Is Robin Hood Fact Or Fiction

Submitted By: Michael Birbeck

Robin Hood has been portrayed in several TV shows and Hollywood movies throughout the years. The romantic notion of taking from the rich and giving to the poor still resonates to this day. However, historians are split on who this man was and whether or not he actually existed.
The very legend of Robin Hood is taken from tales and ballads, all written before the year 1550. Several published works written in the 1400s all gave accounts of the actions of a brave and noble Englishman, fighting for the rights and freedoms of the oppressed. While many believe these works to be pure fiction, there are many who believe these stories are accounts of real events.
England's most famous outlaw lived in and around the English city of Nottingham. Evidence uncovered in the area paints a compelling picture and suggests that such a high profile outlaw did exist after all. The evidence also supports that legend's claim of a band of 'merry men' including the infamous names of Little John, Maid Marion and Friar Tuck.
During medieval times, only the rich and educated could read or write. This is why so little is known about the man. Much has been passed down the generations in the form of stories told to children and gossip. However, it is believed that much of the legend may be accurate. This includes the man's desire to live as an outlaw in Sherwood Forest and poach deer from the King's land. The references to a Sheriff of Nottingham are also thought to originate from the truth.
The earliest reference to the legend appears in a poem written by William Langland in 1377, some 200 years before the time of William Shakespeare. Although historians cannot be completely certain, they place Robin between the years of 1190 and 1307.
While many historians believe Robin came from elsewhere in England, they agree that he made his home in Sherwood Forest at some point in his life. The forest covered an area of several thousand acres and was the location of the famous Major Oak, or 'council tree' used by Robin Hood and his band of outlaws. Incredibly, this tree still exists and visitors can still visit this ancient meeting place.
Historians believe Robin traveled to a Priory in England and was killed by Sir Roger of Doncaster after being double-crossed by his cousin, the prioress. There is a grave at Kirklees Priory to this day. The medieval gravestone at the grave bears the chilling words, "Here Lies Robard Hude".
At the time, the man would most probably have been a wanted man across all of England. His acts of defiant theft from the King's land would have been punishable by death. The fact that the man continued to provide for the poor suggests the man was compassionate and brave, a far cry from the man described by the Royal Court. The legend is much more than a man however. The legend represents the fight for freedom and equality. It represents the fight against tyranny and dictatorship which many people around the world will identify with, 800 years later.

