Chapter VIII: Appendix: The Second Part of Adam Bell (5)

58
Þe kyng gaf Moch and Litul Jon
Twenti pound in s_er_tan,
And made þeim ȝemen of þe crown,
And bade þeim go agayn.

59
He gaf John þe seel in hand,
The sheref for to bere,
To bryng Robyn hym to,
And no man do hym dere.

60
John toke his leve at oure kyng,
Þe sothe as I yow say;
Þe next way to Notyngham
To take, he ȝede þe way.

61
Whan John came to Notyngham
The ȝatis were sparred ychon;
John callid vp þe porter,
He answerid sone anon.

62
‘What is þe cause,’ seid Litul Jon,
‘Þ_o_u sparris þe ȝates so fast?’
‘Because of Robyn Hode,’ seid [þe] porter,
‘In depe prison is cast.

63
‘John and Moch and Wyll Scathlok,
Ffor sothe as I yow say,
Þei slew oure men vpon our wallis,
And sawten vs eu_er_y day.’

64
Litull John spyrred aft_e_r þe schereff,
And sone he hym fonde;
He oppyned þe kyngus p_ri_ue seell,
And gaf hym in his honde.

65
Whan þe scheref saw þe kyngus seell,
He did of his hode anon:
‘Wher is þe munke þ_a_t bare þe letturs?’
He seid to Litull John.

66
‘He is so fayn of hym,’ seid Litul John,
‘Ffor soþe as I yow say,
He has made hym abot of Westmynst_er_,
A lorde of þ_a_t abbay.’

67
The scheref made John gode chere,
And gaf hym wyne of the best;
At nyȝt þei went to her bedde,
And eu_er_y man to his rest.

68
When þe scheref was on slepe,
Dronken of wyne and ale,
Litul John and Moch for soþe
Toke þe way vnto þe jale.

69
Litul John callid vp þe jayler,
And bade hym rise anon;
He seyd Robyn Hode had brokyn p_ri_son,
And out of hit was gon.

70
The porter rose anon s_er_tan,
As sone as he herd John calle;
Litul John was redy w_i_t_h_ a swerd,
And bare hym to þe walle.

71
‘Now wil I be porter,’ seid Litul John,
‘And take þe keyes in honde:’
He toke þe way to Robyn Hode,
And sone he hym vnbonde.

72
He gaf hym a gode swerd i_n_ his hond,
His hed [ther]w_i_t_h_ for to kepe,
And ther as þe walle was lowyst
Anon down can þei lepe.

73
Be þ_a_t þe cok began to crow,
The day began to spryng;
The scheref fond þe jaylier ded,
The comyn bell made he ryng.

74
He made a crye thoroout al þe tow[n],
Whed_e_r he be ȝoman or knave,
Þ_a_t cowþe bryng hym Robyn Hode,
His warison he shuld haue.

75
‘Ffor I dar neu_er_,’ said þe scheref,
‘Cu_m_ before oure kyng;
Ffor if I do, I wot s_er_ten
Ffor soþe he wil me heng.’

76
The scheref made to seke Notyngham,
Bothe be strete and stye,
And Robyn was in mery Scherwode,
As liȝt as lef on lynde.

77
Then bespake gode Litull John,
To Robyn Hode can he say,
I haue done þe a gode turne for an euyll,
Quyte þe whan þ_o_u may.

78
‘I haue done þe a gode turne,’ seid Litull John,
‘Ffor sothe as I yow say;
I haue brouȝt þe vnd_e_r grene-wod_e_ lyne;
Ffare wel, and haue gode day.’

79
‘Nay, be my trouth,’ seid Robyn Hode,
‘So shall hit neu_er_ be;
I make þe maist_er_,’ seid Robyn Hode,
‘Off alle my men and me.’

80
‘Nay, be my trouth,’ seid Litull John,
‘So shalle hit neu_er_ be;
But lat me be a felow,’ seid Litull John,
‘No nod_e_r kepe I be.’

81
Thus John gate Robyn Hod out of p_ri_son,
S_er_tan w_i_t_h_outyn layn;
Whan his men saw hym hol and sounde,
Ffor sothe they were full fayne.

82
They filled in wyne, and made hem glad,
Vnd_e_r þe levys smale,
And ȝete pastes of venyson,
Þat gode was w_i_t_h_ ale.

83
Than worde came to oure kyng
How Robyn Hode was gon,
And how þe scheref of Notyngham
Durst neu_er_ loke hym vpon.

84
Then bespake oure cu_m_ly kyng,
In an angur hye:
Litull John hase begyled þe schereff,
In faith so hase he me.

85
Litul John has begyled vs bothe,
And þ_a_t full wel I se;
Or ellis þe schereff of Notyngham
Hye hongut shuld_e_ he be.

86
‘I made hem ȝemen of þe crowne,
And gaf hem fee w_i_t_h_ my hond;
I gaf hem grith,’ seid oure kyng,
‘Thorowout all mery Inglond.

87
‘I gaf theym grith,’ þen seid oure kyng;
‘I say, so mot I the,
Ffor sothe soch a ȝeman as he is on
In all Inglond ar not thre.

88
‘He is trew to his maist_er_,’ seid our kyng;
‘I sey, be swete Seynt John,
He louys bett_e_r Robyn Hode
Then he dose vs ychon.

89
‘Robyn Hode is eu_er_ bond to hym,
Bothe in strete and stalle;
Speke no more of this mat_er_,’ seid oure kyng,
‘But John has begyled vs alle.’

90
Thus endys the talkyng of the munke
And Robyn Hode i-wysse;
God, þ_a_t is eu_er_ a crowned kyng,
Bryng vs all to his blisse!

* * * * *

#a.#

_A curl over final_ n, _as in_ Robyn, John, on, sawten, _etc.; a
crossed_ h, _as in_ John, mych, _etc.; crossed_ ll, _as in_
full, litull, well, _etc.; a hooked_ g, _as in_ mornyng, kyng,
_etc., have been treated as not significant. As to_ Robyn, _cf._
7^3, 11^{1,3}, 13^4, 14^1, _etc., where there is simple_ n; _as
to_ John, 10^{1,3}, 14^3, 31^4, _etc., where we have_ Jon; _as
to_ Litull, 14^{1,3}, 39^1, 68^3, 69^1, 70^3, 71^1, _where we
have_ Litul. And _is printed for_ &; be twene, be fore, be side,
be held, be spake, þer with, thorow out, with outen, _etc., are
joined_.

