Little John’s Bow Found

Posted by Robert Fortunaso, 26/7/2023

Revised, 13/12/23

Little John’s supposed bow has been returned to Cannon Hall, a donation by James Fraser in 2022. James is a descendant of the Spencer-Stanhope family who owned the Hall until the 1950’s. The bow has now been conserved and was on display in the Cannon Hall Museum, but is currently back in storage. The bow has a chequered history interwoven with various families, and the hearsay of various individuals.

Here is a brief summary:

Little John’s bow was recorded as being suspended in Hathersage church, in 1652. Benjamin Ashton, the squire of Hathersage, died in 1725, and his Hathersage estate passed to his sister Christiana Spencer (she had married William Spencer of Cannon Hall near Barnsley in 1715). The bow was removed from Hathersage Church to Cannon Hall by William Spencer or his son John in the eighteenth century, probably after 1729. John’s sister Ann Spencer married Walter Stanhope who assumed the name Spencer-Stanhope and the bow remained at Cannon Hall in the possession of the Spencer-Stanhope family. The house was acquired by the Barnsley Corporation in 1951 and the bow remained on loan for several years at Cannon Hall. Mr J. Spencer-Stanhope left the bow to his daughter, Elizabeth Frazer (she married Lt. Com. later rear Admiral, the Hon George Frazer in 1920). Their son Mr Simon Frazer had the bow at his home in Scotland in 1980.

The bow is in a later case made from mahogany and its dimensions are 30mm h x 40mm d x 2000mm w. A note in the case reads, ‘at Cannon Hall The Celebrated Bow of Little John of Sherwood … measures.. 6ft 7in.’*

* This information was kindly supplied by the Cannon Hall Museum, 21/7/2023.

Some websites claim that Little John’s bow and cap are on display in Parham House, West Sussex, but this is incorrect. I have received confirmation from Parham House on 25/7/23 that there is no record of either ever having been there. The bow and cap’s association with Parham House possibly originated with Sir Sibbald David Scott’s claim in 1868, that Little John’s helmet and bow were suspended in Hathersage Church until 1784, and that both of these ‘are now in the Parham Collection’. See, The British Army: Its Origin, Progress, and Equipment.

The bow was recorded as being suspended in Hathersage church, in 1652, but also hanging in the church at some stage, were other items said to have belonged to Little John: a cuirass (a type of chain armour), some arrows, and a green cloth cap. J. Charles Cox (Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, volume two, published in 1877) tells us that the bow and other relics (including the cuirass and cap), ‘formerly hung over the altar-tomb of the first Robert Eyre, of Padley.’ Cox has revealed the possibility that the bow and cuirass could have actually belonged to Robert Eyre’s father, Nicholas Eyre, of Hope, who took part in the battle of Agincourt (in 1415). The cuirass would make a better fit with a military man, rather than a forester like Little John.*

* There is a tentative link between the Eyre family and Little John’s bow and grave. James Pilkington, in his View of the Present State of Derbyshire,Volume two, published in 1789, says: ‘In the chancel of the church is a monument with several figures, in the dress of the times, engraven in brass, and with a latin inscription, of which the following is a translation: Pray for the souls of the venerable man Mr. Ralph Eyre, formerly of Offerton, in the county of Derby, gent. and of Elizabeth his wife, which Ralph died in the year 1493.’ Ebenezer Rhodes (Peak Scenery: or, The Derbyshire Tourist published in 1824) says: ‘A tall man from Offerton, who on account of his stature had probably obtained the name of Robin Hood’s faithful follower, was interred in this place: hence originated this village tradition; and that it might be rendered still more marvellous, when the bones were re-committed to the grave, the stones that originally marked the stature of the tall man of Offerton were removed farther apart.’

The bow was removed from Hathersage Church to Cannon Hall by William Spencer or his son John in the eighteenth century, probably after 1729. As for the cuirass, arrows, and cap, their whereabouts is unknown. According to the Rev. Charles Spencer Stanhope (Joseph Hunter’s Hallamshire (A New and Enlarged Edition, by the Rev. Alfred Gatty, published in 1869): ‘There is a bow at Cannon Hall, said to have been the bow of Little John, bearing on it the name of Col. Naylor, 1715, who, tradition said, was the last man who bent it and shot a deer with it. There was also a cuirass of chain mail, and an arrow or two, which were said to have belonged to Little John, but these were lost in repairs of the house about 1780; but I have heard my father say that the cuirass had been much reduced by people stealing rings from it for memory.’ Anna Maria Wilhelmina Stirling (Annals of a Yorkshire House, Volume two, published in 1911) says: ‘his great bow with some arrows and a lot of chain armour were hanging in Hathersage church, together, it is said, with a green cap suspended by a chain; but when William Spencer became possessed of Hathersage, he caused the bow and armour to be removed to Cannon Hall for safer keeping.’ J. W. Walker (The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal of 1944) says: ‘Little John’s cuirass of chain mail, his bow and arrows hung for many years in the chancel of Hathersage church, but were removed by William Spencer, when he became possessed of Hathersage in 1729, to Cannon Hall for better security. Unfortunately during the alterations to Cannon Hall by the architect, John Carr, in 1778, for the reception of Walter Spencer-Stanhope’s bride, Winifred Pulleine, the cuirass disappeared, and has never since been traced.’ Percy Valentine Harris (The Truth About Robin Hood, first published in 1951) says: ‘This bow, together with a couple of arrows and a cuirass of chain mail, were removed from the church and taken to Cannon Hall, near Barnsley, where the bow is still kept, though the cuirass was lost in a fire many years ago.’ J. W. Walker (The True History of Robin Hood (West Yorkshire Print. Co., Wakefield, 1952) provides similar information from his article in The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal of 1944: ‘Little John’s cuirass of chain-mail, his bow and arrows hung for many years in the chancel of Hathersage church, but were removed by William Spencer, when he became possessed of Hathersage in 1729, for better security as was thought, to Cannon Hall. Unfortunately, during the alterations to that house by the architect, John Carr in 1778 for the reception of Walter Stanhope’s bride, Winifred Pulleine, the cuirass disappeared, and has never been recovered.’ Walker also says that ‘Mrs. Spencer-Stanhope has deposited Little John’s Bow in the Wakefield Museum on long loan.’ Percy Valentine Harris also mentions that the bow ‘is now in the Wakefield Museum’, but I can find no evidence that it was ever there.*

