26^4. To you.
27^3. hands.
27^4. owner thereof you must.
28^2. for the.
#g.#
_Title as in_ #b#.
Printed for I. Wright, I. Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passinger.
(1670–86?)
_Agrees generally with_ #f#.
17^1. For yon.
149
ROBIN HOOD’S BIRTH, BREEDING, VALOR AND MARRIAGE
#a.# Roxburghe, I, 360, in The Ballad Society’s reprint, II, 440.
#b.# Pepys, II, 116, No 103. #c.# Pepys, II, 118, No 104.
Printed in Dryden’s Miscellany, VI, 346, ed. 1716; A Collection of Old
Ballads, 1723, I, 64; Ritson’s Robin Hood, 1795, II, 1 (#a#); Evans, Old
Ballads, 1777, 1784, I, 86.
The jocular author of this ballad, who would certainly have been
diverted by any one’s supposing him to write under the restraints of
tradition, brings Adam Bell, Clim, and Cloudesly into company with Robin
Hood’s father. So again the silly Second Part of Adam Bell in one of the
copies, that of 1616. Robin Hood’s father’s bow, st. 3, carried two
north-country miles and an inch. The son, then, was only half his
father, though, in Ritson’s words, “Robin Hood and Little John have
frequently shot an arrow a measured mile.”
Robin Hood’s mother was niece to Guy of Warwick, and sister to Gamwel of
Gamwel Hall. In Robin Hood newly Revived, Young Gamwel is Robin Hood’s
sister’s son. According to this ballad, Robin Hood goes with his mother
to keep Christmas with old Gamwell, his uncle, whose seat is forty miles
from Locksly town. Little John is a member of the household, a fine lad
at gambols and juggling, and twenty such tricks. Robin Hood, however,
puts Little John down in this way, and everybody else. His uncle is so
much pleased that he tells Robin he shall be his heir, and no more go
home. Robin asks the boon that Little John may be his page. All the
while, for how long we know not, Robin Hood has had his band of yeomen
in Sherwood. Thither he goes (the time is not specified, but birds are
singing in st. 50), and while he is collecting his men, Clorinda, queen
of the shepherds and archeress, passes, and arrests his attention. The
favorable impression which she makes at first sight is confirmed by her
presently shooting a deer through side and side. Robin takes her to his
bower for a refection, which is served by four-and-twenty yeomen. She
inquires his name; he gives it, and asks her to be his bride. After a
blush and a pause, Clorinda says, With all my heart, and it is no wonder
that Robin proposes to send for a priest immediately. Clorinda is,
however, engaged to go to Titbury feast, whither she invites Robin to
keep her company. On the way he has an affray with eight yeomen, who bid
him hand over the buck which Clorinda had killed, and which he is
somehow taking along with him. With Little John’s help, five of the
eight are killed; the rest are spared. A bull-baiting is going on at
Titbury, which one wonders that a person of Clorinda’s imputed “wisdom
and modesty” should care for; but somehow Clorinda throws off her
dignity in the 45th stanza. After dinner the parson is sent for, the
marriage ceremony is performed, and Robin and Clorinda return to
Sherwood.
The author of this ballad (“the most beautiful and one of the oldest
extant” of the series, says the editor of the collection of 1723) knew
nothing of the Earl of Huntington and Matilda Fitzwater, but represents
Robin Hood as the son of a forester. In everything except keeping Robin
a yeoman, he writes “as the world were now but to begin, antiquity
forgot, custom not known;” but poets in his day, to quote the critic of
1723, “were looked upon like other Englishmen, born to live and write
with freedom.”
Concerning the bull-running at Tutbury, or Stutesbury, Staffordshire (a
hideously brutal custom, of long standing), a compendium of antiquarian
information is given by Gutch, II, 118. Arthur a Bradley, a rollicking
ballad of a Merry Wedding, mentioned in stanza 46, is printed by Ritson,
Robin Hood, 1795, II, 210.
1
Kind gentlemen, will you be patient awhile?
Ay, and then you shall hear anon
A very good ballad of bold Robin Hood,
And of his man, brave Little John.
2
In Locksly town, in Nottinghamshire,
In merry sweet Locksly town,
There bold Robin Hood he was born and was bred,
Bold Robin of famous renown.
