Adam Bell was a legendary

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

outlaw. He and his companions William of Cloudsley and Clym of the Clough lived in

Inglewood Forest Inglewood Forest is a large tract of mainly arable and dairy farm land with a few small woodland areas between Carlisle and Penrith in the English non-metropolitan county of Cumbria or ancient county of Cumberland. Etymology ''Inglewood'' is fi ...

near Carlisle and were figures similar to

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

. Their story is told in Child Ballad 116 entitled ''Adam Bell, Clym of the Cloughe and Wyllyam of Cloudeslee''. The basis of the tale has historical roots in the criminal activities of the Folville and

Coterel gang The Coterel gang (also Cotterill, fl. 1328 – 1333) was a 14th-century armed group that flourished in the North Midlands of England. It was led by James Coterel—after whom the gang is named—supported by his brothers Nicholas a ...

s. At one point William of Cloudsley, who is famed as an archer, shoots an arrow through an apple on his son's head at six score paces, a feat also ascribed to

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

and other heroes. The oldest printed copy of this ballad dates from 1505 and was printed by

Wynkyn de Worde Wynkyn de Worde (died 1534) was a printer and publisher in London known for his work with William Caxton, and is recognised as the first to popularise the products of the printing press in England. Name Wynkyn de Worde was a German immigr ...

. There are notable parallels between this ballad and that of '' Robin Hood and the Monk'', but whether either legend was the source for the other cannot be established. In the prologue to

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy. In 1894, he began ...

's 1883 novel '' The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood'',

Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, al ...

upon first meeting Robin favorably compared Robin's skill at archery to that of Adam Bell. Adam Bell is the chief protagonist of the

penny dreadful Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...

novel by Pierce Egan the Younger entitled ''Adam Bell, or, The Archers of Englewood'' published in 1842. Adam Bell is thought to be the "Adam" mentioned by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

in ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

,'' I, i, 257-9: :...hang me in a bottle like a cat, and shoot at me, and he that hits me, let him be clapp'd on : the shoulder, and call'd Adam.Evans, G. Blakemore, ed. (1974). ''The Riverside Shakespeare.'' Boston, Houghton Mifflin. p. 335 n. 259. Adam Bell was played by Bryan Marshall in the ''

Robin of Sherwood ''Robin of Sherwood'' is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In th ...

'' episode ''Adam Bell''. In this particular storyline, Bell sacrifices his life so that Robin can rescue the

Sheriff of Nottingham The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, ...

's nephew Martin from his murderous uncle.

References and footnotes

External links

Text of the ballad
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Adam Child Ballads Legendary English people English outlaws Robin Hood Cumbrian folklore Northumbrian folklore Inglewood Forest