3^1. tide _no longer legible_.

7^1. seid h ..., _illegible after_ h.

8^{3,6}. xij.

10^1. þ^i nown.

12^4, 13^3. v s’.

14^1. lyed _before_ Robyn _struck through_.

23^3. of a C li.

27^1. thorow at: _but cf._ 30^2.

27^4. xij.

30^1. Robyns men to the churche ran: _Madden. There are no men
with Robin. “This line is almost illegible. It certainly begins
with_ Robyn, _and the second word is not_ men. _I read it_,
Robyn into the churche ran.” _Skeat._

30^2. _A gap here between two pages, and there are commonly six
stanzas to a page. At least six are required for the capture of
Robin Hood and the conveying of the tidings to his men._

43^2. Of xx.

44^1. me me _in my copy, probably by inadvertence_.

44^2. Of a C li.

53^1. hym.

56^1. Þ^e kyng.

58^2. xx li.

77^4. #b# _has_ Quit me, _which is perhaps better_.

78^2. _perhaps_ saie; _nearly illegible_.

90^2. I wysse.

#b.#

69^3. þe p_ri_s_o_n.

70^4. throw to.

71^1. be jayler.

71^2. toke.

72^2. hed ther with.

72^3. wallis wer_e_.

72^4. down ther they.

77^2. [t]hen _for_ can (?).

77^4. Quit me.

78^2. the saye.

78^3. þe grene.

79^{1,3}. Hode _wanting_.

120

ROBIN HOOD’S DEATH

#A.# ‘Robin Hoode his Death,’ Percy MS., p. 21; Hales and Furnivall,
I, 53.

#B.# ‘Robin Hood’s Death and Burial.’ #a.# The English Archer,
Paisley, John Neilson, 1786: Bodleian Library, Douce, F. F. 71 (6),
p. 81. #b.# The English Archer, York, printed by N. Nickson, in
Feasegate, n. d.: Bodleian Library, Douce, F. F. 71 (4), p. 70.

#B# is given in Ritson’s Robin Hood, 1795, II, 183, “from a collation of two different copies” of a York garland, “containing numerous variations, a few of which are retained in the margin.”

#A.# Robin Hood is ailing, and is convinced that the only course for him is to go to Kirklees priory for blooding. Will Scarlet cannot counsel this, unless his master take fifty bowmen with him; for a yeoman lives there with whom there is sure to be a quarrel. Robin bids Scarlet stay at home, if he is afraid. Scarlet, seeing that his master is wroth, will say no more.[91] Robin Hood will have no one go with him but Little John, who shall carry his bow. John proposes that they shall shoot for a penny along the way, and Robin assents.

The opening of the ballad resembles that of Robin Hood and the Monk. There Robin’s soul is ill at ease, as here his body, and he resolves to go to Nottingham for mass; Much, the Miller’s son, advises a guard of twelve yeomen; Robin will take none with him except John, to bear his bow;[92] and John suggests that they shall shoot for a penny as they go.

A very interesting passage of the story here followed, of which we can barely guess the contents, owing to nine stanzas having been torn away. Robin Hood and John keep up their shooting all the way, until they come to a black water, crossed by a plank. On the plank an old woman is kneeling, and banning Robin Hood. Robin Hood asks why, but the answer is lost, and it is not probable that we shall ever know: out of her proper malignancy, surely, or because she is a hired witch, for Robin is the friend of lowly folk. But if this old woman is banning, others, no doubt women, are weeping, for somehow they have learned that he is to be let blood that day at the priory, and foresee that ill will come of it. Robin is disturbed by neither banning nor weeping; the prioress is his cousin, and would not harm him for the world. So they shoot on until they come to Kirklees.

Robin makes the prioress a present of twenty pound, with a promise of more when she wants, and she falls to work with her bleeding-irons. The thick blood comes, and then the thin, and Robin knows that there has been treason. John asks, What cheer? Robin answers, Little good. Nine stanzas are again wanting, and again in a place where we are not helped by the other version. John must call from the outside of the building, judging by what follows. An altercation seems to pass between Robin and some one; we should suppose between Robin and Red Roger. Robin slips out of a shot-window, and as he does so is thrust through the side by Red Roger. Robin swoops off Red Roger’s head, and leaves him for dogs to eat. Then Red Roger must be below, and John is certainly below. He would have seen to Red Roger had they both been within. But John must be under a window on a different side of the building from that whence Robin issues, for otherwise, again, he would have seen to Red Roger. We are driven to suppose that the words in st. 19 pass between Robin above and Roger below.

Though Robin is near his last breath, he has, he says, life enough to take his housel. He must get it in a very irregular way, but he trusts it will “bestand” him.[93] John asks his master’s leave to set fire to Kirklees, but Robin will not incur God’s blame by harming any woman [“widow”] at his latter end. Let John make his grave of gravel and greet, set his sword at his head, his arrows at his feet, and lay his bow by his side.[94]

#B#, though found only in late garlands, is in the fine old strain. Robin Hood says to Little John that he can no longer shoot matches, his arrows will not flee; he must go to a cousin to be let blood. He goes, alone, to Kirkley nunnery, and is received with a show of cordiality. His cousin bloods him, locks him up in the room, and lets him bleed all the livelong day, and until the next day at noon. Robin bethinks himself of escaping through a casement, but is not strong enough. He sets his horn to his mouth and blows thrice, but so wearily that Little John, hearing, thinks his master must be nigh to death. John comes to Kirkley, breaks the locks, and makes his way to Robin’s presence. He begs the boon of setting fire to Kirkley, but Robin has never hurt woman in all his life, and will not at his end. He asks for his bow to shoot his last shot, and where the arrow lights there his grave shall be.[95] His grave is to be of gravel and green, long enough and broad enough, a sod under his head, another at his feet, and his bow by his side, that men may say, Here lies bold Robin Hood.