3
The father of Robin a forrester was,
And he shot in a lusty long bow,
Two north country miles and an inch at a shot,
As the Pinder of Wakefield does know.
4
For he brought Adam Bell, and Clim of the Clugh,
And William a Clowdesle
To shoot with our forrester for forty mark,
And the forrester beat them all three.
5
His mother was neece to the Coventry knight,
Which Warwickshire men call Sir Guy;
For he slew the blue bore that hangs up at the gate,
Or mine host of The Bull tells a lye.
6
Her brother was Gamwel, of Great Gamwel Hall,
And a noble house-keeper was he,
Ay, as ever broke bread in sweet Nottinghamshire,
And a squire of famous degree.
7
The mother of Robin said to her husband,
My honey, my love, and my dear,
Let Robin and I ride this morning to Gamwel,
To taste of my brothers good cheer.
8
And he said, I grant thee thy boon, gentle Joan,
Take one of my horses, I pray;
The sun is a rising, and therefore make haste,
For to-morrow is Christmas-day.
9
Then Robin Hoods fathers grey gelding was brought,
And sadled and bridled was he;
God wot, a blew bonnet, his new suit of cloaths,
And a cloak that did reach to his knee.
10
She got on her holiday kirtle and gown,
They were of a light Lincoln green;
The cloath was homespun, but for colour and make
It might a beseemed our queen.
11
And then Robin got on his basket-hilt sword,
And his dagger on his tother side,
And said, My dear mother, let’s haste to be gone,
We have forty long miles to ride.
12
When Robin had mounted his gelding so grey,
His father, without any trouble,
Set her up behind him, and bad her not fear,
For his gelding had oft carried double.
13
And when she was settled, they rode to their neighbours,
And drank and shook hands with them all;
And then Robin gallopt, and never gave ore,
Till they lighted at Gamwel Hall.
14
And now you may think the right worshipful squire
Was joyful his sister to see;
For he kist her and kist her, and swore a great oath,
Thou art welcome, kind sister, to me.
15
To-morrow, when mass had been said in the chappel,
Six tables were coverd in the hall,
And in comes the squire, and makes a short speech,
It was, Neighbours, you’re welcome all.
16
But not a man here shall taste my March beer,
Till a Christmas carrol he sing:
Then all clapt their hands, and they shouted and sung,
Till the hall and the parlour did ring.
17
Now mustard and braun, roast beef and plumb pies,
Were set upon every table:
And noble George Gamwel said, Eat and be merry,
And drink too, as long as you’re able.
18
When dinner was ended, his chaplain said grace,
And, ‘Be merry, my friends,’ said the squire;
‘It rains, and it blows, but call for more ale,
And lay some more wood on the fire.
19
‘And now call ye Little John hither to me,
For Little John is a fine lad
At gambols and juggling, and twenty such tricks
As shall make you merry and glad.’
20
When Little John came, to gambols they went,
Both gentleman, yeoman and clown;
And what do you think? Why, as true as I live,
Bold Robin Hood put them all down.
21
And now you may think the right worshipful squire
Was joyful this sight for to see;
For he said, Cousin Robin, thou’st go no more home,
But tarry and dwell here with me.
22
Thou shalt have my land when I dye, and till then
Thou shalt be the staff of my age;
‘Then grant me my boon, dear uncle,’ said Robin,
‘That Little John may be my page.’
23
And he said, Kind cousin, I grant thee thy boon;
With all my heart, so let it be;
‘Then come hither, Little John,’ said Robin Hood,
‘Come hither, my page, unto me.
24
‘Go fetch me my bow, my longest long bow,
And broad arrows, one, two, or three;
For when it is fair weather we’ll into Sherwood,
Some merry pastime to see.’
25
When Robin Hood came into merry Sherwood,
He winded his bugle so clear,
And twice five and twenty good yeomen and bold
Before Robin Hood did appear.
26
‘Where are your companions all?’ said Robin Hood,
‘For still I want forty and three;’
Then said a bold yeoman, Lo, yonder they stand,
All under a green-wood tree.
27
As that word was spoke, Clorinda came by;
The queen of the shepherds was she;
And her gown was of velvet as green as the grass,
And her buskin did reach to her knee.
28
Her gait it was graceful, her body was straight,
And her countenance free from pride;
A bow in her hand, and quiver and arrows
Hung dangling by her sweet side.
