riel". The unsuccessful bill was widely perceived in
English Canada as an attempt to arouse support for Quebec nationalism prior to
the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty.
Riel reconsidered
The formerly widespread perception of Louis Riel as an insane traitor, especially
outside of the Métis and French Canadian community, weakened considerably
since the late 20th century. Riel is regarded by some as a heroic freedom fighter
who stood up for his people in the face of racist bigotry, and those who question
his sanity still view him as an essentially honourable figure. Riel nevertheless
presents an enigma, although as historian J.M.S. Careless has observed, it is
possible that Riel was both a murderer and a hero. It is also possible that his
rash decision to execute Scott drastically altered the history of his people. For
example, shortly after the Red River Rebellion the Canadian government began a
programme that speculators and other non-Métis exploited to dispossess the
Métis of their land; had Scott not been executed, the government might well
have supervised the program more rigorously, given the prior good relations
between Canada and the Métis. Métis scholars have noted that Riel is a more
important figure to non-Métis than to Métis, perhaps because he is often the only
Métis figure most non-Métis are aware of. Political scientists such as Thomas
Flanagan have pointed out certain parallels between Riel's following during the
North-West Rebellion and millenarian cults. Others have embraced his image as
a revolutionary—in the 1960s, the Quebec terrorist group, the Front de
libération du Québec, went so far as to adopt the name "Louis Riel" for one of its
terrorist cells.
Bill C-213 or Louis Riel Day Act and Bill C-417 Louis Riel Act are the more
notable acts which have gone through parliament. Bill C-297 to revoke the
conviction of Louis Riel was introduced to the House of Commons October 21
and November 22, 1996, however the motion lacked unanimous consent from the
House and was dropped. Bill C-213 or the Louis Riel Day Act of 1997 attempted
to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel for high treason and establish a National
Day in his honour on November 16. Bill C-417 or the Louis Riel Act which also
had a first reading in parliament to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel, and
establish July 15 as Louis Riel Day was tabled.
On 18 February 2008, the province of Manitoba officially recognized the first
Louis Riel Day as a general provincial holiday. It will now fall on the third
Monday of February each year in the Province of Manitoba.
92
Louis Riel
Commemorations
A resolution was passed by
Parliament on 10 March 1992 citing
that Louis Riel was the founder of
Manitoba. Two statues of Riel are
located in Winnipeg. One of the
Winnipeg statues, the work of
architect Étienne Gaboury and
sculptor Marcien Lemay, depicts Riel
as a naked and tortured figure. It
was unveiled in 1970 and stood in
the grounds of the Legislative
Assembly of Manitoba for 23 years.
After much outcry (especially from
the Métis community) that the statue
Illustration 45: Statue of Louis Riel by Miguel Joyal in was an undignified
Winnipeg, Manitoba. misrepresentation, the statue was
removed and placed at the Collège
universitaire de Saint-Boniface. It was replaced in 1994 with a statue designed
by Miguel Joyal depicting Riel as a dignified statesman. The unveiling ceremony
was on 16 May 1996, in Winnipeg.
A statue of Riel on the grounds of the Saskatchewan legislative building in
Regina was installed and later removed for similar reasons.
In numerous communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and even in Ontario, Riel
is commemorated in the names of streets, schools, neighbourhoods, and other
buildings. Examples in Winnipeg include the landmark Esplanade Riel pedestrian
bridge linking Old Saint-Boniface with Winnipeg, the Louis Riel School Division,
Louis Riel Avenue in Old Saint-Boniface, and Riel Avenue in St. Vital's
Minnetonka neighbourhood (which is sometimes called Riel). The student centre
and campus pub at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon are named after
Riel (Place Riel and Louis', respectively). Highway 11, stretching from Regina to
just south of Prince Albert, has been named Louis Riel Trail by the province; the
roadway passes near locations of the 1885 rebellion. One of the student
residences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia is named
Louis Riel House.
93
On 26 September 2007, Manitoba

legislature passed a bill establishing
a statutory holiday on the third
Monday in February as Louis Riel
Day, the same day some other
provinces celebrate Family Day,
beginning in 2008. The first Louis
Riel Day was celebrated on 18
February 2008. This new statutory
holiday coincides with the
celebration on 15–24 February of the
Festival du Voyageur.
In the spring of 2008, the
Government of Saskatchewan
Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport
Minister Christine Tell proclaimed in
Duck Lake that "the 125th
commemoration, in 2010, of the
1885 Northwest Resistance is an
excellent opportunity to tell the story
of the prairie Métis and First Nations
peoples' struggle with Government
forces and how it has shaped Canada
today." One of three Territorial
Government Buildings remains on Illustration 46: "Tortured" Louis Riel statue at the Collège
universitaire de Saint-Boniface
Dewdney Avenue in the
Saskatchewan capital city of Regina,
Saskatchewan which was the site of the Trial of Louis Riel, where the drama the
"Trial of Louis Riel" is still performed. Following the May trial, Louis Riel was
hanged November 16, 1885. The RCMP Heritage Centre, in Regina, opened in
May 2007. The Métis brought his body to his mother's home, now the Riel House
National Historic Site, and then interred at the St. Boniface Basilica in Manitoba,
his birthplace, for burial.
Arts, literature and popular culture