The account of Robin Hood’s death which is given in The Gest, agrees as to the main items with what we find in #A#. The prioress of Kirkesly, his near kinswoman, betrayed him when he went to the nunnery to be let blood, and this she did upon counsel with Sir Roger of Donkester, with whom she was intimate. The Life of Robin Hood in the Sloane MS, which is mostly made up from The Gest, naturally repeats this story.

Grafton, in his Chronicle, 1569, citing “an olde and auncient pamphlet,” says: For the sayd Robert Hood, beyng afterwardes troubled with sicknesse, came to a certain nonry in Yorkshire, called Bircklies, where, desiryng to be let blood, he was betrayed and bled to death: edition of 1809, p. 221. So the Harleian MS, No 1233, article 199, of the middle of the seventeenth century, and not worth citing, but cited by Ritson. According to Stanihurst, in Holinshed’s Ireland (p. 28 of ed. of 1808), after Robin Hood had been betrayed at a nunnery in Scotland called Bricklies, Little John was fain to flee the realm, and went to Ireland, where he executed an extraordinary shot, by which he thought his safety compromised, and so removed to Scotland, and died there.

Martin Parker’s True Tale of Robin Hood, which professes to be collected from chronicles, ascribes Robin Hood’s death to a faithless friar, who pretended “in love to let him blood,” when he had a fever, and allowed him to bleed to death. Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight, a late and thoroughly worthless broadside ballad, says simply, He sent for a monk to let him blood, who took his life away.

A Russian popular song has an interesting likeness to the conclusion of Robin Hood’s Death. The last survivor of a band of brigands, feeling death to be nigh, exclaims:

Bury me, brothers, between three roads,
The Kief, and the Moscow, and the Murom famed in story.
At my feet fasten my horse,
At my head set a life-bestowing cross,
In my right hand place my keen sabre.
Whoever passes by will stop;
Before my life-bestowing cross will he utter a prayer,
At the sight of my black steed will he be startled,
At the sight of my keen sword will he be terrified.
‘Surely this is a brigand who is buried here,
A son of the brigand, the bold Stenka Razín.’

Sakharof, Skazaniya Russkago Naroda, I, iii, 226.[96]

Dimos, twenty years a Klepht, tells his comrades to make his tomb wide and high enough for him to fight in it, standing up, and to leave a window, so that the swallows may tell him that spring has come and the nightingales that it is May: Fauriel, I, 56; Zambelios, p. 607, 13; Passow, p. 85. This is a song of the beginning of the present century.

#B# is translated in Le Magasin Pittoresque, 1838, p. 126 f; by Loève-Veimars, p. 223; by Cantù, Documenti alla Storia Universale, V, III, p. 801; Anastasius Grün, p. 200; Knortz, L. u. R. Alt-Englands, No 20.

A

Percy MS., p. 21; Hales and Furnivall, I, 53.

1
‘I will neuer eate nor drinke,’ Robin Hood said,
‘Nor meate will doo me noe good,
Till I haue beene att merry Churchlees,
My vaines for to let blood.’

2
‘That I reade not,’ said Will Scarllett,
‘M_aster_, by the assente of me,
W_i_thout halfe a hundred of yo_u_r best bowmen
You take to goe with yee.

3
‘For there a good yeoman doth abide
Will be sure to quarrell w_i_th thee,
And if thou haue need of vs, m_aster_,
In faith we will not flee.’

4
‘And thou be feard, thou Will_iam_ Scarlett,
Att home I read thee bee:’
‘And you be wrothe, my deare m_aster_,
You shall neuer heare more of mee.’

* * * * *

5
‘For there shall noe man w_i_th me goe,
Nor man w_i_th mee ryde,
And Litle Iohn shall be my man,
And beare my benbow by my side.’

6
‘You’st beare yo_u_r bowe, m_aster_, yo_u_r selfe,
And shoote for a peny w_i_th mee:’
‘To that I doe assent,’ Robin Hood sayd,
‘And soe, Iohn, lett it bee.’

7
They two bolde children shotten together,
All day theire selfe in ranke,
Vntill they came to blacke water,
And over it laid a planke.

8
Vpon it there kneeled an old woman,
Was banning Robin Hoode;
‘Why dost thou bann Ro_bin_ Hoode?’ said Robin,
. . . . . . .

* * * * *

9
. . . . . . .
‘To giue to Robin Hoode;
Wee weepen for his deare body,
_Tha_t this day must be lett bloode.’

10
‘The dame prior is my aunts daughter,
And nie vnto my kinne;
I know shee wold me noe harme this day,
For all the world to winne.’

11
Forth then shotten these children two,
And they did neuer lin,
Vntill they came to merry Churchlees,
To merry Churchlee[s] w_i_th-in.

12
And when they came to mer_r_y Churchlees,
They knoced vpon a pin;
Vpp then rose dame prioresse,
And lett good Robin in.

13
Then Robin gaue to dame prioresse
Twenty pound in gold,
And bad her spend while that wold last,
And shee shold haue more when shee wold.

14
And downe then came dame prioresse,
Downe she came in that ilke,
W_i_th a p_air_ off blood-irons in her hands,
Were wrapped all in silke.

15
‘Sett a chaffing-dish to the fyer,’ s_ai_d dame prioresse,
‘And stripp thou vp thy sleeue:’
I hold him but an vnwise man
_Tha_t will noe warning leeve.

16
Shee laid the blood-irons to Ro_bin_ Hoods vaine,
Alacke, the more pitye!
And pearct the vaine, and let out the bloode,
That full red was to see.

17
And first it bled, the thicke, thicke bloode,
And afterwards the thinne,
And well then wist good Robin Hoode
Treason there was within.

18
‘What cheere my m_aster_?’ said Litle Iohn;
‘In faith, Iohn, litle goode;’
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

* * * * *

19
‘I haue upon a gowne of greene,
Is cut short by my knee,
And in my hand a bright browne brand
_Tha_t will well bite of thee.’

