Chapter X: Appendix: The Play of Robin Hood (1)

(1–110)

#a.#

Ritson’s Robin Hood, 1795, II, 192, as printed by William Copland,
at the end of his edition of the Gest.

#b.#

As printed by Edward White, at the end of his edition of the Gest:
Bodleian Library, Z. 3. Art. Seld.

ROBYN HODE

Now stand ye forth, my mery men all,
And harke what I shall say;
Of an adventure I shal you tell,
The which befell this other day.
As I went by the hygh way, 5
With a stout frere I met,
And a quarter-staffe in his hande.
Lyghtely to me he lept,
And styll he bade me stande.
There were strypes two or three, 10
But I cannot tell who had the worse,
But well I wote the horeson lept within me,
And fro me he toke my purse.
Is there any of my mery men all
That to that frere wyll go, 15
And bryng hym to me forth withall,
Whether he wyll or no?

LYTELL JOHN

Yes, mayster, I make God avowe,
To that frere wyll I go,
And bring him to you, 20
Whether he wyl or no.

FRYER TUCKE

_Deus hic! deus hic!_ God be here!
Is not this a holy worde for a frere?
God save all this company!
But am not I a jolly fryer? 25
For I can shote both farre and nere,
And handle the sworde and buckler,
And this quarter-staffe also.
If I mete with a gentylman or yeman,
I am not afrayde to loke hym upon, 30
Nor boldly with him to carpe;
If he speake any wordes to me,
He shall have strypes two or thre,
That shal make his body smarte.
But, maisters, to shew you the matter 35
Wherfore and why I am come hither,
In fayth I wyll not spare.
I am come to seke a good yeman,
In Bernisdale men sai is his habitacion,
His name is Robyn Hode. 40
And if that he be better man than I,
His servaunt wyll I be, and serve him truely;
But if that I be better man than he,
By my truth my knave shall he be,
And leade these dogges all three. 45

ROBYN HODE

Yelde the, fryer, in thy long cote.

FRYER TUCKE

I beshrew thy hart, knave, thou hurtest my throt[e].

ROBYN HODE

I trowe, fryer, thou beginnest to dote;
Who made the so malapert and so bolde
To come into this forest here, 50
Amonge my falowe dere?

FRYER

Go louse the, ragged knave.
If thou make mani wordes, I will geve the on the eare,
Though I be but a poore fryer.
To seke Robyn Hode I am com here, 55
And to him my hart to breke.

ROBYN HODE

Thou lousy frer, what wouldest thou with hym?
He never loved fryer, nor none of freiers kyn.

FRYER

Avaunt, ye ragged knave!
Or ye shall have on the skynne. 60

ROBYN HODE

Of all the men in the morning thou art the worst,
To mete with the I have no lust;
For he that meteth a frere or a fox in the morning,
To spede ill that day he standeth in jeoperdy.
Therfore I had lever mete with the devil of hell, 65
(Fryer, I tell the as I thinke,)
Then mete with a fryer or a fox
In a mornyng, or I drynk.

FRYER

Avaunt, thou ragged knave! this is but a mock;
If thou make mani words thou shal have a knock. 70

ROBYN HODE

Harke, frere, what I say here:
Over this water thou shalt me bere,
The brydge is borne away.

FRYER

To say naye I wyll not;
To let the of thine oth it were great pitie and sin; 75
But up on a fryers backe, and have even in!

ROBYN HODE

Nay, have over.

FRYER

Now am I, frere, within, and thou, Robin, without,
To lay the here I have no great doubt.
Now art thou, Robyn, without, and I, frere, within, 80
Lye ther, knave; chose whether thou wilte sinke or swym.

ROBYN HODE

Why, thou lowsy frere, what hast thou done?

FRYER

Mary, set a knave over the shone.

ROBYN HODE

Therfore thou shalt abye.

FRYER

Why, wylt thou fyght a plucke? 85

ROBYN HODE

And God send me good lucke.

FRYER

Than have a stroke for fryer Tucke.

ROBYN HODE

Holde thy hande, frere, and here me speke.

