
Ellis Finch
Head of Knightsbridge Silver Department
This auction has ended. View lot details
Sold for £2,550 inc. premium
Our Home and Interiors specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialist
Head of Knightsbridge Silver Department
Alan-a-Dale (spelt in various ways), the wandering minstrel in Robin Hood's band of outlaws the 'Merry Men' was, according to legend, born in the village of Dale Abbey between Nottingham and Derby and it is claimed he married his wife, Ellen, in the Nottinghamshire village of Papplewick. He is first mentioned in a late 17th century ballad, 'Robin Hood and Allen a Dale':
"What is thy name?" then said Robin Hood,
Come tell me, without any fail."
"By the faith of my body," then said the young man,
"My name it is Allen a Dale."
The character later appears in chapter 33 of Sir Walter Scott's 'Ivanhoe', "He is a profane and drunken minstrel, called Allan-a Dale".