Character guide

Dick Shelton

major

Also known as Dick, Master Dick, sweet Dick, kind Dick, Shelton, young Shelton, Cautiously Dick, young Master Richard Shelton, Master Richard, Richard, good Master Shelton, Master Shelton, Richard Shelton, Sir Richard Shelton, Sir Richard, Friend Dick, Dick—good Dick

Dick Shelton begins as Sir Daniel Brackley's ward, loyal to a guardian whose treachery he has not yet learned to see. When he weeps over a dead comrade and begs a priest for a dying archer, his raw decency collides with the cold politics of the Wars of the Roses. His early ride through Tunstall Forest, where arrows fly and companions fall, forces him to choose whom to trust — and whom to love — before he even knows the truth about his own name.

Sir Daniel Brackley

major

Also known as Sir Daniel, Brackley, Daniel, Sir Daniel goodwill, Daniel Brackley

Sir Daniel Brackley rules his corner of the Wars of the Roses by shifting allegiances and writing letters full of promises he has no intention of keeping. He needs a messenger sly enough and fast enough to slip past the outlaws in the wood, and his careful weighing of his own men shows a commander who trusts no one. As Dick's guardian and Joanna's would-be husband, he is the knot of obligation and betrayal that the early story pulls tighter with every scene.

Joanna Sedley

major

Also known as One Joan Sedley, Joanna, this Joanna, Joanna Sedley, Joan, Mistresse Joan Sedley, Joan Sedley, Joan The

Joanna Sedley travels as the boy Matcham, hiding from a forced marriage to a man she has never met — who turns out to be the very companion beside her. In the dark of Dick's chamber she confesses her identity and her love in the same breath, brave and quick-tongued even as Sir Daniel's men hammer at the door. Her disguise is both armor and cage, and the tension between what she is and what she must pretend to be drives the middle of the book.

Matcham

major

Also known as Master Matcham, Jack, Jack Matcham, good Jack, poor Jack Matcham, Jack ashore, Sir John Matcham, John Matcham

Matcham is the name Joanna Sedley wears when she flees Sir Daniel's household, and as Jack Matcham she teases Dick about his impending wedding to a girl neither of them has met. Her fear of capture is real, but so is her pleasure in Dick's company, and the friendship they build on the road is charged with everything she cannot say. When the disguise finally falls away, it is the trust earned as Matcham that makes the revelation land.

Will Lawless

supporting

Also known as Lawless, Will, old Lawless, dear Lawless, Friend Lawless

Will Lawless is a man who has survived so long by hardship that he can curl up and snore in a cell the night before his hanging. He offers Dick a string to his bow — the outlaw Ellis Duckworth — and pledges to swear for Dick's innocence even when swearing will do no good. His loyalty is the kind that costs nothing to promise and everything to keep, and it anchors Dick to the outlaw band that will shape his fate.

Bennet Hatch

supporting

Also known as Bennet, Hatch, Maister Bennet Hatch, good Bennet, poor Bennet

Bennet Hatch serves Sir Daniel with a soldier's blunt loyalty, but old Appleyard's warning that every man in Tunstall Forest would rather shoot him than not has clearly gotten under his skin. He is the practical arm of Sir Daniel's power — mustering men, holding the Moat House, teaching Dick the trade of arms — and yet his rough affection for Dick complicates his service. When the arrows start flying, Hatch is the first to show what loyalty costs in this country.

Ellis Duckworth

supporting

Also known as Duckworth, Ellis, Master Ellis

Ellis Duckworth commands the outlaw band that turns the greenwood into a hunting ground for Sir Daniel Brackley, and he draws young Dick Shelton into that feud. His pursuit of revenge has curdled into something like a sickness of the soul, so that when his enemy lies dead at last he prays in great disorder and confesses the devil is still strong within him. He matters because his fellowship gives Dick both a refuge and a moral education in what vengeance costs.

Lord Foxham

supporting

Also known as Foxham, the Lord Foxham

Lord Foxham is a nobleman of the old style, rich, proud, and accustomed to comfort, who finds himself bleeding in a foul ship among churls and broken men. Facing death, he worries less for his soul than for his secular interests, and he bargains with Dick to protect his ward and his following. His trust turns a gallant enemy into a patron and gives Dick the standing he needs to pursue Joanna.

Sir Oliver Oates

supporting

Also known as Sir Oliver

Sir Oliver Oates is the household priest at Tunstall, a discreet, soft-stepping man who has grown comfortable in Sir Daniel's shadow and profited by his crimes. When Dick presses him about the dying Carter and about old treacheries, the priest starts, drops his eyes, and hurries on with an inaudible benediction. He matters because his guilty evasions help convince Dick that his guardian's house is built on murder.

