256^3. than _wanting_.
258^2. he _wanting_.
259^4. or D.
263^1. light from his.
263^2. can.
263^3. Right _for_ So: down.
265^1. bespake good Robin: Hode _wanting_.
266^3. For _wanting_.
266^4. They would.
267^3. then said.
267^4. And that.
268^1. take no griefe.
268^3. did I helpe.
268^4. they put.
269^1. Now by my truth then.
269^2. For that knight thanke.
270^1. than _wanting_.
270^3. there is: also _wanting_.
271^1. then said.
271^3. her hie.
272^1. And I should take it twice.
272^2. for me.
273^1. And when.
273^2. He laughed and made.
274^4. this trusty.
275^1. do he said.
275^2. fethered.
275^3. the gentle.
276^2. My will doone that it be.
276^3. Go and fetch me foure: pounds.
277^3. buye thee.
278^3. shalt not.
278^4. Whilste I.
279^1. well for.
279^2. I did send.
280^2. of all his.
280^3. sitteth.
281^1. take.
281^2. wend.
283^3. And they that shoote all of the best.
283^4. The best.
284^1. all of the best.
284^3. of goodly.
285^1. he should.
285^3. and feathers.
285^4. the like.
286^2. his trusty.
286^3. ye ready you wight yeomen.
287^1. merry yeomen.
287^3. I shall know.
288^2. Their takles.
288^3. of _wanting_: wight yeomen.
289^3. were: archers.
289^4. shot.
291^1. The first.
291^4. the buttes where.
292^2. he claue.
292^4. lilly-white.
293^4. they would.
294^3. then was.
295^1. To him.
295^3. guift full.
295^4. then would.
296^2. A great horn gan he.
297^1. be to thee.
297^2. Thus cheering.
297^3. An other promise thou madest to me.
297^4. Within the greene.
298^1. But and I had thee there againe.
298^2. the trusty.
298^3. giue me.
299^3. was torne.
300^4. away beliue.
301^1. broke.
301^4. the _for_ that.
302^1. he was.
302^2. on the knee.
303^2. you loued.
305^2. thou off.
305^3. wounds so wide and long.
305^4. That I after eat no bread.
306^1. that _wanting_.
306^2. wert slaine.
306^4. Though I had it all by me.
307^1. forbid that: Much then.
307^4. Depart.
308^3. he set.
310^2. of the.
311^3. be thou _wanting_.
312^1. I do thee thanke for.
312^{2,3}. And for.
313^1. all the.
314^4. the wall.
315^1. thee hite.
315^2. And sweare.
315^3. Thou shalt these twelue daies abide with me.
316^2. Ready and.
316^4. gan.
317^2. hearken vnto the.
317^3. sheriffe began.
319^3. there: enemies.
319^4. all law.
320^1. what I.
320^4. a _wanting_.
321^2. doe ye.
321^3. you wit your.
322^3. he went.
323^4. noble were and.
324^1. He would: had.
324^3. He would.
325^1. said the.
325^4. will I.
326^1. Goe home thou proude: sayde our kynge _wanting_.
326^2. I you bid.
329^4. Therefore had.
330^1. there he.
330^3. that gentle.
331^1. Euer awaited that.
331^2. of the.
331^4. his hauke.
332^1. To betray this gentle knight.
332^3. him home.
332^4. Ybound.
333^2. on a tree.
333^3. had rather then a.
333^4. That Robin hood had hee.
334^1. Then the lady the.
334^2. a _wanting_.
335^1. to the.
335^3. There found she.
335^4. merry menye.
336^3. loue _for_ sake.
337^1. Let thou.
337^3. bound.
338^2. so _wanting_.
338^3. thy lord ytake.
338^4. The proud sheriffe then said she.
339.
he is not yet passed three miles,
you may them ouertake:
340.
Vp then start good Robin
as a man that has been wake:
Buske ye, my merry yeomen,
for him that dyed on a tree.
341^2. on a tree.