FRYER

Say on, ragged knave,
Me semeth ye begyn to swete. 90

ROBYN HODE

In this forest I have a hounde,
I wyl not give him for an hundreth pound.
Geve me leve my horne to blowe,
That my hounde may knowe.

FRYER

Blowe on, ragged knave, without any doubte, 95
Untyll bothe thyne eyes starte out.
Here be a sorte of ragged knaves come in,
Clothed all in Kendale grene,
And to the they take their way nowe.

ROBYN HODE

Peradventure they do so. 100

FRYER

I gave the leve to blowe at thy wyll,
Now give me leve to whistell my fyll.

ROBYN HODE

Whystell, frere, evyl mote thou fare!
Untyll bothe thyne eyes stare.

FRYER

Now Cut and Bause! 105
Breng forth the clubbes and staves,
And downe with those ragged knaves!

ROBYN HODE

How sayest thou, frere, wylt thou be my man,
To do me the best servyse thou can?
Thou shalt have both golde and fee. 110

* * * * *

After ten lines of ribaldry, which have no pertinency to the traditional Robin Hood and Friar, the play abruptly passes to the adventure of Robin Hood and the Potter.

#a.#

_Ritson has been followed, without collation with Copland._

35. maister.

64. spede ell.

70. you, you _for_ thou, thou.

82. donee.

104. starte.

#b.#

13. he _wanting_.

15. to the.

23. word of.

31. Not.

35. maister.

41. if he.

43. be a.

59. ye _wanting_.

61. in a.

65. had rather: of hell _wanting_.

70. y^u: y^u shalt.

81. choose either sinke.

97. Here is.

103. might thou.

104. stare.

124

THE JOLLY PINDER OF WAKEFIELD

#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.

#B.# Percy MS., p. 15; Hales and Furnivall, I, 32.

Printed in Ritson’s Robin Hood, 1795, II, 16, from one of Wood’s copies, “compared with two other copies in the British Museum, one in black letter:” Evans, Old Ballads, 1777, 1784, I, 99.

There is another copy in the Roxburghe collection, III, 24, and there are two in the Bagford.

‘A ballett of Wakefylde and a grene’ is entered to Master John Wallye and Mistress Toye, 19 July, 1557–9 July, 1558: Stationers’ Registers, Arber, I, 76.

The ballad is one of four, besides the Gest, that were known to the 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.

1
In Nottingham there lives a jolly tanner,
With a hey down down a down down
His name is Arthur a Bland;
There is nere a squire in Nottinghamshire
Dare bid bold Arthur stand.

2
With a long pike-staff upon his shoulder,
So well he can clear his way;
By two and by three he makes them to flee,
For he hath no list to stay.

3
And as he went forth, in a summer’s morning,
Into the forrest of merry Sherwood,
To view the red deer, that range here and there,
There met he with bold Robin Hood.

4
As soon as bold Robin Hood did him espy,
He thought some sport he would make;
Therefore out of hand he bid him to stand,
And thus to him he spake:

5
Why, what art thou, thou bold fellow,
That ranges so boldly here?
In sooth, to be brief, thou lookst like a thief,
That comes to steal our king’s deer.

6
For I am a keeper in this forrest;
The king puts me in trust
To look to his deer, that range here and there,
Therefore stay thee I must.

7
‘If thou beest a keeper in this forrest,
And hast such a great command,
Yet thou must have more partakers in store,
Before thou make me to stand.’

8
‘Nay, I have no more partakers in store,
Or any that I do need;
But I have a staff of another oke graff,
I know it will do the deed.’

9
‘For thy sword and thy bow I care not a straw,
Nor all thine arrows to boot;
If I get a knop upon thy bare scop,
Thou canst as well shite as shoote.’

10
‘Speak cleanly, good fellow,’ said jolly Robin,
‘And give better terms to me;
Else I’le thee correct for thy neglect,
And make thee more mannerly.’

11
‘Marry gep with a wenion!’ quoth Arthur a Bland,
‘Art thou such a goodly man?
I care not a fig for thy looking so big;
Mend thou thyself where thou can.’