In 1925, the French writer Maurice Constantin-Weyer who lived 10 years in
Manitoba published in French a fictionalized biography of Louis Riel titled La
Bourrasque. An English translation/adaptation was published in 1930: A Martyr's
Folly (Toronto, The Macmillan Company), and a new version in 1954, The Half-
Breed (New York, The Macaulay Compagny).
94
Louis Riel
Portrayals of Riel's role in the Red River Rebellion include the 1979 CBC
television film Riel and Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown's acclaimed 2003
graphic novel Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography.
An opera about Riel entitled Louis Riel was commissioned for Canada's
centennial celebrations in 1967. It was an opera in three acts, written by Harry
Somers, with an English and French libretto by Mavor Moore and Jacques
Languirand. The Canadian Opera Company produced and performed the first run
of the opera in September and October, 1967.
From the late 1960s until the early 1990s, the city of Saskatoon hosted "Louis
Riel Day", a summer celebration that included a relay race that combined
running, backpack carrying, canoeing, hill climbing, and horseback riding along
the South Saskatchewan River in the city's downtown core. Traditionally, the
event also included a cabbage roll eating contest and tug-of-war competition, as
well as live musical performances. Although not affiliated with the Saskatoon
Exhibition, for years Louis Riel Day was scheduled for the day prior to the start
of the fair, and as such came to be considered the Exhibition's unofficial kick-off
(the scheduling of the two events was separated in later years). The event was
discontinued when major sponsors pulled out.
Billy Childish wrote a song entitled "Louis Riel", which was performed by Thee
Headcoats. Texas musician Doug Sahm wrote a song entitled "Louis Riel," which
appeared on the album S.D.Q. '98. In the song, Sahm likens the lore surrounding
Riel to Davey Crockett's legend in his home state, spinning an abridged tale of
Riel's life as a revolutionary: "...but you gotta respect him for what he thought
was right... And all around Regina they talk about him still – why did they have to
kill Louis Riel?"
The Seattle based Indie rock band Grand Archives also wrote a song entitled
"Louis Riel" that appears on their 2008 self-titled album.
On 22 October 2003, the Canadian news channel CBC Newsworld and its
French-language equivalent, Réseau de l'information, staged a simulated retrial
of Riel. Viewers were invited to enter a verdict on the trial over the internet, and
more than 10,000 votes were received—87% of which were "not guilty". The
results of this straw poll led to renewed calls for Riel's posthumous pardon. Also
on the basis of a public poll, the CBC's Greatest Canadian project ranked Riel as
the 11th "Greatest Canadian".
An episode of the TV-series How the West Was Won from 1979 was named
L'Affaire Riel, featuring Louis Riel while in exile in the United States.
In 2001, Canadian sketch comedy troupe Royal Canadian Air Farce featured Riel
in its send-up of the CBC documentary series Canada: A People's History.
Significant parallels were drawn between Riel's actions and those of modern-day
Québécois separatists, and the comedian who portrayed Riel was made up to
look like then-Premier Lucien Bouchard.
95
References
•Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion and Darren Prefontaine. Metis Legacy: A
Historiography and Annotated Bibliography. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications
Inc. and Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2001. ISBN 1-894717-03-1
•Boulton, Charles A. (1886) Reminiscences of the North-West Rebellions.
Toronto. Online text. A first person account of the rebellions.
•Brown, Chester (2003). Louis Riel: A Comic-strip Biography. Drawn and
Quarterly, Montreal. ISBN 1-896597-63-7. A biography of Riel in the form of a
graphic novel.
•Careless, J.M.S. (1991). Canada: A story of challenge. Stoddart. ISBN 0-7736-
7354-7. A survey of Canadian history.
•Flanagan, Thomas (1983). Riel and the Rebellion. Western Producer Prairie
Books, Saskatoon. ISBN 0-88833-108-8.
•Flanagan, Thomas (1992). Louis Riel. Canadian Historical Association, Ottawa.
ISBN 0-88798-180-1. A short work highlighting the complexity of Riel's
character. Interpretations are available.
•Flanagan, Thomas (1979). Louis 'David' Riel: prophet of the new world.
University of Toronto Press, Toronto. ISBN 0-88780-118-8. An influential work
suggesting parallels between Riel's following and Millenarianism.
•George R. D. Goulet (2005). The Trial of Louis Riel, Justice and Mercy Denied.
FabJob, Calgary. ISBN 1-894638-70-0. A critical legal and political analysis of
Riel's 1885 high treason trial.
•Howard, Josephine Kinsey (1952). Strange Empire: A Narrative of the
Northwest (Louis Riel and the Metis People). William Morrow & Co, New York.
ISBN 0-87-351298-7. Online text. "[T]he first reasonably accurate biography of
Louis Riel to be written.", an exhaustive, "objective" yet sympathetic scholarly
account.
•Riel, Louis (1985). The collected writings of Louis Riel. ed. George Stanley.
University of Alberta Press, Edmonton. ISBN 0-88864-091-9. Riel's own writings
and letters.
•Siggins, Maggie (1994). Riel: a life of revolution. HarperCollins, Toronto.
ISBN 0-00-215792-6. A sympathetic reevaluation of Riel drawing heavily on his
own writings.
•Stanley, George (1963). Louis Riel. McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Toronto. ISBN 0-07-
092961-0. A standard Riel biography, covering most of the material in this
article; source where no other is cited.
96
Ustym Karmaliuk
Ustym Karmaliuk
Ustym Yakymovych Karmаliuk
(Ukrainian: Устим Якимович
Кармалюк) (March 10, 1787 –
October 22, 1835) was a Ukrainian
peasant outlaw who became a folk
hero. He is often referred to as the
"Ukrainian Robin Hood".
Early Age
Karmalyuk was born a serf in the
settlement of Holovchyntsi in Lityn
District of Podilia Province. There is
little known about his early life
except that he possessed some
literacy and was fluent in Russian,
Polish and Yiddish, besides his native
Ukrainian language, as attested by
the police documents of the time. He
was taken by his owner at the age of
17 to work as a servant in the manor,
but was notoriously insolent. As a
Illustration 47: Ustym Karmlyuk by Vasily Tropinin result his owner decided to forcibly
send him into Russian military
service, in order to remove him from others whom he was inciting to rebellion.
Established Revolutionary
He was forcibly inducted into the Russian Imperial Army, and served in the
Napoleonic Wars of 1812 in an ulan regiment, but eventually escaped and
organized rebel bands who attacked merchants and landowners, while
distributing the booty between the poor. He was captured in 1814, and was
sentenced in Kamianets-Podilskyi to run a gauntlet of 500 "spitzruten" blows, a
typical military punishment. He was then sent to serve out the 25 year term of
service in a military unit in the Crimea, but he fled again, returning to northern
Podilia. Once again he organized rebel bands in Proskuriv, Letychiv, and Lityn
regions, attracting a wide support base among the serfs, Jews and even Poles.
The rebellions intensified over the years, and then had spread not only to other
97
parts of Podilia, but also to the neighboring provinces of Volynia, Kyivshchyna,