341^3. And by him that all things maketh.
341^4. shall dwell.
342^1. ybent.
342^2. More.
342^3. they spared none.
343^2. The knight.
343^3. if ye may him ouertake.
343^4. then shall he.
344^4. gan.
345^2. so fast.
345^4. thy boote.
347^1. full _wanting_.
347^2. at his.
349^1. the _for_ thou.
349^2. may thou.
349^3. to thee.
350^3. it on.
350^4. driue.
351^2. cut in.
353^2. leasind.
354^4. hode if.
355^1. them _for_ men.
356^2. vnderstood.
356^4. all the knights land.
357^1. The compasse of.
357^2. wend.
358^2. many a one.
358^3. finde any.
359^4. eyes.
360^2. vnto.
360^3. He should.
360^4. of _for_ at.
361^2. it with.
362^3. O my.
364^2. his best.
364^3. to no.
366^2. halt.
366^3. he slew.
366^4. And vsed.
368^2. now be.
368^3. by your.
368^4. a monks.
369^1. lodesman.
369^2. on the.
369^4. come at.
370^4. eyes.
371^1. hastily.
371^3. They were all: monks weeds.
371^4. thither blithe.
372^4. to _wanting_.
374^1. sommer.
374^3. Vntill.
375^2. by the.
376^3. sayd _wanting_.
376^4. you.
377^4. Other shift haue not wee.
378^2. good _for_ gold.
380^3. full _wanting_.
381^1. I _wanting_.
381^3. an.
381^4. I would giue it to thee.
382^2. And deuided it then did he.
382^3. Halfe he gaue to.
382^4. to _wanting_.
383^2. Syr _wanting_.
384^2. He hath sent.
385^1. broad seale.
386^3. be my.
387^1. tyding.
387^4. the trusty.
388^1. he had.
388^4. full was fast.
389^2. gan it.
389^3. wight yeomen.
389^4. running _for_ redy.
392^1. hastily: dight.
392^2. can.
393^4. the good ale browne.
394^4. may thou.
395^1. I _for_ we.
395^2. Or that.
395^3. maist.
395^4. be lend.
396^4. beene.
397^2. can.
400^{1,2}. A good buffet on his head beare for this shall be his
fine.
400^3. And those: fell in.
401^2. claue.
401^4. lilly white.
403^2. Fore: freends faire.
403^3. of _wanting_.
404^2. then _for_ thus.
405^4. syr _wanting_.
406^1. said y^e.
406^2. be _for_ by, _as often_.
407^2. largely.
407^4. folded.
408^4. a tall frier.
409^2. can.
409^4. gan they meet.
410^2. Stedfast in.
411^1. the said!
411^2. sawe.
412^1. said Robin to.
412^2. this trusty.
412^4. and for mee.
413^1. And yet said good R.
413^2. As good God do me.
413^3. aske thee.
413^4. I it.
414^1. than _wanting_.
414^2. Thy petition I graunt thee.
414^3. So that thou wilt leaue.
415^1. syr _wanting_.
415^2. There to dwell.
417^1. But and I like not.
417^2. I will.
417^4. I was.
418^2. nowe _wanting_.
419^3. To sell.
421^1. his cote.
421^3. had so ywis.
421^4. They clothed them full.
422^2. the gray.
422^3. Now shall we.
422^4. All this: can.
423^1. They bent their.
424^3. And all they.
425^4. king when he did pay.
426^1. said the.
426^4. I shot.
428^1. togither can.
428^4. leaueth not one.
429^1. hastely.
430^2. to come againe.
430^3. saw our.
431^4. of the.
432^3. Robin hood.
433^1. Robin hood dwelled.
433^3. That he had.
434^3. and squires.
434^4. a great.
435^1. gone.
435^4. hym _wanting_.
436^2. faire.
436^4. wend.
437^3. was commended for the.
438^2. Alas what shall I doe.
440^4. there would I faine be.
441^1. might no time this: nights.
441^2. one _for_ ne.
