Page "Robin Hood" Paragraph 106

However, the Nottingham setting is a matter of some contention.

While the Sheriff of Nottingham and the town itself appear in early ballads, and Sherwood is specifically mentioned in the early ballad Robin Hood and the Monk, certain of the original ballads ( even those with Nottingham references ) locate Robin on occasion in Barnsdale ( the area between Pontefract and Doncaster ), approximately fifty miles north of Nottingham, in the county of Yorkshire ; furthermore, it has been suggested that the ballads placed in this area are far more geographically specific and accurate.

This is reinforced for some by the alleged similarity of Locksley to the area of Loxley, South Yorkshire, in Sheffield, where in nearby Tideswell, which was the " Kings Larder " in the Royal Forest of the Peak, a record of the appearance of a " Robert de Lockesly " in court is found, dated 1245.

As " Robert " and its diminutives were amongst the most common of names at the time, and also since it was usual for men to adopt the name of their hometown (" De Lockesly " means simply, " Of from Lockesly "), the record could just as easily be referring to any man from the area named Robert.

Although it cannot be proven whether or not this is the man himself, it is further believed by some that Robin had a brother called Thomas – an assertion with no documentary evidence whatsoever to support it in any of the stories, tales or ballads.

If the Robert mentioned above was indeed Robin Hood, and if he did have a brother named Thomas, then consideration of the following reference may lend this theory a modicum of credence: