166-565: Beverly Gray is a series of mystery stories comprising 26 novels, and published between 1934 and 1955, by Clair Blank , the pen name of Clarissa Mabel Blank Moyer. The novels began as a series of school stories, following the progress of Beverly, its main character, through college, various romances, and a career as a reporter, before evolving strictly into a mystery series. Beverly is portrayed as an extraordinarily determined individual, with "a driving ambition in her heart that would not let her idle her life away." Across 26 books, she leads "such
332-531: A "long, evil-looking scar." The man warns Beverly of "ghosts," introduces himself as "the head ghost," and escorts her "roughly" to the door. Beverly gains reentry through a back window and discovers "pink packets filled with a finely ground powder" in the mansion's attic. Beverly leaves without taking a sample, and when she returns three days later "all the boxes [are] gone." The mystery deepens when various Alpha Delta girls observe "a skeleton dance" on successive nights, where ten skeletons move in "queer jerky steps" in
498-513: A Vernon victory. In the course of the match, Beverly once again injures her ankle and nearly collapses from exhaustion. The six seniors and six juniors have mended their ties by the end of the year. The seniors invite the juniors to join Alpha Delta as "full-fledged members." From there the chapter titles tell the story: The Senior Prom, Senior Dinner, Commencement, and Auld Lang Syne. Jim Stanton and Tommy Chandler (another old friend) appear at
664-476: A celebration in her honor. The college dean gives a toast, and Beverly is given an engraved watch. Beverly Gray, Sophomore explores the mystery that the series would become known for. Beverly spends most of her year investigating a seemingly haunted mansion used by drug smugglers. She also manages to foil a jewel theft over winter break, survive a plane crash, and solve the theft of a set of history examination questions. Now in their second year at Vernon College,
830-502: A chance to "reform," tell the dean of the fire without mentioning May's involvement, and head back to their dormitory to sleep. By the concluding chapter is it June, "and time to part for the summer vacation." Beverly has been elected class president for the coming year. "She was so typically the American College Girl. Her warm-heartedness and sense of fair play and good sportsmanship had won for her an army of friends. It
996-435: A fire. Beverly ends up in the college infirmary with her mother watching over her, and Shirley visits to offer her friendship. The remainder of Beverly's first year passes quickly. Shirley performs in a play and is asked to join a theater company over the summer. Tom, who witnesses her performance, is rebuffed again when he attempts to woo her. He returns as Beverly and Shirley walk back to their dormitory, confronting them with
1162-584: A gode felawe. And in its final lines the Gest sums up: he was a good outlawe, And dyde pore men moch god. Within Robin Hood's band, medieval forms of courtesy rather than modern ideals of equality are generally in evidence. In the early ballad, Robin's men usually kneel before him in strict obedience: in A Gest of Robyn Hode the king even observes that " His men are more at his byddynge/Then my men be at myn. " Their social status, as yeomen,
1328-437: A group of gypsies . Her rescue does come in time, however, for a few parting adventures: Winter break sees Beverly and Shirley suffer skiing and ice skating injuries, while the attempts by May Norris to sabotage Shirley's role as Hamlet in the school play ultimately effect her redemption. A band of gypsies has set up camp on the outskirts of Vernon. The six Alpha Delta girls visit them to have their fortunes told. They are met at
1494-487: A life of adventure as would tax the resources of any soap opera heroine". *This title was dropped from the series in 1938. Beverly Gray, Freshman is the first book in the Beverly Gray series. Published concurrently in 1934 with Sophomore , Junior , and Senior , it introduces Beverly as a freshman at Vernon College. Beverly makes her first appearance as she steps off the train carrying her to Vernon College. She
1660-537: A lost Robin Hood play for Henry VIII's court, and that this play may have been one of Munday's sources. Henry VIII himself with eleven of his nobles had impersonated "Robyn Hodes men" as part of his "Maying" in 1510. Robin Hood is known to have appeared in a number of other lost and extant Elizabethan plays . In 1599, the play George a Green, the Pinner of Wakefield places Robin Hood in the reign of Edward IV . Edward I ,
1826-487: A number of unreliable sources, such as the Robin Hood plays of Anthony Munday and the Sloane Manuscript. Nevertheless, Dobson and Taylor credit Ritson with having 'an incalculable effect in promoting the still continuing quest for the man behind the myth', and note that his work remains an 'indispensable handbook to the outlaw legend even now'. Ritson's friend Walter Scott used Ritson's anthology collection as
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#17327910039451992-464: A play by George Peele first performed in 1590–91, incorporates a Robin Hood game played by the characters. Llywelyn the Great , the last independent Prince of Wales , is presented playing Robin Hood. Fixing the Robin Hood story to the 1190s had been first proposed by John Major in his Historia Majoris Britanniæ (1521), (and he also may have been influenced in so doing by the story of Warin); this
2158-470: A police investigation and ordered him to take Beverly away for a while. Beverly realizes that Anselo's loyalty still lies with the gypsies and not with her. The gypsies migrate to a new camp, and Anselo proposes to take Beverly to the County Fair if she promises not to run away. The other gypsies are unaware of his plan, and they continue their usual pattern of cheating and stealing. At the fair, Beverly
2324-561: A ransom note demanding $ 10,000 from Shirley's parents, the Parkers. She informs Lenora, Rosalie, Miss Wilder, Mrs. Dennis and the Parkers. In two days time, Beverly and Lenora place the ransom money in "a hollow tree stump" near the old Horler Mansion. They then hide in the house, watching the stump from upstairs. The kidnappers arrive, and Beverly hides in the trunk of their car. She is taken to an "old house," "three stories" tall with shades "drawn tight to shut out prying eyes." Beverly waits for
2490-460: A revolver and demanding ten thousand dollars from Shirley's rich father, threatening to sell the "story of the rich Shirley Parker who was going to run away with a thief" to the newspapers. Shirley calls his bluff, and Beverly whacks his wrist with a stick causing him to drop the gun. Tom leaves, and Shirley keeps his revolver as a memento. The book ends with a going-away party at the students' favorite ice cream parlor, where Beverly's friends gather for
2656-463: A sailor' with a new lover 'in every town.'" Beverly Gray at the World's Fair , the sixth work by Blank, was issued for a short window from 1935 to 1938 before being dropped from the series. Because of fears that the book's setting would seem dated, publication of World's Fair was ceased after Grosset & Dunlap acquired the rights to the Beverly Gray books in 1938. Due to this limited printing run it
2822-482: A shift from her previous "violent dislike" of "all the Alpha girls." Her true nature is revealed on the day of the play, when she convinces Shirley to investigate "[m]ysterious lights and figures that have been seen in the old Horler Mansion again." Shirley relents when May accuses her of being "afraid of the ghosts," and May promptly locks her in the attic where Beverly had been imprisoned the previous year. Luckily, Beverly
2988-611: A source for his picture of Robin Hood in Ivanhoe , written in 1818, which did much to shape the modern legend . In the decades following the publication of Ritson's book, other ballad collections would occasionally publish stray Robin Hood ballads Ritson had missed. In 1806, Robert Jamieson published the earliest known Robin Hood ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk in Volume II of his Popular Ballads and Songs From Tradition . In 1846,
3154-726: A typist for the Keystone Pipeline Company , a subsidiary of the Atlantic Refining Company . In 1940, she became a secretary there, and, still living with her parents, earned about $ 1,500 a year. She joined the American Women's Voluntary Services during World War II , where she drove U.S. Army officers when they came to town. In addition to the Beverly Gray series, Blank authored four other novels. The first three, comprising
3320-526: A variety of sources, including apparently "A Gest of Robin Hood", and were influential in fixing the story of Robin Hood to the period of Richard I . Stephen Thomas Knight has suggested that Munday drew heavily on Fulk Fitz Warin , a historical 12th century outlawed nobleman and enemy of King John , in creating his Robin Hood. The play identifies Robin Hood as Robert, Earl of Huntingdon , following in Richard Grafton's association of Robin Hood with
3486-444: A walk in the woods, during which he suggests she has "the gypsy heart." Beverly admits that "the roving life fascinates me." She nevertheless complains that "Gypsies don't like to work. . . . That is why they are so restless. They roam about, living on what the earth produces." The conversation ends when the pair see Larry's airplane overhead, which Beverly recognizes. Anselo refuses to return to camp, admitting that Dimiti had anticipated