12
Then Robin Hood he unbuckled his belt,
He laid down his bow so long;
He took up a staff of another oke graff,
That was both stiff and strong.

13
‘I’le yield to thy weapon,’ said jolly Robin,
‘Since thou wilt not yield to mine;
For I have a staff of another oke graff,
Not half a foot longer then thine.

14
‘But let me measure,’ said jolly Robin,
‘Before we begin our fray;
For I’le not have mine to be longer then thine,
For that will be called foul play.’

15
‘I pass not for length,’ bold Arthur reply’d,
‘My staff is of oke so free;
Eight foot and a half, it will knock down a calf,
And I hope it will knock down thee.’

16
Then Robin Hood could no longer forbear;
He gave him such a knock,
Quickly and soon the blood came down,
Before it was ten a clock.

17
Then Arthur he soon recovered himself,
And gave him such a knock on the crown,
That on every hair of bold Robin Hoods head,
The blood came trickling down.

18
Then Robin Hood raged like a wild bore,
As soon as he saw his own blood;
Then Bland was in hast, he laid on so fast,
As though he had been staking of wood.

19
And about, and about, and about they went,
Like two wild bores in a chase;
Striving to aim each other to maim,
Leg, arm, or any other place.

20
And knock for knock they lustily dealt,
Which held for two hours and more;
That all the wood rang at every bang,
They ply’d their work so sore.

21
‘Hold thy hand, hold thy hand,’ said Robin Hood,
‘And let our quarrel fall;
For here we may thresh our bones into mesh,
And get no coyn at all.

22
‘And in the forrest of merry Sherwood
Hereafter thou shalt be free:’
‘God-a-mercy for naught, my freedom I bought,
I may thank my good staff, and not thee.’

23
‘What tradesman art thou?’ said jolly Robin,
‘Good fellow, I prethee me show:
And also me tell in what place thou dost dwel,
For both these fain would I know.’

24
‘I am a tanner,’ bold Arthur reply’d,
‘In Nottingham long have I wrought;
And if thou’lt come there, I vow and do swear
I will tan thy hide for naught.’

25
‘God a mercy, good fellow,’ said jolly Robin,
‘Since thou art so kind to me;
And if thou wilt tan my hide for naught,
I will do as much for thee.

26
‘But if thou’lt forsake thy tanners trade,
And live in green wood with me,
My name’s Robin Hood, I swear by the rood
I will give thee both gold and fee.’

27
‘If thou be Robin Hood,’ bold Arthur reply’d,
‘As I think well thou art,
Then here’s my hand, my name’s Arthur a Bland,
We two will never depart.

28
‘But tell me, O tell me, where is Little John?
Of him fain would I hear;
For we are alide by the mothers side,
And he is my kinsman near.’

29
Then Robin Hood blew on the beaugle horn,
He blew full lowd and shrill,
But quickly anon appeard Little John,
Come tripping down a green hill.

30
‘O what is the matter?’ then said Little John,
‘Master, I pray you tell;
Why do you stand with your staff in your hand?
I fear all is not well.’

31
‘O man, I do stand, and he makes me to stand,
The tanner that stands thee beside;
He is a bonny blade, and master of his trade,
For soundly he hath tand my hide.’

32
‘He is to be commended,’ then said Little John,
‘If such a feat he can do;
If he be so stout, we will have a bout,
And he shall tan my hide too.’

33
‘Hold thy hand, hold thy hand,’ said Robin Hood,
‘For as I do understand,
He’s a yeoman good, and of thine own blood,
For his name is Arthur a Bland.’

34
Then Little John threw his staff away,
As far as he could it fling,
And ran out of hand to Arthur a Bland,
And about his neck did cling.

35
With loving respect, there was no neglect,
They were neither nice nor coy,
Each other did face, with a lovely grace,
And both did weep for joy.

36
Then Robin Hood took them both by the hand,
And danc’d round about the oke tree;
‘For three merry men, and three merry men,
And three merry men we be.

