Staffordshire, as well as Nottinghamshire, claims Robin Hood for its own. (The great central-England forest, in which Robin spent his time, stretched all the way from here to Nottingham).
Did Robin Hood marry under this ancient yew tree, at St Cuthbert’s Churchyard in Doveridge? That’s what they say – or rather what an old English ballad says… It’s a charming song, and the words seen be seen in full here.
This old yew is easily 1000 years old, and may be more. It’s so old, it’s now supported by poles and chains, as you can see in the photo – but it keeps going, and has a girth at least six feet in diameter. The villagers look after it.
In the ballad, Robin marries a lady called Clorinda (‘Maid Marion’ was a later story-teller’s invention), and the village is called Dubbridge, not Doveridge, and, er, Robin may never have existed (but – never let the truth get in the way of a good story…!)
She sounds like a nice girl:
"The queen of the shepherds was she,
And her gown was of velvet as green as the grass,
And her buskin did reach to her knee."
Link: Robin Hood & Staffordshire
PS: Doveridge is officially in Derbyshire, but only by a few yards, and who's counting?
Wow. I could imagine myself hugging that tree. It's so huge. So it took thousand years. Glad that no one dares to cut it.
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