20
But forth then of a shot-windowe
Good Ro_bin_ Hood he could glide;
Red Roger, w_i_th a grounden glaue,
Thrust him through the milke-white side.

21
But Ro_bin_ was light and nimble of foote,
And thought to abate his pride,
Ffor betwixt his head and his shoulders
He made a wound full wide.

22
Says, Ly there, ly there, Red Roger,
The doggs they must thee eate;
‘For I may haue my houzle,’ he said,
‘For I may both goe and speake.

23
‘Now giue me mood,’ Robin said to Litle Iohn,
‘Giue me mood w_i_th thy hand;
I trust to God in heauen soe hye
My houzle will me bestand.’

24
‘Now giue me leaue, giue me leaue, m_aster_,’ he said,
‘For Christs loue giue leaue to me,
To set a fier within this hall,
And to burne vp all Churchlee.’

25
‘That I reade not,’ said Ro_bin_ Hoode then,
‘Litle Iohn, for it may not be;
If I shold doe any widow hurt, at my latter end,
God,’ he said, ‘wold blame me;

26
‘But take me vpon thy backe, Litle Iohn,
And beare me to yonder streete,
And there make me a full fayre graue,
Of grauell and of greete.

27
‘And sett my bright sword at my head,
Mine arrowes at my feete,
And lay my vew-bow by my side,
My met-yard wi . . . .

B

#a.# The English Archer, Paisley, printed by John Neilson for George
Caldwell, Bookseller, near the Cross, 1786, p. 81, No 24. #b.# The
English Archer, York, printed by N. Nickson, in Feasegate, n. d., p.
70.

1
When Robin Hood and Little John
Down a down a down a down
Went oer yon bank of broom,
Said Robin Hood bold to Little John,
We have shot for many a pound.
Hey, etc.

2
But I am not able to shoot one shot more,
My broad arrows will not flee;
But I have a cousin lives down below,
Please God, she will bleed me.

3
Now Robin he is to fair Kirkly gone,
As fast as he can win;
But before he came there, as we do hear,
He was taken very ill.

4
And when he came to fair Kirkly-hall,
He knockd all at the ring,
But none was so ready as his cousin herself
For to let bold Robin in.

5
‘Will you please to sit down, cousin Robin,’ she said,
‘And drink some beer with me?’
‘No, I will neither eat nor drink,
Till I am blooded by thee.’

6
‘Well, I have a room, cousin Robin,’ she said,
‘Which you did never see,
And if you please to walk therein,
You blooded by me shall be.’

7
She took him by the lily-white hand,
And led him to a private room,
And there she blooded bold Robin Hood,
While one drop of blood would run down.

8
She blooded him in a vein of the arm,
And locked him up in the room;
Then did he bleed all the live-long day,
Until the next day at noon.

9
He then bethought him of a casement there,
Thinking for to get down;
But was so weak he could not leap,
He could not get him down.

10
He then bethought him of his bugle-horn,
Which hung low down to his knee;
He set his horn unto his mouth,
And blew out weak blasts three.

11
Then Little John, when hearing him,
As he sat under a tree,
‘I fear my master is now near dead,
He blows so wearily.’

12
Then Little John to fair Kirkly is gone,
As fast as he can dree;
But when he came to Kirkly-hall,
He broke locks two or three:

13
Until he came bold Robin to see,
Then he fell on his knee;
‘A boon, a boon,’ cries Little John,
‘Master, I beg of thee.’

14
‘What is that boon,’ said Robin Hood,
‘Little John, [thou] begs of me?’
‘It is to burn fair Kirkly-hall,
And all their nunnery.’

15
‘Now nay, now nay,’ quoth Robin Hood,
‘That boon I’ll not grant thee;
I never hurt woman in all my life,
Nor men in woman’s company.

16
‘I never hurt fair maid in all my time,
Nor at mine end shall it be;
But give me my bent bow in my hand,
And a broad arrow I’ll let flee;
And where this arrow is taken up,
There shall my grave digged be.

17
‘Lay me a green sod under my head,
And another at my feet;
And lay my bent bow by my side,
Which was my music sweet;
And make my grave of gravel and green,
Which is most right and meet.

18
‘Let me have length and breadth enough,
With a green sod under my head;
That they may say, when I am dead
Here lies bold Robin Hood.’

19
These words they readily granted him,
Which did bold Robin please:
And there they buried bold Robin Hood,
Within the fair Kirkleys.

* * * * *

#A.#

1^3. church Lees: _cf._ 11^3.

2^3. halfe 100^d.

3^1. there is.

6^2. nor shoote.

7^1, 11^1. 2.

8^3, 18^2, 27^4. _half a page gone._

12^1. church lees.

13^2. 20[ty :].

20^1. shop _for_ shot.

20^3. grounding.

24^4. church lee.

#B. a.#

Robin Hood’s death and burial: shewing how he was taken ill, and
how he went to his cousin at Kirkly-hall, in Yorkshire, who let
him blood, which was the cause of his death. Tune of Robin
Hood’s last farewel, etc.

2^2. fly.

15^3. burnt _for_ hurt.

19^4. Kirkly.

_The ballad, as Ritson says, “is made to conclude with some
foolish lines (adopted from the London copy” of R. H. and the
Valiant Knight) in order to introduce the epitaph._

20
Thus he that never feard bow nor spear
Was murderd by letting blood;
And so, loving friends, the story it ends
Of valiant Robin Hood.

21
There’s nothing remains but his epitaph now,
Which, reader, here you have,
To this very day which read you may,
As it is upon his grave.
Hey down a derry derry down

_The epitaph, however, does not follow._

#b.#

_Title as in_ #a#, _omitting_ in Yorkshire _and_ Tune of, etc.
_Printed in stanzas of two long lines. The burden is wanting._

1^2. over.

1^3. bold _wanting_.

2^2. broad _wanting_: flee.

3^1. he _wanting_.

3^2. coud wen.

4^1. when that.

4^2. knocked at.

5^4. I blood letted be.

6^4. You blood shall letted be.

7^2. let him into.

7^4. Whilst: down _wanting_.

8^1. in the vein.

8^2. in a.