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#17327910039453652-602: Is Robin Hood and Little John telling the famous story of the quarter-staff fight between the two outlaws. Dobson and Taylor wrote, 'More generally the Robin of the broadsides is a much less tragic, less heroic and in the last resort less mature figure than his medieval predecessor'. In most of the broadside ballads Robin Hood remains a plebeian figure, a notable exception being Martin Parker 's attempt at an overall life of Robin Hood, A True Tale of Robin Hood , which also emphasises
3818-528: Is "aloof" and "patronizing." These girls variously join Beverly in the seven chapters preceding winter break, where they break curfew to view a movie (chapter 2); are caught (chapter 3); are hazed by the sophomores and juniors (chapter 4); gain revenge by crashing the junior and sophomore masquerade dance (chapter 5); scrape through a geometry examination (chapter 6); and beat the juniors in a basketball game (chapter 7). Winter break sees Beverly and Anne reunite
3984-413: Is "put in every newspaper in the country." The first purported news is that a "girl matching Beverly's description" was in a Vernon art shop the night of her disappearance, when it was robbed by a man "believed to be a gypsy." He had stolen the girl's wristwatch, and she had given chase. Although the shop owner offers conflicting descriptions, the Alpha Delta girls know Beverly is attached to her watch, which
4150-472: Is a homicidal escapee from a sanitarium. Bertha believes Beverly to be the daughter for whose death she was responsible and starts treating her ankle. During Beverly's second night of captivity, she sneaks away while Bertha sleeps. Unfortunately, she falls into a pit trap and climbs out to find herself face to face with a bear. Bertha arrives and fights the animal. They return to the cabin, where Beverly's father shows up to rescue her, and Bertha escapes. During
4316-576: Is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor . According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman . In some versions of the legend, he is depicted as being of noble birth, and in modern retellings he is sometimes depicted as having fought in the Crusades before returning to England to find his lands taken by
4482-678: Is a literary version) and presided over the French May festivities; "This Robin and Marion tended to preside, in the intervals of the attempted seduction of the latter by a series of knights, over a variety of rustic pastimes." In the Jeu de Robin and Marion , Robin and his companions have to rescue Marion from the clutches of a "lustful knight". This play is distinct from the English legends, although Dobson and Taylor regard it as 'highly probable' that this French Robin's name and functions travelled to
4648-520: Is accompanied by her childhood friend, Anne White. They attend Vernon to follow in their mothers' footsteps. Beverly's mother is described as "the patron saint of Vernon College". The two girls settle into life at Vernon College, where Beverly's paternal surname affords her anonymity as she attempts to succeed "on her own merits, not under another's colors." Three of the other four freshmen in her dormitory, Lenora Whitehill, Rosalie Arnold, and Lois Mason, prove friendly, while Beverly's roommate Shirley Parker
4814-403: Is also mentioned in a famous Lollard tract dated to the first half of the fifteenth century (thus also possibly predating his other earliest historical mentions) alongside several other folk heroes such as Guy of Warwick , Bevis of Hampton , and Sir Lybeaus . However, the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads that tell his story date to the second half of the 15th century, or
4980-438: Is aware of May's plan, having intentionally eavesdropped on a conversation between May and her roommate. She hurries to the mansion and frees Shirley, who returns just in time to impress the audience with her performance. After the show, a movie producer stops by the dressing room to announce his intention of making "a motion picture [at Vernon College] next year." He suggests the girls audition for minor parts before departing. As
5146-512: Is from the alliterative poem Piers Plowman , thought to have been composed in the 1370s, followed shortly afterwards by a quotation of a later common proverb, "many men speak of Robin Hood and never shot his bow", in Friar Daw's Reply ( c. 1402) and a complaint in Dives and Pauper (1405–1410) that people would rather listen to "tales and songs of Robin Hood" than attend Mass. Robin Hood
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5312-594: Is generally regarded as in substance a genuine late medieval ballad. In 1795, Joseph Ritson published an enormously influential edition of the Robin Hood ballads Robin Hood: A collection of all the Ancient Poems Songs and Ballads now extant, relative to that celebrated Outlaw . 'By providing English poets and novelists with a convenient source book, Ritson gave them the opportunity to recreate Robin Hood in their own imagination,' Ritson's collection included
5478-691: Is invited to Renville. Assuring Beverly that (despite being from New York) she will not find Renville dull, Shirley hints at the premise for The Adventure Girls at K Bar O when she declares that "I spent one summer on a ranch in Arizona." Beverly, Shirley and Anne leave shortly before Christmas for home, where the Lucky Circle (sans Jim) is reunited. The usual celebrations and gaiety intersperse themselves among several close calls. Shirley and Beverly barely avoid crashing into Anne and Joan's "wrecked sled." Shirley learns to ski, only to be knocked unconscious at
5644-798: Is listed as a knitter. Blank attended Herbst Elementary School at 5th and Chew streets in Allentown until she was about ten. Her family then moved to the Olney section of Philadelphia . In contrast to her parents, who only completed nine years of schooling, Blank graduated from Olney High School with honors and published the first four what were ultimately 24 books in her Beverly Gray series by age 18. She then attended Peirce School of Business Administration , now Peirce College, in Philadelphia. Blank began her career in Philadelphia as
5810-546: Is more gracious to Tommy, who announces to the group that "Anne has promised to marry me." "Three weeks later the little church on the hill was the scene of the simple but impressive ceremony that joined the two young people together for all time." The newly expanded Alpha Delta Sorority, along with the Lucky Circle, all join in the festivities before Anne and Tommy depart on honeymoon to "the Golden west." Lenora declares that she will never settle down, insisting she wants 'the life of
5976-452: Is more than a mere simpleton: on the contrary, he often acts with great shrewdness. The tinker, setting out to capture Robin, only manages to fight with him after he has been cheated out of his money and the arrest warrant he is carrying. In Robin Hood's Golden Prize , Robin disguises himself as a friar and cheats two priests out of their cash. Even when Robin is defeated, he usually tricks his foe into letting him sound his horn, summoning
6142-460: Is no broadside version of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne or of Robin Hood and the Monk , which did not appear in print until the 18th and 19th centuries respectively. However, the Gest was reprinted from time to time throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. No surviving broadside ballad can be dated with certainty before the 17th century, but during that century, the commercial broadside ballad became
6308-686: Is not poor, but it seems in context that Robin Hood is stating a general policy. The first explicit statement to the effect that Robin Hood habitually robbed from the rich to give the poor can be found in John Stow 's Annales of England (1592), about a century after the publication of the Gest. But from the beginning Robin Hood is on the side of the poor; the Gest quotes Robin Hood as instructing his men that when they rob: loke ye do no husbonde harme That tilleth with his ploughe. No more ye shall no gode yeman That walketh by gren-wode shawe; Ne no knyght ne no squyer That wol be
6474-623: Is not that children did not read Robin Hood stories before, but this is the first appearance of a Robin Hood literature specifically aimed at them. A very influential example of these children's novels was Pierce Egan the Younger 's Robin Hood and Little John (1840). This was adapted into French by Alexandre Dumas in Le Prince des Voleurs (1872) and Robin Hood Le Proscrit (1873). Egan made Robin Hood of noble birth but raised by
6640-645: Is often depicted as assisting Prince John in usurping the rightful but absent King Richard , to whom Robin Hood remains loyal. He became a popular folk figure in the Late Middle Ages , and his partisanship of the common people and opposition to the Sheriff are some of the earliest-recorded features of the legend, whereas his political interests and setting during the Angevin era developed in later centuries. The earliest known ballads featuring him are from
