author of the Life of Robin Hood in Sloane MS., 715, which dates from
the end of the seventeenth century. It is thoroughly lyrical, and
therein “like the old age,” and was pretty well sung to pieces before it
ever was printed. A snatch of it is sung, as Ritson has observed, in
each of the Robin Hood plays, The Downfall of Robert, Earl of
Huntington, by Anthony Munday, and The Death of Robert, Earl of
Huntington, by A. Munday and Henry Chettle, both printed in 1601.
At Michaelmas cometh my covenant out,
My master gives me my fee;
Then, Robin, I’ll wear thy Kendall green,
And wend to the greenwood with thee.
O there dwelleth a jolly pinder
At Wakefield all on a green.[104]
Silence sings the line ‘And Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John,’ 3^2, in the
Second Part of King Henry Fourth, V, 3, and Falstaff addresses Bardolph
as Scarlet and John in the first scene of The Merry Wives of Windsor. In
Beaumont and Fletcher’s Philaster, V, 4, Dyce, I, 295, we have: “Let
not ... your Robinhoods, Scarlets, and Johns tie your affections in
darkness to your shops.” Scarlet and John, comrades of Robin Hood from
the beginning, are prominent in many ballads.
Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John have left the highway and made a path over
the corn,[105] apparently in defiance of the Pinder of Wakefield, who
has the fame of being able to exact a penalty of trespassers, whatever
their rank. The Pinder bids them turn again; they, being three to one,
scorn to comply. The Pinder fights with them till their swords are
broken. Robin cries Hold! and asks the Pinder to join his company in the
greenwood. This the Pinder is ready to do at Michaelmas, when his
engagement to his present master will be terminated. Robin asks for meat
and drink, and the Pinder offers him bread, beef, and ale.
The adventure of the ballad is naturally introduced into the play of
George a Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield, printed in 1599, reprinted in
Dodsley’s Old Plays (the third volume of the edition of 1825), and by
Dyce among the works of Robert Greene. George a Greene fights with
Scarlet, and beats him; then with Much (not John), and beats him; then
with Robin Hood. Robin protests he is the stoutest champion that ever he
laid hands on, and says:
George, wilt thou forsake Wakefield
And go with me?
Two liveries will I give thee every year,
And forty crowns shall be thy fee.
George welcomes Robin to his house, offering him wafer-cakes, beef,
mutton, and veal. (Dyce, II, 196 f.)
The scene in the play is found in the prose history of George a Green,
London, 1706, of which a copy is known, no doubt substantially the same,
of the date 1632. The Pinner here fells ‘Slathbatch,’ Little John, and
the Friar, before his bout with Robin. See Thoms, A Collection of Early
Prose Romances, II, 44–47, and the prefaces, p. viii ff, p. xviii f, for
more about the popularity of the Pinner’s story.
Wakefield is in the West Riding of the county of York.
Richard Brathwayte, in a poetical epistle “to all true-bred northerne
sparks of the generous society of the Cottoneers,” Strappado for the
Divell, 1615 (cited by Ritson, Robin Hood, ed. 1795, I, xxvii-ix),
speaks of
The Pindar’s valour, and how firme he stood
In th’ townes defence gainst th’ rebel Robin Hood;
How stoutly he behav’d himselfe, and would,
In spite of Robin, bring his horse to th’ fold:
from which we might infer that according to one account the Pinder had
impounded Robin’s horse. But as Robin Hood, in this passage, is
confounded with the rebel Earl of Kendal, or some one of his adherents,
it is safe to suppose that Brathwayte has been twice inaccurate.[106]
The ballad is so imperfect that one might be in doubt whether the Pinder
fights with Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John all together or successively.
But to suppose the Pinder capable of dealing with all three at once
would be monstrous, and we see from the History and from Greene’s play
that the Pinder must take them one after the other, and Robin the last
of the three.
There are seven other ballads, besides The Pinder of Wakefield, in which
Robin Hood, after trying his strength with a stout fellow, and coming
off somewhat or very much the worse, induces his antagonist to enlist in
his company. Several of these are very late, and most of them
imitations, we may say, of the Pinder, or one of the other. These
ballads are: Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar; Robin Hood and Little
John; Robin Hood and the Tanner; Robin Hood and the Tinker, 28 ff; Robin
Hood Revived; Robin Hood and the Ranger; Robin Hood and the Scotchman.