8^3. There.

9^1. casement door.

9^2. to be gone.

9^4. Nor he: him _wanting_.

10^4. strong blasts.

11^2. under the.

11^3. now _wanting_.

12^2. he could.

13^1. see _wanting_.

14^1. quoth _for_ said.

14^2. thou begs.

15. _wanting._

16^1. neer.

16^2. at my.

16^4. my broad arrows.

17^{1,2}. _To go with_ 16^{3,4}.
With verdant sods most neatly put,
Sweet as the green wood tree.

19^1. promisd him.

19^4. Near to: Kirkleys.

20^1. that feard neither.

20^3. it _wanting_.

20^4. valiant bold.

21^1. There is.

21^4. it was upon the.

_After_ 19.

Kirkleys was beautiful of old,
Like Winifrid’s of Wales,
By whose fair well strange cures are told
In legendary tales.
Upon his grave was laid a stone,
Declaring that he dy’d,
And tho so many years ago,
Time can’t his actions hide.

_At the end is the epitaph, wanting in_ #a#.

Robin Hood’s Epitaph, set on his tomb by the Prioress of Kirkley
Monastry, in Yorkshire.

Robert Earl of Huntington
Lies under this little stone.
No archer was like him so good,
His wildness nam’d him Robin Hood.
Full thirteen years and something more
These no[r]thern parts he vexed sore:
Such out-laws as he and his men
May England never know again.

121

ROBIN HOOD AND THE POTTER

Library of the University of Cambridge, MS. E e. 4. 35, fol. 14 b, of
about 1500.

Printed from the manuscript in Ritson’s Robin Hood, 1795, I, 81; here from a transcript of the original, carefully revised by Rev. Professor Skeat.

Robin Hood sees a potter driving over the lea; the potter has been in the habit of passing that way, and never has paid toll. Little John has had a brush with the potter, and offers to lay forty shillings that no man can make him leave a pledge. Robin accepts the wager, stops the potter, and demands a “pledge”; the potter refuses to leave pledge or pay toll, takes a staff from his cart, knocks Robin’s buckler out of his hand, and, ere Robin can recover it, fells him with a blow in the neck. Robin owns that he has lost. The potter says it is no courtesy to stop a poor yeoman thus; Robin agrees heartily, and proposes fellowship, also to change clothes with the potter and sell his ware at Nottingham. The potter is willing; John warns his master to beware of the sheriff. Robin takes his stand near the sheriff’s gate, and offers his pots so cheap that soon there are but five left; these he sends as a gift to the sheriff’s wife, who in return asks him to dinner. While they are at their meal, two of the sheriff’s men talk of a shooting-match for forty shillings: this the potter says he will see, and after a good dinner goes with the rest to the butts. All the archers come half a bow’s length short of the mark; Robin, at his wish, gets a bow from the sheriff, and his first shot misses the mark by less than a foot, his second cleaves the central pin in three. The sheriff applauds; Robin says there is a bow in his cart which he had of Robin Hood. The sheriff wishes he could see Robin Hood, and the potter offers to gratify this wish on the morrow. They go back to the sheriff’s for the night, and early the next day set forth; the sheriff riding, the potter in his cart. When they come to the wood, the potter blows his horn, for so they shall know if Robin be near; the horn brings all Robin’s men. The sheriff would now give a hundred pound not to have had his wish; had he known his man at Nottingham, it would have been a thousand year ere the potter had come to the forest. I know that well, says Robin, and therefore shall you leave your horse with us, and your other gear. Were it not for your wife you would not come off so lightly. The sheriff goes home afoot, but with a white palfrey, which Robin presents to his wife. Have you brought Robin home? asks the dame. Devil speed him, answers her spouse, he has taken everything from me; all but this fair palfrey, which he has sent to thee. The merry dame laughs, and swears that the pots have been well paid for. Robin asks the potter how much his pots were worth, gives him ten pounds instead of the two nobles for which they could have been sold, and a welcome to the wood whenever he shall come that way.

The Play of Robin Hood, an imperfect copy of which is printed at the end of Copland’s and of White’s edition of The Gest, is founded on the ballads of Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar and of Robin Hood and the Potter. The portion which is based on the ballad of Robin and the Potter is given in an appendix.

Robin Hood and the Butcher, No 122, repeats many of the incidents of the present ballad. The sheriff is enticed into the forest (by Little John instead of Robin Hood) in The Gest, 181 ff. This part of the story, in Robin Hood and the Butcher, is much more like that of The Gest than it is in Robin Hood and the Potter. We shall have only too many variations of the adventure in which Robin Hood unexpectedly meets his match in a hand-to-hand fight, now with a pinder, then with a tanner, tinker, shepherd, beggar, etc. His adversaries, after proving their mettle, are sometimes invited and induced to join his company: not so here. In some broadside ballads of this description, with an extravagance common enough in imitations, Robin Hood is very badly mauled, and made all but contemptible.[97] In Robin Hood and the Potter, Little John is willing to wager on the result of a trial, from his own experience. Will Scadlock is equally confident in Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar, perhaps for the same reason, although this is not said. In Robin Hood and the Shepherd, Little John takes his turn _after_ his master, and so with three of Robin’s men in Robin Hood and the Beggar, No 133.

Hereward the Saxon introduces himself into the Norman court as a potter, to obtain information of an attack which William the Conqueror was thought to intend on his stronghold at Ely: De Gestis Herwardi Saxonis, 24, in Michel, Chroniques Anglo-Normandes, II, 69, attributed to the twelfth century. Wallace, in like manner, to scout in the English camp: Blind Harry’s poem, ed. Moir, Book Six, v. 435 ff, p. 123 ff. This is also one of the many artifices by which Eustace the Monk deceives his enemy, the Count of Boulogne: Roman d’Eustache le Moine, ed. Michel, p. 39, v. 1071 ff, a poem of the thirteenth century. See, for Hereward and Eustace, T. Wright’s Essays on Subjects connected with the Literature, etc., of England in the Middle Ages, II, 108 ff, 135.