29
Her eye-brows were black, ay, and so was her hair,
And her skin was as smooth as glass;
Her visage spoke wisdom, and modesty too;
Sets with Robin Hood such a lass!
30
Said Robin Hood, Lady fair, whither away?
O whither, fair lady, away?
And she made him answer, To kill a fat buck;
For to-morrow is Titbury day.
31
Said Robin Hood, Lady fair, wander with me
A little to yonder green bower;
There sit down to rest you, and you shall be sure
Of a brace or a lease in an hour.
32
And as we were going towards the green bower,
Two hundred good bucks we espy’d;
She chose out the fattest that was in the herd,
And she shot him through side and side.
33
‘By the faith of my body,’ said bold Robin Hood,
‘I never saw woman like thee;
And comst thou from east, ay, or comst thou from west,
Thou needst not beg venison of me.
34
‘However, along to my bower you shall go,
And taste of a forresters meat:’
And when we come thither, we found as good cheer
As any man needs for to eat.
35
For there was hot venison, and warden pies cold,
Cream clouted, with honey-combs plenty;
And the sarvitors they were, beside Little John,
Good yeomen at least four and twenty.
36
Clorinda said, Tell me your name, gentle sir;
And he said, ’Tis bold Robin Hood:
Squire Gamwel’s my uncle, but all my delight
Is to dwell in the merry Sherwood.
37
For ’tis a fine life, and ’tis void of all strife.
‘So ’tis, sir,’ Clorinda reply’d;
‘But oh,’ said bold Robin, ‘how sweet would it be,
If Clorinda would be my bride!’
38
She blusht at the motion; yet, after a pause
Said, Yes, sir, and with all my heart;
‘Then let’s send for a priest,’ said Robin Hood,
‘And be married before we do part.’
39
But she said, It may not be so, gentle sir,
For I must be at Titbury feast;
And if Robin Hood will go thither with me,
I’ll make him the most welcome guest.
40
Said Robin Hood, Reach me that buck, Little John,
For I’ll go along with my dear;
Go bid my yeomen kill six brace of bucks,
And meet me to-morrow just here.
41
Before we had ridden five Staffordshire miles,
Eight yeomen, that were too bold,
Bid Robin Hood stand, and deliver his buck;
A truer tale never was told.
42
‘I will not, faith!’ said bold Robin: ‘come, John,
Stand to me, and we’ll beat em all:’
Then both drew their swords, an so cut em and slasht em
That five of them did fall.
43
The three that remaind calld to Robin for quarter,
And pitiful John beggd their lives;
When John’s boon was granted, he gave them good counsel,
And so sent them home to their wives.
44
This battle was fought near to Titbury town,
When the bagpipes bated the bull;
I am king of the fidlers, and sware ’tis a truth,
And I call him that doubts it a gull.
45
For I saw them fighting, and fidld the while,
And Clorinda sung, Hey derry down!
The bumpkins are beaten, put up thy sword, Bob,
And now let’s dance into the town.
46
Before we came to it, we heard a strange shouting,
And all that were in it lookd madly;
For some were a bull-back, some dancing a morris,
And some singing Arthur-a-Bradly.
47
And there we see Thomas, our justices clerk,
And Mary, to whom he was kind;
For Tom rode before her, and calld Mary, Madam,
And kist her full sweetly behind.
48
And so may your worships. But we went to dinner,
With Thomas and Mary and Nan;
They all drank a health to Clorinda, and told her
Bold Robin Hood was a fine man.
49
When dinner was ended, Sir Roger, the parson
Of Dubbridge, was sent for in haste;
He brought his mass-book, and he bade them take hands,
And he joynd them in marriage full fast.
50
And then, as bold Robin Hood and his sweet bride
Went hand in hand to the green bower,
The birds sung with pleasure in merry Sherwood,
And ’twas a most joyful hour.
51
And when Robin came in the sight of the bower,
‘Where are my yeomen?’ said he;
And Little John answered, Lo, yonder they stand,
All under the green-wood tree.
52
Then a garland they brought her, by two and by two,
And plac’d them upon the bride’s head;
The music struck up, and we all fell to dance,
Till the bride and the groom were a-bed.
