Earliest mention of 'Herne the Hunter'

For such an iconic figure, there is surprisingly little written evidence for Herne the Hunter before the 1840s.

Shakespeare is the earliest source merely describes Herne the Hunter as “a spirit” and “sometime a keeper … in Windsor forest” who is seen to “walk round about an oak, with great ragg’d horns” at midnight during winter-time.

Two hundred years later in 1792 Samuel Ireland slightly expands on Shakespeare as follows: “The story of this Herne, who was keeper in the forest in the time of Elizabeth, runs thus: - That having committed some great offence, for which he feared to lose his situation and fall into disgrace, he was induced to hang himself on this tree.”

William Ainsworth’s romantic novel Windsor Castle (novel) which began serialisation in 1842 contains a fictionalised account of the origins of Herne the Hunter set during the reign of Richard II. This fabrication was popular with the Victorians, and has come down to the present day as being the legend.

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