Friar Tuck royal writs in 1417 refer to Robert Stafford, a Sussex chaplain who had assumed the alias of Frere Tuk. This "Friar Tuck" was still at large in 1429. These are the earliest surviving references to a character by that name. In the 1891 romantic opera "Ivanhoe" by Sir Arthur Sullivan and Julian Sturgis, Friar Tuck was played by Avon Saxon. In the film "Robin Hood" (1922) he was portrayed by Willard Louis. In the film, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) the character Friar Tuck was played by actor Eugene Pallette as a fat individual fond of food but also
Robin Hood Smeaton, which later came to be called "Sailes Close". Professor Dobson and Mr. Taylor indicate that such evidence of continuity makes it virtually certain that the Saylis that was so well known to Robin Hood is preserved today as "Sayles Plantation". It is this location that provides a vital clue to Robin Hood's Yorkshire heritage. One final locality in the forest of Barnsdale that is associated with Robin Hood is the village of Campsall. The historian John Paul Davis wrote of Robin's connection to the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene at Campsall. "A Gest of Robyn Hode" states that the