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LONDON - A British academic says he's found proof that Britain's legendary outlaw Robin Hood wasn't as popular with the poor as folklore suggests. Julian Luxford says a newly found note in the margins of an ancient history book contains rare criticism of the supposedly benevolent bandit. According to legend, Hood roamed 13th-century Britain from a base in central England's Sherwood Forest, plundering from the rich to give to the poor. But Luxford, an art history lecturer at the University of St. Andrews, in Fife, Scotland, says a 23-word inscription in a history book, written in Latin by a medieval...

Folklore holds that Robin Hood was a fearless outlaw loathed by the rich and loved by the poor. Fighting injustice and tyranny, his gallantry became the stuff of legend - and Hollywood movies. But according to a newly-discovered manuscript entry it appears that Robin and his Merry Men may not have been as popular as the stories would have us believe.Written in Latin and buried among the treasures of Eton's library, the 23 sparse words shed new light on the Sheriff of Nottingham's mortal foe. Translated, the 550-year-old note reads: 'Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw...

A bottle-necked pit where hated outlaws including Robin Hood were imprisoned and starved or driven to insanity in the Middle Ages has been discovered by archaeologists in the underground caves of the Galleries of Justice Museum in Nottingham. Known as an oubliette (“to forget” in French), the hole was used as a holding cell for dissenters against the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the city’s favourite wealth-regulating son is believed to have been cast into it after being arrested by the Sheriff and his men at the nearby St Mary’s Church. “The opening was bricked over centuries ago, probably in the...

ROBIN HOOD'S PRISON? SHERIFF'S DUNGEON FOUND AT NOTTINGHAM GAOL By Caroline Lewis 17/10/2007 One of the above ground prison cells at the Galleries of Justice. © Galleries of Justice New evidence has been discovered that the medieval caves under Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice museum were once used by the Sheriff of Nottingham as a prison. The dark dungeon cells would have been in use when the Sheriff resided at the Shire Hall and County Gaol. “It is an exciting discovery,” said Tim Desmond, Chief Executive at the Galleries. “The cave has always been known as the ‘Sheriff’s Dungeon’, but until...

Robin Hood was really a Welsh freedom fighter who never even set foot in Nottingham let alone Sherwood Forest, a historian has claimed. The medieval outlaw - said to have robbed from the rich to give to the poor - never once met Maid Marian nor the Sheriff of Nottingham, according to Stephen Lawhead. The American blows apart the widely accepted version of the legend in his new book, Hood, arguing that Robin Hood was really a hardened Guerrilla based in the Valleys. But tourism chiefs in Nottingham have rubbished the theory, warning: "Hands off our Robin!" Lawhead, 56, believes...

'Robin Hood's escape tunnel found' Experts believe they've found a tunnel that allowed Robin Hood to escape from the Sheriff of Nottingham. The secret passageway found under the Galleries of Justice museum in Nottingham is eight feet below street level. Archaeologists excavating 14th-century manmade caves beneath the museum stumbled upon it accidentally when they broke through a rotten wood floor. The museum's curator Louise Connell says the tunnel leads towards St Mary's Church, where ancient documents say Robin sought sanctuary from the Sheriff 's men. The Evening Post says it's believed he used the tunnel to escape from the church,...

An African practice of “ironing” a girl’s chest with a hot stone to delay breast formation is spreading in the UK, with anecdotal evidence of dozens of recent cases, a Guardian investigation has established. Community workers in London, Yorkshire, Essex and the West Midlands have told the Guardian of cases in which pre-teen girls from the diaspora of several African countries are subjected to the painful, abusive and ultimately futile practice. Margaret Nyuydzewira, head of the diaspora group the Came Women and Girls Development Organisation (Cawogido), estimated that at least 1,000 women and girls in the UK had been subjected...

Hundreds of Steampunk fans have gathered in the quiet Yorkshire town of Haworth today for the annual gathering to celebrate the sub-culture. Revellers spared no expense on dressing up for the occasion, as fans of the science fiction sub-genre were pictured wearing Victorian-style clothing with a steam-powered twist. The culture is inspired by industrialised 19th century civilisation but comes with a metallic, retro technological addition to the clothing.

British satellite historians claim to have discovered the true location of an iconic American revolutionary ship which defeated the Royal Navy off the Yorkshire coast. The famous vessel, the USS Bonhomme Richard, was the first US ship to beat the Royal Navy in British waters before she sank on September 24, 1779. The location of the wreck has long been a mystery, but now a British satellite historian from Harrogate claims to have found it. Tim Akers, 60, used pioneering satellite radar techniques alongside British satellite firm Merlin Burrows to track down the buried vessel.