441^3. all this.
441^4. nor _for_ ne.
442^3. haue I.
443^3. nights.
446^3. I haue a little lust for.
447^2. can.
448^3. wight yeomen.
448^4. running _for_ redy.
449^4. Vnder the.
450^2. yeeres.
450^3. Then for dred.
452^2. Dankastre.
452^3. _wanting._
452^4. For euill: they thee.
455^3. good _wanting_.
Thus endeth the life of Robin hood.
118
ROBIN HOOD AND GUY OF GISBORNE
‘Guye of Gisborne,’ Percy MS., p. 262; Hales and Furnivall, II, 227.
First printed in the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 1765, I, 74,
and, with less deviation from the original, in the fourth edition, 1794,
I, 81. Reprinted from the Reliques in Ritson’s Robin Hood, 1795, I, 114.
Robin Hood has had a dream that he has been beaten and bound by two
yeomen, who have taken away his bow. He vows that he will have
vengeance, and sets out in search of them with Little John. Robin and
John shoot as they go, till they come to the greenwood and see a yeoman
leaning against a tree, clad in a horse-hide, with head, tail, and mane.
John proposes to go to the yeoman to ask his intentions. Robin considers
this to be forward of John, and speaks so roughly to him that John parts
company, and returns to Barnsdale. Things are in a bad way there: the
sheriff of Nottingham has attacked Robin’s band; two have been slain;
Scarlett is flying, and the sheriff in pursuit with seven score men.
John sends an arrow at the pursuers, which kills one of them; but his
bow breaks, and John is made prisoner and tied to a tree.
Robin learns from the man in horse-hide that he is seeking Robin Hood,
but has lost his way. Robin offers to be his guide, and as they go
through the wood proposes a shooting-match. Both shoot well, but Robin
so much the better that the other breaks out into expressions of
admiration, and asks his name. Tell me thine first, says Robin. “I am
Guy of Gisborne;” “and I Robin Hood, whom thou long hast sought.” They
fight fiercely for two hours; Robin stumbles and is hit, but invokes the
Virgin’s aid, leaps up and kills Guy. He nicks Guy’s face so that it
cannot be recognized, throws his own green gown over the body, puts on
the horse-hide, and blows Guy’s horn. The sheriff hears in the sound
tidings that Guy has slain Robin, and thinks it is Guy that he sees
coming in the horse-hide. The supposed Guy is offered anything that he
will ask, but will take no reward but the boon of serving the knave as
he has the master. Robin hies to Little John, looses him, and gives him
Sir Guy’s bow. The sheriff takes to flight, but cannot outrun John’s
arrow, which cleaves his heart.
The beginning, and perhaps the development, of the story might have been
more lucid but for verses lost at the very start. Robin Hood dreams of
two yeomen that beat and bind him, and goes to seek them, “in greenwood
where they be.” Sir Guy being one, the other person pointed at must of
course be the sheriff of Nottingham (who seems to be beyond his beat in
Yorkshire,[81] but outlaws can raise no questions of jurisdiction), in
league with Sir Guy (a Yorkshireman, who has done many a curst turn) for
the capture or slaying of Robin. The dream simply foreshadows danger
from two quarters. But Robin Hood is nowhere informed, as we are, that
the sheriff is out against him with seven score men, has attacked his
camp, and taken John prisoner. He knows nothing of this so far on as
stanza 45^3, where, after killing Guy, he says he will go to Barnsdale
to see how his men are faring. Why then does he make his arrangements in
stanzas 42–45^2, before he returns to Barnsdale, to pass himself off for
Sir Guy? Plainly this device is adopted with the knowledge that John is
a prisoner, and as a means of delivering him; which all that follows
shows. Our embarrassment is the greater because we cannot point out any
place in the story at which the necessary information could have been
conveyed; there is no cranny where it could have been thrust in. It will
not be enough, therefore, to suppose that verses have dropped out; there
must also have been a considerable derangement of the story.