Published At: Isnare.com

60 Top David Bowie Facts

Submitted By: Terry Davies
Back in January, singer David Bowie turned 60. In order to celebrate his 60th birthday, tBBC News found 60 little know facts about the singer. Straight from UK's daily paper, here are those facts.
1. David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, London, on 8 Jan 1947. He shares the same birthday as Elvis.
2. Bowie's family moved to Bromley when he was six years old.
3. He went to Bromley Technical High School, now called Ravenswood School.
4. Rock guitarist Peter Frampton was Bowie's friend at school - his dad was head of the art department. He's gone on to play guitar with Bowie many times during his career.
5. His right pupil is permanently dilated - due to his friend George Underwood punching him in the eye while the pair were still at school. The fight was over a girl.
6. Underwood and Bowie remained good friends with Underwood doing artwork for some of Bowie's earlier albums.
7. He started playing the saxophone when he was 12 years old.
PRE-FAME
8. His first ever release was Liza Jane / Louie Louie Go Home in June 1964, under the name of Davie Jones with The King-Bees.
9. He later changed his name to Bowie to avoid confusion with Monkee Davy Jones.
10. Bowie is pronounced to rhyme with Joey.
11. At the age of 17, he was interviewed on a BBC programme as the founder of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men. He complained: "It's not nice when people call you darling and that".
12. Around 1967, he wrote songs for actor Paul Nicholas of Just Good Friends fame, who was then recording under the name Oscar.
13. He released his debut album, the self-titled David Bowie, in 1967 after playing in a host of pub and club bands.
14. 1967 also saw the release of a single, The Laughing Gnome, which many fans argue is the worst song he has ever recorded.
15. When Bowie suggested that his fans should vote via phone which tracks he should play for his 1990 world tour, The Laughing Gnome was the most requested. He didn't play it.
STARMAN
16. Bowie's first hit in the UK - 1969's Space Oddity - was used by the BBC in its coverage of the moon landing.
17. The fictional character of Major Tom has appeared in three Bowie hits - Space Oddity (1969), Ashes To Ashes (1980) and Hallo Spaceboy (1996).
18. Bowie's first US Number One was his single Fame in 1975. It was co-written by John Lennon and features the late former Beatle on backing vocals.
19. Model Twiggy features on the cover with him for his 1973 album Pin Ups.
20. Around the time of Bowie's 1975 Young Americans album, Chic founder Nile Rodgers auditioned to play guitar in Bowie's band. He didn't get the part.
21. But Rodgers later produced the biggest-selling album of Bowie's career, 1983's Let's Dance.
22. Bowie is believed to have sold in the region of 140 million albums over his career.
23. He was voted Number Four in the recent BBC Culture Show public vote to discover Britain's Greatest Living Icons. Above him were Sir David Attenborough at Number One, Morrissey (2) and Sir Paul McCartney (3).
THE PERFORMER
24. Bowie was hit in the eye by a lollipop while on stage in Oslo, Norway in 2004.
25. Toni Basil of Oh Mickey fame worked as Bowie's choreographer on his Diamond Dogs tour in 1974. She later worked on his Glass Spider tour of 1987.
26. In 1970, when Bowie briefly formed The Hype, everyone in the band dressed up as super heroes. They were booed off everywhere they played.
27. Director Nicolas Roeg cast Bowie in his first leading role, as a stranded alien in The Man Who Fell to Earth, in 1976.
28. He is to be the voice of a character in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants this year.
29. In the 1986 Jim Henson movie Labyrinth, Bowie plays Jareth The Goblin King.
30. He has most recently appeared in The Prestige, alongside Hugh Jackman and Scarlet Johansson.
31. In 1969, Bowie formed his own mime troupe, Feathers, as well as an experimental art ensemble.
32. Bowie appeared as Pontius Pilate in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ.
33. Among his oddest film roles are: The Shark in Yellowbeard and a sinister FBI agent called Philip Jeffries in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
PERSONAL LIFE
34. David is 5 feet and 10 inches (178cm) tall, according to most sources.
35. Bowie declined the CBE in 2000 and a knighthood in 2003.
36. Bowie married Somalian supermodel Iman in 1992. They have a daughter Alexandria Zahra Jones, born in 2000.
37. Iman has a Bowie knife tattooed on her ankle in tribute to her husband.
38. Bowie's schizophrenic half-brother Terry killed himself in 1985.
39. Nine years older than David, Terry was the inspiration for songs including Aladdin Sane, All The Madmen, The Bewlay Brothers and Jump They Say.
40. In 2004, Bowie underwent emergency heart surgery in Germany to treat a blocked artery.
THE MUSICIAN
41. Bowie co-produced some of the best tracks on Lou Reed's legendary album Transformer.
42. His hit Ziggy Stardust is about Vince Taylor, who wrote Brand New Cadillac - later covered by The Clash.
43. David recorded a version of Space Oddity in Italian titled Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Solo - which literally means Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl.
44. The Lodger album's Move On track is a backwards rewrite of his All The Young Dudes.
45. He has been in 10 bands - The Konrads, The Hooker Brothers, The King Bees, The Manish Boys, The Lower Third, The Buzz, The Riot Squad, The Hype, Tin Machine and Tao Jones Index. (Some of these have performed under other names).
46. Bowie's song The Man Who Sold The World has been covered by Lulu and Nirvana.
47. Bing Crosby recorded his last ever single with David Bowie. Their duet version of The Little Drummer Boy was recorded for Christmas 1977. It was a hit five years later.
48. Bowie wrote the soundtrack for the 1993 dramatisation of Hanish Kureishi's novel Buddha Of Suburbia.
49. Bowie plays sax on To Know Him Is To Love Him from Steeleye Span's Now We Are Six album.
50. He plays just about every instrument on Diamond Dogs - including the famous guitar riff on Rebel Rebel.
MISCELLANEOUS
51. He was the final guest on Marc Bolan's ITV music show, Marc, in 1977. Bolan was killed in a car crash in south west London shortly afterwards.
52. Steve Strange, recently of BBC's Celebrity Scissorhands, was in the video for Bowie's 1980 Number One hit Ashes To Ashes.
53. Bowie's favourite current bands include Arcade Fire and TV On The Radio.
54. Mary Hopkin of Those Were The Days fame sings the "doo doo doo" backing vocals on Sound And Vision.
55. Almost a decade before The Cocteau Twins popularised the approach, Bowie sang in a completely self-invented language on the 1976 Low album track, Subterraneans.
56. His image appears on every single one of his album covers - except the UK release of The Buddha Of Suburbia.
57. He is mentioned in Kraftwerk's song Trans Europe Express ("Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie - TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS!") and Backside by the Strawbs ("The boy stood on the burning deck, his back against the mast. He did not dare to turn around till David Bowie passed").
58. In 1997 David Bowie broke new ground, yet again, with the internet-only release of his single Telling Lies. A year later, he launched his own internet service provider, Bowienet.
59. Bowie draws, paints, sculpts and writes in his spare time. His favourite artists are Tintoretto, John Bellany, Erich Heckel, Picasso and Michael Ray Charles.
60. David got just one O Level, in art.

Published At: Isnare.com