6806-477: Is shot by the inspector before inflicting any harm. The next day, Beverly and Larry arrive at the inspector's office and the final details of the mystery are explained. Larry is employed by the Secret Service and has been chasing the gang of smugglers from the beginning. His partner is revealed to have been the unknown man who was shot, a crime to which Pete confesses. Other smugglers were also involved, and
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6972-418: Is shown by their weapons: they use swords rather than quarterstaffs . The only character to use a quarterstaff in the early ballads is the potter, and Robin Hood does not take to a staff until the 17th-century Robin Hood and Little John . The political and social assumptions underlying the early Robin Hood ballads have long been controversial. J. C. Holt influentially argued that the Robin Hood legend
7138-400: Is spotted simultaneously by Gerry and Dimiti, who is there trading horses. Anselo takes Beverly back to her wagon, where she is joined that afternoon by an irate Dimiti. He claims to have "slashed" Anselo with a knife, and he attempts to seduce Beverly. In the ensuing struggle, Beverly thrusts Dimiti's knife "deep into the flesh of his upper arm," and he responds by knocking her unconscious. By
7304-472: Is still commonly presented in modern times. As well as ballads, the legend was also transmitted by 'Robin Hood games' or plays that were an important part of the late medieval and early modern May Day festivities. The first record of a Robin Hood game was in 1426 in Exeter , but the reference does not indicate how old or widespread this custom was at the time. The Robin Hood games are known to have flourished in
7470-400: Is stolen from the office of Professor Leonard. Beverly and Shirley happen to be looking out their window at the right time to see the movements of the thief, a girl "gliding silently and mysteriously from dark shadow to shadow across the campus." That evening, Shirley is accused of stealing the test, and it is revealed that her "silver bracelet, with her name engraved on it, was found just inside
7636-531: Is the director, Lois is cast as Ophelia , Beverly is "in charge of the scenery" with Anne as her assistant, and Rosalie has "charge of the costumes." Shirley is to play the leading role, fulfilling a pledge made in Sophomore to pursue an acting career. This assignment comes at the expense of May Norris, who is "no friend of any of the Alphas" after Shirley was wrongfully accused of stealing examination questions in
7802-454: Is the scarcest of the 26 books. World's Fair sees Beverly travel with a coterie of friends to the 1933–34 Chicago World's Fair . After Lois departs to Paris , where she has won "an art contest" with "a year's free study" as the prize, Lenora and Connie travel by train to visit Virginia , who lives in Chicago with her aunt and uncle. Although Beverly initially has to stay behind and work,
7968-430: Is unclear how much of the medieval legend has survived, and what has survived may not be typical of the medieval legend. It has been argued that the fact that the surviving ballads were preserved in written form in itself makes it unlikely they were typical; in particular, stories with an interest for the gentry were by this view more likely to be preserved. The story of Robin's aid to the 'poor knight' that takes up much of
8134-587: The Adventure Girls Series, were published in 1936 by A. L. Burt , which published the Beverly Gray series. They were later republished by Saalfield Publishing . In 1940, Gramercy Books, since acquired by Random House , published Blank's only adult novel, Lover Come Back . At least two manuscripts written by Blank went unpublished. In December 1941, she sent an unsolicited manuscript, Linda Ross at Hamilton , to Grosset & Dunlap . It
8300-513: The Gest may be an example. The character of Robin in these first texts is rougher edged than in his later incarnations. In "Robin Hood and the Monk", for example, he is shown as quick tempered and violent, assaulting Little John for defeating him in an archery contest; in the same ballad, Much the Miller's Son casually kills a "little page " in the course of rescuing Robin Hood from prison. No extant early ballad actually shows Robin Hood "giving to
8466-644: The Percy Society included The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood in its collection, Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England . In 1850, John Mathew Gutch published his own collection of Robin Hood ballads, Robin Hood Garlands and Ballads, with the tale of the lytell Geste , that in addition to all of Ritson's collection, also included Robin Hood and the Pedlars and Robin Hood and
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#17327910039458632-578: The Sheriff . In the oldest known versions, he is instead a member of the yeoman class. He is traditionally depicted dressed in Lincoln green . Through retellings, additions, and variations, a body of familiar characters associated with Robin Hood has been created. These include his lover, Maid Marian ; his band of outlaws, the Merry Men ; and his chief opponent, the Sheriff of Nottingham . The Sheriff
8798-579: The Yale Bowl to witness Jim Stanton, a childhood friend who has a crush on Beverly, score a touchdown. Yale wins, and at that night's celebratory dance Jim suddenly kisses Beverly. The chapter concludes, and Jim is not mentioned again in Sophomore . The girls return to Vernon College to hear that an unidentified man was shot near the Horler Mansion while they were away. Before the mysteries surrounding Horler Mansion can be investigated any further,
8964-479: The public domain . * Errantly referred to as "K-Bar-O" on the dust jacket Advertised by name at the end of the third book but never published. Blank's short-lived foray into adult literature, Lover Come Back , was published in 1940 by Gramercy, now a division of Random House . It does not appear to have ever been reprinted in novel form. Notifications in The Pittsburgh Press suggest that it
9130-405: The "Lucky Circle," a collection of eight childhood friends, and together they go camping. As the group returns home, they become lost in a blizzard. The boys in the group try to find their way back, with Beverly leading them. She sprains her ankle, falls down a hill, and awakes to the sight of a tall and disheveled-looking woman. The "hermit woman of Dunnsville," or "Big Bertha," as she calls herself,
9296-563: The "endless teas and . . . boresome people" of society and pursue a career on the stage. "Lois wants to sketch," while Rosalie "would like to go to a conservatory and continue her music." The final chapter, Auld Lang Syne, opens back in Renville. Jim has "unenthusiastically" accepted "a job in South America" to construct a "canal of some sort," a commitment of up to a year that will prevent him from wooing Beverly. The department of love
9462-448: The "skeleton dance" is explained by the men donning "black suits" with "bones in phosphorescent paint" in order scare people away. The mysterious goings on at the Horler Mansion may be over, but the same cannot be said for Sophomore . Beverly's adventures continue in a plane crash with Larry, who has promised to take her flying in his monoplane . Their plane is caught in a storm and its engine fails. Beverly and Larry are "thrown clear" of
9628-412: The 15th century. There have been numerous variations and adaptations of the story over the subsequent years, and the story continues to be widely represented in literature, film, and television media today. Robin Hood is considered one of the best-known tales of English folklore . In popular culture, the term "Robin Hood" is often used to describe a heroic outlaw or rebel against tyranny. The origins of
9794-467: The 16th century. It is not supported by the earliest ballads. The early compilation, A Gest of Robyn Hode , names the king as 'Edward'; and while it does show Robin Hood accepting the King's pardon, he later repudiates it and returns to the greenwood. The oldest surviving ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk , gives even less support to the picture of Robin Hood as a partisan of the true king. The setting of
9960-403: The 305 ballads in his collection as Child Ballads Nos 117–154, which is how they're often referenced in scholarly works. In the 19th century, the Robin Hood legend was first specifically adapted for children. Children's editions of the garlands were produced and in 1820, a children's edition of Ritson's Robin Hood collection was published. Children's novels began to appear shortly thereafter. It
10126-633: The Cordial Pictures Company is suspected of trying to stop Forsythe's production. Beverly and Lenora catch one "Mr. Smith" attempting to "climb in the window" of the Forsythe Film Company's railway coach, and the next day, they find the door "broken open" and "three rolls of film" missing. Having followed Mr. Smith to the Wildon Hotel the previous night, Beverly and Lenora go back and gain entrance to his room through
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#173279100394510292-721: The Crusades is mentioned in passing, Robin takes no stand against Prince John, and plays no part in raising the ransom to free Richard. These developments are part of the 20th-century Robin Hood myth. Pyle's Robin Hood is a yeoman and not an aristocrat. The idea of Robin Hood as a high-minded Saxon fighting Norman lords also originates in the 19th century. The most notable contributions to this idea of Robin are Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry 's Histoire de la Conquête de l'Angleterre par les Normands (1825) and Sir Walter Scott 's Ivanhoe (1819). In this last work in particular,
