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
Merry Men Andrew of Wyntoun's "Orygynale Chronicle" of around 1420 and Walter Bower's expansion of the "Scotichronicon", completed around 1440. Later ballads name additional Merry Men, some of whom appear in only one or two ballads, while others, like the minstrel Alan-a-Dale and the jovial Friar Tuck, became fully attached to the legend. Several of the Robin Hood ballads tell the story of how individual Merry Men join the group; this is frequently accomplished by defeating Robin in a duel. The phrase "merry man" was originally a generic term for any follower or companion of an outlaw, knight, or similar leader. Robin's