By that good Robin would not know
That they had gotten coin;
It would content him for to show
That there they had him slain.
72
They said, False carl, soon have done
And tell forth that money;
For the ill turn thou hast done
’Tis but a simple fee.
73
And yet we will not have thee back,
Come after what so may,
If thou will do that which thou spake,
And make us present pay.
74
O then he loosd his clouted cloak,
And spread it on the ground,
And thereon laid he many a pock,
Betwixt them and the wind.
75
He took a great bag from his hase;
It was near full of meal;
Two pecks in it at least there was,
And more, I wot full well.
76
Upon his cloak he laid it down,
The mouth he opend wide,
To turn the same he made him bown,
The young men ready spy’d.
77
In every hand he took a nook
Of that great leathern meal,
And with a fling the meal he shook
Into their faces hail.
78
Wherewith he blinded them so close
A stime they could not see;
And then in heart he did rejoice,
And clapt his lusty tree.
79
He thought, if he had done them wrong
In mealing of their cloaths,
For to strike off the meal again
With his pike-staff he goes.
80
Or any one of them could red their eyne,
Or yet a glimmering could see,
Ilk ane of them a dozen had,
Well laid on with the tree.
81
The young men were right swift of foot,
And boldly ran away;
The beggar could them no more hit,
For all the haste he may.
82
‘What ails this haste?’ the beggar said,
‘May ye not tarry still,
Until your money be receivd?
I’ll pay you with good will.
83
‘The shaking of my pocks, I fear,
Hath blown into your eyne;
But I have a good pike-staff here
Will ripe them out full clean.’
84
The young men answerd neer a word,
They were dumb as a stane;
In the thick wood the beggar fled,
Eer they riped their eyne.
85
And syne the night became so late,
To seek him was but vain:
But judge ye, if they looked blate
When they came home again.
86
Good Robin speard how they had sped;
They answerd him, Full ill;
‘That cannot be,’ good Robin says;
‘Ye have been at the mill.
87
‘The mill it is a meatrif place,
They may lick what they please;
Most like ye have been at that art,
Who would look to your cloaths.’
88
They hangd their heads, and droped down,
A word they could not speak:
Robin said, Because I fell a-swoon,
I think you’ll do the like.
89
Tell on the matter, less and more,
And tell me what and how
Ye have done with the bold beggar
I sent you for right now.
90
And then they told him to an end,
As I have said before,
How that the beggar did them blind,
What misters process more.
91
And how he lin’d their shoulders broad
With his great trenchen tree,
And how in the thick wood he fled,
Eer they a stime could see.
92
And how they scarcely could win home,
Their bones were beft so sore:
Good Robin cry’d, Fy! out, for shame!
We’re sham’d for evermore.
93
Altho good Robin would full fain
Of his wrong revenged be,
He smil’d to see his merry young men
Had gotten a taste of the tree.
* * * * *
#a.#
The History of Robin Hood and the Beggar: in two Parts. Part I:
Shewing how Robin Hood, in attempting to rob a Beggar near
Barnesdale, was shamefully defeated, and left for dead, till
taken up by three of his men. Part II: How the beggar blinded
two of his men with a bag of meal, who were sent to kill him or
bring him back.
_Title prefixed to the ballad_: Robin Hood and the Beggar.
_In stanzas of two long lines. After 30_: The Second Part.
22^3. arrows.
30^1. but sail: _that is_, but ſail.
38^3. you _for_ your.
41^2. ill a case: _which perhaps should be retained_.
46^1. and _for_ with.
46^4. the eild.
48^3. a another.
51^4. fate: #b#, late, _that is_, let.
53^3. quite.
65^4. fly: #b#, flee.
77^3. sling: _that is_, ſling.
79^3. strick.
89^2. where and.
#b.#
_In stanzas of two long lines._
_Some of these readings may be Ritson’s corrections._
1^2. That be.
2^4. a _wanting_.
3^2. Who _for_ That.
4^2. frae the.