10458-586: The English May Games, where they fused with the Robin Hood legend. Both Robin and Marian were certainly associated with May Day festivities in England (as was Friar Tuck ), but these may have been originally two distinct types of performance. Alexander Barclay in his Ship of Fools , writing in c. 1500, refers to ' some merry fytte of Maid Marian or else of Robin Hood ' – but the characters were brought together. Marian did not immediately gain
10624-717: The Forresters, it was published in 1998 as Robin Hood: The Forresters Manuscript . It appears to have been written in the 1670s. While all the ballads in the Manuscript had already been known and published during the 17th and 18th centuries (although most of the ballads in the Manuscript have different titles then ones they have listed under the Child Ballads), 13 of the ballads in Forresters are noticeably different from how they appeared in
10790-644: The Gest and put the Robin Hood and the Potter ballad in print for the first time. The only significant omission was Robin Hood and the Monk which would eventually be printed in 1806. In all, Ritson printed 33 Robin Hood ballads (and a 34th, now commonly known as Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon that he included as the second part of Robin Hood Newly Revived which he had retitled "Robin Hood and
10956-418: The Lucky Circle pulls them to safety. Despite their adventure, the girls prove none the worse for wear, and the next afternoon their friends come by to anoint Shirley "an honorary member of the Lucky Circle." Beverly and company return to school in high spirits. The Christmas holidays are "weeks past," when they are next heard from. The six Alpha Delta girls are planning the junior production of Hamlet . Lenora
11122-471: The Merry Men to his aid. When his enemies do not fall for this ruse, he persuades them to drink with him instead (see Robin Hood's Delight ). In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Robin Hood ballads were mostly sold in "Garlands" of 16 to 24 Robin Hood ballads; these were crudely printed chap books aimed at the poor. The garlands added nothing to the substance of the legend but ensured that it continued after
11288-602: The Robin Hood ballads, published in 1888, Child removed the ballads from his earlier work that weren't traditional Robin Hood stories, gave the ballad Ritson titled Robin Hood and the Stranger back its original published title Robin Hood Newly Revived , and separated what Ritson had printed as the second part of Robin Hood and the Stranger as its own separate ballad, Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon . He also included alternate versions of ballads that had distinct, alternate versions. He numbered these 38 Robin Hood ballads among
11454-568: The Scotchman . In 1858, Francis James Child published his English and Scottish Ballads which included a volume grouping all the Robin Hood ballads in one volume, including all the ballads published by Ritson, the four stray ballads published since then, as well as some ballads that either mentioned Robin Hood by name or featured characters named Robin Hood but weren't traditional Robin Hood stories. For his more scholarly work, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads , in his volume dedicated to
11620-509: The Shryff off Notyngham , among other points of interest, contains the earliest reference to Friar Tuck. The plots of neither "the Monk" nor "the Potter" are included in the Gest ; and neither is the plot of " Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne ", which is probably at least as old as those two ballads although preserved in a more recent copy. Each of these three ballads survived in a single copy, so it
11786-473: The Stranger"). Ritson's interpretation of Robin Hood was also influential, having influenced the modern concept of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor as it exists today. Himself a supporter of the principles of the French Revolution and admirer of Thomas Paine , Ritson held that Robin Hood was a genuinely historical, and genuinely heroic, character who had stood up against tyranny in
11952-506: The Vernon police, who suggests that "the most logical explanation" is that the men are "smuggling drugs into this country" from "the Orient ." The inspector leaves to unsuccessfully search for the men in the mansion. Beverly follows later and conveniently sees the "Chinaman" using a secret passage hidden behind the front room's fireplace. She enters it and discovers an opium den . Unfortunately,
12118-472: The accused defended themselves on the grounds that the practice was a long-standing custom to raise money for churches, and they had not acted riotously but peaceably. It is from the association with the May Games that Robin's romantic attachment to Maid Marian (or Marion) apparently stems. A "Robin and Marion" figured in 13th-century French ' pastourelles ' (of which Jeu de Robin et Marion c. 1280
12284-481: The art shop. Suddenly, the "dark and swarthy" man enters, intending to rob the store. He takes the money from the register and steals Beverly's watch as a bonus. She pursues him, but upon catching up, she finds the tables turned. The man pins "her arms to her sides" and throws her into a "gypsy wagon." There she is met by Orlenda, the woman who had warned Beverly earlier about impending danger. Orlenda suggests to Dimiti, Beverly's kidnapper, that they might be able to ransom
12450-470: The bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat friar, This fellow were a king for our wild faction!" Robin Hood is also mentioned in As You Like It . When asked about the exiled Duke Senior, the character of Charles says that he is "already in the forest of Arden, and a many merry men with him; and there they live like the old Robin Hood of England". Justice Silence sings a line from an unnamed Robin Hood ballad,
12616-606: The bawdy Maid Marian of the May Games. She does not appear in extant versions of the ballad. James VI of Scotland was entertained by a Robin Hood play at Dirleton Castle produced by his favourite the Earl of Arran in May 1585, while there was plague in Edinburgh. In 1598, Anthony Munday wrote a pair of plays on the Robin Hood legend, The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington (published 1601). These plays drew on
12782-416: The bottom of a hill. She is "fit as a fiddle" the next day, and accompanies the Lucky Circle ice skating on "the lake front." When Bucky Harris, "a chubby little fellow" who "lives across the street from" Beverly, falls through thin ice, Shirley inches towards him and also falls in. She pushes Bucky back on the ice before losing consciousness again. Beverly ties a rope to herself and jumps in after Shirley while
12948-529: The broadsides and garlands. 9 of these ballads are significantly longer and more elaborate than the versions of the same ballads found in the broadsides and garlands. For four of these ballads, the Forresters Manuscript versions are the earliest known versions. The 20th century grafted still further details on to the original legends. The 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood , starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland , portrayed Robin as
13114-499: The camp by Orlenda, and Beverly is warned of impending danger. Returning to Vernon College, the girls notice a "dark and swarthy" man, whom they immediately assume is a thief. He denies the accusation but then flees, dropping stolen money and jewelry as he does. That night, after leaving to mail letters from town, Beverly fails to return. Her disappearance is met with alarm, and both her parents and Inspector Dugan are notified. Because of her father's political importance, Beverly's picture
13280-625: The cave under cover of darkness and frees the boys. He then reveals where Beverly is being held and asks that they tell her "Anselo wishes her happiness always." Jim and Larry rescue Beverly (who throws herself at Jim), and together they return to Larry's plane. Beverly sprains her ankle in the process, and the boys carry her the rest of the way. Having failed in their kidnapping efforts, the gypsies quickly disappear. The story moves on to winter break, where Larry proposes to Beverly, who declines. Jim leaves to take an engineering job in Wyoming, and Shirley
13446-463: The day of the coronation of Charles II in 1661. This short play adapts the story of the king's pardon of Robin Hood to refer to the Restoration. However, Robin Hood appeared on the 18th-century stage in various farces and comic operas. Alfred, Lord Tennyson would write a four-act Robin Hood play at the end of the 19th century, "The Forrestors". It is fundamentally based on the Gest but follows
13612-417: The decline of the single broadside ballad. In the 18th century also, Robin Hood frequently appeared in criminal biographies and histories of highwaymen compendia. In 1765, Thomas Percy (bishop of Dromore) published Reliques of Ancient English Poetry , including ballads from the 17th-century Percy Folio manuscript which had not previously been printed, most notably Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne which
