This eighth edition of Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, like the previous editions, is written for the student who is beginning a serious study of imaginative literature.

Twelve selected adventures of Robin Hood and his outlaw band who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

In this engaging and deeply informed book, Knight looks at the different manifestations of Robin Hood at different times and places in a mythic biography with a thematic structure. Illustrations.

Published 1882-98, this ten-part work by Harvard's first professor of English became an essential resource for scholars and folklorists.

Victorian Songhunters is a pioneering history of the rediscovery of vernacular song—street songs that have entered oral tradition and have been passed from generation to generation—in England during the late Georgian and Victorian eras. In the nineteenth century there were four main types of vernacular song: ballads, folk lyrics, occupational songs, and national songs. The discovery, collecting, editing, and publishing of all four varieties are examined in the book, and over seventy-five selected examples are given for illustrative purposes. Key concepts, such as traditional balladry, broadside balladry, folksong, and national song, are analyzed, as well as the complicated relationship between print and oral tradition and the different methodological approaches to ballad and song editing. Organized chronologically, Victorian Songhunters sketches the history of English song collecting from its beginnings in the mid-seventeenth century; focuses on the work of important individual collectors and editors, such as William Chappell, Francis J. Child, and John Broadwood; examines the growth of regional collecting in various counties throughout England; and demonstrates the considerable efforts of two important Victorian institutions, the Percy Society and its successor, the Ballad Society. The appendixes contain discussions on interpreting songs, an assessment of relevant secondary sources, and a bibliography and alphabetical song list. Author E. David Gregory provides a solid foundation for the scholarly study of balladry and folksong, and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Victorian intellectual and cultural life.

The story of Robin Hood is very well known. Writers and historians have been reading and rewriting it, analysing, and altering it since Ritson published his version in 1795, more than 200 years ago. The story has been published in many forms, including books, films, TV and radio programmes, articles held in the World Wide Web and probably many others. As far as can be ascertained, they all have two things in common: they all contain many errors and they all fail to explain a number of mysteries. In his book, Geoff Wilson has corrected many of the errors and has explained many of the mysteries. This he has done by accessing many surprising sources of evidence, including, for example, the British Geological Survey, aerial photography and by following on foot several of Robin Hood’s journeys described in the ballads. Practical tests were also carried out. The author’s sons (both quite young at the time) were encouraged to shout at the top of their voices in one particular location to test if sounds do in fact echo in the valleys. They do. Among the mysteries solved are the identities of Sir Richard at the Lee and the location of Verysdale and the Village of Lee. The ‘fayre castell’ described in the Gest is also identified, as is the chapel in Barnsdale dedicated to Mary Magdalene and described in stanza 440 of the Gest. One mystery which remains unresolved, however, is the identity of Robin himself. Perhaps he is, after all, just a yeoman named Robin Hood, although the claims of an alternative candidate are seriously considered.