5^2. whang.
5^3. to a.
7^1. cast.
8^3. heard him not.
8^4. on his.
9^1. ’Tis be.
9^3. said.
11^3. shares well.
11^4. dost not care.
12^1. all this.
12^3. would I.
13^1. you must.
13^2. two _wanting_.
14^1. art a.
15^2. asembled.
15^3. has.
16^1. Come lay.
17^3. if _wanting_.
20^4. Wouldst: it _wanting_.
21^4. Lo eer.
22^3. arrow.
24^{2,4}. mair, sair.
25^3. ſlaps.
26^2. baiſt.
26^3. laid on loud _for_ still on laid.
27^1. Fy _wanting_.
27^3. still till: money told.
28^4. hast been at the.
29^3. pale _for_ white.
30^1. but fail.
30^2. his way.
30^3. ye.
31^2. by the.
31^4. where that he lay.
33^2. wound.
34^1. gotten _for_ taken.
34^2. unto.
34^3. to hitch his ear.
34^4. speak.
35^1. said.
36^2. this twenty.
36^4. ye.
37^2. Of whom.
37^3. with his.
37^4. ‘twill.
38^1. out _wanting_.
38^3. eer ye.
40^4. escape.
41^2. ill at ease.
42^3. And he.
43^1. ye, good _wanting_.
43^4. has.
44^5. ye.
45^3. hands lay.
45^4. Ye.
46^1. with his.
46^4. his eild.
47^3. no _wanting_.
47^4. Then he.
48^{1,2}. _wanting._
49^1. They stoutly.
49^3. They started at neither how nor height.
50^2. cast them.
51^2. In each.
51^3. them nigh.
51^4. thought of no such late.
54^3. let it.
54^4. An better might it been.
55^2. any _for_ one.
56^1. Nor wist he.
56^4. He _for_ And.
57^2. on the.
57^3. And hold.
57^4. Or else.
58^2. Neither by late or air.
58^3. You have great sin if you would.
59^2. For all.
59^4. Of one that eer.
60^1. shall.
62^3. led back.
63^3. he might the young men.
63^4. gave them a begack.
64^1. for _wanting_: for ill.
64^3. blew _for_ grew.
65^2. a poor.
65^4. flee.
66^2. has.
66^4. Is better.
67^1. fair and.
67^2. no more dear.
67^4. odd _for_ good.
68^1. this.
69^1. to the.
69^3. full well.
70^3. And yet: not take.
70^4. that place.
71^3. for _wanting_.
72^2. forth thy.
72^3. turn that.
72^4. It’s: plee _for_ fee.
74^3. lay he.
75^1. half, _that is_, half.
76^1. this cloak: set it.
76^3. bound.
77^2. bag _for_ meal.
77^3. fling.
77^4. face all hail.
79^2. cloath.
79^3. strike.
80^1. Eer any of.
80^2. Or a glimmering might.
80^4. with his.
81^2. boldly bound.
82^1. What’s all this.
82^2. May not thou.
83^4. Can ripe.
85^2. in vain.
87^1. meat rife part.
87^3. at the.
87^4. at your.
88^1. they drooped.
88^3. a sound.
88^4. ye.
89^1. less or.
89^2. what and.
90^1. And when.
90^4. presses _for_ process.
91^{1,2}. _wanting._
91^3. woods.
92^2. were baste.
93^2. his wrath.
135
ROBIN HOOD AND THE SHEPHERD
#a.# Garland of 1663, No 13.
#b.# Garland of 1670, No 12.
#c.# Wood, 401, leaf 13 b.
#d.# Pepys, II, 115, No 102.
Roxburghe, II, 392, III, 284; Douce, III, 115 b, by L. How, of the
eighteenth century. A manuscript copy in the British Museum, Add. 15072,
fol. 59, is #a#, with omission of 12^2–15^4, and a few errors of
carelessness.