Two local councillors, one of whom is still serving, and a police officer have been accused of having sex with victims involved in the Rotherham child abuse scandal. The South Yorkshire Police constable at the centre of the allegations is also alleged to have passed on information to gangs grooming young girls in the town. A second police officer has been accused of neglecting his duties after failing to report his colleague. Both claims are being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

At the age of just 12, Sarah Wilson was made to have sex with multiple men a night while authorities“barely batted an eyelid”, the Rotherham grooming victim has revealed in memoirs of her ordeal. The now 23-year-old, and whose sister Laura was murdered at the hands of an ‘Asian’ boyfriend in 2010, says she was “just one of dozens of girls” in the town who were “exploited and viewed as white trash”. “Girls like me — and our families — were crying out for help, but no one listened,” she said. “Politicians were worried that addressing the issue of grooming...

Liam says he "loves" HullA new venue set to open in Hull has asked Liam Gallagher to perform at its opening event after his brother Noel called the Yorkshire city a “XXXXing XXXXhole”. Noel recently uttered the derogatory remarks onstage during a gig in the US, with former Oasis frontman Liam later telling a fan on Twitter that he himself “loves” Hull. In response, Hull Venue, a “state-of-the-art, music and events complex with a capacity of up to 3,500 people”, has now asked Liam if he fancies “showing Noel just how great a Hull audience is” by performing at their...

Campaigners have vowed to fight on despite losing a landmark High Court challenge against fracking in North Yorkshire. Residents from the village of Kirby Misperton in Ryedale failed in their bid to block the controversial technique from being used near their homes. It is the latest defeat for protesters, after the go-ahead was given for sites in Lancashire in October. Mrs. Justice Lang, sitting in London, dismissed an application for judicial review. She ruled that the terms and conditions afforded “a considerable degree of protection to residents” and the council’s decision was lawful. Fracking company Third Energy was granted permission...

A mother-of-one who developed cravings for sponge during her pregnancy has spoken out about her unusual addiction to foam. Vicky Cullen, 28, not only eats the padding in her own armchair but buys washing-up sponges to snack on and likes to add foam to her recipes when cooking. The single mother from Wakefield, South Yorkshire, estimated she has eaten her way through 2000 sponges since she developed the obsession when she was five-months pregnant with her daughter Olivia, now five. Vicky, who has been diagnosed with pica, an eating disorder which means adults ingest non-nutritive substances, said: 'It's weird to...

Members of the Ingleborough Archaeology Group gathered on a neolithic burial cairn at Low Hard Rigg on the slopes of Whernside to witness the rising of the mid-winter sun above the summit of Ingleborough. It is a practice that would probably have been carried out by our prehistoric antecedents 5,000 years ago. The alignment of the cairn with the winter solstice is thought to be highly significant. Yvonne Luke, of Historic England, said: "I shall never forget those last dramatic moments, ever!" More photos and a link to Yvonne's publication, The Neolithic Long Mounds of the Yorkshire Dales, can be...

Four freshman football players at a New York City college were arrested this week after robbing a bus driver in Jersey City's Journal Square last month, Port Authority police said. Alanta Barbour, 18, Albert Chisley, 19, Harvey Ray Robinson, 19, and Keonte Yorkshire, 18, were arrested Monday and charged with robbery in connection with the Oct. 15 incident in Journal Square, Port Authority police spokesman Joe Pentangelo said. The four men -- who are all members of the Globe Institute of Technology football team -- live in the same apartment on Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City, according to police

Walker discovers 5,000-year-old log path on moorFind to shed new light on Neolithic man Emma Dunlop FOR 5,000 years one of the world's oldest ever footpaths has remained a hidden secret, locked deep beneath the earth in South Yorkshire. That was until walker Mick Oliver quite literally stumbled across it while one day traipsing across Hatfield Moor, near Doncaster, shortly after it was re-opened to walkers in October last year. "I looked down and I could see a straight line. I thought, that's unusual, maybe it's a bog oak – a fossilised tree – so I'll go and have a...

At least 300 possible suspects have been identified by investigators probing the Rotherham child sex exploitation scandal. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said most of the potential suspects were Asian men, while the vast majority of victims were young British girls. The NCA launched a major investigation into the scandal after a damning report by Professor Alex Jay last year, revealed that as many as 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and groomed by mainly Asian gangs in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013. Following the revelations South Yorkshire police, which was criticised for its handling of abuse...

Found in a farmer's field: The 2,000-year-old skeleton of the lost lady of Rome By CHRIS BROOKE Last updated at 09:14am on 23rd November 2007 In her lifetime she was a member of a wealthy family based in a bustling British outpost of the world's mightiest empire. The imperial glory has long faded. But, almost 2,000 years on, archaeologists have discovered a corner of an English field that is forever Rome. They have unearthed a coffin containing a remarkably well-preserved skeleton in the village of Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire - once the site of a major Roman town, Isurium...

Anti-Israel British MP George Galloway will not be prosecuted over remarks in a speech during which he declared that his constituency, Bradford, was “an Israel-free zone”, reports Jewish News Online. The comments, made by the Bradford West MP in August, caused an outcry on social media and complaints were made to West Yorkshire Police. On Wednesday, the force said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) did not believe there was sufficient evidence to support charges but also said it had logged it as a “hate incident”. …