Disguise is the wonted and simplest expedient of an outlaw mixing among his foes, “wherein the pregnant enemy does much.” Fulk Fitz Warine takes the disguise of an old monk, a merchant, a charcoal-burner; Hereward, that of a potter, a fisherman; Eustace the Monk, of a potter, shepherd, pilgrim, charcoal-burner, woman, leper, carpenter, minstrel, etc.; Wallace, of a potter, pilgrim, woman (twice), etc., in Blind Harry’s poem, of a beggar in ballads; Robin Hood, of a potter, butcher, beggar, shepherd, an old woman, a fisherman (?), Guy of Gisborne.

Translated by Anastasius Grün, p. 76.

1
In schomer, when the leves spryng,
The bloschoms on eu_er_y bowe,
So merey doyt the berdys syng
Yn wodys merey now.

2
Herkens, god yemen,
Comley, corteys, and god,
On of the best þ_a_t yeu_er_ bar_e_ bow_e_,
Hes name was Roben Hode.

3
Roben Hood was the yeman’s name,
That was boyt corteys and ffre;
Ffor the loffe of owr_e_ ladey,
All wemen werschepyd he.

4
Bot as the god yeman stod on a day,
Among hes mery maney,
He was war_e_ of a prowd pott_er_,
Cam dryfyng owyr the ley.

5
‘Yonder comet a prod pott_er_,’ seyde Roben,
‘That long hayt hantyd þ_i_s wey;
He was neuer so corteys a man
On peney of pawage to pay.’

6
‘Y met hem bot at Went-breg,’ seyde Lytyll John,
‘And ther_e_for_e_ yeffell mot he the!
Seche thre strokes he me gafe,
Yet by my seydys cleffe þey.

7
‘Y ley forty shillings,’ seyde Lytyll John,
‘To pay het thes same day,
Ther ys nat a man among hus all
A wed schall make hem ley.’

8
‘Her_e_ ys forty shillings,’ seyde Roben,
‘Mor_e_, and thow dar say,
Þ_a_t y schall make þ_a_t prowde pott_er_,
A wed to me schall he ley.’

9
Ther_e_ thes money they leyde,
They toke het a yeman to kepe;
Roben beffor_e_ the pott_er_ he breyde,
A[nd] bad hem stond stell.

10
Handys apon hes hors he leyde,
And bad the pott_er_ stonde foll stell;
The pott_er_ schorteley to hem seyde,
Ffelow, what ys they well?

11
‘All thes thre yer, and mor_e_, pott_er_,’ he seyde,
‘Thow hast hantyd thes wey,
Yet wer_e_ tow neuer so cortys a man
On peney of pauage to pay.’

12
‘What ys they name,’ seyde þe pott_er_,
‘Ffor pauage thow aske of me?’
‘Roben Hod ys mey name,
A wed schall thow leffe me.’

13
‘Wed well y non leffe,’ seyde þe pott_er_,
‘Nor pavag well y non pay;
Awey they honde ffro mey hors!
Y well the tene eyls, be mey ffay.’

14
The potter to hes cart he went,
He was not to seke;
A god to-hande staffe þ_e_rowt he hent,
Beffor_e_ Roben he leppyd.

15
Roben howt w_i_t_h_ a swerd bent,
A bokeler en hes honde;
The pott_er_ to Roben he went,
And seyde, Ffelow, let mey hors go.

16
Togeder then went thes to yemen,
Het was a god seyt to se;
Ther_e_of low Robyn hes men,
Ther_e_ they stod onder a tre.

17
Leytell John to hes ffelowhe[s] seyde,
‘Yend pott_er_ well steffeley stonde:’
The pott_er_, w_i_t_h_ a acward stroke,
Smot the bokeler owt of hes honde.

18
A[nd] ar Roben meyt get het agen
Hes bokeler at hes ffette,
The pott_er_ yn the neke hem toke,
To the gronde sone he yede.

19
That saw Roben hes men,
As thay stod onder a bow;
‘Let vs helpe owr_e_ mast_er_,’ seyde Lytell John,
‘Yonder pott_er_,’ seyde he, ‘els well hem slo.’

20
Thes yemen went w_i_t_h_ a breyde,
To ther mast[er] they cam.
Leytell John to hes mast[er] seyde,
Ho haet the wager won?

21
‘Schall y haffe yowr_e_ forty shillings,’ seyde Lytl John,
‘Or ye, mast_er_, schall haffe myne?’
‘Yeff they wer_e_ a hundred,’ seyde Roben,
‘Y ffeythe, they ben all theyne.’

22
‘Het ys fol leytell cortesey,’ seyde þe potter,
‘As y haffe harde weyse men saye,
Yeffe a por_e_ yeman com drywyng on the wey,
To let hem of hes gorney.’

23
‘Be mey trowet, thow seys soyt,’ seyde Roben,
‘Thow seys god yeme[n]rey;
And thow dreyffe fforthe yeu_er_y day,
Thow schalt neuer be let ffor me.

24
‘Y well prey the, god pott_er_,
A ffelischepe well thow haffe?
Geffe me they clothyng, and þow schalt hafe myne;
Y well go to Notynggam.’

25
‘Y gra[n]t ther_e_to,’ seyde the potter,
‘Thow schalt ffeynde me a ffelow gode;
Bot thow can sell mey pott_ys_ well,
Com ayen as thow yode.’

26
‘Nay, be mey trowt,’ seyde Roben,
‘And then y bescro mey hede,
Yeffe y bryng eny pott_ys_ ayen,
And eney weyffe well hem chepe.’

27
Than spake Leytell John,
And all hes ffelowhes heynd,
‘Mast_er_, be well war_e_ of the screffe of Notynggam,
Ffor he ys leytell howr ffrende.’

28
‘Heyt war howte!’ seyde Roben,
‘Ffelowhes, let me a lone;
Thorow the helpe of Howr Ladey,
To Notynggam well y gon.’

29
Robyn went to Notynggam,
Thes pott_ys_ ffor to sell;
The pott_er_ abode w_i_t_h_ Robens men,
Ther_e_ he ffered not eylle.

