t waned, for in the exploration of distant lands and the study
of barbaric tribes men can find that breadth of outlook, that escape
from narrow conventionalities, which they could formerly gain only by
the cult of the "noble outlaw." The romance of life for many a worthy
citizen must have been found in secret sympathy with Robin Hood and
his merry band of banished men, robbing the purse-proud to help the
needy and gaily defying law and authority.

To the poor, however, the outlaw was something more than an easy
entrance to the realms of romance; he was a real embodiment of the
spirit of liberty. Of all the unjust laws which the Norman conquerors
laid upon England, perhaps the most bitterly resented were the forest
laws, and resistance to them was the most popular form of national
independence. Hence it follows that we find outlaw heroes popular very
early in our history--heroes who stand in the mind of the populace for
justice and true liberty against the oppressive tyranny of subordinate
officials, and who are always taken into favour by the king, the fount
of true justice.

Famous Outlaws

There is some slight tinge of the "outlaw hero" in Hereward, but the
outlaw period of that patriot's life is but an episode in his defence
of England against William the Norman. There is a fully developed
outlaw hero, the ideal of the type, in Robin Hood, but he has been
somewhat idealized and ennobled by being transformed into a banished
Earl of Huntingdon. Less known, but equally heroic, is William of
Cloudeslee, the William Tell of England, whose fame is that of a good
yeoman, a good archer, and a good patriot.

The Outlaws

In the green forest of Englewood, in the "North Countree," not far
from the fortified town of Carlisle, dwelt a merry band of outlaws.
They were not evildoers, but sturdy archers and yeomen, whose outlawry
had been incurred only for shooting the king's deer. Indeed, to most
men of that time--that is, to most men who were not in the royal
service--the shooting of deer, and the pursuit of game in general,
were not only venial offences, but the most natural thing in life. The
royal claim to exclusive hunting in the vast forests of Epping,
Sherwood, Needwood, Barnesdale, Englewood, and many others seemed
preposterous to the yeomen who lived on the borders of the forests,
and they took their risks and shot the deer and made venison pasty,
convinced that they were wronging no one and risking only their ow