Richard at the Lee

Richard at the Lee (also referred to as Rychard at the Lea and Sir Richard of Verysdale) was a major character in the early medieval ballads of Robin Hood, especially the lengthy ballad "A Gest of Robyn Hode", and has reappeared in Robin Hood tales throughout the centuries.

Sir Richard is said to have been a nobleman, the lord of Verysdale. In many versions, Sir Richard appears as a sorrowful knight whose lands will be forfeited because he pledged them to an abbot to get a loan he can not repay; Robin assists him with the money. This is his first appearance in the "Gest", although he is not named at that point. Later in the "Gest", he reappears, now named, and gives Robin Hood and the Merry Men sanctuary from the Sheriff of Nottingham by hiding them in his castle, after they have nearly been caught in an archery tournament; this part of the tale features in fewer later versions.

In "A Gest of Robyn Hode"

Richard came from a long line of noble knights (see line 188 of the ballad) and was a courteous man indeed. He had inherited a great castle at the wooded village of Lee in Verysdale in which he resided; a castle fit for knights with thick fortified walls, surrounded by two ditches and with a drawbridge at the entrance.

Richard resided in this castle with a small group of loyal servants and he had a beautiful fair wife and a son whom, although a he was a wild spirit, Richard loved dearly. His son entered into a jousting contest and accidentally killed an opponent, a knight of Lancaster. The unfortunate heir to Verysdale was then immediately arrested by the High Sheriff. However, the Sheriff was open to bribes, and Richard was able to bail his son out of jail for the princely sum of four hundred pounds (a massive amount in the early medieval era) before his son was executed.

Richard was down on his luck. Although he was a nobleman with his own lands, he had very little money at all. So in order to pay the sheriff's bail and save his son's life he went to Saint Mary's Abbey in York and loaned the money off the abbot. However what he didn't realise was that the abbot was corrupt and in league with the sheriff. Richard had only a few short days to repay the loan, otherwise the sheriff and the abbot would claim his land and divide it up between themselves. These were the abbot's terms and Richard had no choice but to accept them. In Robin Hood's day, religious communities were often notorious for their greed, sleaze, lax morals and hypocritical lifestyles. Conversely, Robin Hood is portrayed as fair and truly religious. He may be a criminal, but his rough justice restores true Christian values.

Meanwhile, in Barnsdale Forest, Robin Hood commands some of his merry men to prepare a feast fit for a king, and to the others he commands them to bring him a wealthy knight or noblemen to join him in his meal. The merry men are commanded by Robin to "walk up to the Saylis" and lie in wait there. In 1852, this was identified by Joseph Hunter as a plantation that is today on the eastern side of the A1 fly-over, adjoining the village of Wentbridge. Now known as Sayles, it was once a small tenancy in the parish of Kirk Smeaton. Evidence on the ground shows that the author of the ballad knew this place well and realised that it was the perfect look-out point. Finding nobody there, Little John, Will Scarlet and Much the miller's son lie in wait for the knight next to "Watlinge Strete". (This is actually a misnomer: the road in question was not the Romans' Watling Street (which ran from Kent to north Wales), but their Ermine Street, which stretched from Kent to York. It later became the Great North Road, and today is the A1. [ [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/gest.htm#69 Notes] on "A Gest of Robyn Hode"] )

There passes a poor-looking knight with a sad expression, and they bring him to Robin Hood's camp. He is treated with utmost respect and enjoys a fine banquet of deer, fowls, swans, pheasants, bread, and fine wine. After the meal Robin Hood asks the knight to pay for his meal. However the knight tells Robin that he is poor and has no more than ten shillings in his trunk.

Robin Hood tests the knight's honesty. If there is no more than ten shillings in the trunk, as the knight says, then Robin will not touch a penny and indeed will financially assist the knight. However if the knight has lied then Robin will take everything the knight has. The merry men open up the trunk and indeed find it nearly empty with only ten shillings (half a pound) inside.

So, finding the knight true, Robin listens to his entire story. This knight is Sir Richard of Verysdale; Robin feels sorry for him and Richard also seeing nobility and honesty in Robin the two men form a close bond of friendship. As Sir Richard is travelling to York to see the abbot of Saint Mary's that very day, Robin loans Richard the four hundred pounds needed to pay back the abbot and tells Richard that there is no obligation to pay it back in a hurry. And so Richard repays his loan to the abbot, and keeps his lands, courtesy of Robin Hood.

A variation of the tale is that Robin takes the money back from the Sheriff of Nottingham and gives it to Richard at the Lee.

Later adaptations

In other tales, he also travels to the forests of Barnsdale and Sherwood occasionally, where the outlaws live, and dines with them. Due to this he is sometimes considered a Merry Man himself.

In some tales, such as Alfred Lord Tennyson's play "The Foresters, or Robin Hood and Maid Marian", he is said to be the father of Maid Marian. He appears as such (as Sir Richard of Leaford) in the third season of "Robin of Sherwood", played by George Baker.

Howard Pyle included the payment of mortgage in "Merry Adventures of Robin Hood". He also used Richard as a character in other portions, such as his retelling of Robin's escape from the king, after an archery tournament before him, and when Richard the Lion-Hearted visited the forest, the disguise is revealed when Richard arrives to warn the outlaws.

Sir Richard ("Sir Richard of the Lee"), played by Ian Hunter was a recurring character in the 1950s television series "The Adventures of Robin Hood," appearing in seven episodes of the series.

The lovelorn knight, John of York, who appears in an episode of the second season of the BBC series Robin Hood (2006 TV series) is clearly based on Richard at the Lee. John is passing through Sherwood Forest on his way to pay an installment on a debt to the Canon of Birkley when he is ambushed by Robin Hood and his men. Parallels to the story of Richard are that John claims only to have 10 shillings, Robin tests his honesty and says he will assist him if he is telling the truth, and then gives him money to enable him to repay his debt.

See also

*Robin Hood
*Verysdale

References

External links

* [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/gestint.htm The medieval text of "A Gest of Robyn Hode"]
* [http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ohlgren/gesttrans.html A translation of above ballad into modern English]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lane/8771/knyght.html Article regarding the discussion of the location of Verysdale]
* [http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/ROBE5053/mycustompage0006.htm An intriguing theory as to who Richard at the Lee was; equating him with a historical figure]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lane/8771/knyght.html Page on Sir Richard at the Lee]