Printed in Ritson’s Robin Hood from #c# and one of the Roxburghe
broadsides. Evans, Old Ballads, 1777, 1784, I, 136, seems to have
followed the Aldermary garland, with slight deviation.
Robin Hood, walking in the forest, finds a shepherd lying on the ground,
and bids him rise and show what he has in his bottle and bag. The
shepherd tells him that he shall not see a drop of his bottle until his
valor has been tried. Robin stakes twenty pound on the issue of a fight,
and the shepherd his bag and bottle. They fight from ten to four, hook
against sword. Robin Hood falls to the ground, and the shepherd calls on
him to own himself beaten. Robin demands the boon of three blasts on his
horn. These bring Little John, who undertakes the shepherd, and is so
roughly handled that Robin is fain to yield his wager, to which Little
John heartily agrees.
It is but the natural course of exaggeration that the shepherd, having
beaten Robin Hood, should beat Little John. This is descending low
enough, but we do not see the bottom of this kind of balladry here.
In King Alfred and the Shepherd, Old Ballads, 1723, I, 43, stanzas 6–17,
the king plays Robin’s part, fighting four hours with the Shepherd and
then craving a truce. Further on Alfred blows his horn. There are also
verbal agreements.
1
All gentlemen and yeomen good,
Down a down a down a down
I wish you to draw near;
For a story of gallant brave Robin Hood
Vnto you I wil declare.
Down, etc.
2
As Robin Hood walkt the forrest along,
Some pastime for to spie,
There was he aware of a jolly shepherd,
That on the ground did lie.
3
‘Arise, arise,’ cryed jolly Robin,
‘And now come let me see
What is in thy bag and bottle, I say;
Come tell it unto me.’
4
‘What’s that to thee, thou proud fellow?
Tell me as I do stand
What thou hast to do with my bag and bottle?
Let me see thy command.’
5
‘My sword, which hangeth by my side,
Is my command I know;
Come, and let me taste of thy bottle,
Or it may breed thee wo.’
6
‘Tut, the devil a drop, thou proud fellow,
Of my bottle thou shalt see,
Untill thy valour here be tried,
Whether thou wilt fight or flee.’
7
‘What shall we fight for?’ cries bold Robin Hood;
‘Come tell it soon to me;
Here is twenty pounds in good red gold;
Win it, and take it thee.’
8
The Shepherd stood all in a maze,
And knew not what to say:
‘I have no money, thou proud fellow,
But bag and bottle I’le lay.’
9
‘I am content, thou shepherd-swain,
Fling them down on the ground;
But it will breed thee mickle pain,
To win my twenty pound.’
10
‘Come draw thy sword, thou proud fellow,
Thou stands too long to prate;
This hook of mine shall let thee know
A coward I do hate.’
11
So they fell to it, full hardy and sore;
It was on a summers day;
From ten till four in the afternoon
The Shepherd held him play.
12
Robins buckler proved his chief defence,
And saved him many a bang,
For every blow the Shepherd gave
Made Robins sword cry twang.
13
Many a sturdy blow the Shepherd gave,
And that bold Robin found,
Till the blood ran trickling from his head;
Then he fell to the ground.
14
‘Arise, arise, thou proud fellow,
And thou shalt have fair play,
If thou wilt yield, before thou go,
That I have won the day.’
15
‘A boon, a boon,’ cried bold Robin;
‘If that a man thou be,
Then let me take my beaugle-horn,
And blow but blasts three.’
16
‘To blow three times three,’ the Shepherd said,
‘I will not thee deny;
For if thou shouldst blow till to-morrow morn,
I scorn one foot to fly.’
17
Then Robin set his horn to his mouth,
And he blew with mickle main,
Until he espied Little John
Come tripping over the plain.
18
‘O who is yonder, thou proud fellow,
That comes down yonder hill?’
‘Yonder is Little John, bold Robin Hoods man,
Shall fight with thee thy fill.’
19
‘What is the matter?’ saies Little John,
‘Master, come tell to me:’
‘My case is great,’ saies Robin Hood,
‘For the Shepherd hath conquered me.’
