Pierce Egan’s neglected 1832 poem “The Queen of the Bow” transformed a seventeenth-century Robin Hood ballad into a polished pastoral for contemporary sports readers. Drawing upon classical imagery and antiquarian scholarship, it presents Clorinda—not Maid Marian—as Robin’s wife and a formidable huntress, revealing the legend’s continuing imaginative, remarkable flexibility.
Explore how working-class, Black, Jewish, and ethnic minority boxers shaped the golden age of prizefighting. This article examines Daniel Mendoza, Bill Richmond, Tom Molineaux, class, race, and Georgian boxing culture, showing how the prize ring offered fame and opportunity while exposing prejudice, exploitation, and exclusion.
While editing Joseph Ritson’s Robin Hood (1795), I stumbled upon an unexpected reference to “the sweet science” of boxing. This small detail opens a window into Georgian England, where Ritson’s antiquarian scholarship met the vibrant popular culture of his age. His nod to “the boasted worthies of the knuckle” reminds us that Robin Hood was never just a medieval study—it was also a reflection of eighteenth-century London life, where learning, liberty, and pugilism could coexist.