37
‘And ever hereafter, as long as I live,
We three will be all one;
The wood shall ring, and the old wife sing,
Of Robin Hood, Arthur, and John.’

* * * * *

#a.#

Robin Hood and the Tanner, or, Robin Hood met with his match: A
merry and pleasant song relating the gallant and fierce combate
fought between Arthur Bland, a Tanner of Nottingham, and Robin
Hood, the greatest and most noblest archer of England. The tune
is, Robin and the Stranger.

Printed for W. Gilbertson. (1640–63: _Chappell_.)

3^2. merry Forrest of.

7^2. hath.

7^3. But.

9^3. the bare.

11^1. qd..

13^3. straff.

14^4. _Wanting in my copy, probably by accidental omission:
supplied from_ #b#.

17^3. That from every side: Old Ballads, 1713, _to restore the
middle rhyme_.

21^2. let your Quiver: _cf._ #b#, #c#, #d#.

21^3. thrash: to: _cf._ #b#.

22^4. good _wanting_.

26^3. the wood: _cf._ #d#.

35^2. noice.

36^1. took him by: _cf._ #d#.

37^4. Kobin.

#b.#

_Title as in #a#.By the same printer as #a#. Burden sometimes_
With hey, _etc._

1^1. lives there.

1^2, 11^1, 27^3. Arthur Bland.

3^2. merry Forrest of.

6^2. he puts.

7^2. hath.

7^3. Yet.

7^4. Before that.

8^3, 12^3, 13^3. graft.

9^3. thy bare.

11^1. quoth.

13^1. I yield.

13^4. than.

14^3. to _wanting_.

14^4. For that will be called foul play.

17^2. He gave.

17^3. Hoods _wanting_.

21^2. let our quarrel.

21^3. thresh: into.

22^4. my good.

23^2. pray thee.

24^3. thou come.

25^2. kinde and free.

26^3. the wood.

28^1. where’s.

29^2. both _for_ full.

30^1. then _wanting_.

33^3. thy.

34^4. he did.

36^1. took him by.

36^2. round _wanting_.

37^1. so long.

#c.#

_Title as in_ #a.# _Burden after_ 2^1, With hey, _etc._

1^2, 11^1, 27^3. Arthur Bland.

2^4. not.

3^2. merry Forrest of.

4^3. them to.

7^2. hath.

7^3. Yet you.

7^4. Before that.

8^3, 12^3, 13^3. graft.

9^3. thy bare.

11^1. qd..

13^1. I yield.

14^3. to _wanting_.

14^4. For that will be called foul play.

16^3. blood ran.

17^2. He gave.

17^3. hair on Robins.

17^4. blood ran.

18^4. been cleaving wood.

20^1. deal.

20^4. so fast.

21^2. let our quarrel.

21^3. thresh: into.

22^4. my good.

24^3. thou come.

25^2. kind and free.

26^1. thou wilt.

26^3. the wood.

28^3. mother.

29^1. he blew.

29^2. both _for_ full.

29^3. and anon.

30^3. your _wanting_.

31^2. me _for_ thee.

33^1. Hood _wanting_.

33^3. thy blood.

34^4. he did.

35^4. they both.

36^1. took him by.

36^2. round _wanting_.

37^1. And we: so long as we.

#d.#

_Title as in_ #a#, _except_: the greatest archer in London.
Printed for J. Wright, J. Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T.
Passenger. (1670–1682?) _Burden sometimes_, With hey, _etc._

1^4. to stand.

3^1. on a.

3^2. forrest of merry.

4^1. Robin he did him.

4^4. he did spake.

5^4. the kings.

6^1. If thou beest a, _caught from_ 7^1.

7^2. hast.

7^3. Then thou.

7^4. makst.

8^2. Nor any: do not.

9^2. thy.

9^3. thou get a knock upon thy.

11^1. gip: wernion qd.

11^4. if thou.

12^2. And threw it upon the ground.

12^3. Says, I have a.

12^4. That is both strong and sound.

13^1. But let me measure, said.

14^3. I’le have mine no longer.

14^4. For that will be counted foul play.

16^1. Hood _wanting_.