and Bessarabia. By the early 1830s Karmaliuk's guerrilla army was
approximately 20,000 strong, with over 1,000 raids on the estates of the Polish
and Russian landowners over a 20 year period. The response of the Tsar was to
station military units in those regions hardest hit by Karmaliuk. Karmaliuk was
caught four times and sentenced to hard labor in Siberia, but escaped each time,
returning to Lityn and Letychiv Districts. A tower in the Kamianets-Podilskyi
Castle bears the name of its famous prisoner.
Unlike the Haidamaks of the previous century Karmaluk bore no ill will towards
the poor of all ethnic groups and minorities in Ukraine, Jews in particular, and as
a result they supported him en masse. His close compatriots were the Poles Jan
and Alex Glembovski, Feliks Jankovski and Alexander Wytwycki and also Jews
Avrum El Izkovych, Abrashko Duvydovych Sokolnytsky and Aron Viniar. Many
Jews were prosecuted for participating in Karmalyuk's raids and aiding and
abetting them. In general, Karmalyuk inspired unprecedented loyalty in all his
supporters.
Karmalyuk's death
On October 22, 1835, a Tsarist posse closed in on the Karmaliuk gang at the
house of a Ukrainian peasant by the name of E. Protskova, in the hamlet of
Shlyakhovi-Korychyntsi near Derazhnia. There, they successfully ambushed the
gang. Karmaliuk was shot and killed, at the age of 48. His body was brought to
Letychiv where he was buried. Now a famous statue honors him there. The man
who killed Karmaliuk, Polish nobleman F. Rutkovsky, was given a medal by the
Tsar himself and was granted a pension for life. According to the legend,
Karmalyuk was impervious to bullets, and was killed by the only thing that could
get him, a lead garment button.
Karmalyuk in Art and Literature

Karmalyuk is a subject of many art- and folk-songs. He is sometimes referred to
as "the Houdini of Podilia", as no prison was able to hold him for very long.
Affectionately, he is known as the last Haidamak of Ukraine.
Karmaliuk was the subject of three portraits by Russian painter Vasily Tropinin.
There are a few different versions of Karmaliuk's acquaintance with the artist.
According to one version Tropinin was introduced to Karmaliuk by his friend
physician Prokopy Danylevsky, who had given medical help to Karmaliuk people.
According to another version, Tropinin painted Karmaliuk inside prison. Three
portraits of Karmaliuk by Tropinin survive. One is kept in the Nizhny Tagil art
98
Ustym Karmaliuk
museum, another is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the third is in the Russian
Museum.
Karmalyuk was the subject of a number of poems by the songwriter Tomasz
Padura, some of which became folk songs.
References
•Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, The Road from Letichev: The history and
culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Volume 2. ISBN 0-
595-00667-1 iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000, pp. 465-468.
99
Salvatore Giuliano
Salvatore Giuliano (November 16, 1922 – July 5,
1950) was a Sicilian peasant. The subjugated social
status of his class led him to become a bandit and
separatist who has been mythologised during his life
and after his death. He is commonly compared to the
legend of Robin Hood in popular culture, due to
stories pertaining to him helping the poor villagers in
his area by taking from the rich.
As a member of the Sicilian Independentist
Movement, Giuliano actively pursued efforts into
gaining independence for the island from the Italian
government. His story gained attention in the media
worldwide, in part due to his handsome looks,
including features in Time.
Biography Illustration 48: Salvatore Giuliano,

while in his 20s.
Early life
Salvatore Giuliano was born in Montelepre within the Province of Palermo as the
fourth child of Salvatore and Maria Giuliano. As a child he was nicknamed
Turiddu or Turi. He had a decent primary education, but limited by Sicilian class
strictures, went to work on his father's land at the age of 13.
He transported olive oil and worked as a telephone repairman and on road
construction. Giuliano was due to be called up to the Italian army, but the Allied
invasion of Sicily prevented his actual enlistment. He became involved in the
wartime black market and was armed in case of attacks from bandits.
Rise to infamy
On September 2, 1943, he killed a Sicilian carabiniere at a checkpoint near
Quattro Molini while transporting illegally purchased grain. He left his identity
papers at the scene and was wounded when a carabiniere shot him twice as he
was running away, it was then that he returned fire and killed the carabiniere.
His family sent him to Palermo to have the bullet removed. In late December, a
number of residents of Montelepre, including Giuliano's father, were arrested
100
Salvatore Giuliano
during a police raid. Giuliano helped some of

them escape from prison in Monreale, and a
number of the freed men stayed with him.
In the Sagana mountains, Giuliano collected
a gang of approximately fifty bandits,
criminals, deserters, and homeless men
under his leadership and gave them military-
style marksmanship training. The gang took
to robbery and burglary for the money they
needed for food and weapons. When
carabinieri came to look for them, they were
met with accurate submachinegun fire.
He also joined a Sicilian separatist group,
Sicilian Independence Movement (MIS),
Illustration 49: Newspaper reports. which included members of very different
political views, such as revolutionary
socialist Antonio Canepa, centrist Giovanni
Guarino Amella, right-wingers, most of them aristocrats, such as baron Lucio
Tasca and duke Guglielmo Paternò, as well as some members with close ties to
the Mafia, and outright Mafiosi such as Calogero Vizzini.
The union between Giuliano and separatist leaders came to fruition in the latter
part of 1945. Giuliano entered the armed branch of the movement, EVIS
(Esercito Volontario per l'Indipendenza della Sicilia, Volunteer Army for the
Independence of Sicily), as a colonel and was promised that in the event of a
separatist victory, he would be pardoned for his crimes and appointed to some
position in the newly independent state. Defenders of the Giuliano-separatist
alliance justified the agreement by claiming that Giuliano had been forced to
become a bandit by the cruelty and injustice of the Italian state. Although an
EVIS commander, Giuliano remained cautious about subordinating himself to the
movements leadership.
Giuliano led small-scale attacks on government and police targets in the name of
this movement. He supported the MIS and the similar MASCA with funds for the
1946 elections, in which both groups did poorly. Reputedly, Giuliano himself
would have liked to have seen Sicily become a state within the United States of
America. He sent president Harry S. Truman a letter in which he urged him to
annex Sicily.
Giuliano remained a long term problem for authorities. He continued to fight the
Italian government in the name of the separatist movement. His attacks gained
worldwide attention and made him a legend. In January 1946, at Montedoro,
Giuliano and his band fought a brutal battle with authorities in which perhaps a
thousand separatists took part. His actions kept alive the vision of Sicilian
independence accomplished through the force of arms. Police and military forces
101
were unable to destroy Giuliano’s EVIS formations. In fact, with the aid of the
peasants – many of whom saw Giuliano as a sort of Robin Hood – and the
landowners – who feared him – Giuliano continued to operate almost untouched.
Giuliano also fostered a number of myths around himself. One tale tells how he
discovered a postal worker was stealing letters that contained money Sicilian
families had sent to their relatives in the USA; he killed the postal worker and
assured the letters continued to their correct destinations. When he robbed the
duchess of Pratameno, he left her with her wedding ring and borrowed a book
she was reading; he returned it later with compliments. He fostered cooperation
of poor tenant farmers by sending them money and food. Contrary to some
claims, he was not a Mafioso.
Portella della Ginestra massacre