The abrupt transition from the introductory verses, 1, 2^{1,2}, is found
in Adam Bell, and the like occurs in other ballads.
A fragment of a dramatic piece founded on the ballad of Guy of Gisborne
has been preserved in manuscript of the date of 1475, or earlier.[82] In
this, a knight, not named, engages to take Robin Hood for the sheriff,
and is promised gold and fee if he does. The knight accosts Robin, and
proposes that they shoot together. They shoot, cast the stone, cast the
axle-tree, perhaps wrestle (for the knight has a fall), then fight to
the utterance. Robin has the mastery, cuts off the knight’s head, and
dons his clothes, putting the head into his hood. He hears from a man
who comes along that Robin Hood and his men have been taken by the
sheriff, and says, Let us go kill the sheriff. Then follows, out of the
order of time, as is necessary in so brief a piece, the capture of Friar
Tuck and the others by the sheriff. The variations from the Percy MS.
story may be arbitrary, or may be those of another version of the
ballad. The friar is called Tuck, as in the other play: see Robin Hood
and the Potter.
‘Syr sheryffë, for thy sakë,
Robyn Hode wull Y takë.’
‘I wyll the gyffë golde and fee,
This behestë þ_o_u holdë me.’
‘Robyn Hode, ffayre and fre,
Vndre this lyndë shotë we.’
‘With the shote Y wyll,
Alle thy lustës to full fyll.’
‘Have at the prykë!’
‘And Y cleuë the stykë.’
‘Late vs castë the stone.’
‘I grauntë well, be Seynt John.’
‘Late vs castë the exaltre.’
‘Have a foote be-forë the!
Syr knyght, ye haue a falle.’
‘And I the, Robyn, qwytë shall.’
‘Owte on the! I blowë myn horne.’
‘Hit warë better be vnborne.’
‘Lat vs fyght at ottrauncë.’
‘He that fleth, God gyfe hym myschauncë!
Now I hauë the maystry herë,
Off I smytë this sory swyrë.
This knyghtys clothis wolle I werë,
And in my hode his hede woll berë.
Welle mete, felowë myn:
What herst þ_o_u of gode Robyn?’
‘Robyn Hode and his menye
W_i_t_h_ the sheryff takyn be.’
‘Sette on footë w_i_t_h_ gode wyll,
And the sheryffë wull we kyll.’
‘Beholde wele Ffrere Tukë,
Howe he dothe his bowë plukë.
Ȝeld yow, syrs, to the sheryff[ë],
Or elles shall yo_u_r bowës clyffë.’
‘Nowe we be bownden alle in samë;
Frere [T]uke, þis is no gamë.’
‘Co[m]e þ_o_u forth, þ_o_u fals outlawë:
Þ_o_u shall b[e] hangyde and ydrawë.’
‘Now, allas! what shall we doo!
We [m]ostë to the prysone goo.’
‘Opy[n] the yatis faste anon,
An[d] [d]oo theis thevys ynnë gon.’[83]
Ritson pointed out that Guy of Gisborne is named with “other worthies,
it is conjectured of a similar stamp,” in a satirical piece of William
Dunbar, ‘Of Sir Thomas Norray.’
Was never vyld Robeine wnder bewch,
Nor ȝet Roger of Clekkinsklewch,
So bauld a bairne as he;
Gy of Gysburne, na Allan Bell,
Nor Simones sonnes of Quhynfell,
At schot war nevir so slie.[84]
Ed. John Small, Part II, p. 193.
Gisburne is in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on the borders of
Lancashire, seven miles from Clitheroe.
He that had neither beene a kithe nor kin
Might haue seene a full fayre sight, 36^{1,2},
anticipates Byron:—
By heaven, it is a splendid sight to see,
For one who hath no friend, no brother, there.
Childe Harold, I, 40^{1,2}.