13778-519: The details slightly differently, relating in World Cruise that "the star suddenly broke her ankle the night before the opening.") Later on Shirley herself is taken ill during a performance, collapsing due to exhaustion and overwork. Beverly prescribes her a trip to "get away" and "lounge lazily about in the sun," and Roger proposes "a trip around the world" on his yacht the Susabella . So is born
13944-468: The earlier tale is "a thriller" the latter is more comic, its plot involving trickery and cunning rather than straightforward force. Other early texts are dramatic pieces, the earliest being the fragmentary Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham ( c. 1475). These are particularly noteworthy as they show Robin's integration into May Day rituals towards the end of the Middle Ages; Robyn Hod and
14110-435: The early ballads is usually attributed by scholars to either the 13th century or the 14th, although it is recognised they are not necessarily historically consistent. The early ballads are also quite clear on Robin Hood's social status: he is a yeoman . While the precise meaning of this term changed over time, including free retainers of an aristocrat and small landholders, it always referred to commoners. The essence of it in
14276-468: The end of the 16th century. Near the end of the 16th century an unpublished prose life of Robin Hood was written, and included in the Sloane Manuscript . Largely a paraphrase of the Gest, it also contains material revealing that the author was familiar with early versions of a number of the Robin Hood broadside ballads. Not all of the medieval legend was preserved in the broadside ballads, there
14442-460: The fair's official guidebook, and Shirley's acting career encounters both downfall and revival. Beverly runs into Shirley on her first day in Chicago, discovering her to be "out of a job," with "scarcely any money and no friends." She can ill afford to eat and is about to be evicted, yet refuses to take any money from Beverly and moves out when she discovers Beverly has spoken to her landlord and paid
14608-406: The fire escape. There, they recover the stolen film and elude the hotel authorities. Forsythe is overjoyed and rewards Vernon College with $ 5,000 and the necessary funds to build a new swimming pool. The "winter turn[s] to spring," and with it comes a new source of trouble: Shirley is kidnapped. While walking back to the college, she is captured by two men and swept away. That night, Beverly receives
14774-577: The first decade of the 16th century. In these early accounts, Robin Hood's partisanship of the lower classes, his devotion to the Virgin Mary and associated special regard for women, his outstanding skill as an archer , his anti-clericalism , and his particular animosity towards the Sheriff of Nottingham are already clear. Little John , Much the Miller's Son , and Will Scarlet (as Will "Scarlok" or "Scathelocke") all appear, although not yet Maid Marian or Friar Tuck . The friar has been part of
14940-413: The footage Cummings remains free, leading Beverly and Lenora to sneak into his hotel room in search of evidence. Hidden inside his chimney they discover a violin case, empty except for a single bullet. Cummings sees them as they depart, however, and that night warns Beverly that "[i]f you play with fire you must expect to get burned." These words prove prescient the next day when, relaxing at Lake Geneva ,
15106-423: The forestor Gilbert Hood. Another very popular version for children was Howard Pyle 's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood , which influenced accounts of Robin Hood through the 20th century. Pyle's version firmly stamp Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man who takes from the rich to give to the poor. Nevertheless, the adventures are still more local than national in scope: while King Richard's participation in
15272-449: The gentry, and identifies Maid Marian with "one of the semi-mythical Matildas persecuted by King John ". The plays are complex in plot and form, the story of Robin Hood appearing as a play-within-a-play presented at the court of Henry VIII and written by the poet, priest and courtier John Skelton . Skelton himself is presented in the play as acting the part of Friar Tuck. Some scholars have conjectured that Skelton may have indeed written
15438-421: The girl. They depart with Beverly a hostage in their wagon, and in the morning they attempt to dye her skin with a "mysterious brown substance." As Dimiti explains it, the "liquid is to make your skin darker so, if anyone should see you, you could pass for one of us." Beverly attempts to escape but is quickly subdued. The pair daub her skin with the liquid until it becomes "as dark as any of the gypsies'." Although
15604-489: The girls have their motorboat "rammed" by another and are forced to swim an unconscious Beverly back to shore. Before impact Beverly catches "a clear, distinct glimpse of the face of the man at the wheel of the boat," and believes it to be Cummings. He is finally caught in the next chapter, after Beverly observes him leaving a pawn ticket in June's dressing room trunk. This appears to be an effort to frame her, for upon redemption of
15770-475: The girls leave the auditorium, they notice "[l]ittle wafts of smoke" coming from under May's dressing room door. The girls break down the door and extinguish the fire, discovering "a lighted cigarette in the ash tray." Knowing that May was the only one in the room who smokes, the girls confront her and threaten to inform the dean (smoking is strictly forbidden on campus). May promises to give up her habit and apologizes for her previous bad behavior. The girls offer May
15936-414: The girls sightseeing around the best and worst parts of the city. Two days after their tour of Manhattan, Charlie Blaine invites Beverly to help him cover a ball in honor of the "Duke of Abernethy." Beverly dances with the "Comte de Bourgeine," who seems particularly "fond of jewels." Soon after, one of the attendees reports her bracelet has been stolen. Beverly sees the count slip away, and overhears him on
16102-467: The gypsies are almost universally described as unpleasant, unkempt and ruthless, there is one that does not fit the mold. Anselo is a "refined" gypsy who carries "the bearing of a gentleman," and "a touch of Old World gallantry." He is also an extraordinary violinist, serenading Beverly from outside the wagon where she is held prisoner. He also reunites Beverly with her wristwatch, which he has somehow obtained from Dimiti. The next day, Anselo takes Beverly for
16268-425: The gypsy camp. They land on a nearby road and quickly earn an invitation to the camp, where they observe a sealed wagon protected by two men. Soon after this, Inspector Dugan and his men arrive. Armed with a warrant, they search every wagon, including the sealed one. The gypsies protest that the wagon contains a "sick grandmother" who must not be disturbed. The Inspector agrees to let two gypsies enter first and "prepare
16434-477: The household of Sir John Paston . This fragment appears to tell the story of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne . There is also an early playtext appended to a 1560 printed edition of the Gest. This includes a dramatic version of the story of Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar and a version of the first part of the story of Robin Hood and the Potter . (Neither of these ballads is known to have existed in print at
16600-460: The increasing trouble in their dormitory, Beverly is exhausted. The middle section of Senior is defined by a series of episodic events. A détente emerges between the six seniors and the six juniors, with Connie promising to "do our part" to "keep things peaceful." Shirley, who has apparently supplanted Beverly as the "shining light on the basketball team," refuses to let the senior-junior game interfere with her filming and subsequently watches from
16766-462: The inspiration for Beverly Gray on a World Cruise , promising a "journey into alien lands" with "strange adventures amid new scenes and faces." Originally published only a year after the fair ended, World's Fair brought to bear recent memories when released. By the time Grosset & Dunlap acquired the Beverly Gray series in 1938, however, the Chicago World's Fair was receding further into
16932-429: The interests of the common people. J. C. Holt has been quick to point out, however, that Ritson "began as a Jacobite and ended as a Jacobin," and "certainly reconstructed him [Robin] in the image of a radical." In his preface to the collection, Ritson assembled an account of Robin Hood's life from the various sources available to him, and concluded that Robin Hood was born in around 1160, and thus had been active in
17098-412: The kidnappers appear, claiming to be friends of the girls. One man talks to the police chief while the other walks to the girls, "a revolver in his hand," and threatens them to back up the story. Beverly speaks the truth instead and narrowly avoids being shot. Shirley's father arrives unseen but is overpowered. Beverly, Shirley, Mr. Parker and the police chief are held at gunpoint, until Beverly edges around
17264-504: The later 15th and 16th centuries. It is commonly stated as fact that Maid Marian and a jolly friar (at least partly identifiable with Friar Tuck) entered the legend through the May Games. The earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood ballad is the 15th-century " Robin Hood and the Monk ". This is preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48. Written after 1450, it contains many of the elements still associated with