As more separatist leaders were
arrested, his funds became limited
and he was forced to find new
sources of supply. He eventually
alienated himself from the peasants
and became a tool of the landowners
and conservatives. In this role he
was manipulated to slaughter
innocent peasants in the name of
halting Communism in May 1947. In
1947, with his group steadily
shrinking, he turned to kidnapping
Illustration 50: Mural of the Portella della Ginestra for ransom and turned regular
massacre profits. Also in that year there were
more elections, following a limited
victory for socialist-communist groups.
After receiving a mysterious letter from an unknown source, Giuliano led his
remaining men on a raid to the mountain pass Portella della Ginestra on May 1,
intending to capture Sicily's most prominent communist, Girolamo Li Causi.
However, the event turned into a massacre. Fourteen civilians, including a
woman and three children, were killed and more than 30 wounded. Giuliano
himself (who fired no shots) stated he ordered his band to fire above the heads of
the crowd hoping they would disperse. Some sources accuse the Mafia of
infiltrating it and claim mafiosi instead shot at the crowd causing the massacre.
The incident created a national scandal, which ended in 1956 with the conviction
of the remaining members of the band. It still remains a highly controversial
topic, especially with regard to the contents of the letter Giuliano received
before it; the finger of blame has been pointed at numerous sources, including
102
Salvatore Giuliano
the Italian government, which had long sought to destroy the famous bandit.
Leftists who were the victims of the attack have blamed the landed barons and
the Mafia; significantly, the memorial plaque erected by them makes no mention
of Giuliano or his band:
“On May 1, 1947, here on the rock of Barbato, celebrating the working class
festival [...] people of Piana degli Albanesi, San Giuseppe Jato and San
Cipirello [...] fell under the ferocious barbarity of the bullets of the Mafia and
the landed barons [...]”
—Portella della Ginestra memorial plaque
Decline and death

Giuliano continued to work against
socialist groups whenever he had the
opportunity but by 1948 his popular
support was ebbing. Locals and even
the Mafia were less willing to aid
him and helped the police, despite
his tendency to kill suspected
informers. Giuliano dared police by
sending them boisterous letters
about himself and dining in Palermo
restaurants and leaving a note about
his presence with a tip. The reward
for his capture was doubled, and a
special police force was instituted to
suppress banditry. 300 carabinieri
attacked his mountain stronghold,
but most of his gang escaped. On
August 14, 1949 Giuliano's men
exploded mines under a convoy of
police vehicles near the Bellolampo
barracks outside Palermo, killing
seven Carabinieri and wounding 11.
As a result, the Italian government
dispatched an additional 1000 troops
to Western Sicily, with all troops
under the command of Colonel Ugo
Luca. Illustration 51: Cover of L'Europeo of July 1950 about the
mysterious death of Giuliano
103
On July 5, 1950, Giuliano was shot in Castelvetrano. According to police,

carabinieri captain Antonio Perenze shot him as he was resisting arrest.
However, the investigative reporter Tommaso Besozzi from the weekly news
magazine L'Europeo soon exposed the official version as fiction; the headline
read: "The only thing certain is that he is dead". Gaspare Pisciotta, Giuliano's
lieutenant, claimed later that police had promised him a pardon and reward if he
would kill Giuliano. Giuliano's mother Maria reportedly believed this story.
Pisciotta died four years later in prison from poisoning, after ingesting 20
centigrams of strychnine, hidden in a cup of tea.
At the trial for the Portella della Ginestra massacre, Gaspare Pisciotta had said:
"Those who have made promises to us are called Bernardo Mattarella, Prince
Alliata, the monarchist MP Marchesano and also Signor Scelba, Minister for
Home Affairs … it was Marchesano, Prince Alliata and Bernardo Mattarella who
ordered the massacre of Portella di Ginestra. Before the massacre they met
Giuliano…" However the MPs Mattarella, Alliata and Marchesano were declared
innocent by the Court of Appeal of Palermo, at a trial which dealt with their
alleged role in the event.
Dramatizations
A film of his life, Salvatore Giuliano, was directed by Francesco Rosi in 1961.
Novelist Mario Puzo published The Sicilian, a dramatized version of Giuliano's
life, in 1984. The book was made into a film in 1987, directed by Michael Cimino
and starring Christopher Lambert as Giuliano. An opera, Salvatore Giuliano, was
composed in 1985 by Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero and premiered on 25
January 1986 at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. The libretto outlines in short,
graphic scenes the network of intrigue between Sicilian independence activists,
Mafia and State that surrounds, and eventually destroys, the bandit hero.
References
•Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London:
Coronet ISBN 0-340-82435-2
•Finkelstein, Monte S.(1998). Separatism, the Allies and the Mafia: The Struggle
for Sicilian Independence, 1943-1948, Bethlehem: Lehigh University Press ISBN
0934223513
•Servadio, Gaia (1976), Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the
present day, London: Secker & Warburg ISBN 0-436-44700-2
104
Salvatore Giuliano
•Norman Lewis (2003). The Honoured Society: The Sicilian Mafia Observed
Eland Publishing Ltd ISBN 978-0907871484
Bibliography
•God Protect Me From My Friends. Gavin Maxwell (USA title: Bandit),
Longmans, Green, London, 1956
•”The Bandit Giuliano”, Eric Hobsbawm, New York Review of Books, 14
February 1985
•King of the Mountain. Billy Jaynes Chandler, Northern Illinois University Press,
1988
105
William de Wendenal
William de Wendenal (also William de Wendeval) was a Norman baron
probably born during the mid-12th century. He was one of the highest officials
left in charge of the Kingdom of England when King Richard the Lionheart was
away at the Third Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land from the control of Saladin
of the Ayyubid dynasty.
William also served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire (and
possibly intermittently as Sheriff of Yorkshire) during King Richard's absence
from England, from 1191 until 1194. William has been linked to the legends of
Robin Hood and some have said him to be the villainous "Sheriff of Nottingham"
of legend.
Biography
Little is known of William, for record keeping was sketchy at best during the
1190s, a fiery decade of great political upheaval in the History of England. It is a
curious and unusual fact that de Wendenel did not appear to be the lord of any
particular area of England; it is possible that he was related to a noble family or
had come into esteem with one, perhaps starting out as a squire. He may have
owned land somewhere, though. Many lower nobles, and even some yeomen (the
equivalent of today's middle classes) who owned more land than most, were
given prominent official positions during King Richard's absence from the
kingdom, due to the fact many nobles had gone away with Richard to the
Crusade, leaving the administration of England short on staff.
It is possible, though, that Wendenal held a joint title with another baron,
perhaps William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby. Although we can not be sure of
this, holding joint titles was a frequent occurrence during those times.
From his name we can deduce that he was of Scandinavian/French descent,
perhaps the great-grandchild of one of the nobles that came across to England
with William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
This would also explain why he was in favour with Richard the Lionheart (for he
must have been to be left in a position of such trust, responsibility and prestige).
As such he may have been at loggerheads with many of the Anglo-Saxon nobles
and Anglo-Saxon peasant populations, due to the fact bitterness was still
prevalent and division still a reality between the two communities after the
Norman Conquest.
There is one contemporary account, a Middle Ages legal document, which states
William served as the High Sheriff (or law-enforcer and bailiff) of the counties of
both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire during the years of King Richard's
106
William de Wendenal
absence from the country, and perhaps other areas of England also, such as
Yorkshire (sheriffs were known to go outside their areas of jurisdiction
frequently in order to capture fugitive criminals and bandits). This would have
made him one of the most important and influential officials during these years.
It is stated in this legal document that William took over these official duties in
1190 from Baron Roger de Lizoures (later Roger de Lacy, due to his
grandmother denying him the claim to the Lizoures titles and estates) who we
know was also the Constable of Chester and Lord of Pontefract and Clitheroe. It
is possible that William took over this duty too whilst de Lacy (and the majority
of English noblemen) were attending the Crusade. Because of this he may have
been resident at Ludlow Castle, built by de Lacy and still standing today.
However when King Richard landed back in England in the late March of 1194, it
is stated that William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby, took over all William de
Wendenal's duties and took up his position. After this, William de Wendenal
simply disappears from the records altogether.
Sheriff of Nottingham in the Robin Hood legend?