17^1. he _wanting_.

17^3. from every hair of.

18^1. raved _for_ raged.

18^3. he was.

18^4. stacking.

19^4. other _wanting_.

20^2. for _wanting_.

21^2. let our quarrel.

21^3. thrash our bones to.

22^3. I’ve.

22^4. my good.

24^3. thou come.

26^1. thou wilt.

26^2. in the.

26^3. name is: rood.

29^1. on his.

29^2. both _for_ full.

29^4. tripping over the hill.

30^2. you me.

30^3. the staff.

31^3. and a.

32^3. about.

33^3. thy.

35^2. They was.

37^1. we live.

37^2. all as (_printed_ sa).

127

ROBIN HOOD AND THE TINKER

#a.# Wood, 401, leaf 17 b.

#b.# Pepys, II, 107, No 94.

#c.# Douce, III, 118 b.

In the Roxburghe collection, III, 22. Not in the Garland of 1663 or that of 1670.

#a# is printed in Ritson’s Robin Hood, 1795, II, 38; in Gutch’s Robin Hood, II, 264, “compared with” the Roxburghe copy. The ballad was printed by Evans, Old Ballads, 1777, 1784, I, 118.

The fewest words will best befit this contemptible imitation of imitations. Robin Hood meets a Tinker, and they exchange scurrilities. The Tinker has a warrant from the king to arrest Robin, but will not show it when asked. Robin Hood suggests that it will be best to go to Nottingham, and there the two take one inn and drink together till the Tinker falls asleep; when Robin makes off, and leaves the Tinker to pay the shot. The host informs the Tinker that it was Robin Hood that he was drinking with, and recommends him to seek his man in the parks. The Tinker finds Robin, and they fall to it, crab-tree staff against sword. Robin yields, and begs a boon; the Tinker will grant none. A blast of the horn brings Little John and Scadlock. Little John would fain see whether the Tinker can do for him what he has done for his master, but Robin proclaims a peace, and offers the Tinker terms which induce him to join the outlaws.

It is not necessary to suppose the warrant to arrest Robin a souvenir of ‘Guy of Gisborne’; though that noble ballad is in a 17th century MS., it does not appear to have been known to the writers of broadsides.

1
In summer time, when leaves grow green,
Down a down a down
And birds sing on every tree,
Hey down a down a down

Robin Hood went to Nottingham,
Down a down a down
As fast as hee could dree.
Hey down a down a down

2
And as hee came to Nottingham
A Tinker he did meet,
And seeing him a lusty blade,
He did him kindly greet.

3
‘Where dost thou live?’ quoth Robin Hood,
‘I pray thee now mee tell;
Sad news I hear there is abroad,
I fear all is not well.’

4
‘What is that news?’ the Tinker said;
‘Tell mee without delay;
I am a tinker by my trade,
And do live at Banbura.’

5
‘As for the news,’ quoth Robin Hood,
‘It is but as I hear;
Two tinkers they were set ith’ stocks,
For drinking ale and bear.’

6
‘If that be all,’ the Tinker said,
‘As I may say to you,
Your news it is not worth a fart,
Since that they all bee true.

7
‘For drinking of good ale and bear,
You wil not lose your part:’
‘No, by my faith,’ quoth Robin Hood,
‘I love it with all my heart.

8
‘What news abroad?’ quoth Robin Hood;
‘Tell mee what thou dost hear;
Being thou goest from town to town,
Some news thou need not fear.’

9
‘All the news,’ the Tinker said,
‘I hear, it is for good;
It is to seek a bold outlaw,
Which they call Robin Hood.

10
‘I have a warrant from the king,
To take him where I can;
If you can tell me where hee is,
I will make you a man.

11
‘The king will give a hundred pound
That hee could but him see;
And if wee can but now him get,
It will serve you and mee.’

12
‘Let me see that warrant,’ said Robin Hood;
‘I’le see if it bee right;
And I will do the best I can
For to take him this night.’

13
‘That will I not,’ the Tinker said;
‘None with it I will trust;
And where hee is if you’l not tell,
Take him by force I must.’