17430-496: The legend as well as the historical context have been debated for centuries. There are numerous references to historical figures with similar names that have been proposed as possible evidence of his existence, some dating back to the late 13th century. At least eight plausible origins to the story have been mooted by historians and folklorists, including suggestions that "Robin Hood" was a stock alias used by or in reference to bandits. The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood"
17596-524: The legend since at least the later 15th century, when he is mentioned in a Robin Hood play script. In modern popular culture, Robin Hood is typically seen as a contemporary and supporter of the late-12th-century king Richard the Lionheart , Robin being driven to outlawry during the misrule of Richard's brother John while Richard was away at the Third Crusade . This view first gained currency in
17762-492: The legend, from the Nottingham setting to the bitter enmity between Robin and the local sheriff. The first printed version is A Gest of Robyn Hode ( c. 1500), a collection of separate stories that attempts to unite the episodes into a single continuous narrative. After this comes " Robin Hood and the Potter ", contained in a manuscript of c. 1503. "The Potter" is markedly different in tone from "The Monk": whereas
17928-506: The line is "Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John" in Act 5 scene 3 of Henry IV, part 2 . In Henry IV part 1 Act 3 scene 3, Falstaff refers to Maid Marian , implying she is a by-word for unwomanly or unchaste behaviour. Ben Jonson produced the incomplete masque The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood in part as a satire on Puritanism . It is about half finished and his death in 1637 may have interrupted writing. Jonson's only pastoral drama, it
18094-453: The main vehicle for the popular Robin Hood legend. These broadside ballads were in some cases newly fabricated but were mostly adaptations of the older verse narratives. The broadside ballads were fitted to a small repertoire of pre-existing tunes resulting in an increase of "stock formulaic phrases" making them "repetitive and verbose", they commonly feature Robin Hood's contests with artisans: tinkers, tanners, and butchers. Among these ballads
18260-425: The mansion while "making chill-provoking groans and murmurs." Beverly's next trip inside the house finds her face to face with a handsome young man named Larry. He remains mysterious to Beverly, who can't figure out whether he is one of the "ghosts" or not. Nevertheless, she is attracted to him. On Halloween, dressed in a Robin Hood costome, Larry crashes the sophomore dance, the same one that Beverly herself crashed
18426-409: The men to enter, then follows through the back door. Inside, she overhears them gloating and planning to "deliver another note demanding twenty-five thousand." Climbing the stairs, she discovers Shirley in a locked room on the second floor. From there, they dash to the car, driving off and leaving the men "dancing like wild Indians." Shirley's kidnappers do not waste much time dancing. Rather, they call
18592-418: The men, takes a flashlight from her pocket, and thrusts "it against the back of the man before her with a stern command to put up his hands." Mr. Parker and the chief use this distraction to throw themselves upon the kidnappers: One is handcuffed, and the other bolts for the exit. The ensuing car chase is shown on the dust jacket. The kidnapper jumps into his car while the girls, along with Mr. Parker, pile into
18758-552: The modern Robin Hood—'King of Outlaws and prince of good fellows!' as Richard the Lionheart calls him—makes his debut. In 1993, a previously unknown manuscript of 21 Robin Hood ballads (including two versions of " The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield ") turned up in an auction house and eventually wound up in the British Library . Called The Forresters Manuscript , after the first and last ballads, which are both titled Robin Hood and
18924-450: The next day, when Marcia Lyman leaves "the movie company flat" to take "a new contract with a much higher salary" from Cordial Pictures Company. Mr. Forsythe quickly gives up and plans to return to home, but Lenora has a better idea. She suggests that aspiring actress Shirley take over Marcia's role. Forsythe agrees, and with the star and story set, film production begins. The proceeding chapters reveal Shirley's success going to her head, and
19090-511: The next night, the gypsies have moved once again, this time to "a regular camping place in the hills." Beverly, Anselo and Dimiti have all recovered, the latter two with bandaged wounds. Larry and Jim, meanwhile, arrive at the county fair and are directed to the camping grounds. They wait until night to investigate but are caught by the gypsies. Larry and Jim are bound and thrown in "a cave on the hillside." Watching from her wagon, Beverly implores Anselo to help them escape, and he agrees. Anselo enters
19256-420: The night of the theft. Beverly confronts May, who confesses to the crime. Shirley, despite her close brush with expulsion, forgives May, appearing "before the faculty and ask[ing] for leniency." Adventure and mystery finally over, the girls depart for their summer break. Opening on the first day of term, Beverly Gray, Junior is the story of Beverly's third year at Vernon College, which includes her kidnapping by
19422-411: The old woman" before he investigates. His search is fruitless, and he returns to Vernon with Larry and Jim. Three days later, Gerry Foster (a friend from Freshman ) writes to tell Shirley she has seen Beverly at the County Fair in the company of a strange man. As Larry and Jim fly to the fair, the narration turns back nine days to tell Beverly's side of the story. On her way to mail letters, she stops in
19588-679: The past and preparations had begun for the 1939–40 New York World's Fair . "Because [Beverly Gray at the World's Fair] specifically referred to the Chicago Fair and work on the New York Fair was underway," Blank's editor wrote to her in a 1941 letter, "we felt that readers might be disappointed to discover that Beverly had been to the old fair – not the New York one." As a general policy, her editor went on, when Grosset foresaw "a long and steady sale," it sought to "avoid having anything in
19754-432: The police chief's car. The chase ends when a truck sideswipes the kidnapper's car, flipping it over. The kidnapper is pulled out of the wreckage and arrested. Mr. Parker then drives the girls back to Vernon, where they regale their classmates with the story of their adventure. Spring term continues, and Shirley gradually makes amends with the girls she had previously "snubbed" and "treated shamefully." Beverly "resign[s] from
19920-399: The police in a neighboring "little suburban town," telling them to be on the lookout for a "stolen car." Shirley and Beverly are soon pulled over and informed that their "father told us you took the car and were running away," and that the police "are to hold you until he gets here." At the police station, Shirley convinces the policemen to call her real father, but he is unable to arrive before
20086-401: The poor", although in "A Gest of Robyn Hode" Robin does make a large loan to an unfortunate knight , which he does not in the end require to be repaid; and later in the same ballad Robin Hood states his intention of giving money to the next traveller to come down the road if he happens to be poor. Of my good he shall haue some, Yf he be a por man. As it happens the next traveller
20252-455: The present context was "neither a knight nor a peasant or 'husbonde' but something in between". Artisans (such as millers) were among those regarded as 'yeomen' in the 14th century. From the 16th century on, there were attempts to elevate Robin Hood to the nobility, such as in Richard Grafton's Chronicle at Large ; Anthony Munday presented him at the very end of the century as the Earl of Huntingdon in two extremely influential plays, as he
20418-435: The previous year. May has "her heart set on playing the lead" but must settle for understudy. When Josephine Carter breaks her arm falling down a flight of stairs to the storeroom, claiming afterwards that "[s]omebody pushed me," Lenora suspects May. Beverly is tapped to replace Josephine as Hamlet's mother , and "nothing ever [comes] to light about the 'accident.'" In the following weeks, May feigns friendliness towards Shirley,
20584-409: The prom festivities, and Beverly again rebuffs Jim's advances. The senior dinner at Weller's features a speech by Shirley, reformed valedictorian, and a paean by Beverly to "the ideals and traditions" of Vernon College. Commencement ensues the following week, marking "the end of Senior Road." Beverly resolves to "devote my time to stories," perhaps "even try to write a play." Shirley's aim is to forsake
20750-486: The reign of Henry VIII , was briefly popular at court . Robin was often allocated the role of a May King , presiding over games and processions, but plays were also performed with the characters in the roles, sometimes performed at church ales , a means by which churches raised funds. A complaint of 1492, brought to the Star Chamber , accuses men of acting riotously by coming to a fair as Robin Hood and his men;