We might add Robin Hood and Maid Marian. The episode of Little John and
the Cook, in the Gest, 165–171, is after the same pattern. There is
another set in which a contest of a like description does not result in
an accession to the outlaw-band. These are Robin Hood and the Potter;
Robin Hood and the Butcher; Robin Hood and the Beggar, I; Robin Hood and
the Beggar, II (Robin Hood first beaten, then three of his men severely
handled); Robin Hood and the Shepherd (Robin Hood overmastered, Little
John on the point of being beaten, etc.); The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood
(John outmatched first, then his master); Robin Hood’s Delight (combat
between Robin Hood, Little John, and Scadlock and three Keepers); Robin
Hood and the Pedlars (again three to three).
There are, as might be expected, frequent verbal agreements in
these ballads, and many of them are collected by Fricke, Die
Robin-Hood-Balladen, pp 91–95.
The fights in these ballads last from an hour, Gest, st. 168, to a long
summer’s day, in this ballad, st. 6. In Robin Hood and Maid Marian, st.
11, the time is at least an hour, or more; in Robin Hood and the Tanner,
st. 20, two hours and more; in Robin Hood and the Ranger, st. 12, three
hours; in Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar, #B# 24, and Robin Hood and
the Shepherd, st. 11, from ten o’clock till four; in Robin Hood’s
Delight, st. 11, from eight o’clock till two, and past.
A
#a.# Wood, 402, leaf 43. #b.# Garland of 1663, No 4. #c.# Garland of
1670, No 3. #d.# Pepys, II, 100, No 87 a. #e.# Wood, 401, leaf 61 b.
1
In Wakefield there lives a jolly pinder,
In Wakefield, all on a green; (_bis_)
2
‘There is neither knight nor squire,’ said the pinder,
‘Nor baron that is so bold, (_bis_)
Dare make a trespasse to the town of Wakefield,
But his pledge goes to the pinfold.’ (_bis_)
3
All this beheard three witty young men,
’Twas Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John;
With that they spyed the jolly pinder,
As he sate under a thorn.
4
‘Now turn again, turn again,’ said the pinder,
‘For a wrong way have you gone;
For you have forsaken the king his highway,
And made a path over the corn.’
5
‘O that were great shame,’ said jolly Robin,
‘We being three, and thou but one:’
The pinder leapt back then thirty good foot,
’Twas thirty good foot and one.
6
He leaned his back fast unto a thorn,
And his foot unto a stone,
And there he fought a long summer’s day,
A summer’s day so long,
Till that their swords, on their broad bucklers,
Were broken fast unto their hands.
* * * * *
7
‘Hold thy hand, hold thy hand,’ said Robin Hood,
‘And my merry men euery one;
For this is one of the best pinders
That ever I try’d with sword.
8
‘And wilt thou forsake thy pinder his craft,
And live in [the] green wood with me?
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
9
‘At Michaelmas next my covnant comes out,
When every man gathers his fee;
I’le take my blew blade all in my hand,
And plod to the green wood with thee.’
10
‘Hast thou either meat or drink,’ said Robin Hood,
‘For my merry men and me?
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
11
‘I have both bread and beef,’ said the pinder,
‘And good ale of the best;’
‘And that is meat good enough,’ said Robin Hood,
‘For such unbidden guest.
12
‘O wilt thou forsake the pinder his craft,
And go to the green wood with me?
Thou shalt have a livery twice in the year,
The one green, the other brown [shall be].’
13
‘If Michaelmas day were once come and gone
And my master had paid me my fee,
Then would I set as little by him
As my master doth set by me.’
B
Percy MS., p. 15; Hales and Furnivall, I, 32.
* * * * *
1
‘But hold y . . hold y . . .’ says Robin,
‘My merrymen, I bid yee,
For this [is] one of the best pindars
That euer I saw w_i_th mine eye.
2
‘But hast thou any meat, thou iolly pindar,
For my merrymen and me?’
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
3
‘But I haue bread and cheese,’ sayes the pindar,
‘And ale all on the best:’
‘That’s cheere good enoughe,’ said Robin,
‘For any such vnbidden guest.
4
‘But wilt be my man?’ said good Robin,
‘And come and dwell w_i_th me?
