Walter Scott the origin of "Habeas corpus" underlies Scott's next novel, "Ivanhoe", set during the era of the creation of the Magna Carta, which political conservatives like Walter Scott and Edmund Burke regarded as rooted in immemorial British custom and precedent. "Ivanhoe" (1819), set in 12th-century England, marked a move away from Scott's focus on the local history of Scotland. Based partly on Hume's "History of England" and the ballad cycle of Robin Hood, "Ivanhoe" was quickly translated into many languages and inspired countless imitations and theatrical adaptations. "Ivanhoe" depicts the cruel tyranny of the Norman overlords (Norman Yoke) over the impoverished
Robin Hood locally referred to by the name of Barnsdale because it was the predominant settlement in the forest. Wentbridge is mentioned in an early Robin Hood ballad, entitled, "Robin Hood and the Potter", which reads, "Y mete hem bot at Went breg,' syde Lyttyl John". And, while Wentbridge is not directly named in "A Gest of Robyn Hode", the poem does appear to make a cryptic reference to the locality by depicting a poor knight explaining to Robin Hood that he 'went at a bridge' where there was wrestling'. A commemorative Blue Plaque has been placed on the bridge that crosses