20916-530: The reign of Richard I. He thought that Robin was of aristocratic extraction, with at least 'some pretension' to the title of Earl of Huntingdon, that he was born in an unlocated Nottinghamshire village of Locksley and that his original name was Robert Fitzooth . Ritson gave the date of Robin Hood's death as 18 November 1247, when he would have been around 87 years old. In copious and informative notes Ritson defends every point of his version of Robin Hood's life. In reaching his conclusion Ritson relied or gave weight to
21082-481: The remaining Alpha Delta girls butting heads with a group of six juniors: Connie Elwood, Kathleen Ryan, Ada Collins, Evelyn DeLong, Virginia Harris, and Phyllis Tanner. As president of the senior class, it falls on Beverly to govern the juniors. She finds herself repeatedly running afoul of their schemes, much to her frustration. Worse yet, her elected position comes with little power to punish the girls, or otherwise stop their antics. Between dealing with Shirley's ego, and
21248-415: The rent. Shirley's luck seems to change for the better, however, for later on Beverly receives the money in the mail with a note saying only "Thanks so much," and Virginia spots Shirley in "a big limousine." Shirley turns out to be "Dale Arden," a former understudy who "stepped up and did the performance ten times better than the star" when "the star was suddenly taken ill on opening night." (Shirley remembered
21414-420: The same vocations and success, and reports for The Times , almost certainly a reference to The New York Times . Lover Come Back features a plot driven by events and coincidence. "In its series of mini-climaxes strung together, the book is a soap opera." The book's "major ingredients" consist of: Beverly Gray , too, leads "such a life of adventure as would tax the resources of any soap opera heroine." Across
21580-408: The secret door closes, trapping her inside. Unable to escape, she decides to wait for the man to return. In the resulting confrontation, the "Chinaman" is introduced as "Wah Fang," and Pete (the "head ghost") threatens to put Beverly "on a boat bound for China." Larry and Inspector Dugan arrive to break down the dividing wall, but not before Wah Fang chokes Beverly unconscious. He then attacks Larry, but
21746-490: The series, Beverly is "kidnapped no less than twenty-six times, attacked by wild animals seven times, trapped in three violent storms, imperiled by three earthquakes, shot at twice (wounded once)." She also suffers "a car crash, flowing lava, a flood, a drugging, a rampaging fire, a plane crash and other assorted tribulations." In 1941, George Elmer Moyer, who Clair knew while growing up in Allentown , moved to Philadelphia;
21912-484: The share willed to Paul, June and George should anything have happened to all three. Officers are sent to arrest Cummings, who "confesse[s] when confronted with the evidences of his guilt." Beverly is left to "break the news" for her paper. Several subplots share space with the murder of Paul Graham in World's Fair . Significant ink is expended on the many wonders and exhibits at the fair, some of it copied word for word from
22078-669: The six Alpha Delpha girls travel to Shirley's residence in New York City for the Christmas holidays. Shirley's parents prove too distracted with their own lives to pay attention to their daughter and her friends. The girls pass the time by attending a number of upscale parties. At one of these events, Beverly is approached by Charlie Blaine, a reporter for the Herald Tribune . They find they have much in common, including both being reporters. The following afternoon, he takes
22244-482: The six main girls reunite in Beverly's room and form a sorority, the "Alpha Delta Sorority". Beverly joins the Comet , the college paper, as an entry into a literary career. The Comet' s editor, Alison Cox, orders Beverly to investigate the strange happenings in the abandoned Horler Mansion, a decaying structure whose last owner was reportedly murdered. In her first trip to the house, Beverly encounters an unkempt man with
22410-500: The skylight, and they escape together. Two days later, Beverly's friend Lenora vanishes inside the mansion, and Beverly and Shirley go after her. In the scene depicted on the book's dust jacket, they run from their dormitory to the mansion, where they find Lenora unconscious in the cellar. They determine that she tripped on a broken step and fell, while Larry arrives to aid the girls as they take Lenora back to campus. On Thanksgiving , Yale plays Jackson College . Beverly and Anne are at
22576-421: The spring term, Beverly discovers that Shirley is sneaking out at night to meet a man, Tom. He exhorts her to run away with him, and Shirley agrees to go the next night. Beverly, Anne, Lenora, Lois, and Rosalie confront her to no avail. Shirley leaves but returns shortly thereafter. Shirley is a new woman upon her return and is no longer unfriendly, losing her aloofness toward Beverly when the latter saves her from
22742-399: The stands as the seniors lose by a single point. Connie and her friends show up uninvited at the seniors' Halloween "Fiction Dance", copying the Alphas' move from Freshman . Jim Stanton, who was last seen leaving for an engineering job in Wyoming, returns to Renville from a job well done only to have his Christmas Eve proposal declined by Beverly. A movie "camera [is] mysteriously smashed," and
22908-653: The stories that might date them." This policy would not prove to withstand the entry by the United States into World War II , but was sufficient to end publication of the original sixth work in the Beverly Gray series. The original seventh and eighth works, Beverly Gray on a World Cruise and Beverly Gray in the Orient, were renumbered 6 and 7. Beverly Gray on a Treasure Hunt, the first work published by Grosset, became book number 8. Clair Blank Clarissa Mabel Blank (August 5, 1915 – August 15, 1965)
23074-401: The story about Will Scarlet . In the 18th century, the stories began to develop a slightly more farcical vein. From this period there are a number of ballads in which Robin is severely 'drubbed' by a succession of tradesmen including a tanner , a tinker , and a ranger . In fact, the only character who does not get the better of Hood is the luckless Sheriff. Yet even in these ballads Robin
23240-433: The subversive aspects of the legend, and see in the medieval Robin Hood ballads a plebeian literature hostile to the feudal order. By the early 15th century at the latest, Robin Hood had become associated with May Day celebrations, with revellers dressing as Robin or as members of his band for the festivities. This was not common throughout England, but in some regions the custom lasted until Elizabethan times, and during
23406-576: The telephone, declaring that "I've got it." While Charlie leaves to get the police, Beverly confronts the thief, scuffling with him long enough for two officers to arrive and arrest him. In the morning, the Herald Tribune prints the story of her efforts. With their holiday adventures at an end, the girls take the train back to Vernon. On Beverly's next trip to the Horler Mansion, she again encounters "that evil-looking Chinaman," who warns her away in broken English. She then contacts Inspector Dugan of
23572-470: The tennis team," ostensibly because she does not have "the time to devote to practice." It's implied she's resigning to make Shirley feel better about quitting the basketball team earlier. This interpretation is believed by Shirley herself, and she entreats Beverly not to "make the mistake I made." Beverly changes her tune and her resignation is forgotten. With Beverly on the team, the "championship tennis match between Vernon College and Wayne Seminary" results in
23738-466: The theme of Robin Hood's generosity to the poor more than the broadsheet ballads do in general. The 17th century introduced the minstrel Alan-a-Dale . He first appeared in a 17th-century broadside ballad , and unlike many of the characters thus associated, managed to adhere to the legend. The prose life of Robin Hood in Sloane Manuscript contains the substance of the Alan-a-Dale ballad but tells
23904-454: The ticket Beverly and Virginia are handed the murder weapon, "a gun, not small enough to be a revolver and not quite long enough for a rifle. . . . It looked like a sawed off shotgun." They take the gun to the police, where "[e]verything was carefully considered and they all agreed that Cummings was the murderer." He was left out of the will of the Grahams' uncle, it turns out, but stood to gain
24070-455: The time, and there is no earlier record known of the "Curtal Friar" story.) The publisher describes the text as a ' playe of Robyn Hood, verye proper to be played in Maye games ', but does not seem to be aware that the text actually contains two separate plays. An especial point of interest in the "Friar" play is the appearance of a ribald woman who is unnamed but apparently to be identified with
24236-598: The town, alongside the star Marcia Lyman, a "dark beauty" and "dazzling figure" fresh from Hollywood. Oddly, the planned film does not have a screenplay, and rather than hire a professional, Mr. Forsythe decides to hold a script-writing contest among the students and film the winning submission. Each of the six Alpha Delta girls put pen to paper, but only Beverly and Lenora following through to completion. Beverly's screenplay, Stepping Stone , takes first place, while Lenora's A Senior's Dilemma, or They Shall Not Pass , "deserves honorable mention." A snag hits Beverly's newfound fame