Typically, the legends of Robin Hood are set during the reign of King Richard the
Lionheart, especially when the king was away at the Crusade. If so that would
make William de Wendenel the corrupt and cruel lawman of legend and typical
arch nemesis of the folk hero of Sherwood Forest. It is said that Robin Hood
robbed from the rich not only to relieve the commoners of the unnecessarily
harsh taxes imposed on them by the greedy establishment, but also to help raise
the ransom for Queen Mother Eleanor of Aquitaine to free her son Richard the
Lionheart from captivity in the custody of first Leopold V of Austria and then
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Many historical sheriffs from this period in
history were indeed corrupt, and it is possible that de Wendenel was as well.
Some, like Sir Robert Ingram, were actually in league with outlaws. This sheriff
of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire was an ally of the Coterel gang, notorious
14th century outlaws. Other sheriffs, like John de Oxenford, were outlawed
themselves. Oxenford was the sheriff from 1334 to 1339. In 1341, Oxenford was
accused of "illegal purveyance, abusing his authority in regard to the county gaol
and its prisoners, as well as various extortions.". He did not show up in court and
was himself outlawed.
If de Wendenel was indeed in the same league as these corrupt officials, abusing
the absence of a king to terrorise the populace, then he may have been killed in
an uprising or by a revengeful outlawed peasant. Indeed there are records of
riots going on at the time in Nottingham, where de Wendenel probably resided
for a time (the city is also the site where Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of
Chester and David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, soon after laid siege to
107
supporters of John of England). If this was the case then it would adequately
explain why de Wendenel disappears from history. Some who believe in a
historical Robin Hood have stated that de Wendenel was killed, and that his
avenger was a famed outlaw of the time and disposed member of the lower
gentry, now known as Robin Hood.
Unfortunately for these theories, the connection of Robin Hood with Richard's
reign dates only to the historian John Mair, writing in the sixteenth century; the
earliest chronicle references (Andrew Wyntoun, writing c. 1420, and Walter
Bower, c. 1440) date his flourishing to 1283 and 1266 respectively, while the
probable earliest literary source (A Gest of Robyn Hode) names the King as
"Edward".
108
Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd

Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd (Gwenllian, daughter of Gruffydd) (b.c. 1097, died
1136) was Princess-consort of Deheubarth in Wales, and married to Gruffydd ap
Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth. Gwenllian was the daughter of Gruffydd ap Cynan
(1055-1137), Prince of Gwynedd, and a member of the princely Aberffraw family
of Gwynedd. Gwenllain was the sister of Prince Owain Gwynedd (died 1170).
Gwenllian's "patriotic revolt" and subsequent death in battle at Kidwelly Castle
contributed to the Great Revolt of 1136.
There are several notable artistic depictions of Gwenllian. However, she is often
confused with Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn, who lived two centuries later.
Early life
Gwenllian was the youngest daughter of Gruffudd ap Cynan, Prince of Gwynedd
and his wife Angharad. She was born in 1097 on Ynys Môn at the family seat at
Aberffraw, and was the youngest of eight children; four older sisters, Mared,
Rhiannell, Susanna, and Annest, and three older brothers, Cadwallon, Owain and
Cadwaladr. Gwenllian grew to be strikingly beautiful, and after Gruffydd ap
Rhys, the Prince of Deheubarth, ventured to Gwynedd around 1113 to meet with
her father, she and Deheubarth's prince became romantically involved and
eloped.
Gwenllian joined her husband at his family seat of Dinefwr in Deheubarth.
However, Deheubarth was struggling against the Norman invasion in south
Wales, with Norman, English, and Flemish colonists in footholds through-out the
country. While the conflict between the Normans and the Welsh continued, the
princely family were often displaced, with Gwenllian joining her husband in
mountainous and forested strongholds. From here, she and Gruffydd ap Rhys led
retalitory strikes against Norman-held positions in Deheubarth.
The Great Revolt 1136