20
‘I am glad of that,’ cries Little John,
‘Shepherd, turn thou to me;
For a bout with thee I mean to have,
Either come fight or flee.’
21
‘With all my heart, thou proud fellow,
For it never shall be said
That a shepherds hook of thy sturdy look
Will one jot be dismaid.’
22
So they fell to it, full hardy and sore,
Striving for victory;
‘I will know,’ saies John, ‘ere we give ore,
Whether thou wilt fight or flye.’
23
The Shepherd gave John a sturdy blow,
With his hook under the chin;
‘Beshrew thy heart,’ said Little John,
‘Thou basely dost begin.’
24
‘Nay, that’s nothing,’ said the Shepherd;
‘Either yield to me the day,
Or I will bang thee back and sides,
Before thou goest thy way.
25
‘What? dost thou think, thou proud fellow,
That thou canst conquer me?
Nay, thou shalt know, before thou go,
I’le fight before I’le flee.’
26
With that to thrash Little John like mad
The Shepherd he begun;
‘Hold, hold,’ cryed bold Robin Hood,
‘And I’le yield the wager won.’
27
‘With all my heart,’ said Little John,
‘To that I will agree;
For he is the flower of shepherd-swains,
The like I never did see.’
28
Thus have you heard of Robin Hood,
Also of Little John,
How a shepherd-swain did conquer them;
The like did never none.
* * * * *
#a#, #b#.
Robin Hood and the Shepard: Shewing how Robin Hood, Little John
and the Shepheard fought a sore combate.
Tune is, Robin Hood and Queen Katherine.
#a.#
_Burden: a third_ a down _is not printed after the first line, but
is after the last_.
4^3. hast thou.
5^4. thy wo.
7^2. Gome.
20^4. Eihter.
26^2. Sheherd.
#b.#
_Burden_: Down a down a down a down.
_After_ 9^1, 21^4, With a, &c.
1^3. bold _for_ brave.
4^3. thou hast.
5^3. tast.
5^4. thee _for_ thy.
7^1. bold _wanting_.
7^3. pound.
10^2. standst.
12^1. chiefest.
13^3. tickling.
16^1. Then said the Shepherd to bold Robin.
16^2. _wanting._
17^1. Robin he.
18^3. Little _wanting_.
19^3. is very bad, cries.
26^1. Again the Shepherd laid on him.
26^4. And _wanting_: I will.
27^4. I did never.
28^4. was never known.
#c.#
Robin Hood and the Shepheard: Shewing how Robin Hood, Little John
and the Shepheard fought a sore combat.
The Shepherd fought for twenty pound,
And Robin for bottle and bag,
But the Shepheard stout gave them the rout
So sore they could not wag.
The tune is Robin and Queen Katherine.
London, Printed for John Andrews, at the White Lion, in
Pie-Corner. (1660.)
_Burden_: Down a down a down a down.
1^3. bold _for_ brave.
4^3. thou hast.
5^4. my wo.
8^1. amaze.
11^3. four till ten.
12^1. chiefest.
13^4. And then.
16^1. _wanting._
19^3. cries _for_ saies.
19^4. hath beaten.
22^3. ile know saith.
22^4. flee.
25^1. doest.
26^1. _wanting._
26^2. began.
26^4. And _wanting_: I will.
27^3. Shepheards.
27^4. I did never.
#d.#
_Title as in #a#, #b#._
Printed for William Thackeray, at the Angel in Duck Lane. (1689.)
_Burden_: Down a down down.
1^3. bold _for_ brave.
2^3. he was.
4^3. hast thou, _as in_ #a#.
5^1. that _for_ which.
5^4. thy woe, _as in_ #a#.
6^1. Tut _wanting_.
7^1. bold _wanting_.
7^3. pound.
10^2. standest.
11^1. hard.
12^1. chiefest.
15^3. beagle.
16^1. Then said the Shepherd to bold Robin.