53
And what they did there must be counsel to me,
Because they lay long the next day,
And I had haste home, but I got a good piece
Of the bride-cake, and so came away.
54
Now out, alas! I had forgotten to tell ye
That marryd they were with a ring;
And, so will Nan Knight, or be buried a maiden,
And now let us pray for the king:
55
That he may get children, and they may get more,
To govern and do us some good;
And then I’ll make ballads in Robin Hood’s bower,
And sing em in merry Sherwood.
* * * * *
#a.#
A new ballad of bold Robin Hood, shewing his Birth, Breeding,
Valour and Marriage, at Titbury Bull-running: calculated for the
meridian of Staffordshire, but may serve for Derbyshire or Kent.
London, Printed by and for W. O[nley], and are to be sold by the
booksellers. (1650–1702.)
15^1. Morrow.
16^2. be sung.
17^1. mustards, braun: _cf._ #b#.
20^2. gentlemen, yeomen: _cf._ #b#.
30^2. Oh.
38^4. be merry: _cf._ #b#.
40^3. Go _wanting_: _cf._ #b#.
43^3. good _wanting_: _cf._ #b#.
52^1. the brought.
52^2. them at the bride’s bed: _cf._ #b#.
#b.#
A proper new ballad of bold Robin Hood, shewing his Birth, his
Breeding, his Valour, _etc._, _as above_.
To a pleasant new northern tune.
Printed for I. Wright, I. Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passenger.
(1670–86?)
1^2, 6^3, 29^1, 33^3. I _for_ Ay.
2^1. And, _by mistake, for_ In: in merry Nottinghamshire.
3^3. shoot.
4^4. beat um.
5^3. at that.
9^3. Got on his.
13^1. And _wanting_.
13^2. drunk.
13^4. at great.
15^1. To-morrow.
15^2. ith hall.
15^4. y’are.
16^2. be sung.
17^1. mustard and braun.
17^4. y’are.
18^1. this _for_ his.
19^4. you both.
20^2. gentleman, yeoman.
21^4. here _wanting_.
24^1. Go and fetch my bow.
24^2. and _for_ or.
24^3. ’tis.
26^4. the _for_ a.
27^4. buskins.
28^3. quiver of.
30^2. O.
30^3. him an.
30^4. Tilbery.
34^3. came.
38^3. let us.
38^4. be married.
40^3. Go bid.
41^2. Six _for_ Eight: too too.
42^2. beat um.
42^3. slasht um.
42^4. of the six.
43^3. good counsel.
45^3. Rob.
46^1. came in we.
51^1. in sight.
51^4. a _for_ the.
52^1. they.
52^2. upon the bride’s head.
55^4. sing um.
#c.#
Printed by and for Alex. Milbourn, at the Stationers-Arms, in
Green-Arbor-Court, in the Little-Old-Baily. (1670–97.) _Compared
only here and there._
9^1. God wot his.
30^4. Tilbury.
41^2. Eight: too too.
42^4. of the eight.
45^3. Bob.
150
ROBIN HOOD AND MAID MARIAN
Wood, 401, leaf 21 b.
Ritson, Robin Hood, 1795, II, 157, from Wood’s copy. In none of the
garlands.
The Earl of Huntington, _alias_ Robin Hood, is forced by fortune’s spite
to part from his love Marian, and take to the green wood. Marian dresses
herself “like a page,” and, armed with bow, sword, and buckler, goes in
quest of Robin. Both being disguised, neither recognizes the other until
they have had an hour at swords, when Robin Hood, who has lost some
blood, calls to his antagonist to give over and join his band. Marian
knows his voice, and discovers herself. A banquet follows, and Marian
remains in the wood.
Though Maid Marian and Robin Hood had perhaps been paired in popular
sports, no one thought of putting more of her than her name into a
ballad, until one S. S. (so the broadside is signed) composed this
foolish ditty. The bare name of Maid Marian occurs in No 145 #A#, 9^4
and in No 147, 1^4.
Even in Barclay’s fourth eclogue, written not long after 1500, where,
according to Ritson,[119] the earliest notice of Maid Marian occurs, and
where, he says, “she is evidently connected with Robin Hood,” the two
are really kept distinct; for the lusty Codrus in that eclogue wishes to
hear “some mery fit of Maide Marion, _or els_ of Robin Hood.”