Translated, after Percy’s Reliques, by Bodmer, II, 128; La Motte Fouqué,
in Büsching’s Erzählungen, p. 241; Doenniges, p. 174; Anastasius Grün,
p. 103; Cesare Cantù, Documenti, etc., p. 799 (the first thirty-seven
stanzas).
1
When shawes beene sheene, and shradds full fayre,
And leeues both large and longe,
Itt is merrry, walking in the fayre fforrest,
To heare the small birds songe.
2
The woodweele sang, and wold not cease,
Amongst the leaues a lyne:
And it is by two wight yeomen,
By deare God, _tha_t I meane.
* * * * *
3
‘Me thought they did mee beate and binde,
And tooke my bow mee froe;
If I bee Robin a-liue in this lande,
I’le be wrocken on both them towe.’
4
‘Sweauens are swift, m_aster_,’ q_uo_th Iohn,
‘As the wind _tha_t blowes ore a hill;
Ffor if itt be neu_er_ soe lowde this night,
To-morrow it may be still.’
5
‘Buske yee, bowne yee, my merry men all,
Ffor Iohn shall goe w_i_th mee;
For I’le goe seeke yond wight yeomen
In greenwood where the bee.’
6
Thé cast on their gowne of greene,
A shooting gone are they,
Vntill they came to the merry greenwood,
Where they had gladdest bee;
There were the ware of [a] wight yeoman,
His body leaned to a tree.
7
A sword and a dagger he wore by his side,
Had beene many a mans bane,
And he was cladd in his capull-hyde,
Topp, and tayle, and mayne.
8
‘Stand you still, m_aster_,’ q_uo_th Litle Iohn,
‘Vnder this trusty tree,
And I will goe to yond wight yeoman,
To know his meaning trulye.’
9
‘A, Iohn, by me thou setts noe store,
And _tha_t’s a ffarley thinge;
How offt send I my men beffore,
And tarry my-selfe behinde?
10
‘It is noe cunning a knaue to ken,
And a man but heare him speake;
And itt were not for bursting of my bowe,
Iohn, I wold thy head breake.’
11
But often words they breeden bale,
_Tha_t p_ar_ted Robin and Iohn;
Iohn is gone to Barn[e]sdale,
The gates he knowes eche one.
12
And when hee came to Barnesdale,
Great heauinesse there hee hadd;
He ffound two of his fellowes
Were slaine both in a slade,
13
And Scarlett a ffoote flyinge was,
Ou_er_ stockes and stone,
For the sheriffe w_i_th seuen score men
Fast after him is gone.
14
‘Yett one shoote I’le shoote,’ sayes Litle Iohn,
‘W_i_th Crist his might and mayne;
I’le make yond fellow _tha_t flyes soe fast
To be both glad and ffaine.’
15
Iohn bent vp a good veiwe bow,
And ffetteled him to shoote;
The bow was made of a tender boughe,
And fell downe to his foote.
16
‘Woe worth thee, wicked wood,’ sayd Litle Iohn,
‘_Tha_t ere thou grew on a tree!
Ffor this day thou art my bale,
My boote when thou shold bee!’
17
This shoote it was but looselye shott,
The arrowe flew in vaine,
And it mett one of the sheriffes men;
Good W_illia_m a Trent was slaine.
18
It had beene better for W_illia_m a Trent
To hange vpon a gallowe
Then for to lye in the greenwoode,
There slaine w_i_th an arrowe.
19
And it is sayd, when men be mett,
Six can doe more then three:
And they haue tane Litle Iohn,
And bound him ffast to a tree.
20
‘Thou shalt be drawen by dale and downe,’ q_uo_th the sheriffe,
‘And hanged hye on a hill:’
‘But thou may ffayle,’ q_uo_th Litle Iohn,
‘If itt be Christs owne will.’
21
Let vs leaue talking of Litle Iohn,
For hee is bound fast to a tree,
And talke of Guy and Robin Hood,
In the green woode where they bee.
22
How these two yeomen together they mett,
Vnder the leaues of lyne,
To see what marchandise they made
Euen at that same time.
