Robin Hood and Little John
Whilst tales of the exploits of Robin Hood and his Merry Men are popularly attributed to Nottingham, Derbyshire retains a lot of landmarks that are directly named after Robin Hood or are attached to his legend. One place in particular is the town of Hathersage. Robin Hood’s stalwart companion, to the very end, Little John is said to have been born and returned to die in Hathersage. It is barely 30 miles from both Loxley, where Robin Hood was - allegedly - born and from Kirklees, where he - also allegedly - died, with Little John at his side and it is the story of Little John’s death at Hathersage that really seems to bring the Robin Hood story to its full conclusion.
An old Derbyshire ballad recounts the story that, when Robin Hood had met his death, through betrayal by the Abbess at Kirklees, Little John and Robin’s remaining men departed and went their separate ways. Some, the ballad recounts, simply disappeared from note, others were pardoned, some turned to more peaceful trades and some went overseas to fight in the crusades. Wracked with loneliness, Little John wandered here and there, to many of his and Robin’s old haunts, until he began to yearn for his home, at Hathersage.
Falling asleep under an old oak tree, Little John had a mysterious dream, where a figure warned him three times to avoid the churchyard at St Michael’s, in Hathersage, upon pain of death. Upon awakening, Little John changed his path, so that he might avoid being slain at St Michael’s. The ballad goes on to say that Little John wandered far and lonely; bootless and in a land where the birds did not sing and a dreary wind endlessly blasted him - perhaps one of the many bleak moorlands above Hathersage? At last, a dense fog surrounded Little John and he wandered lost, sickening and cold. When the morning came, the fog began to lift and Little John found himself surrounded by mighty stones, edging a barren moor. As the fog cleared, Little John stumbled upon a shepherd and asked him where he was, the shepherd replied that he was upon St Michael’s ground and then pointed out the spire of the church that emerged, as the fog dissipated completely. Realising his fate, Little John wandered into Hathersage, where he was warmly greeted and begged by the townsfolk to remain. Little John dug his own grave there and then, and retired to a little inn, close by. Sure enough, three days later, gentle Little John was found dead and the good people of Hathersage laid him in his grave, as per his instructions. The ballad finishes with the following words:
His bow was in the chancel hung
His last good bolt they drave* (*drove)
Down to the nocke*, its measured length, (*the grooved end of the arrow, where the string fits)
Westward fra'* the grave. (*from)
And root and bud this shaft put forth
When spring returned anon
It grew a tree, and threw a shade,
Where slept staunch Little John.
Little John’s Grave stands in the churchyard of St Michael’s Church, in Hathersage, where you can visit it to this day. The church is a 10 minute walk, east, out of Hathersage and Little John’s Grave is easily found in the churchyard. Whilst it has a modern headstone, giving a brief outline of the character, the actual grave is original. It is very long, around 10 feet, attesting to the size of the man interred therein. Originally, the grave was supposed to have had a stone at either end. Little John’s cap and bow were said to have hung for some years, in the chancel of the church, until they were removed in the 18th-19th century, though, as to where, no-one seems to agree. At some point, the body was disinterred and a thigh bone was measured at over 30 inches! This would have meant that the man buried there would have been at least 7 feet tall! Little John is a play on the famous outlaw’s original name, John Little, coined by Robin Hood himself, as an ironic jest.
© Simon Unsworth, 2025
An old Derbyshire ballad recounts the story that, when Robin Hood had met his death, through betrayal by the Abbess at Kirklees, Little John and Robin’s remaining men departed and went their separate ways. Some, the ballad recounts, simply disappeared from note, others were pardoned, some turned to more peaceful trades and some went overseas to fight in the crusades. Wracked with loneliness, Little John wandered here and there, to many of his and Robin’s old haunts, until he began to yearn for his home, at Hathersage.
Falling asleep under an old oak tree, Little John had a mysterious dream, where a figure warned him three times to avoid the churchyard at St Michael’s, in Hathersage, upon pain of death. Upon awakening, Little John changed his path, so that he might avoid being slain at St Michael’s. The ballad goes on to say that Little John wandered far and lonely; bootless and in a land where the birds did not sing and a dreary wind endlessly blasted him - perhaps one of the many bleak moorlands above Hathersage? At last, a dense fog surrounded Little John and he wandered lost, sickening and cold. When the morning came, the fog began to lift and Little John found himself surrounded by mighty stones, edging a barren moor. As the fog cleared, Little John stumbled upon a shepherd and asked him where he was, the shepherd replied that he was upon St Michael’s ground and then pointed out the spire of the church that emerged, as the fog dissipated completely. Realising his fate, Little John wandered into Hathersage, where he was warmly greeted and begged by the townsfolk to remain. Little John dug his own grave there and then, and retired to a little inn, close by. Sure enough, three days later, gentle Little John was found dead and the good people of Hathersage laid him in his grave, as per his instructions. The ballad finishes with the following words:
His bow was in the chancel hung
His last good bolt they drave* (*drove)
Down to the nocke*, its measured length, (*the grooved end of the arrow, where the string fits)
Westward fra'* the grave. (*from)
And root and bud this shaft put forth
When spring returned anon
It grew a tree, and threw a shade,
Where slept staunch Little John.
Little John’s Grave stands in the churchyard of St Michael’s Church, in Hathersage, where you can visit it to this day. The church is a 10 minute walk, east, out of Hathersage and Little John’s Grave is easily found in the churchyard. Whilst it has a modern headstone, giving a brief outline of the character, the actual grave is original. It is very long, around 10 feet, attesting to the size of the man interred therein. Originally, the grave was supposed to have had a stone at either end. Little John’s cap and bow were said to have hung for some years, in the chancel of the church, until they were removed in the 18th-19th century, though, as to where, no-one seems to agree. At some point, the body was disinterred and a thigh bone was measured at over 30 inches! This would have meant that the man buried there would have been at least 7 feet tall! Little John is a play on the famous outlaw’s original name, John Little, coined by Robin Hood himself, as an ironic jest.
© Simon Unsworth, 2025