24402-439: The traditions of placing Robin Hood as the Earl of Huntingdon in the time of Richard I and making the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John rivals with Robin Hood for Maid Marian's hand. The return of King Richard brings a happy ending. With the advent of printing came the Robin Hood broadside ballads . Exactly when they displaced the oral tradition of Robin Hood ballads is unknown but the process seems to have been completed by
24568-406: The two main plot pieces: The arrival of a film company on campus, and Shirley's eventual kidnapping. As promised in the previous term, Senior opens with the arrival of the Forsythe Film Company at Vernon College to shoot a "college picture," in return for which the school will receive money to build "a new indoor swimming pool for the students." "Directors, actors, [and] cameramen" all descend upon
24734-835: The two married two years later, in 1943. Moyer attained the rank of sergeant while serving in the U.S. Army for two years, from February 1944 to February 1946 at the end of World War II . A skilled welder, he was employed at the Budd Company after his military service, working on automobiles, tank construction, Chevrolet fenders, and plastics until his retirement. He also took night classes in mechanical engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Blank gave birth to two sons, Robert G. and John C. Moyer, who were born in 1947 and 1953, respectively. Blank died on August 15, 1965, in Philadelphia ; her husband died on February 27, 1998. Robin Hood Robin Hood
24900-595: The unquestioned role; in Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage , his sweetheart is "Clorinda the Queen of the Shepherdesses". Clorinda survives in some later stories as an alias of Marian. The earliest preserved script of a Robin Hood play is the fragmentary Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham This apparently dates to the 1470s and circumstantial evidence suggests it was probably performed at
25066-557: The very next day her editor assigns her to write "a series of feature articles" on the fair for "the Sunday magazine section." She flies out that day with Larry, who is coincidentally headed to Chicago, "and then points West," for his work with the Secret Service . Some days after joining forces in Chicago, the four girls witness the murder of a high diver, Paul Graham, during a show at the lagoon theater. Paul fails to surface following his "famous three somersault dive," and it emerges that he
25232-438: The window." Professor Leonard is especially suspicious of Shirley, because of her low history grades. Shirley resigns herself to being expelled, while the other Alpha Delta girls attempt to catch the real culprit. Their suspicions center on "snobbish May Norris," the professor's assistant and "teacher's pet." Beverly's suspicions are confirmed when Alison Cox, who lives in May's dormitory, tells her that she saw May prowling about on
25398-464: The wires on a trapeze about to be used by Paul's sister, June. Before the girls can take the footage to the police, Paul's brother George is attacked by lion and suffers a "few scratches" after somebody "file[s] the lock" on a lion cage where he works as a trainer. (This is not the last lion attack in the book, for towards the end of the book another one manages to slip out and sink its claws "deep into [Beverly's] shoulder" before it can be subdued.) Despite
25564-403: The wreckage, sustaining "a broken rib" and "a broken arm" respectively. A hike through the surrounding woods takes them to the house of poor farmers, who call for a doctor. The doctor alerts Beverly's friends, who arrive with Inspector Dugan in the inspector's car. Beverly and Larry soon recover from their injuries. The final excitement in Beverly Gray, Sophomore comes when a history examination
25730-459: The year before. He claims to be there to "ask questions about the Horler Mansion," and he shares two dances with Beverly. On Beverly's third visit to the Horler Mansion, she encounters another sinister character. Through the window, she sees the grotesque face of a "Chinaman." Beverly continues exploring when the man does not reappear, but upon making her way back to the attic, she is locked in by "the head ghost." Larry arrives to pull her out through
25896-418: Was "shot with a high powered air rifle." Suspicion falls on John Cummings, described as the "best friend" of the Grahams and their late uncle, and for whom Beverly harbors immediate misgivings. "There is something about him that makes me mistrust him," she tells Lenora. "He reminds me of a snake." Lenora resolves to "follow him like his shadow" with her " Cine-Kodak eight," and soon thereafter films him loosening
26062-401: Was advertised at the end of the third and final book in the series; it is unclear whether Blank actually wrote it, or merely intended it, before the series was cancelled. A trilogy by default, The Adventure Girls series was published by A. L. Burt in 1936 and never continued. All works were copyrighted on April 27, 1936, the same day as Beverly Gray on a World Cruise . Although a fourth work
26228-413: Was advertised at the end of the third, it was never published; where the Beverly Gray series survived and prospered following the publication of its four part breeder set, The Adventure Girls series was unable to catch on. Purchased by Saalfield Publishing in 1937, the series was entirely shelved until being reissued in the fall of 1942. None of the books had their copyright renewed and are now in
26394-475: Was an American author. She wrote the Beverly Gray mystery series and four other novels. Blank was born on August 5, 1915, in Allentown, Pennsylvania , to Bessie and Edgar H. Blank. Her father worked as a loom fixer at a local silk mill , and later at a clothing plant in the Germantown section of Philadelphia ; in three consecutive U.S. census reports in 1920 , 1930 , and 1940 , his occupation
26560-462: Was cultivated in the households of the gentry, and that it would be mistaken to see in him a figure of peasant revolt. He is not a peasant but a yeoman, and his tales make no mention of the complaints of the peasants, such as oppressive taxes. He appears not so much as a revolt against societal standards as an embodiment of them, being generous, pious, and courteous, opposed to stingy, worldly, and churlish foes. Other scholars have by contrast stressed
26726-563: Was no wonder, when everyone loved her, that she should have been chosen as their leader. It would have been more to wonder at if she didn't." Junior thus comes to an end, promising "new and exciting adventures" in Beverly Gray, Senior . Beverly's last year at Vernon College forms the basis for Beverly Gray, Senior , the fourth and final work in Clair Blank's 1934 breeder set. Sports-related tribulations, commencement activities, and Shirley's fame-induced snobbishness form an undercurrent to
26892-460: Was presented to her at the end of her first year "for extraordinary heroism." Inspector Dugan is "positive" that Beverly has been kidnapped, since "there have been so many kidnappings in the country," and he holds the gypsies responsible. Meanwhile, Jim Stanton and Larry Owens (who were introduced in Sophomore ) arrive to aid in the search. Two days later, the boys depart in Larry's monoplane to search
27058-471: Was printed in a complete novel section by the Pittsburgh daily newspaper on April 13, 1941. As a result of this limited print run, Lover Come Back is Blank's scarcest published novel. Lover Come Back echoes the Beverly Gray series in both plot and writing style. Just as Beverly Gray is a successful screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and reporter for the Herald Tribune , Beverly Norcot shares
27224-458: Was rejected for publication four months later, for "there seems to be a strong prejudice against starting a new mystery series with a school background." Blank also wrote an unpublished Beverly Gray novel to follow the final volume, Beverly Gray's Surprise . This work was never printed, as the series was cancelled in 1955. It is possible that a fourth Adventure Girls book was also written, to be titled The Adventure Girls on Vacation . This book
27390-411: Was the period in which King Richard was absent from the country, fighting in the Third Crusade . William Shakespeare makes reference to Robin Hood in his late-16th-century play The Two Gentlemen of Verona . In it, the character Valentine is banished from Milan and driven out through the forest where he is approached by outlaws who, upon meeting him, desire him as their leader. They comment, "By
27556-593: Was written in sophisticated verse and included supernatural action and characters. It has had little impact on the Robin Hood tradition but earns mention as the work of a major dramatist. The 1642 London theatre closure by the Puritans interrupted the portrayal of Robin Hood on the stage. The theatres would reopen with the Restoration in 1660. Robin Hood did not appear on the Restoration stage, except for "Robin Hood and his Crew of Souldiers" acted in Nottingham on
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