Nothing’s forgotten. Nothing is ever Forgotten.
35 years of Robin of Sherwood
Robin Hood Dreaming
By Jennifer Ash
(Jenny Kane)
At the age of fourteen I fell in love. This was
no teenage crush on a boy from school or a singer or film star. I had fallen
for Robin Hood. Any Robin Hood. (Apart from Russell Crowe – there are limits).
This intense interest in a man of legend began
when I watched the hit ITV series Robin
of Sherwood, back in the 1980’s.
Within an hour of seeing my first episode I was digging through my
parent’s study for a book on myths and legends. From that moment on I was,
unbeknown to me, setting the course for the rest of my life.
Four years later, having read every text book
and story book on Robin Hood I could find, I studied archaeology and medieval
history at university, and then went on to complete a doctorate on the
comparison between real medieval crimes and those described in fourteenth
century literature.
The earliest mention found (to date)
of the name Robin Hood in literature appears in the poem The
Vision of Piers Plowman; written by William Langland in c.1377. This
was a long protest poem complaining about the harsh conditions endured by the
poor in the Fourteenth Century. Not only did it mention Robin Hood, but it also
makes reference to a real criminal gang; the Folville family.
“And some ryde and to recovere
that unrightfully was wonne:
He wised hem wynne it ayein
wightnesses of handes,
And fecchen it from false men
with Folvyles lawes.”
It
is this family, the Folvilles from Leicestershire, who were to become the
catalyst for the novels written under my third the pen name, Jennifer Ash. In
1310, John de Folville, Lord of Ashby Folville, died, leaving his widow Alice
and seven sons. The eldest son, also John, inherited the Ashby-Folville manor. He
had six brothers; Eustace, Laurence, Richard, Robert, Thomas and Walter, who
formed a notorious gang. Between the mid 1320’s and 1330’s, the Folville
brothers ran the town of Ashby-Folville and its surrounds as a base for
criminal activity.
The
first crime that brought the Folvilles to the notice of the authorities was the
murder of the Baron of the Exchequer, Roger Belers. Over the following decade,
the Folville brothers’ travelled the countryside assaulting those they
considered deserving of such treatment, and holding people and places to
ransom. They hired themselves out as mercenaries, willing to commit crimes for
the right price. In fact, if you look closely enough at the criminal activities
of the Folville family and the Robin Hood ballads, you’ll see a great number of
similarities. So many in fact, that I began to wonder if the ballad writers had
been influenced by the actions of Folvilles or if Folvilles had been influenced
by the popularity of the ballads.
It was
this latter theory that formed the inspiration behind The Folville Chronicles (The
Outlaw’s Ransom, The Winter Outlaw and Edward’s
Outlaw). This series of medieval murder mysteries shows Robert de Folville
and his brothers using the ballads of Robin and his outlaws as a code of
behaviour. Be warned however- this isn’t the code of behaviour we associate
with Robin Hood today. There’s no robbing the rich to give to the poor. The
ballads were all about punishing the greedy, lazy and the cruel. There was
never any question of money gained from their felonies being given away.
Perhaps it was inevitable that this research,
combined with my love for the stories of Robin Hood, would inspire my novels.
However, it took several years of writing romantic comedies before I was brave
enough to use my medieval research in fiction. When I finally did, I was rather
sneaky about it.
I’d had some measure of success as Jenny Kane,
and so changing genres was a big step. Rather than leap in, I decided to write
a contemporary novel about a medieval lecturer called Grace Harper, who’s so
obsessed with Robin Hood that real life is passing her by. Split in half, Romancing Robin Hood tells Grace’s story,
as well as the story of Mathilda of Twyford- a nineteen year old potter’s
daughter who has the misfortune to cross the Folvilles.
When you’re in love with a man of legend,
how can anyone else match up?
Dr Grace Harper has loved the stories of
Robin Hood ever since she first saw them on TV as a teenager. Now, with her
fortieth birthday just around the corner, she’s a successful academic in
Medieval History—but Grace is stuck in a rut.
Grace is supposed to be writing a textbook
on a real-life medieval criminal gang—the Folvilles—but instead she is captivated
by a novel she’s secretly writing. A medieval mystery which entwines the story
of Folvilles with her long-time love of Robin Hood—and a feisty young woman
named Mathilda of Twyford.
Just as she is trying to work out how
Mathilda can survive being kidnapped by the Folvilles, Grace’s best friend
Daisy announces she is getting married. After a whirlwind romance with a man
she loves as much as the creatures in her animal shelter, Daisy has
press-ganged Grace into being her bridesmaid.
Witnessing Daisy’s new-found happiness,
Grace starts to re-evaluate her own life. Is her devotion to a man who may or
may not have lived hundreds of years ago really a substitute for a real-life
hero of her own? Grace’s life doesn’t get any easier when she meets Dr Robert Franks—a
rival academic who she is determined to dislike but finds herself being
increasingly drawn to… If only he didn’t know quite so much about Robin Hood.
Such was the popularity of the medieval part of
the novel that it led to the writing of the aforementioned Folville Chronicles. (The
Outlaw’s Ransom is taken directly from Mathilda’s story in Romancing Robin Hood.)
As luck would have it- the modern part of the
story was also popular. In fact, it led to a small miracle. Thirty years after Robin of Sherwood finished on television,
the cast are back together making audio versions of the series. Having come
across Romancing Robin Hood, the
audio series creators invited me to write four scripts for Michal Praed, Jason
Connery and the rest of the team to read. I honestly can’t believe my luck! I
never dreamt that a teenage obsession would become the inspiration for so much
of my adult writing life.
Find out more about
Jennifer Ash’s books:
The
Folville Chronicles
Jennifer Ash (Jenny Kane)
Influenced
by a lifelong love of Robin Hood and medieval ballad literature, Jennifer wrote
The Folvilles Chronicles: The Outlaw’s Ransom, The Winter Outlaw
and Edward’s Outlaw (LittwitzPress,
2017- 2018). The fourth novel in this historical murder mystery series will be
published in 2020.
Jennifer
also writes as Jenny Kane. Her work includes the romantic comedies, Romancing Robin Hood (2nd
edition, Littwitz Press, 2018), Abi’s
Neighbour (Accent Press, 2017),
Another Glass of Champagne (Accent Press, 2016), and the bestsellers, Abi’s House
(Accent Press, June 2015), and
Another Cup of Coffee (Accent Press,
2013).
All
of Jennifer and Jenny Kane’s news can be found at
Many thanks for hosting me xx
ReplyDelete