* ‘J. W. Walker says that the owners, the Stanhope family, gave it to the Wakefield Museum although there is no longer any record of its whereabouts. (The museum staff believe that it was taken to a manor in Scotland.)’ See, Phillips and Keatman (Robin Hood: The Man Behind the Myth, Michael O’Mara Books Limited, London 1995, p. 104).

According to Spencer T. Hall (The Peak and the Plain, published in 1853), Little John’s cap was kept hanging by a chain in the church but was taken by a party of “great folk” from Yorkshire. Quoting Jenny Sherd, Hall states: ‘Jenny said she remembered all this very well; and, with every other old person in the village, had a particularly distinct recollection of the green cap that hung in the church, and which “everybody knew” to be Little John’s.’ William Bemrose Junior (The Reliquary, Quarterly Archaeological Journal and Review of 1868-69) says: ‘It is asserted that until within the last sixty or seventy years, his cap – a green cloth one – still hung high in the chancel, but was then taken away by some people from Yorkshire, who also despoiled his grave, and took away the thigh bones, which were found to be of immense length.’ According to J. Charles Cox (Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, volume two, published in 1877): ‘It will be noticed that the Rev. C. S. Stanhope makes no allusion to Little John’s cap. If this “Cap” had been still extant, it would have been of much value in testing the question of the position held by its owner, and of more worth than the bow as to comparative antiquity; but a letter addressed to us by Walter Spencer Stanhope, Esq., M.P., the present owner of Cannon Hall, dated 2^nd June, 1876, says:- “I never heard of any cap having been part of the relics of Little John which were brought to Cannon Hall, neither is there any such article now preserved here.’”

Carved on the bow is the date 1715 and the name of Col. Naylor. This is referred to by Joseph Ritson (Robin Hood a Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads first published in 1795): ‘As surnames were by no means in general use at the close of the twelfth century, Little John may have obtained that of Nailor from his original profession.’ Ritson continues: ‘But however this, or the fact itself may be, a bow said to have belonged to Little John, with the name of Naylor upon it, is now, as the editor is informed, in the possession of a gentleman in the west riding of Yorkshire.’ The Rev. Charles Spencer Stanhope (Joseph Hunter’s Hallamshire (A New and Enlarged Edition, by the Rev. Alfred Gatty, published in 1869) says: ‘There is a bow at Cannon Hall, said to have been the bow of Little John, bearing on it the name of Col. Naylor, 1715, who, tradition said, was the last man who bent it and shot a deer with it.’ This is elaborated by Anna Maria Wilhelmina Stirling (Annals of a Yorkshire House, Volume two, published in 1911): ‘Colonel Naylor, a relation of the Spencers, is supposed to have been the last man who ever strung the bow. I bears his name with the date 1715, when he is said to have shot a deer with it, the horn at both points being then perfect. It required a power of 160 lb. to draw it to its full. It is of spliced yew, and above feet long, although the ends where the horns were attached are now broken off.’ J. W. Walker (The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal of 1944) gives a similar account: ‘I have examined the bow which is made of spliced yew, about six feet in length, though the ends where the horn tips were attached are broken off. It required a power of 160 pounds to draw the bow to its full extent. Only 60 pounds is the power used by men now at archery meetings. Carved on the bow is the date 1715 and the name of Col. Naylor, who in that year strung the bow and shot a stag with it. It has never been strung since.’ Percy Valentine Harris (The Truth About Robin Hood, first published in 1951) says: ‘The bow was last used by a Col. Naylor in 1715, a curious coincidence, as Ritson says that Little John’s name was Nailor, and that his descendents were living in the Hathersage district “to this day.”’ J. W. Walker (The True History of Robin Hood (West Yorkshire Print. Co., Wakefield, 1952) gives similar information to that supplied in The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal of 1944: ‘I have examined the bow which was preserved at Cannon Hall until the Hall was sold in 1951, and Mrs. Spencer Stanhope retired to Banks Hall, Cawthorne. The bow is made of spliced yew, 6 feet 7 inches long, though the ends where the horn tips were attached are broken off, its girth at the centre is 5 inches, and its weight is 21 lbs. 2 ounces. It required a power of 160 pounds to draw the bow to its full extent. 60 pounds is the power now used by most men at archery meetings. Carved on the bow is the date 1715 and the name of Colonel Naylor, who in that year strung the bow and shot a buck with it at Cannon Park. It has never been strung since. At the time the two horns at the ends of the bow were perfect.’

Col. Naylor’s involvement with the bow has never been properly explained. According to Anna Maria Wilhelmina Stirling he was a relation of the Spencers [of Cannon Hall], but I cannot find any official record that relates to this person. If he did use the bow in 1715, he must have taken it from Hathersage Church, then returned it: the bow was removed from the church to Cannon Hall, by William Spencer or his son John, in the eighteenth century, probably after 1729.