In Munday’s play of The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington, Matilda,
otherwise Marian, daughter to Lord Lacy, accompanies Earl Robert to
Sherwood, upon his being outlawed for debt the very day of their
troth-plight. There she lives a spotless maiden, awaiting the time when
the outlawry shall be repealed and Robin may legally take her to wife.
Neither the author of the play nor that of the ballad was, so far as is
known, repeating any popular tradition.
The ordinary partner of Maid Marian is Friar Tuck, not Robin Hood. There
is no ground for supposing that there ever were songs or tales about the
Maid and Friar, notwithstanding what is cursorily said by one of the
characters in Peele’s Edward I:
Why so, I see, my mates, of old
All were not lies that _beldames told_
Of Robin Hood and Little John,
Friar Tuck and Maid Marian.
ed. Dyce, I, 133.
Translated by Anastasius Grün, p. 72, Loève-Veimars, p. 208.
1
A Bonny fine maid of a noble degree,
With a hey down down a down down
Maid Marian calld by name,
Did live in the North, of excellent worth,
For she was a gallant dame.
2
For favour and face, and beauty most rare,
Queen Hellen shee did excell;
For Marian then was praisd of all men
That did in the country dwell.
3
’Twas neither Rosamond nor Jane Shore,
Whose beauty was clear and bright,
That could surpass this country lass,
Beloved of lord and knight.
4
The Earl of Huntington, nobly born,
That came of noble blood,
To Marian went, with a good intent,
By the name of Robin Hood.
5
With kisses sweet their red lips meet,
For shee and the earl did agree;
In every place, they kindly imbrace,
With love and sweet unity.
6
But fortune bearing these lovers a spight,
That soon they were forced to part,
To the merry green wood then went Robin Hood,
With a sad and sorrowfull heart.
7
And Marian, poor soul, was troubled in mind,
For the absence of her friend;
With finger in eye, shee often did cry,
And his person did much comend.
8
Perplexed and vexed, and troubled in mind,
Shee drest her self like a page,
And ranged the wood to find Robin Hood,
The bravest of men in that age.
9
With quiver and bow, sword, buckler, and all,
Thus armed was Marian most bold,
Still wandering about to find Robin out,
Whose person was better then gold.
10
But Robin Hood, hee himself had disguisd,
And Marian was strangly attir’d,
That they provd foes, and so fell to blowes,
Whose vallour bold Robin admir’d.
11
They drew out their swords, and to cutting they went,
At least an hour or more,
That the blood ran apace from bold Robins face,
And Marian was wounded sore.
12
‘O hold thy hand, hold thy hand,’ said Robin Hood,
‘And thou shalt be one of my string,
To range in the wood with bold Robin Hood,
To hear the sweet nightingall sing.’
13
When Marian did hear the voice of her love,
Her self shee did quickly discover,
And with kisses sweet she did him greet,
Like to a most loyall lover.
14
When bold Robin Hood his Marian did see,
Good lord, what clipping was there!
With kind imbraces, and jobbing of faces,
Providing of gallant cheer.
15
For Little John took his bow in his hand,
And wandring in the wood,
To kill the deer, and make good chear,
For Marian and Robin Hood.
16
A stately banquet the[y] had full soon,
All in a shaded bower,
Where venison sweet they had to eat,
And were merry that present hour.
17
Great flaggons of wine were set on the board,
And merrily they drunk round
Their boules of sack, to strengthen the back,
Whilst their knees did touch the ground.
18
First Robin Hood began a health
To Marian his onely dear,
And his yeomen all, both comly and tall,
Did quickly bring up the rear.
19
For in a brave veine they tost off the[ir] bouls,
Whilst thus they did remain,
And every cup, as they drunk up,
They filled with speed again.
20
At last they ended their merryment,
And went to walk in the wood,
Where Little John and Maid Marian
Attended on bold Robin Hood.
21
In sollid content together they livd,
With all their yeomen gay;
They livd by their hands, without any lands,
And so they did many a day.
22
But now to conclude, an end I will make
In time, as I think it good,
For the people that dwell in the North can tell
Of Marian and bold Robin Hood.
* * * * *
A Famous Battle between Robin Hood and Maid Marian, declaring
their Love, Life, and Liberty. Tune, Robin Hood Reviv’d.