16^2. To that will I agree.
16^4. flee.
17^1. he set.
17^2. with might and main.
18^3. Little _wanting_.
19^3. bad cries.
21^2. shall never.
21^3. at thy.
22^4. flee.
24^3. thy _for_ thee.
26^1. Again the Shepherd laid on him.
26^2. began.
26^3. Hood _wanting_.
26^4. And _wanting_: I will.
27^4. I did never.
28^4. The like was never known.
136
ROBIN HOOD’S DELIGHT
(ROBIN HOOD, JOHN, SCARLOCK AND THREE KEEPERS)
#a.# Wood, 401, leaf 41 b.
#b.# Garland of 1663, No 17.
#c.# Garland of 1670, No 16.
#d.# Pepys, II, 112, No 99.
Ritson, Robin Hood, 1795, II, 116, from #a#, with changes. Evans, Old
Ballads, 1777, 1784, I, 176.
Robin Hood, Scarlock, and John, walking in Sherwood, are charged to
stand by three of King Henry’s keepers. There is a fight from eight till
two o’clock, in which the outlaws are at some disadvantage. Robin asks
that he may blow his horn, then he will fight again. The keepers refuse;
he must fall on or yield. Robin owns them to be stout fellows; he will
not fight it out there with swords, but at Nottingham with sack. They go
to Nottingham accordingly, and drink themselves good friends.
The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood, No 132, a late traditional copy, shows
traces of st. 20 of this ballad in st. 12, where the Pedlar says it lies
with him whether he will tell his name, and again at the end, where
Robin Hood, John, and the Pedlar drink friendship at the tavern. Robin
Hood’s antagonists are again foresters and keepers in the Progress to
Nottingham, and in Robin Hood and the Ranger. There are numerous verbal
agreements between Robin Hood’s Delight and Robin Hood and the Shepherd.
Translated by Loève-Veimars, p. 199.
1
There is some will talk of lords and knights,
Doun a doun a doun a doun
And some of yeoman good,
But I will tell you of Will Scarlock,
Little John and Robin Hood.
Doun a doun a doun a doun
2
They were outlaws, as ’tis well known,
And men of a noble blood;
And a many a time was their valour shown
In the forrest of merry Sheerwood.
3
Vpon a time it chanced so,
As Robin Hood would have it be,
They all three would a walking go,
Some pastime for to see.
4
And as they walked the forest along,
Upon a midsummer day,
There was they aware of three keepers,
Clade all in green aray.
5
With brave long faucheons by their sides,
And forest-bills in hand,
They calld aloud to those bold outlaws,
And charged them to stand.
6
‘Why, who are you,’ cry’d bold Robin,
‘That speaks so boldly here? ’
‘We three belong to King Henry,
And are keepers of his deer.’
7
‘The devil thou art!’ sayes Robin Hood,
‘I am sure that it is not so;
We be the keepers of this forest,
And that you soon shall know.
8
‘Come, your coats of green lay on the ground,
And so will we all three,
And take your swords and bucklers round,
And try the victory.’
9
‘We be content,’ the keepers said,
‘We be three, and you no less;
Then why should we be of you afraid,
And we never did transgress?’
10
‘Why, if you be three keepers in this forest,
Then we be three rangers good,
And we will make you to know, before you do go,
You meet with bold Robin Hood.’
11
‘We be content, thou bold outlaw,
Our valour here to try,
And we will make you know, before we do go,
We will fight before we will fly.
12
‘Then, come draw your swords, you bold outlaws,
And no longer stand to prate,
But let us try it out with blows,
For cowards we do hate.
13
‘Here is one of us for Will Scarlock,
And another for Little John,
And I my self for Robin Hood,
Because he is stout and strong.’
14
So they fell to it full hard and sore;
It was on a midsummers day;
From eight a clock till two and past,
They all shewed gallant play.