And twise in a yeere thy clothing [shall] be changed
If my man thou wilt bee,
The tone shall be of light Lincolne greene,
The tother of Picklory.’
5
‘Att Michallmas comes a well good time,
When men haue gotten in their ffee;
I’le sett as litle by my m_aster_
As he now setts by me,
I’le take my benbowe in my hande,
And come into the grenwoode to thee.’
* * * * *
#A.#
_The second and fourth lines were repeated in singing._
#a.#
The Iolly Pinder of Wakefield.
Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and W. G[i]lber[t]son. (F. Coles,
1646–1674; T. Vere, 1648–1680; W. Gilbertson, 1640–1663.
Chappell.)
1^1. their.
3^1. witty, _which all have, is a corruption of_ wight.
10^1. laid.
13^4. by my.
#b#, #c#.
Robin Hood and the jolly Pinder of Wakefield, shewing how he
fought with Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John a long summer’s day.
To a Northern tune.
#b.#
1^1. there dwels.
2^4. it goes.
4^1. saith.
5^1. a _for_ great: saith.
11^2. all.
11^3. that’s.
12^1. thy _for_ the.
#c.#
4^3. king’s high.
6^2. fast unto.
6^4. And a.
6^5. that _wanting_.
9^1. covenants.
10^1. thou _wanting_.
#d.#
The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield with Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John.
Printed by and for Alex. Milbourn, in Green-Arbor Court, in the
Little Old-Baily. (A. Milbourn, 1670–1697. Chappell.)
3^3. espy’d.
3^4. sat.
4^2. you have.
4^3. the kings.
5^1. a _for_ great.
6^2. foot against.
6^3. they _for_ he.
6^6. broke.
8^1. pinders craft.
8^2. in the.
13^1. was come.
13^4. set _wanting_.
#e.#
The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield: with Robin Hood, Scarlet and John.
_No printer’s name._
3^3. espyed.
3^4. sat.
4^2. you have.
4^3. kings.
6^1. foot against.
6^6. broke.
8^1. pinders craft.
13^1. was come.
13^4. set _wanting_.
Pepys Penny Merriments Garland: _according to Hales and
Furnivall_.
6^4. And a.
6^5. that _wanting_.
10^1. thou _wanting_.
12^1. thy pinder.
Gutch, Robin Hood, II, 144 f, _says that the Roxburghe copy has
in_ 3^1 wight yeomen.
_He prints_ 7^{2–4}:
And my merry men stand aside;
For this is one of the best pinders
That with sword ever I tryed.
8^{3–4}.
Thou shalt have a livery twice in the year,
Th’one greene, tither brown shall be.
_These parts of stanzas_ 7, 8 _he gives as from a black-letter
copy, which he does not describe_.
#B.#
_1^{1,2} make half a stanza in the MS., and 1^{3,4} are joined
with 2^{1,2}. 4^{5,6} and 5^{1,2} make a stanza. It is not
supposed that 4 and 5 were originally stanzas of six lines, but
rather that, one half of each of two stanzas having been
forgotten, the other has attached itself to a complete stanza
which chanced to have the same rhyme. Stanzas of six lines,
formed in this way, are common in traditional ballads._
3^4. guests.
4^3. 2[s :]. in.
125
ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN
#a.# A Collection of Old Ballads, 1723, I, 75. #b.# Aldermary Garland,
by R. Marshall, n. d., No 22.
Ritson, Robin Hood, 1795, II, 138; Evans, Old Ballads, 1777, 1784, I,
204. There is a bad copy in a Robin Hood’s Garland of 1749.
“This ballad,” says Ritson, “is named in a schedule of such things under
an agreement between W. Thackeray and others in 1689, Col. Pepys, vol.
5.” It occurs in a list of ballads printed for and sold by William
Thackeray at the Angel in Duck-Lane (see The Ballad Society’s reprint of
the Roxburghe Ballads, W. Chappell, I, xxiv, from a copy in the Bagford
collection), but by some caprice of fortune has not, so far as is known,
come down in the broadside form, neither is it found in the older
garlands.
Robin Hood and Little John belongs to a set of ballads which have middle
rhyme in the third line of the stanza, and are directed to be sung to
one and the same tune. These are: R. H. and the Bishop, R. H. and the
Beggar, R. H. and the Tanner, to the tune of R. H. and the Stranger; R.