30
Tho Roben droffe on hes wey,
So merey ower the londe:
Her es mor_e_, and affter ys to saye,
The best ys beheynde.

31
When Roben cam to Notynggam,
The soyt yef y scholde saye,
He set op hes hors anon,
And gaffe hem hotys and haye.

32
Yn the medys of the towne,
Ther_e_ he schowed hes war_e_;
‘Pott_y_s! pott_y_s!’ he gan crey foll sone,
‘Haffe hansell ffor the mar_e_!’

33
Ffoll effen agenest the screffeys gate
Schowed he hes chaffar_e_;
Weyffes and wedowes abowt hem drow,
And chepyd ffast of hes war_e_.

34
Yet, ‘Pottys, gret chepe!’ creyed Robyn,
‘Y loffe yeffell thes to stonde;’
And all that say hem sell
Seyde he had be no potter long.

35
The pottys that wer_e_ werthe pens ffeyffe,
He solde tham ffor pens thre;
Preveley seyde man and weyffe,
‘Ywnder potter schall neu_er_ the.’

36
Thos Roben solde ffoll ffast,
Tell he had pottys bot ffeyffe;
Op he hem toke of hes car_e_,
And sende hem to the screffeys weyffe.

37
Ther_e_of sche was ffoll ffayne,
‘Gereamarsey, _ser_,’ than seyde sche;
‘When ye com to thes contre ayen,
Y schall bey of the[y] pottys, so mot y the.’

38
‘Ye schall haffe of the best,’ seyde Roben,
And swar_e_ be the Treneytë;
Ffoll corteysley [sc]he gan hem call,
‘Com deyne w_i_t_h_ the screfe and me.’

39
‘God amarsey,’ seyde Roben,
‘Yowr_e_ bedyng schall be doyn;’
A mayden yn the pottys gan ber_e_,
Roben and þe screffe weyffe ffolowed anon.

40
Whan Roben yn to the hall cam,
The screffë sone he met;
The pott_er_ cowed of corteysey,
And sone the screffe he gret.

41
‘Lo, ser, what thes pott_er_ hayt geffe yow and me;
Ffeyffe pottys smalle and grete!’
‘He ys ffoll wellcom,’ seyd the screffe;
‘Let os was, and go to mete.’

42
As they sat at her methe,
W_i_t_h_ a nobell cher_e_,
To of the screffes men gan speke
Off a gret wager;

43
Off a schotyng, was god and ffeyne,
Was made the thother daye,
Off forty shillings, the soyt to saye,
Who scholde thes wager wen.

44
Styll than sat thes prowde potter,
Thos than thowt he;
As y am a trow cerstyn man,
Thes schotyng well y se.

45
Whan they had ffared of the best,
W_i_t_h_ bred and ale and weyne,
To the bottys the made them prest,
W_i_t_h_ bowes and boltys ffoll ffeyne.

46
The screffes men schot ffoll ffast,
As archares þ_a_t weren godde;
Ther_e_ cam non ner ney the marke
Bey halffe a god archares bowe.

47
Stell then stod the prowde pott_er_,
Thos than seyde he;
And y had a bow, be the rode,
On schot scholde yow se.

48
‘Thow schall haffe a bow,’ seyde the screffe,
‘The best þ_a_t thow well cheys of thre;
Thou semyst a stalward and a stronge,
Asay schall thow be.’

49
The screffe com_m_andyd a yeman þ_a_t stod hem bey
Afft_er_ bowhes to weynde;
The best bow þ_a_t the yeman browthe
Roben set on a stryng.

50
‘Now schall y wet and thow be god,
And polle het op to they ner_e_;’
‘So god me helpe,’ seyde the prowde pott_er_,
‘Þys ys bot rygȝt weke ger_e_.’

51
To a quequer Roben went,
A god bolt owthe he toke;
So ney on to the marke he went,
He ffayled not a fothe.

52
All they schot abowthe agen,
The screffes men and he;
Off the marke he welde not ffayle,
He cleffed the preke on thre.

53
The screffes men thowt gret schame
The pott_er_ the mastry wan;
The screffë lowe and made god game,
And seyde, Pott_er_, thow art a man.

54
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
Thow art worthey to ber_e_ a bowe
Yn what plas that þow goe.

55
‘Yn mey cart y haffe a bowe,
Ffor soyt,’ he seyde, ‘and that a godde;
Yn mey cart ys the bow
That gaffe me Robyn Hode.’

56
‘Knowest thow Robyn Hode?’ seyde the screffe,
‘Pott_er_, y prey the tell thow me;’
‘A hundred torne y haffe schot w_i_t_h_ hem,
Vnder hes tortyll-tre.’

57
‘Y had leuer nar a hundred ponde,’ seyde þe screffe,
‘And swar_e_ be the Trenitë,
. . . . . . .
Þ_a_t the ffals outelawe stod be me.’

58
‘And ye well do afftyr mey red,’ seyde þe pott_er_,
‘And boldeley go w_i_t_h_ me,
And to morow, or we het bred,
Roben Hode well we se.’

59
‘Y wel queyt the,’ kod the screffe,
‘Y swer_e_ be God of meythe;’
Schetyng thay left, and hom þey went,
Her soper was reddy deythe.

60
Vpon the morow, when het was day,
He boskyd hem fforthe to reyde;
The pott_er_ hes cart fforthe gan ray,
And wolde not leffe beheynde.

61
He toke leffe of the screffys wyffe,
And thankyd her of all thyng:
‘Dam, ffor mey loffe and ye well þys wer_e_,
Y geffe yow her_e_ a golde ryng.’

62
‘Gramarsey,’ seyde the weyffe,
‘Ser, god eylde het the;’
The screffes hart was neuer so leythe,
The ffeyr_e_ fforeyst to se.

63
And when he cam yn to the fforeyst,
Yonder the leffes grene,
Berdys ther_e_ sange on bowhes prest,
Het was gret goy to se.

64
‘Her_e_ het ys merey to be,’ seyde Roben,
‘Ffor a man that had hawt to spende;
Be mey horne I schall awet
Yeff Roben Hode be her_e_.’