14
But Robin Hood perceiving well
How then the game would go,
‘If you will go to Nottingham,
Wee shall find him I know.’

15
The Tinker had a crab-tree staff,
Which was both good and strong;
Robin hee had a good strong blade,
So they went both along.

16
And when they came to Nottingham,
There they both tooke one inn;
And they calld for ale and wine,
To drink it was no sin.

17
But ale and wine they drank so fast
That the Tinker hee forgot
What thing he was about to do;
It fell so to his lot

18
That while the Tinker fell asleep,
Hee made then haste away,
And left the Tinker in the lurch,
For the great shot to pay.

19
But when the Tinker wakened,
And saw that he was gone,
He calld then even for his host,
And thus hee made his moan.

20
‘I had a warrant from the king,
Which might have done me good,
That is to take a bold outlaw,
Some call him Robin Hood.

21
‘But now my warrant and mony’s gone,
Nothing I have to pay;
And he that promisd to be my friend,
He is gone and fled away.’

22
‘That friend you tell on,’ said the host,
‘They call him Robin Hood;
And when that first hee met with you,
He ment you little good.’

23
‘Had I known it had been hee,
When that I had him here,
Th’ one of us should have tri’d our strength
Which should have paid full dear.

24
‘In the mean time I must away;
No longer here I’le bide;
But I will go and seek him out,
What ever do me betide.

25
‘But one thing I would gladly know,
What here I have to pay;’
‘Ten shillings just,’ then said the host;
‘I’le pay without delay.

26
‘Or elce take here my working-bag,
And my good hammer too;
And if that I light but on the knave,
I will then soon pay you.’

27
‘The onely way,’ then said the host,
‘And not to stand in fear,
Is to seek him among the parks,
Killing of the kings deer.’

28
The Tinker hee then went with speed,
And made then no delay,
Till he had found then Robin Hood,
That they might have a fray.

29
At last hee spy’d him in a park,
Hunting then of the deer;
‘What knave is that,’ quoth Robin Hood,
‘That doth come mee so near?’

30
‘No knave, no knave,’ the Tinker said,
‘And that you soon shall know;
Whether of us hath done most wrong,
My crab-tree staff shall show.’

31
Then Robin drew his gallant blade,
Made then of trusty steel;
But the Tinker laid on him so fast
That he made Robin reel.

32
Then Robins anger did arise;
He fought full manfully,
Vntil hee had made the Tinker
Almost then fit to fly.

33
With that they had a bout again,
They ply’d their weapons fast;
The Tinker threshed his bones so sore
He made him yeeld at last.

34
‘A boon, a boon,’ Robin hee cryes,
‘If thou wilt grant it mee;’
‘Before I do it,’ the Tinker said,
‘I’le hang thee on this tree.’

35
But the Tinker looking him about,
Robin his horn did blow;
Then came unto him Little John,
And William Scadlock too.

36
‘What is the matter,’ quoth Little John,
‘You sit in th’ highway side?’
‘Here is a Tinker that stands by,
That hath paid well my hide.’

37
‘That Tinker,’ then said Little John,
‘Fain that blade I would see,
And I would try what I could do,
If hee’l do as much for mee.’

38
But Robin hee then wishd them both
They should the quarrel cease,
‘That henceforth wee may bee as one,
And ever live in peace.

39
‘And for the jovial Tinker’s part,
A hundred pound I’le give,
In th’ year to maintain him on,
As long as he doth live.

40
‘In manhood hee is a mettle man,
And a mettle man by trade;
I never thought that any man
Should have made me so fraid.

41
‘And if hee will bee one of us,
Wee will take all one fare,
And whatsoever wee do get,
He shall have his full share.’

42
So the Tinker was content
With them to go along,
And with them a part to take,
And so I end my song.

* * * * *

#a.#

A new song, to drive away cold winter,
Between Robin Hood and the Jovial Tinker;
How Robin by a wile
The Tinker he did cheat,
But at the length, as you shall hear,
The Tinker did him beat;
Whereby the same they then did so agree
They after livd in love and unity.