[17] See Wright's _Essays_, ii. 207. "The name of Witikind, the famous opponent of Charlemagne, who always fled before his sight, concealed himself in the forests, and returned again in his absence, is no more than _witu chint_, in Old High Dutch, and signifies the _son of the wood_, an appellation which he could never have received at his birth, since it denotes an exile or outlaw. Indeed, the name Witikind, though such a person seems to have existed, appears to be the representative of all the defenders of his country against the invaders." (_Cf._ the _Three_ Tells.) [18] Thus, in Kent, the Hobby Horse is called _hooden_, i.e. wooden. It is curious that Orlando, in _As You Like It_, (who represents the outlaw Gamelyn in the _Tale of Gamelyn_, a tale which clearly belongs to the cycle of Robin Hood,) should be the son of Sir Rowland _de Bois_. Robin de Bois (says a writer in _Notes and Queries_, vi. 597) occurs in one of Sue's novels "as a well-known mythical character, whose name is employed by French mothers to frighten their children." [19] Kuhn, in _Haupt's Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum_, v. 472. The idea of a northern myth will of course excite the alarm of all sensible patriotic Englishmen, (e.g. Mr. Hunter, at page 3 of his tract,) and the bare suggestion of Woden will be received, in the same quarters, with an explosion of scorn. And yet we find the famous shot of Eigill, one of the mythical personages of the Scandinavians, (and perhaps to be regarded as one of the forms of Woden,) attributed in the ballad of _Adam Bel_ to William of Cloudesly, who may be considered as Robin Hood under another name. See the preface to _Adam Bel_. [20] As in Tollett's window. [21] In Lord Hailes's _Extracts from the Book of the Universal Kirk_. [22] More openly exhibited in the mock battle between Summer and Winter celebrated by the Scandinavians in honor of May, a custom still retained in the Isle of Man, where the month is every year ushered in with a contest between the Queen of Summer, and the Queen of Winter. (Brand's _Antiquities_, by Ellis, i. 222, 257.) A similar ceremony in Germany, occurring at Christmas, is noticed by Kuhn, p. 478. [23] Hence the Spring begins with March. The connection with Mars suggests a possible etymology for the Morris--which is usually explained, for want of something better, as a Morisco or Moorish dance. There is some resemblance between the Morris and the Salic dance. The Salic games are said to have been instituted by the Veian king Morrius, a name pointing to Mars, the divinity of the Salii. Kuhn, 488-493. [24] The name Robin also appears to Kuhn worthy of notice, since the horseman in the May pageant is in some parts of Germany called Ruprecht (Rupert, Robert). [25] Edinburgh Review, vol. 86, p. 123.