23
‘Good morrow, good fellow,’ q_uo_th S_i_r Guy;
‘Good morrow, good ffellow,’ q_uo_th hee;
‘Methinkes by this bow thou beares in thy hand,
A good archer thou seems to bee.’
24
‘I am wilfull of my way,’ q_uo_th S_i_r Guye,
‘And of my morning tyde:’
‘I’le lead thee through the wood,’ q_uo_th Robin,
‘Good ffellow, I’le be thy guide.’
25
‘I seeke an outlaw,’ q_uo_th S_i_r Guye,
‘Men call him Robin Hood;
I had rather meet w_i_th him vpon a day
Then forty pound of golde.’
26
‘If you tow mett, itt wold be seene whether were better
Afore yee did p_ar_t awaye;
Let vs some other pastime find,
Good ffellow, I thee pray.
27
‘Let vs some other masteryes make,
And wee will walke in the woods euen;
Wee may chance mee[t] w_i_th Robin Hoode
Att some vnsett steven.’
28
They cutt them downe the sum_m_er shroggs
W_hi_ch grew both vnder a bryar,
And sett them three score rood in twinn,
To shoote the prickes full neare.
29
‘Leade on, good ffellow,’ sayd S_i_r Guye,
‘Lead on, I doe bidd thee:’
‘Nay, by my faith,’ q_uo_th Robin Hood,
‘The leader thou shalt bee.’
30
The first good shoot _tha_t Robin ledd
Did not shoote an inch the pricke ffroe;
Guy was an archer good enoughe,
But he cold neere shoote soe.
31
The second shoote S_i_r Guy shott,
He shott w_i_thin the garlande;
But Robin Hoode shott it better then hee,
For he cloue the good pricke-wande.
32
‘Gods blessing on thy heart!’ sayes Guye,
‘Goode ffellow, thy shooting is goode;
For an thy hart be as good as thy hands,
Thou were better then Robin Hood.
33
‘Tell me thy name, good ffellow,’ q_uo_th Guy,
‘Vnder the leaues of lyne:’
‘Nay, by my faith,’ q_uo_th good Robin,
‘Till thou haue told me thine.’
34
‘I dwell by dale and downe,’ q_uo_th Guye,
‘And I haue done many a curst turne;
And he _tha_t calles me by my right name
Calles me Guye of good Gysborne.’
35
‘My dwelling is in the wood,’ sayes Robin;
‘By thee I set right nought;
My name is Robin Hood of Barnesdale,
A ffellow thou has long sought.’
36
He _tha_t had neither beene a kithe nor kin
Might haue seene a full fayre sight,
To see how together these yeomen went,
W_i_th blades both browne and bright.
37
To haue seene how these yeomen together foug[ht],
Two howers of a sum_m_ers day;
Itt was neither Guy nor Robin Hood
_Tha_t ffettled them to flye away.
38
Robin was reacheles on a roote,
And stumbled at _tha_t tyde,
And Guy was quicke and nimble w_i_th-all,
And hitt him ore the left side.
39
‘Ah, deere Lady!’ sayd Robin Hoode,
‘Thou art both mother and may!
I thinke it was neu_er_ mans destinye
To dye before his day.’
40
Robin thought on Our Lady deere,
And soone leapt vp againe,
And thus he came w_i_th an awkwarde stroke;
Good S_i_r Guy hee has slayne.
41
He tooke S_i_r Guys head by the hayre,
And sticked itt on his bowes end:
‘Thou hast beene traytor all thy liffe,
W_hi_ch thing must haue an ende.’
42
Robin pulled forth an Irish kniffe,
And nicked S_i_r Guy in the fface,
_Tha_t hee was neuer on a woman borne
Cold tell who S_i_r Guye was.
43
Saies, Lye there, lye there, good S_i_r Guye,
And w_i_th me be not wrothe;
If thou haue had the worse stroakes at my hand,
Thou shalt haue the better cloathe.