H. and the Butcher, R. H.’s Chase, Little John and the Four Beggars, to
the tune of R. H. and the Beggar; R. H. and Little John, R. H. and the
Ranger, to the tune of Arthur a Bland (that is, R. H. and the Tanner).
There is no ballad with the title Robin Hood and the Stranger. Ritson
thought it proper to give this title to a ballad which uniformly bears
the title of Robin Hood Newly Revived, No 128, because Robin’s
antagonist is repeatedly called “the stranger” in it. But Robin’s
antagonist is equally often called “the stranger” in the present ballad
(eleven times in each), and Robin Hood and Little John has the middle
rhyme in the third line, which Robin Hood Newly Revived has not
(excepting in seven stanzas at the end, which are a portion of a
different ballad, Robin Hood and the Scotchman). Robin Hood and Little
John (and Robin Hood Newly Revived as well) would naturally be referred
to as Robin Hood and the Stranger, for the same reason that Robin Hood
and the Tanner is referred to as Arthur a Bland. The fact that the
middle rhyme in the third line is found in Robin Hood and Little John,
but is lacking in Robin Hood Newly Revived, gives a slightly superior
probability to the supposition that the former, or rather some older
version of it (for the one we have is in a rank seventeenth-century
style), had the secondary title of Robin Hood and the Stranger.[107]
Like Robin Hood’s Progress to Nottingham, this ballad affects, in the
right apocryphal way, to know an adventure of Robin’s early life. Though
but twenty years old, Robin has a company of threescore and nine bowmen.
With all these he shakes hands one morning, and goes through the forest
alone, prudently enjoining on the band to come to his help if he should
blow his horn. He meets a stranger on a narrow bridge, and neither will
give way. Robin threatens the stranger with an arrow, which, as he
requires to be reminded, is cowardly enough, seeing that the other man
has nothing but a staff. Recalled to ordinary manliness, Robin Hood,
laying down his bow, provides himself with an oaken stick, and proposes
a battle on the bridge, which he shall be held to win who knocks the
other into the water in the end. In the end the stranger tumbles Robin
into the brook, and is owned to have won the day. The band are now
summoned by the horn, and when they hear what the stranger has done are
about to seize and duck him, but are ordered to forbear. Robin Hood
proposes to his antagonist that he shall join his men, and John Little,
as he declares his name to be, accedes. John Little is seven foot
tall.[108] Will Stutely says his name must be changed, and they
rebaptize the “infant” as Little John.
‘A pastorall plesant commedie of Robin Hood and Little John, etc.,’ is
entered to Edward White in the Stationers’ Registers, May 14, 1594, and
‘Robin Hood and Litle John’ to Master Oulton, April 22, 1640. (Arber,
II, 649, IV, 507.)
Translated by Anastasius Grün, p. 65.
1
When Robin Hood was about twenty years old,
With a hey down down and a down
He happend to meet Little John,
A jolly brisk blade, right fit for the trade,
For he was a lusty young man.
2
Tho he was calld Little, his limbs they were large,
And his stature was seven foot high;
Where-ever he came, they quak’d at his name,
For soon he would make them to fly.
3
How they came acquainted, I’ll tell you in brief,
If you will but listen a while;
For this very jest, amongst all the rest,
I think it may cause you to smile.
4
Bold Robin Hood said to his jolly bowmen,
Pray tarry you here in this grove;
And see that you all observe well my call,
While thorough the forest I rove.
5
We have had no sport for these fourteen long days,
Therefore now abroad will I go;
Now should I be beat, and cannot retreat,
My horn I will presently blow.
6
Then did he shake hands with his merry men all,
And bid them at present good b’w’ye;
Then, as near a brook his journey he took,
A stranger he chancd to espy.
7
They happend to meet on a long narrow bridge,
And neither of them would give way;
Quoth bold Robin Hood, and sturdily stood,
I’ll show you right Nottingham play.
8
With that from his quiver an arrow he drew,
A broad arrow with a goose-wing:
The stranger reply’d, I’ll liquor thy hide,
If thou offerst to touch the string.
9
Quoth bold Robin Hood, Thou dost prate like an ass,
For were I to bend but my bow,
I could send a dart quite thro thy proud heart,
Before thou couldst strike me one blow.
