This theory has been propounded by the Rev. John Hunter, in one of his Critical and Historical Tracts.1 Mr. Hunter admits that Robin Hood lives only as a hero of song; that he is not found in authentic contemporary chronicles; and that, when we find him mentioned in history, the information was derived from the ballads, and is not independent of them or correlative with them. While making these admissions, he accords a con siderable degree of credibility to the ballads, and particularly to the I/ytell Geste, the last two fits of which he regards as giving a tolerably accurate account of real occurrences.