Editing Yeoman (section)

=== Sir Walter Scott ===
{{anchor|Ivanhoe}}
{{Main|Ivanhoe}}
Walter Scott's ''Ivanhoe: a Romance'' was published to an English audience that was experiencing a medieval revival.{{r|1965_Chandler|p=315-8}} His notes show that he had read much of the medieval poetry and chronicles which were reprinted during the 17th and 18th centuries. ''Ivanhoe'' was "... an historical reconstruction of 12th century England in the spiritual image of the 19th."{{r|1961_Simeone|p=230}} Scott's highly detailed medieval setting attracts the interest of his reading audience; but his characters behave in a 19th-century manner in order to retain that interest. It was a device Scott employed to explore the struggle between good and evil in the guise of the struggle between the Anglo-Saxons and their Norman overlords shortly after the [[Norman conquest of England|Conquest]].{{r|1961_Simeone|p=230}}

[[File:Fairbanks_Robin_Hood_standing_by_wall_w_sword.jpg|thumb|[[Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood|Robin Hood as portrayed by Douglas Fairbanks]] (1922)]]
Scott invented The Captain/Locksley/Robin Hood (hereafter referred to as Locksley) by drawing from [[Thomas Percy (bishop of Dromore)|Thomas Percy's]] ''[[Reliques of Ancient English Poetry|Reliques]]'' (1765) and [[Joseph Ritson|Joseph Ritson's]] ''Robin Hood'' (1795), which contained all that was known at the time about the heroic outlaw.{{r|1961_Simeone|p=230}} However, Scott's Locksley is closest to the yeoman depicted in [[A Gest of Robyn Hode]]. Simeone points out that Scott deliberately made Robin Hood a yeoman as well as an outcast in order to show that ordinary men, and not just the rich and powerful, have an important part to play in the making of a nation. Scott re-inforced his point by having Gurth and Wamba, [[thrall]]s of Cedric, play pivotal roles as well.{{r|1961_Simeone|p=230-1}} This was a new concept at the time, as it was during this period (1775–1779) that the [[American Revolution]] and the [[French Revolution]] occurred.

Scott refashioned the traditional hero of the Robin Hood ballads into an ancestral hero who would crush the misrule of evil men and restore the rightful rule of law.{{r|1961_Simeone|p=230}}He demonstrates Locksley's physical superiority with the victory in the archery contest at the Tournament of Ashby. Locksley's ability to lead men in the field is displayed at the attack on Torquilstone castle. At the victory feast under the [[Trysting tree|Tryst Tree]], Locksley shares his high table with Cedric, the Saxon franklin, and the Norman Black Knight. His sense of justice supports the democratic system set up by the outlaws concerning the division of the spoils. Locksley's insistence on the Black Knight taking the horn as protection against Prince John's evil henchman Fitzurse demonstrates that he bows to the lawful authority of the King.{{r|1961_Simeone|p=231-2}} In turn, the King himself bows to the noble spirit of the Yeoman:
{{Quote box |border=2px |align=left |salign=right |author=Walter Scott, ''Ivanhoe'', p. 661<ref name=1868_Ivanhoe/>
|quote=For he that does good, having the unlimited power to do evil, deserves praise not only for the good which he performs, but for the evil which he forbears
}}
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