10
‘Thou talkst like a coward,’ the stranger reply’d;
‘Well armd with a long bow you stand,
To shoot at my breast, while I, I protest,
Have nought but a staff in my hand.’
11
‘The name of a coward,’ quoth Robin, ‘I scorn,
Wherefore my long bow I’ll lay by;
And now, for thy sake, a staff will I take,
The truth of thy manhood to try.’
12
Then Robin Hood stept to a thicket of trees,
And chose him a staff of ground-oak;
Now this being done, away he did run
To the stranger, and merrily spoke:
13
Lo! see my staff, it is lusty and tough,
Now here on the bridge we will play;
Whoever falls in, the other shall win
The battel, and so we’ll away.
14
‘With all my whole heart,’ the stranger reply’d;
‘I scorn in the least to give out;’
This said, they fell to ‘t without more dispute,
And their staffs they did flourish about.
15
And first Robin he gave the stranger a bang,
So hard that it made his bones ring:
The stranger he said, This must be repaid,
I’ll give you as good as you bring.
16
So long as I’m able to handle my staff,
To die in your debt, friend, I scorn:
Then to it each goes, and followd their blows,
As if they had been threshing of corn.
17
The stranger gave Robin a crack on the crown,
Which caused the blood to appear;
Then Robin, enrag’d, more fiercely engag’d,
And followd his blows more severe.
18
So thick and so fast did he lay it on him,
With a passionate fury and ire,
At every stroke, he made him to smoke,
As if he had been all on fire.
19
O then into fury the stranger he grew,
And gave him a damnable look,
And with it a blow that laid him full low,
And tumbld him into the brook.
20
‘I prithee, good fellow, O where art thou now?’
The stranger, in laughter, he cry’d;
Quoth bold Robin Hood, Good faith, in the flood,
And floating along with the tide.
21
I needs must acknowledge thou art a brave soul;
With thee I’ll no longer contend;
For needs must I say, thou hast got the day,
Our battel shall be at an end.
22
Then unto the bank he did presently wade,
And pulld himself out by a thorn;
Which done, at the last, he blowd a loud blast
Straitway on his fine bugle-horn.
23
The eccho of which through the vallies did fly,
At which his stout bowmen appeard,
All cloathed in green, most gay to be seen;
So up to their master they steerd.
24
‘O what’s the matter?’ quoth William Stutely;
‘Good master, you are wet to the skin:’
‘No matter,’ quoth he; ‘the lad which you see,
In fighting, hath tumbld me in.’
25
‘He shall not go scot-free,’ the others reply’d;
So strait they were seizing him there,
To duck him likewise; but Robin Hood cries,
He is a stout fellow, forbear.
26
There’s no one shall wrong thee, friend, be not afraid;
These bowmen upon me do wait;
There’s threescore and nine; if thou wilt be mine,
Thou shalt have my livery strait.
27
And other accoutrements fit for a man;
Speak up, jolly blade, never fear;
I’ll teach you also the use of the bow,
To shoot at the fat fallow-deer.
28
‘O here is my hand,’ the stranger reply’d,
‘I’ll serve you with all my whole heart;
My name is John Little, a man of good mettle;
Nere doubt me, for I’ll play my part.’
29
His name shall be alterd,’ quoth William Stutely,
‘And I will his godfather be;
Prepare then a feast, and none of the least,
For we will be merry,’ quoth he.
30
They presently fetchd in a brace of fat does,
With humming strong liquor likewise;
They lovd what was good; so, in the greenwood,
This pretty sweet babe they baptize.
31
He was, I must tell you, but seven foot high,
And, may be, an ell in the waste;
A pretty sweet lad; much feasting they had;
Bold Robin the christning grac’d.
32
With all his bowmen, which stood in a ring,
And were of the Notti[n]gham breed;
Brave Stutely comes then, with seven yeomen,
And did in this manner proceed.
33
‘This infant was called John Little,’ quoth he,
‘Which name shall be changed anon;
The words we’ll transpose, so where-ever he goes,
His name shall be calld Little John.’
34
They all with a shout made the elements ring,
So soon as the office was ore;
To feasting they went, with true merriment,
And tippld strong liquor gillore.
