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 of the story of Robin Hood and the Potter. (Neither of these ballads are known to have existed in print at the time, and there is no earlier record known of the "Curtal Friar" story). The publisher describes the text as a ", but does not seem to be aware that the text actually contains two separate plays. An especial point of interest in the "Friar" play is the appearance of a ribald woman who is unnamed but apparently to be identified with the bawdy Maid Marian of the May Games. She does not appear in extant versions of the