15
There Robin, and Will, and Little John,
They fought most manfully,
Till all their winde was spent and gone,
Then Robin aloud did cry:
16
‘O hold, O hold,’ cries bold Robin,
‘I see you be stout men;
Let me blow one blast on my bugle-horn,
Then I’le fight with you again.’
17
‘That bargain’s to make, bold Robin Hood,
Therefore we it deny;
Though a blast upon thy bugle-horn
Cannot make us fight nor fly.
18
‘Therefore fall on, or else be gone,
And yield to us the day:
It shall never be said that we were afraid
Of thee, nor thy yeomen gay.’
19
‘If that be so,’ cries bold Robin,
‘Let me but know your names,
And in the forest of merry Sheerwood
I shall extol your fames.’
20
‘And with our names,’ one of them said,
‘What hast thou here to do?
Except that you will fight it out,
Our names thou shalt not know.’
21
‘We will fight no more,’ sayes bold Robin,
‘You be men of valour stout;
Come and go with me to Nottingham,
And there we will fight it out.
22
‘With a but of sack we will bang it out,
To see who wins the day;
And for the cost, make you no doubt
I have gold and money to pay
23
‘And ever after, so long as we live,
We all will brethren be;
For I love those men with heart and hand
That will fight, and never flee.’
24
So away they went to Nottingham,
With sack to make amends;
For three dayes space they wine did chase,
And drank themselves good friends.
* * * * *
#a.#
Robin Hood’s Delight, or, A merry combat fought between Robin
Hood, Little John and Will Scarelock and three stout Keepers in
Sheerwood Forrest.
Robin was valiant and stout, so was Scarelock and John, in the
field,
But these keepers stout did give them the rout, and made them all
for to yield;
But after the battel ended was, bold Robin did make them amends,
For claret and sack they did not lack, so drank themselves good
friends.
To the tune of Robin Hood and Quene Katherine, or, Robin Hood and
the Shepheard.
London, Printed for John Andrews, at the White Lion, near Pye
Corner. (1660.)
#b#, #c#.
_Title the same, without the verses_: Scarlet _for_ Scarelock.
1^2. #b#, yeomen.
1^3, 13^1. Scarlet.
2^1. it is.
2^3. And many.
4^3. was he: #c#, forresters _for_ keepers.
5^1. side.
5^2. #c#, forrests bils.
5^3. #c#, bold _wanting_.
7^1. #b#, bold Robin, Hood _wanting_: #c#, said Robin Hood.
7^2. #b#, it _wanting_: #c#, that _wanting_.
10^4. met.
11^3. do _wanting_.
11^4. #b.# wee’l.
16^1. #c.# thy hand cryes.
17^1. is.
19^3. #c.# in that.
19^4. #b.# I will.
20^3. thou wilt.
23^1. hereafter.
#d.#
_Title as in_ #b#, #c#, _except_: fought against.
Printed for William Thackeray, at the Angel in Duck Lane. (1689.)
1^1. There’s.
1^2. yeomen.
1^3, 13^1. Scarlet.
2^3. And many.
4^3. forresters _for_ keepers.
5^3. bold _wanting_.
6^2. speak.
7^1. said.
7^2. that _wanting_.
7^3. the _wanting_: in _for_ of.
8^1. Come _wanting_.
9^2. you _wanting_.
9^3. we of you be.
10^1. the _for_ three.
10^3. we’l: to _wanting_.
11^3. _first_ we, do _wanting_.
14^1. hardy.
15^3. spend.
16^3. with my beagle.
17^1. is.
17^3. Thy blast: beagle.
18^3. never shall: we are.
20^3. thou wilt.
23^1. hereafter.
23^3. these.
137
ROBIN HOOD AND THE PEDLARS
‘Robinhood and the Peddlers,’ the fourth ballad in a MS. formerly in
the possession of J. Payne Collier, now in the British Museum;
previously printed in Gutch’s Robin Hood, II, 351.
