198. ‘This is harder order,’ sayde the sherief, ‘Than any ankir or frere; For all the golde in mery Englonde I wolde nat longe dwell her.’ 199. ‘All this twelve monthes,’ sayde Robin, ‘Thou shalt dwell with me; I shall thee techë, proude sherif, An outlawe for to be.’ 200. ‘Or I be here another nyght,’ sayde the sherif, ‘Robyn, nowe pray I thee, Smyte of min hede rather to-morrowe, And I forgyve it thee. 201. ‘Lat me go,’ than sayde the sherif, ‘For sayntë charitë, And I woll be the bestë frende That ever yet had ye.’ 202. ‘Thou shalt swere me an othe,’ sayde Robyn, ‘On my bright bronde; Shalt thou never awayte me scathe By water ne by lande. 203. ‘And if thou fynde any of my men, By nyght or by day, Upon thyn othë thou shalt swere To helpe them that thou may.’ 204. Now hath the sherif sworne his othe, And home he began to gone; He was as full of grenë-wode As ever was hepe of stone. [Annotations: 145.2: ‘shete,’ shoot. 145.3: ‘fet,’ fetched. 148.1: ‘wight,’ strong, active. 148.4: ‘wonynge wane’: both words mean dwelling or habitation. 153.4: To give him his full reward. 154.2: ‘leutye,’ loyalty. 155.4: ‘foriete,’ forgotten. 160.4: ‘go’ = walk. 161.3: ‘lyveray,’ purveyance. 168.2: ‘Two mylë way’ = the time it takes to go two miles. See _Early English Lyrics_, cxxvi. 55, and note. 168.4: ‘mountnaunce,’ duration. 172.2: ‘nowmbles,’ entrails: cf. 32.4. 175.3: ‘Pecis,’ cups; ‘masars,’ bowls. 177.2: Cf. _Child Waters_, 2.2 (First Series, p. 37). 183.2: See 177.2 and note. 183.3: ‘shryef’ may be a misprint, but ‘shreeve’ is another spelling of ‘sheriff.’ 185.4: ‘bydene,’ together. 186.1: ‘tyndes’ = tynes, forks of the antlers. 186.4: ‘slo,’ slay. 194.3: ‘toke,’ gave. 198.2: ‘ankir,’ anchorite, hermit. 200.1: ‘Or,’ ere. 202.3: ‘awayte me scathe,’ lie in wait to do me harm. 204.4: _i.e._ as ever a hip (berry of the wild rose) is of its stone.] THE FOURTH FYTTE (205-280) +Argument.+--Robin Hood will not dine until he has ‘his pay,’ and he therefore sends Little John with Much and Scarlok to wait for an ‘unketh gest.’ They capture a monk of St. Mary Abbey, and Robin Hood makes him disgorge eight hundred pounds. The monk, we are told, was on his way to London to take proceedings against the knight. In due course the knight, who was left at the end of the second fytte at the wrestling-match, arrives to pay his debt to Robin Hood; who, however, refuses to receive it, saying that Our Lady had discharged the loan already. The admirable, naïvely-told episode of Our Lady’s method of repaying money lent on her security, is not without parallels, some of which Child points out (III. 53-4). THE FOURTH FYTTE 205. The sherif dwelled in Notingham; He was fayne he was agone; And Robyn and his mery men Went to wode anone.