By 1136 an opportunity arose for the Welsh to recover lands lost to the Marcher
lords when Stephen de Blois displaced his cousin Empress Matilda from
succeeding her father to the English throne the prior year, sparking the Anarchy
in England. The usurption and conflict it caused eroded central authority in
England. The revolt began in south Wales, as Hywel ap Maredudd, lord of
Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire), gathered his men and marched to the Gower,
defeating the Norman and English colonists there at the Battle of Llwchwr.
109
Inspired by Hywel of Brycheiniog's success, Gruffydd ap Rhys hastened to meet

with Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd, his father-in-law, to enlist his aid in the
revolt.
While her husband was in Gwynedd seeking an alliance with her father against
the Normans, Maurice of London and other Normans led raids against
Deheubarth's Welsh, and Gwenllian was compelled to raise an army for their
defense. In a battle fought near Kidwelly Castle, Gwenllian's army was routed,
and she was captured and beheaded by the Normans. In the battle her son
Morgan was also slain and another son, Maelgwyn captured and executed.
Though defeated, her 'patriotic revolt' inspired others in south Wales to rise. The
Welsh of Gwent, led by Iowerth ab Owain (grandson of Caradog ap Gruffydd,
Gwent's Welsh ruler displaced by the Norman invasions), ambushed and slew
Richard Fitz Gilbert, the Norman lord who controlled Ceredigion.
When word reached Gwynedd of Gwenllain's death and the revolt in Gwent,
Gwenllian's brothers Owain and Cadwaladr invaded Norman controlled
Ceredigion, taking Llanfihangel, Aberystwyth, and Llanbadarn.
Gwenllian's legacy
Gwenllian's actions can be compared to another Celtic leader: Boadicea
(Buddug). This is the only known example of a medieval period woman leading a
Welsh army into battle. The field where the battle is believed to have taken
place, close to Kidwelly Castle and north of the town, is known as Maes
Gwenllian (Welsh, meaning 'Field of Gwenllian'). A spring in the field is also
named after her, supposedly welling up on the spot where she was beheaded.
For centuries after her death, Welshmen cried-out Revenge for Gwenllian when
engaging in battle. Additionally, Gwenllian and her husband harassed Norman,
English, and Flemish colonists in Deheubarth, taking goods and money and
redistributed them among the Deheubarth Welsh who were themselves
dispossessed by those colonizers, like a pair of Robin Hoods of Wales, as
historian and author Philip Warner writes.
Gwenllian's youngest son went on to become a notable leader of Deheubarth,
The Lord Rhys.
Sources
•Davies, John (1994). A History of Wales. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-014581-
8.
110
•Lloyd, J.E (2004). A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the
Edwardian Conquest. New York: Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0-7607-
5241-9.
•Lloyd, J.E (1935). A History of Carmarthenshire. Cardiff.
•Warner, Philip (1997). Famous Welsh Battles. New York: Barnes & Noble
Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0-7-607-0466-x.
111
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace (Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam
Uallas; 1272 – 23 August 1305) was a Scottish
knight and landowner who is known for leading
a resistance during the Wars of Scottish
Independence and is today remembered in
Scotland as a patriot and national hero.
Along with Andrew Moray, he defeated an
English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge,
and became Guardian of Scotland, serving until
his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. A few years
later Wallace was captured in Robroyston near
Glasgow and handed over to King Edward I of
England, who had him executed for treason.
Wallace was the inspiration for the poem The
Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight
of Elderslie, by the 15th century minstrel, Blind
Harry and this poem was to some extent the
basis of Randall Wallace's screenplay for the Illustration 52: Sir William Wallace
1995 film Braveheart.
Background
Little is known for certain of William Wallace's immediate family. The Wallace
family may have originally come from Wales or Shropshire as followers of Walter
Fitzalan (died June 1177), High Steward of Scotland and ancestor of the Stewart
family. The early members of the family are recorded as holding lands including
Riccarton, Tarbolton, and Auchincruive in Kyle, and Stenton in Haddingtonshire.
The seal attached to a letter sent to the Hanse city of Lübeck in 1297 appears to
give his father's name as Alan. His brothers Malcolm and John are known from
other sources. Alan Wallace may appear in the Ragman Rolls as a crown tenant
in Ayrshire, but this is uncertain. The traditional view is that Wallace's birthplace
was Elderslie in Renfrewshire, but it has been recently claimed to be Ellerslie in
Ayrshire. There is no contemporary evidence linking him with either location,
although both areas were linked to the wider Wallace family.
At the time of Wallace's birth, which cannot be securely dated, King Alexander
III (Medieval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Alaxandair; Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac
Alasdair) ruled Scotland. His reign had seen a period of peace and economic
stability. Alexander had maintained a positive relationship with the kings of
112
William Wallace
England, while successfully fending off continuing English claims to sovereignty.