_No printer: black-letter._ S. S. _at the end_.
11^1. out rheir.
19^1. vente.
21^3. there: wirhout.
_A MS. copy in Percy’s papers has in 16^1_ he had, _and in 19^1_,
in a brave venie they tost off their bowles. _It is barely
possible that venie, which Ritson prints, may be right._
151
THE KING’S DISGUISE, AND FRIENDSHIP WITH ROBIN HOOD
#a.# Robin Hood’s Garland, London, W. & C. Dicey, in St Mary Aldermary
Church Yard, Bow Lane, Cheapside, n. d. (but not older than 1753),
p. 76, No 25. #b.# Robin Hood’s Garland, London, Printed by L. How,
in Peticoat Lane, n. d. #c.# ‘The King’s Disguise and True
Friendship with Robin Hood,’ London, Printed by L. How, in Petticoat
Lane, Douce Ballads, III, 113 b (not black letter). #d.# Robin
Hood’s Garland, London, R. Marshall, in Aldermary Church-Yard,
Bow-Lane, n. d., p. 80, No 25.
Ritson, Robin Hood, 1795, II, 162, “from the common collection of
Aldermary Church Yard;” Evans, Old Ballads, 1777, 1784, I, 218; Gutch,
Robin Hood, II, 281, Ritson’s copy “compared with one in the York
edition.”
The ballad is not found in a garland of 1749; but this garland has only
twenty-four pieces.
The story, as far as st. 38, is a loose paraphrase, with omissions, of
the seventh and eighth fits of the Gest, and seems, like the two which
here follow it, “to have been written by some miserable retainer to the
press, merely to eke out the book; being, in fact, a most contemptible
performance:” Ritson.
12^1 may have been borrowed from Martin Parker’s True Tale, No 154,
15^1. By the clergyman who was first Robin Hood’s bane, 29^1, is meant
the prior of York, who in Munday’s play, The Downfall of Robert Earl of
Huntington, procures his outlawry. The forcing of the sheriff to give
the king a supper may be the beggarly author’s own invention. The last
two lines are intended to serve as a link with Robin Hood and the
Valiant Knight, which, however, does not immediately succeed in the
garlands, Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow being interposed.
Translated by Doenniges, p. 185; A. Grün, p. 159; Loève-Veimars, p. 212.
1
King Richard hearing of the pranks
Of Robin Hood and his men,
He much admir’d, and more desir’d,
To see both him and them.
2
Then with a dozen of his lords
To Nottingham he rode;
When he came there, he made good cheer,
And took up his abode.
3
He having staid there some time,
But had no hopes to speed,
He and his lords, with [free] accord,
All put on monk’s weeds.
4
From Fountain-abby they did ride,
Down to Barnsdale;
Where Robin Hood preparëd stood
All company to assail.
5
The king was higher then the rest,
And Robin thought he had
An abbot been whom he did spleen;
To rob him he was glad.
6
He took the king’s horse by the head,
‘Abbot,’ says he, ‘abide;
I am bound to rue such knaves as you,
That live in pomp and pride.’
7
‘But we are messengers from the king,’
The king himself did say;
‘Near to this place his royal Grace
To speak with thee does stay.’
8
‘God save the king,’ said Robin Hood,
‘And all that wish him well;
He that does deny his sovereignty,
I wish he was in hell.’
9
‘O thyself thou curses,’ says the king,
‘For thou a traitor art:’
‘Nay, but that you are his messenger,
I swear you lie in heart.
10
‘For I never yet hurt any man
That honest is and true;
But those that give their minds to live
Upon other men’s due.
11
‘I never hurt the husbandman,
That use to till the ground;
Nor spill their blood that range the wood
To follow hawk or hound.
12
‘My chiefest spite to clergy is,
Who in these days bear a great sway;
With fryars and monks, with their fine sprunks,
I make my chiefest prey.
13
‘But I am very glad,’ says Robin Hood,
‘That I have met you here;
Come, before we end, you shall, my friend,
Taste of our green-wood cheer.’
14
The king did then marvel much,
And so did all his men;
They thought with fear, what kind of cheer
Robin would provide for them.
15
Robin took the king’s horse by the head,
And led him to the tent;
‘Thou would not be so usd,’ quoth he,
‘But that my king thee sent.