65
Roben set hes horne to hes mowthe,
And blow a blast þ_a_t was ffoll god;
Þ_a_t herde hes men þ_a_t þer_e_ stode,
Ffer downe yn the wodde.

66
‘I her mey mast_er_ blow,’ seyde Leytell John,
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
They ran as thay wer_e_ wode.

67
Whan thay to thar mast_er_ cam,
Leytell John wold not spar_e_;
‘Mast_er_, how haffe yow ffar_e_ yn Notynggam?
How haffe yow solde yowr_e_ war_e_?’

68
‘Ye, be mey trowthe, Leyty[ll] John,
Loke thow take no car_e_;
Y haffe browt the screffe of Notynggam,
Ffor all howr_e_ chaffar_e_.’

69
‘He ys ffoll wellcom,’ seyde Lytyll John,
‘Thes tydyng ys ffoll godde;
The screffe had leuer nar a hundred ponde
He had [neuer sene Roben Hode.]

70
‘[Had I] west þ_a_t befforen,
At Notynggam when we wer_e_,
Thow scholde not com yn ffeyr_e_ fforest
Of all thes thowsande eyr_e_.’

71
‘That wot y well,’ seyde Roben,
‘Y thanke God that ye be her_e_;
Ther_e_ffor_e_ schall ye leffe yowr_e_ hors w_i_t_h_ hos,
And all yowr_e_ hother ger_e_.’

72
‘That ffend I Godys fforbod,’ kod the screffe,
‘So to lese mey godde;
. . . . . . .
. . . . . .

73
‘Hether ye cam on hors ffoll hey,
And hom schall ye go on ffote;
And gret well they weyffe at home,
The woman ys ffoll godde.

74
‘Y schall her sende a wheyt palffrey,
Het ambellet be mey ffey,
. . . . . . .
. . . . . .

75
‘Y schall her sende a wheyt palffrey,
Het hambellet as the weynde;
Ner_e_ ffor the loffe of yowr_e_ weyffe,
Off mor_e_ sorow scholde yow seyng.’

76
Thes parted Robyn Hode and the screffe;
To Notynggam he toke the waye;
Hes weyffe ffeyr_e_ welcomed hem hom,
And to hem gan sche saye:

77
Seyr, how haffe yow ffared yn grene fforeyst?
Haffe ye browt Roben hom?
‘Dam, the deyell spede hem, bothe bodey and bon;
Y haffe hade a ffoll gret skorne.

78
‘Of all the god that y haffe lade to grene wod,
He hayt take het ffro me;
All bot thes ffeyr_e_ palffrey,
That he hayt sende to the.’

79
W_i_t_h_ þ_a_t sche toke op a lowde lawhyng,
And swhar_e_ be hem þ_a_t deyed on tre,
‘Now haffe yow payed ffor all þe pottys
That Roben gaffe to me.

80
‘Now ye be com hom to Notynggam,
Ye schall haffe god ynowe;’
Now speke we of Roben Hode,
And of the pottyr ondyr the grene bowhe.

81
‘Pott_er_, what was they pottys worthe
To Notynggam þ_a_t y ledde w_i_t_h_ me?’
‘They wer worthe to nobellys,’ seyde he,
‘So mot y treyffe or the;
So cowde y [haffe] had ffor tham,
And y had ther_e_ be.’

82
‘Thow schalt hafe ten ponde,’ seyde Roben,
‘Of money ffeyre and ffre;
And yeuer whan thow comest to grene wod,
Wellcom, pott_er_, to me.’

83
Thes p_ar_tyd Robyn, the screffe, and the pott_er_,
Ondernethe the grene-wod tre;
God haffe mersey on Roben Hodys solle,
And saffe all god yemanrey!

* * * * *

2^2. cortessey.

3^4. werschep ye.

4^4. the lefe.

5^1, 6^1. syde.

6^3. Seche iij.

6^4. þey cleffe by my seydys.

7^1, 8^1, 21^1, 43^3. xl s’.

7^3. hys all.

7^4. hem leffe.

11^1. thes iij.

11^4. I peney.

14^2. And teke _at the beginning of the line struck through_.

16^1. thes ij.

17^1. ffelow he seyde.

17^3. a caward.

19^2. onder _or_ ender.

19^4. hels: sclo.

20^1. went yemen.

20^2. To thes.

21^3, 56^3, 57^1. a c.

25. st. 29 _is wrongly put here_.

25^4. yede.

27^2. ffelow hes.

28. _The order of the lines is_ 3, 2, 1, 4.

30^3. Heres.

35^1. pens v.

35^2. pens iij. d.

36^2. bot v.

37^2. Gere amarsey seyde sche than, _with a character after_ sche
_which is probably an abbreviation for_ ser, _as in_ 62^2.

41^4. to to.

42^1. methe.

42^3. ij of.

43^3. xl s.

45^3. the pottys.

45^4. bolt yt.

48^2. of iij.

48^3. senyst.

48^4. A say.

50^2. And [thow]? _The_ ll _in_ polle _is crossed_; potte _may
have been intended by the writer_.

52^4. on iij.

54^{1,2}. _No blank here, and none at_ 57^3, 66^{2,3}, 72^{3,4},
74^{3,4}.

55^{3,4}. Yn mey cart ys the bow þ_a_t Robyn gaffe me.

56^3. A c.

57^1, 69^3. a c.

59^2. & swer_e_: meythey.

59^4. scoper.

64^3. he schall.

68^1. I leyty.

69^4, 70^1. He had west þ_a_t be fforen.

74^{1,2}. _Ought perhaps to be dropped. The writer, having got the
second verse wrong, may have begun the stanza again._

80^3. _After this line is repeated_, Ye schall haffe god ynowhe.

80^4. bowhes.

81^3. worthe ij.

81^6. be ther_e_.

82. hafe x li.

Expleycyt Robynhode.

A bowt, a non, be heynde, _etc. are joined_. And _for_ &
_throughout. Some terminal curls rendered with_ e _were,
perhaps, mere tricks of writing; as marks over final_ m, n, _in_
cam, on, yemen, _etc., crossed double_ l _in_ all, _etc., a
curled_ n _in_ Roben, _have been assumed to be_.