In 1286 Alexander died after falling from his horse; none of his children survived
him.
The Scottish lords declared Alexander's four-year-old granddaughter, Margaret
(called "the Maid of Norway"), Queen. Due to her young age, the Scottish lords
set up an interim government to administer Scotland until Margaret came of age.
King Edward I of England (popularly known as "Longshanks" among other
names) took advantage of the instability by arranging the Treaty of Birgham with
the lords, betrothing Margaret to his son, Edward, on the understanding that
Scotland would preserve its status as a separate kingdom. Margaret, however,
fell ill and died at only seven years of age (1290) on her way from her native
Norway to Scotland. Claimants to the Scottish throne came forward almost
immediately.
With Scotland threatening to descend into a dynastic war, Edward stepped in as
arbitrator — as a powerful neighbour and significant jurist he could hardly be
ignored. Before the process could begin, he insisted, despite his previous
promise to the contrary, that all of the contenders recognise him as Lord
Paramount of Scotland. After some initial resistance, all, including John Balliol
and Robert Bruce (grandfather of the Robert Bruce who later became king), the
chief contenders, accepted this precondition. Finally, in early November 1292, at
a great feudal court held in the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, judgement was
given in favour of John Balliol having the strongest claim in law. Formal
announcement of the judgement was given by Edward on 17 November.
Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish guardians and even
summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common
felon. Balliol was a weak king and not the strong leader Scotland needed in these
troubled times. Thus he became to be known as "Toom Tabard", or "Empty Coat".
Balliol supporters including Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews and John Comyn, Earl
of Buchan appealed to King Edward to keep the promise he had made in the
Treaty of Birgham and elsewhere to respect the customs and laws of Scotland.
Edward repudiated the treaty, saying he was no longer bound by it. Balliol
renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the month Edward
stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then-Scottish border town. He
slaughtered almost all of his opponents who resided there, even if they fled to
their homes. In April, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East
Lothian and by July Edward had forced Balliol to abdicate at Stracathro near
Montrose. Edward then instructed his officers to receive formal homage from
some 1800 Scottish nobles (many of the rest being prisoners of war at that time),
having previously removed the Stone of Destiny, the Scottish coronation stone,
from Scone Palace, and taken it to London.
113
Military career
Early exploits
Blind Harry invented a tale that Wallace's father was killed along with his
brother John in a skirmish at Loudoun Hill in 1291 by the notorious Lambies,
who came from the Clan Lamont.
According to local Ayrshire legend, two English soldiers challenged Wallace in
the Lanark marketplace regarding his catching of fish. According to various
historians, including John Strawhorn, author of The History of Irvine, the legend
has Wallace fishing on the River Irvine. He had been staying with his uncle in
Riccarton. A group of English soldiers approached, whereupon the leader of the
band came forward and demanded the entire catch. Even after Wallace offered
half of his fish, the English refused such diplomacy and threatened him with
death if he refused. Wallace allegedly floored the approaching soldier with his
fishing rod and took up the assailant's sword. He set upon the entire team of
English soldiers with stereotypical success. The argument had escalated into a
brawl and two English soldiers were killed. Blind Harry places this incident along
the River Irvine with five soldiers being killed. The authorities issued a warrant
for his arrest shortly thereafter. According to a plaque outside St. Paul's
Cathedral in Dundee, however, William Wallace began his war for independence
by killing the son of the English governor of Dundee, who had made a habit of
bullying Wallace and his family. This story perhaps has more weight because it is
speculated that Wallace may have attended what is now the High School of
Dundee, and spent some of his time growing up in the nearby village of
Kilspindie. In 1291, or 1292, William Wallace killed the son of an English noble,
named Selby, with a dirk.
Wallace enters history when he killed William Heselrig, the English Sheriff of
Lanark, in May 1297. According to later legend this was to avenge the death of
Marion Braidfute of Lamington — the young maiden Wallace courted and
married in Blind Harry's tale. Soon, he achieved victory in skirmishes at Loudoun
Hill (near Darvel, Ayrshire) and Ayr; he also fought alongside Sir William
Douglas the Hardy at Scone, routing the English justiciar, William Ormesby from
cities such as Aberdeen, Perth, Glasgow, Scone and Dundee.
Supporters of the growing revolt suffered a major blow when Scottish nobles
agreed to personal terms with the English at Irvine in July. In August, Wallace
left Selkirk Forest with his followers to join Andrew Moray, who had begun
another uprising, at Stirling, where they prepared to meet the English in battle.
114
William Wallace
As Wallace's ranks swelled, information obtained by John de Graham prompted

Wallace to move his force from Selkirk Forest to the Highlands; there is no
historical evidence to suggest that Wallace ever left the Lowlands area of
Scotland other than his visit to France and his trip to the scaffold in London.
Battle of Stirling Bridge

On September 11, 1297, Wallace won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although
vastly outnumbered, the Scottish forces led by Wallace and Andrew Moray
routed the English army. John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey's professional
army of 3,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry met disaster as they crossed over to
the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented many
soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so while
the English soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed
and then killed the English as quickly as they could cross. The infantry were sent
on first, followed by heavy cavalry. But the Scots' sheltron formations forced the
infantry back into the advancing cavalry and in the general confusion the bridge
collapsed, sending armoured knights to drown in the river below.
A pivotal charge, led by one of Wallace's captains, caused some of the English
soldiers to retreat as others pushed forward, and under the overwhelming
weight, the bridge collapsed and many English soldiers drowned. Harry claims
that the bridge was rigged to collapse by the action of a man hidden beneath the
bridge. The Scots won a significant victory which boosted the confidence of their
army. Hugh Cressingham, Edward's treasurer in Scotland, died in the fighting
and it is reputed that his body was subsequently flayed and the skin cut into
small pieces as tokens of the victory. The Lanercost Chronicle records that
Wallace had "a broad strip [of Cressingham’s skin] ... taken from the head to the
heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword". William Crawford led 400
Scottish heavy cavalry to complete the action by running the English out of
Scotland. It is widely believed that Moray died of wounds suffered on the
battlefield sometime in the winter of 1297, but an inquisition into the affairs of
his uncle, Sir William Moray of Bothwell, held at Berwick in late November 1300,
records he was "slain at Stirling against the king."
Upon his return from the battle, Wallace was knighted along with his second-in-
command John de Graham, possibly by Robert the Bruce, and Wallace was
named "Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies".
The type of engagement used by Wallace was contrary to the contemporary
views on chivalric warfare whereby strength of arms and knightly combat was
espoused in the stead of tactical engagements and strategic use of terrain. The
battle thus embittered relations between the two antagonistic nations, whilst
also perhaps providing a new departure in the type of warfare with which
England had hitherto engaged. The numerical and material inferiority of the
115
Scottish forces would be mirrored by the English in the 100 Years War, who, in
turn, abandoned chivalric warfare to achieve decisive victory in similar
engagements such as Crecy and Poiters.
In the six months following Stirling Bridge, Wallace led a raid into northern
England. His intent was to take the battle to English soil to demonstrate to
Edward that Scotland also had the power to inflict the same sort of damage
south of the border.
Battle of Falkirk
A year later, Wallace lost the Battle of Falkirk. On 1 April 1298, the English
invaded Scotland at Roxburgh. They plundered Lothian and regained some
castles, but had failed to bring Wallace to combat. The Scots adopted a scorched
earth policy in their own country, and English quartermasters' failure to prepare
for the expedition left morale and food low, but Edward's search for Wallace
would not end at Falkirk.
Wallace arranged his spearmen in four "schiltrons" — circular, hedgehog
formations surrounded by a defensive wall of wooden stakes. The English
however employed Welsh longbowmen which swung strategic superiority in their
favour. The English proceeded to attack with cavalry, and breaking up the
Scottish archers. Under the command of the Scottish nobles, the Scottish knights
withdrew, and Edward's men began to attack the schiltrons. It remains unclear
whether the infantry firing bolts, arrows and stones at the spearmen proved the
deciding factor, although it is very likely that it was the arrows of Edward's
bowmen. Gaps in the schiltrons soon appeared, and the English exploited these
to crush the remaining resistance. The Scots lost many men, including John de
Graham. Wallace escaped, though his military reputation suffered badly.
By September 1298, Wallace had decided to resign as Guardian of Scotland in
favour of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick (the future king) and John Comyn of
Badenoch, King John Balliol's brother-in-law. Bruce became reconciled with King
Edward in 1302, while Wallace spurned such moves towards peace.
According to Harry, Wallace left with William Crawford in late 1298 on a mission
to the court of King Philip IV of France to plead the case for assistance in the
Scottish struggle for independence. Backing this claim is a surviving letter from
the French king dated 7 November 1300 to his envoys in Rome demanding that
they should help Sir William. Whether or not Wallace made it to Rome is
uncertain. Harry also states that on their trip down the English coast, the small
convoy ran into the infamous pirate Thomas Longoville, also known as the Red
Reiver for his red sails and ruthless raids. Hiding in the hold of the ship while
Crawford and a small contingent of men sailed, Wallace surprised the pirates as
they boarded the ship. Longoville was captured and taken to Paris where the
116
William Wallace
Scots convinced Philip to grant amnesty so that Longoville could prey on English
ships. This last story is one of many recorded by Blind Harry for which there is
no evidence. Harry also invented a major action against Edward I at Biggar,
which, though often cited, never actually occurred.
In 1303, Squire Guthrie was sent to France to ask Wallace and his men to return
to Scotland, which they did that same year. They slipped in under the cover of
darkness to recover on the farm of William Crawford, near Elcho Wood. Having
heard rumours of Wallace's appearance in the area, the English moved in on the
farm. A chase ensued and the band of men slipped away after being surrounded
in Elcho Wood. Here, Wallace took the life of one of his men that he suspected of
disloyalty, in order to divert the English from the trail.
In 1304 he was involved in skirmishes at Happrew and Earnside.
Capture and execution