35
Then Robin he took the pretty sweet babe,
And cloathd him from top to the toe
In garments of green, most gay to be seen,
And gave him a curious long bow.
36
‘Thou shalt be an archer as well as the best,
And range in the greenwood with us;
Where we’ll not want gold nor silver, behold,
While bishops have ought in their purse.
37
‘We live here like squires, or lords of renown,
Without ere a foot of free land;
We feast on good cheer, with wine, ale, and beer,
And evry thing at our command.’
38
Then musick and dancing did finish the day;
At length, when the sun waxed low,
Then all the whole train the grove did refrain,
And unto their caves they did go.
39
And so ever after, as long as he livd,
Altho he was proper and tall,
Yet nevertheless, the truth to express,
Still Little John they did him call.
* * * * *
#a.#
_Title._ Robin Hood and Little John. Being an account of their
first meeting, their fierce encounter, and conquest. To which is
added, their friendly agreement, and how he came to be calld
Little John.
To the tune of Arthur a Bland.
#b.#
_Title as in_ #a#.
2^2. statue.
3^2. you would.
3^3. among.
3^4. it _wanting_.
4^3. his _for_ my, _wrongly_.
5^1. for _wanting_.
5^3. be _wanting_.
8^4. offer.
9^2. where I do bend.
11^2. Therefore.
11^3. I will.
13^1. it _wanting_.
13^2. on this.
15^1. And first: he _wanting_.
15^2. he _for_ it.
16^1. a _for_ my.
16^3. both goes, and follow.
18^1. he did.
19^1. in a fury.
19^3. which _for_ that.
20^1. O _wanting_.
22^3. blew.
23^1. did ring.
23^4. their matter.
24^3. that _for_ which.
27^1. fitting also.
30^1. him _for_ in.
30^4. baptiz’d.
31^1. feet.
31^3. He was a sweet.
32^3. came.
34^4. liquors.
35^2. the _wanting_.
39^1. they _for_ he.
39^2. he be.
126
ROBIN HOOD AND THE TANNER
#a.# Wood, 401, leaf 9 b.
#b.# Garland of 1663, No 10.
#c.# Garland of 1670, No 9.
#d.# Pepys, II, 111, No 98.
Printed in Old Ballads, 1723, I, 83.
#a# was printed by Ritson, Robin Hood, 1795, II, 30. Evans has an
indifferent copy, probably edited, in his Old Ballads, 1777, 1784, I,
112.
Arthur a Bland, a Nottingham tanner, goes of a summer’s morning into
Sherwood forest to see the red deer. Robin Hood pretends to be a keeper
and to see cause for staying the Tanner. The Tanner says it will take
more than one such to make him stand. They have a two hours’ fight with
staves, when Robin cries Hold! The Tanner henceforth shall be free of
the forest, and if he will come and live there with Robin Hood shall
have both gold and fee. Arthur a Bland gives his hand never to part from
Robin, and asks for Little John, whom he declares to be his kinsman.
Robin Hood blows his horn. Little John comes at the call, and, learning
what has been going on, would like to try a bout with the Tanner, but
after a little explanation throws himself upon his kinsman’s neck. The
three take hands for a dance round the oak-tree.
The sturdy Arthur a Bland is well hit off, and, bating the sixteenth and
thirty-fifth stanzas, the ballad has a good popular ring. There is
corruption at 8^3, 12^3, and perhaps 13^3.
Little John offers to fight with the Tinker in No 127, and again with
the Stranger in No 128, as here with the Tanner, and is forbidden, as
here, by his master. In R. H. and the Shepherd, No 135, he undertakes
the Shepherd after Robin has owned himself conquered, and the fight is
stopped after John has received some sturdy blows. In the Bold Pedlar
and Robin Hood, No 132, John begins and Robin follows, and each in turn
cries, Pedlar, pray hold your hand. In R. H. and the Potter, No 121,
John is ready to bet on the Potter, because he has already had strokes
from him which he has reason to remember.
As the Tanner is John’s cousin, so, in Robin Hood Revived, No 128, the
Stranger turns out to be Robin Hood’s nephew, Young Gamwell,
thenceforward called Scathlock; and in No 132 the Bold Pedlar proves to
be Gamble Gold, Robin’s cousin.
Translated by Anastasius Grün, p. 117.