The manuscript in which this ballad occurs contains a variety of
matters, and, as the best authority[113] has declared, may in part have
been written as early as 1650, but all the ballads are in a
nineteenth-century hand, and some of them are maintained to be
forgeries. I see no sufficient reason for regarding this particular
piece as spurious, and therefore, though I should be glad to be rid of
it, accept it for the present as perhaps a copy of a broadside, or a
copy of a copy.
The story resembles that of Robin Hood’s Delight, pedlars taking the
place of keepers; but Robin is reduced to an ignominy paralleled only in
the second ballad of Robin Hood and the Beggar. Robin Hood, accompanied
by Scarlet and John, bids three pedlars stand. They pay no heed, and he
sends an arrow through the pack of one of them. Hereupon they throw down
their packs and wait for their assailants to come up. Robin’s bow is
broken by a blow from a staff of one of the pedlars. Robin calls a truce
until he and his men can get staves. There is then an equal fight, the
end of which is that Robin Hood is knocked senseless and left in a
swoon, tended by Scarlet and John. But before the pedlars set forward,
Kit o Thirske, the best man of the three, and the one who has fought
with Robin, administers a balsam to his fallen foe, which he says will
heal his hurts, but which operates unpleasantly.
Thirsk is about twenty miles from York, in the North Riding.
1
Will you heare a tale of Robin Hood,
Will Scarlett, and Little John?
Now listen awhile, it will make you smile,
As before it hath many done.
2
They were archers three, of hie degree,
As good as ever drewe bowe;
Their arrowes were long and their armes were strong,
As most had cause to knowe.
3
But one sommers day, as they toke their way
Through the forrest of greene Sherwood,
To kill the kings deare, you shall presently heare
What befell these archers good.
4
They were ware on the roade of three peddlers with loade,
Ffor each had his packe,
Ffull of all wares for countrie faires,
Trusst up upon his backe.
5
A good oke staffe, a yard and a halfe,
Each one had in his hande;
And they were all bound to Nottingham towne,
As you shall understand.
6
‘Yonder I see bolde peddlers three,’
Said Robin to Scarlett and John;
‘We’le search their packes upon their backes
Before that they be gone.
7
‘Holla, good fellowes!’ quod Robin Hood,
‘Whither is it ye doe goe?
Now stay and rest, for that is the best,
’Tis well ye should doe soe.’
8
‘Noe rest we neede, on our roade we speede,
Till to Nottingham we get:’
‘Thou tellst a lewde lye,’ said Robin, ‘for I
Can see that ye swinke and swet.’
9
The peddlers three crosst over the lee,
They did not list to fight:
‘I charge you tarrie,’ quod Robin, ‘for marry,
This is my owne land by right.
10
‘This is my mannor and this is my parke,
I would have ye for to knowe;
Ye are bolde outlawes, I see by cause
Ye are so prest to goe.’
11
The peddlers three turned round to see
Who it might be they herd;
Then agen went on as they list to be gone,
And never answered word.
12
Then toke Robin Hood an arrow so good,
Which he did never lacke,
And drew his bowe, and the swift arrowe
Went through the last peddlers packe.
13
Ffor him it was well on the packe it fell,
Or his life had found an ende;
And it pierst the skin of his backe within,
Though the packe did stand his frend.
14
Then downe they flung their packes eche one,
And stayde till Robin came:
Quod Robin, I saide ye had better stayde;
Good sooth, ye were to blame.
15
‘And who art thou? by S. Crispin, I vowe
I’le quickly cracke thy head!’
Cried Robin, Come on, all three, or one;
It is not so soone done as said.
16
My name, by the roode, is Robin Hood,
And this is Scarlett and John;
It is three to three, ye may plainelie see,
Soe now, brave fellowes, laye on.
17
The first peddlars blowe brake Robins bowe
That he had in his hand;
And Scarlett and John, they eche had one
That they unneath could stand.
18
‘Now holde your handes,’ cride Robin Hood,
‘Ffor ye have got oken staves;
But tarie till wee can get but three,
And a fig for all your braves.’