Wallace evaded capture by the
English until 5 August 1305 when
John de Menteith, a Scottish knight
loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over
to English soldiers at Robroyston
near Glasgow. Wallace was
transported to London and taken to
Westminster Hall, where he was
Illustration 53: Plaque marking the place of Wallace's trial
tried for treason and was crowned in Westminster Hall
with a garland of oak to suggest he
was the king of outlaws. He
responded to the treason charge, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was
never his subject." With this, Wallace asserted that the absent John Balliol was
officially his king. Wallace was declared guilty.
Following the trial, on 23 August 1305, Wallace was taken from the hall, stripped
naked and dragged through the city at the heels of a horse to the Elms at
Smithfield. He was hanged, drawn and quartered — strangled by hanging but
released while he was still alive, eviscerated and his bowels burnt before him,
beheaded, then cut into four parts. His preserved head (dipped in tar) was
placed on a pike atop London Bridge. It was later joined by the heads of the
brothers, John and Simon Fraser. His limbs were displayed, separately, in
Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling, and Aberdeen.
A plaque stands in a wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital near the site of Wallace's
execution at Smithfield.
117
The Wallace Sword, which

supposedly belonged to Wallace,
although some parts are at least 160
years later in origin, was held for
many years in Loudoun Castle and is
now in the Wallace Monument near
Stirling. In 2002 William Wallace
was ranked #48 as one of the 100
Greatest Britons in an extensive UK
poll conducted by the BBC
Portrayal in fiction
Illustration 54: William Wallace Statue, Aberdeen
Comprehensive and historically
accurate information was written about Wallace, but many stories are based on
the 15th century minstrel Blind Harry's epic poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir
William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, written around 1470. Historians either
reject almost all of the parts of Blind Harry's tale, or dismiss the entire
composition. Although Blind Harry wrote from oral tradition describing events
170 years earlier, giving rise to alterations of fact, Harry's is not in any sense an
authoritative description of Wallace's exploits. Indeed, hardly any of Harry's
work is supported by contemporary evidence including names from land
charters, the Ragman Roll, and religious and public office holders and their
archives. Several modern writers note that the Bishop of St. Andrews did
commission a friar to write a first-hand account of Wallace's exploits, but the
existence, let alone the disposition of this manuscript is not known.
Blind Harry's poem , for example, describes a mythical incident the "Barns of
Ayr", when 360 Scottish nobles, led by Wallace’s uncle, Ronald Crawford, were
summoned by the English to a conference in Spring of 1297. As each passed
through a narrow entry, a rope was dropped around his neck and he was hanged.
The incident as described by Blind Harry does appear in the 1995 film
Braveheart with even less accuracy, placing the event in the childhood of
Wallace and ignoring the murder of his uncle Crawford.
118
William Wallace
In the early 19th century, Walter

Scott wrote of Wallace in Exploits
and Death of William Wallace, the
"Hero of Scotland", and Jane Porter
penned a romantic version of the
Wallace legend in The Scottish
Chiefs in 1810.
G. A. Henty wrote a novel in 1885
about this time period titled In
Freedom's Cause. Henty, a producer
of Boys Own fiction who wrote for
that magazine, portrays the life of
William Wallace, Robert the Bruce,
The Black Douglas, and others, while Illustration 55: The Wallace Monument, near Stirling Castle,
dovetailing the novel with historical commemorates the actions of William Wallace during the
fiction. Wars of Independence
Nigel Tranter wrote a historical

novel titled The Wallace, published in 1975, which is said by academics to be
more accurate than its literary predecessors.
A well-known account of the life of Wallace is presented in the 1995 film
Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson, written by Randall Wallace,
and filmed in both Scotland and Ireland. The film was a commercial and critical
success, winning five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
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7486-0104-X
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Scotland (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-85224-307-3
•Barrow, G. W. S. (2003), The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and
Society from the eleventh to the fourteenth century (2nd ed.), Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1803-1
•Brown, Michael (2004), The Wars of Scotland 1214–1371, The New Edinburgh
History of Scotland, 4, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-
1238-6
•Cowan, Edward J. (2003), 'For Freedom Alone': The Declaration of Arbroath,
1320, West Linton: Tuckwell Press, ISBN 1-84158-632-3
119
•Cowan, Edward J.; Finlay, Richard J., eds. (2002), Scottish History: The Power
of the Past, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1420-6
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ISBN 0-85976-652-4
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85976-652-4
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121

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