Richard of Gloucester

supporting

Also known as Crookback Dick o' Gloucester, the Crookback, Crookback Dick, Gloucester, Crookback, Richard Crookback, Richard, Meanwhile Gloucester

Richard of Gloucester appears in the wars as a small, dark, ambitious leader who demands that all things be done exact to his commandment and kills those who fail. Yet his men follow him gladly, for he is as liberal of his own blood as of theirs, always in the first front of battle and the last to sleep. He matters because his cold favour raises Dick to a perilous command and because his sour inspection of Joanna nearly rewrites her fate.

Alicia Risingham

supporting

Also known as Mistress Alicia Risingham, the nowise loth Alicia

Alicia Risingham is Joanna's friend and companion in Sir Daniel's house, a girl who can mimic a paladin's boasts one moment and offer bold counsel the next. She teases Dick about driving lions like mice, yet she is the one who draws him out and keeps Joanna's spirits from sinking. She matters because her nerve and humour help carry the two girls through the dangers of the wedding eve, and because her own marriage closes the story's comic account.

Earl Risingham

supporting

Also known as Risingham, V Earl Risingham Earl Risingham, Lord Risingham, my good Lord Risingham

Earl Risingham belongs to the great Lancastrian party that shelters Sir Daniel and Lord Shoreby, and his household becomes a fortress of sentinels and posted men as the outlaws close in. He is a man of rank and consequence whose alliances place him squarely in the path of Dick's rising fortunes. He matters because his cause and his kin tie the private feud of the greenwood to the larger wars of York and Lancaster.

Selden

minor

A loyal servant of Lord Foxham who accompanies Dick on missions.

Gossip Arblaster

minor

Also known as Gossip, Arblaster, gossip Arblaster, Even Arblaster, Skipper Arblaster

A shipmaster whose vessel Dick commandeers; later seeks revenge.

Hugh Ferryman

minor

Also known as Hugh

The ferryman who transports Dick and Matcham across the fen.

Tom Cuckow

minor

Also known as Tom, Cuckow

A sailor on the Good Hope who is killed during the skirmish.

Appleyard

minor

Also known as old Appleyard, Old Appleyard, poor Appleyard

An old archer killed by a black arrow early in the story.

John Carter

minor

Also known as Carter, good Carter

A servant of Sir Daniel who is killed by a black arrow.

Greensheve

minor

Also known as brother Greensheve

One of Ellis Duckworth's outlaws who aids Dick.

Clipsby

minor

A man who gives Dick information about Sir Daniel's plans.

Catesby

minor

A retainer of Richard of Gloucester who delivers messages.

John Amend-All

minor

Also known as John Amend, John Amend - All, John, Jon Amend

An alias used by Ellis Duckworth for his outlaw band.

Lord Shoreby

minor

Also known as old Lord Shoreby himself, the Lord of Shoreby, Shoreby

A Lancastrian nobleman who is killed by Dick.

Master Pirret

minor

Also known as Pirret

A servant of Sir Daniel who guards the Moat House.

Hawksley

minor

One of Ellis Duckworth's outlaws.

Lady Brackley

minor

Also known as Brackley, old Lady Brackley

Sir Daniel's mother, a harsh old woman.

John Capper

minor

Also known as Capper, John

A servant of Sir Daniel who assists in the plot against Dick.

Condall

minor

A sailor on the Good Hope who is killed.

Dickon

minor

Also known as Friend Dickon

A nickname for Richard of Gloucester used by his followers.

Rutter

minor

A sailor on the Good Hope who is killed.

Throgmorton

minor

A man who brings news to Sir Daniel.

Sir Harry Shelton

minor

Also known as Harry Shelton

Dick's father, whose murder by Sir Daniel sets the plot in motion.

John-a-Fenne

minor

Also known as John - a - Fenne, John Fenne, John

A spy for Sir Daniel who is killed by the outlaws.

Sir John Hamley

minor

Also known as Hamley, this Hamley

A knight who appears at the battle of Shoreby.

Old Nicholas

minor

Also known as Nick, old Nicholas the bowman, old Nick

An old bowman who serves Sir Daniel.

Brother Martin

minor

A friar who helps Dick and Joanna in the abbey.

Simon Malmesbury

minor

A priest who is killed by a black arrow.

Abbot of Holywood

minor

Also known as The good Abbot of Holywood, Holywood

An abbot who shelters Dick and Joanna.

Kettley

minor

A man who gives Dick information about Sir Daniel.

Lord Wensleydale

minor

A Lancastrian lord killed at the battle of Shoreby.