44
Robin did off his gowne of greene,
S_i_r Guye hee did it throwe;
And hee put on _tha_t capull-hyde,
_Tha_t cladd him topp to toe.
45
‘The bowe, the arrowes, and litle horne,
And w_i_th me now I’le beare;
Ffor now I will goe to Barn[e]sdale,
To see how my men doe ffare.’
46
Robin sett Guyes horne to his mouth,
A lowd blast in it he did blow;
_Tha_t beheard the sheriffe of Nottingham,
As he leaned vnder a lowe.
47
‘Hearken! hearken!’ sayd the sheriffe,
‘I heard noe tydings but good;
For yonder I heare S_i_r Guyes horne blowe,
For he hath slaine Robin Hoode.
48
‘For yonder I heare S_i_r Guyes horne blow,
Itt blowes soe well in tyde,
For yonder comes _tha_t wighty yeoman,
Cladd in his capull-hyde.
49
‘Come hither, thou good S_i_r Guy,
Aske of mee what thou wilt haue:’
‘I’le none of thy gold,’ sayes Robin Hood,
‘Nor I’le none of itt haue.
50
‘But now I haue slaine the m_aster_,’ he sayd,
‘Let me goe strike the knaue;
This is all the reward I aske,
Nor noe other will I haue.’
51
‘Thou art a madman,’ said the shiriffe,
‘Thou sholdest haue had a knights ffee;
Seeing thy asking [hath] beene soe badd,
Well granted it shall be.’
52
But Litle Iohn heard his m_aster_ speake,
Well he knew _tha_t was his steuen;
‘Now shall I be loset,’ q_uo_th Litle Iohn,
‘W_i_th Christs might in heauen.’
53
But Robin hee hyed him towards Litle Iohn,
Hee thought hee wold loose him beliue;
The sheriffe and all his companye
Fast after him did driue.
54
‘Stand abacke! stand abacke!’ sayd Robin;
‘Why draw you mee soe neere?
Itt was neu_er_ the vse in our countrye
One’s shrift another shold heere.’
55
But Robin pulled forth an Irysh kniffe,
And losed Iohn hand and ffoote,
And gaue him S_i_r Guyes bow in his hand,
And bade it be his boote.
56
But Iohn tooke Guyes bow in his hand—
His arrowes were rawstye by the roote—;
The sherriffe saw Litle Iohn draw a bow
And ffettle him to shoote.
57
Towards his house in Nottingam
He ffled full fast away,
And soe did all his companye,
Not one behind did stay.
58
But he cold neither soe fast goe,
Nor away soe fast runn,
But Litle Iohn, w_i_th an arrow broade,
Did cleaue his heart in twinn.
* * * * *
1^1. When shales beeene.
1^4. birds singe.
2^1. woodweete.
2^3. by 2.
11^1. ball.
12^3. 2 of.
13^3. with 7.
15^1. veiwe. _The word is partly pared away._
15^4. footee.
18^1. a william.
19^2. 6 can ... 3.
21^4. in they green.
22^1. these 2.
23^4. archer: _an_ e _has been added at the end_. _Furnivall._
25^4. 40[li :].
27^4. _a stroke before the_ v _of steven_. _Furnivall._
28^3. 3 score.
31^1. 2[d :].
32^3. for on.
37^2. 2 howers.
44^1. did on.
55^1. kniffee.
119
ROBIN HOOD AND THE MONK
#a.# MS. of about 1450: Cambridge University Library, Ff. 5. 48, fol.
128 b. #b.# One leaf of a MS. of the same age, containing stanzas
69^3–72, 77^2–80^2: Bagford Ballads, vol. i, art. 6, British Museum.
#a# is printed from the manuscript in Jamieson’s Popular Ballads, II,
54, 1806; Hartshorne’s Ancient Metrical Tales, p. 179, 1829; Ritson’s
Robin Hood, ed. 1832, II, 221, collated by Sir Frederic Madden. Here
printed from a fresh transcript, carefully revised by Rev. Professor
Skeat.