Opening the text

Robin Hood: A collection of all the ancient poems, songs, and ballads, now extant, relative to that celebrated English outlaw. To which are prefixed historical anecdotes of his life.

General

Robin Hood: A collection of all the ancient poems, songs, and ballads, now extant, relative to that celebrated English outlaw. To which are prefixed historical anecdotes of his life.

Ballads, English -- England -- Texts; Outlaws -- Poetry; Robin Hood (Legendary character) -- Poetry; Songs, English -- England -- Texts

“The bowe, the arrowes, and little horne,
   Now with me I will beare ;
 For I will away to Barnèsdale,
   To see how my men doe fare.”

 Robin Hood sett Guyes horne to his mouth,
   And a loude blast in it did blow :
 That beheard the sheriffe of Nottingham,
   As he leaned under a lowe.

 Hearken, hearken, sayd the sheriffe,
   I heare nowe tydings good,
 For yonder I heare sir Guyes horne blow,
   And he hath slaine Robin Hoode. {124}

 Yonder I heare sir Guyes horne blowe,
   Itt blowes soe well in tyde,
 And yonder comes that wightye yeomàn,
   Cladd in his capull hyde.

 Come hyther, come hyther, thou good sir Guy,
   Aske what thou wilt of mee.
 O I will none of thy gold, sayd Robin,
   Nor I will none of thy fee :

 But now I have slaine the master, he sayes,
   Let me goe strike the knave ;
 For this is all the meede I aske ;
   Nor no other will I have.

 Thou art a madman, sayd the sheriffe,
   Thou sholdst have had a knightes fee :
 But seeing thy asking hath beene soe bad,
   Well granted it shal bee.

 When Little John heard his master speake,
   Well knewe he it was his steven :
 Now shall I be looset, quoth Little John,
   With Christ his might in heaven.

 Fast Robin hee hyed him to Little John,
   He thought to loose him belive ;
 The sheriffe and all his companye
   Fast after him did drive. {125}

 Stand abacke, stand abacke, sayd Robìn ;
   Why draw you mee so neere ?
 It was never the use in our countryè,
   Ones shrift another shold heere.

 But Robin pulled forth an Irish knife,
   And losed John hand and foote,
 And gave him sir Guyes bow into his hand,
   And bade it be his boote.

 Then John he took Guyes bow in his hand,
   His boltes and arrowes eche one :
 When the sheriffe saw Little John bend his bow,
   He fettled him to be gone.

 Towards his house in Nottingham towne,
   He fled full fast away ;
 And soe did all the companye :
   Not one behind wold stay.

 But he cold neither runne soe fast,
   Nor away soe fast cold ryde,
 But Little John with an arrowe soe broad,
   He shott him into the ‘backe’-syde.[276]

{126}

[Illustration]


V.

A TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD:

OR,

A briefe touch of the life and death of that renowned outlaw Robert
earl of Huntingdon, vulgarly called Robin Hood, who lived and dyed
in A. D. 1198,[277] being the 9th year of king Richard the first,
commonly called Richard Cœur de Lyon.

Carefully collected out of the truest writers of our English
Chronicles: and published for the satisfaction of those who desire
truth from falshood.

BY MARTIN PARKER. {127}

This poem, given from an edition in black letter printed for I.
Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passinger, 1686, remaining in the
curious library left by Anthony a Wood, appears to have been first
entered on the hall-book of the Stationers’ Company the 29th of
February 1631.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

General

Robin Hood: A collection of all the ancient poems, songs, and ballads, now extant, relative to that celebrated English outlaw. To which are prefixed historical anecdotes of his life.

Ballads, English -- England -- Texts; Outlaws -- Poetry; Robin Hood (Legendary character) -- Poetry; Songs, English -- England -- Texts

“The bowe, the arrowes, and little horne,
   Now with me I will beare ;
 For I will away to Barnèsdale,
   To see how my men doe fare.”

 Robin Hood sett Guyes horne to his mouth,
   And a loude blast in it did blow :
 That beheard the sheriffe of Nottingham,
   As he leaned under a lowe.

 Hearken, hearken, sayd the sheriffe,
   I heare nowe tydings good,
 For yonder I heare sir Guyes horne blow,
   And he hath slaine Robin Hoode. {124}

 Yonder I heare sir Guyes horne blowe,
   Itt blowes soe well in tyde,
 And yonder comes that wightye yeomàn,
   Cladd in his capull hyde.

 Come hyther, come hyther, thou good sir Guy,
   Aske what thou wilt of mee.
 O I will none of thy gold, sayd Robin,
   Nor I will none of thy fee :

 But now I have slaine the master, he sayes,
   Let me goe strike the knave ;
 For this is all the meede I aske ;
   Nor no other will I have.

 Thou art a madman, sayd the sheriffe,
   Thou sholdst have had a knightes fee :
 But seeing thy asking hath beene soe bad,
   Well granted it shal bee.

 When Little John heard his master speake,
   Well knewe he it was his steven :
 Now shall I be looset, quoth Little John,
   With Christ his might in heaven.

 Fast Robin hee hyed him to Little John,
   He thought to loose him belive ;
 The sheriffe and all his companye
   Fast after him did drive. {125}

 Stand abacke, stand abacke, sayd Robìn ;
   Why draw you mee so neere ?
 It was never the use in our countryè,
   Ones shrift another shold heere.

 But Robin pulled forth an Irish knife,
   And losed John hand and foote,
 And gave him sir Guyes bow into his hand,
   And bade it be his boote.

 Then John he took Guyes bow in his hand,
   His boltes and arrowes eche one :
 When the sheriffe saw Little John bend his bow,
   He fettled him to be gone.

 Towards his house in Nottingham towne,
   He fled full fast away ;
 And soe did all the companye :
   Not one behind wold stay.

 But he cold neither runne soe fast,
   Nor away soe fast cold ryde,
 But Little John with an arrowe soe broad,
   He shott him into the ‘backe’-syde.[276]

{126}

[Illustration]


V.

A TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD:

OR,

A briefe touch of the life and death of that renowned outlaw Robert
earl of Huntingdon, vulgarly called Robin Hood, who lived and dyed
in A. D. 1198,[277] being the 9th year of king Richard the first,
commonly called Richard Cœur de Lyon.

Carefully collected out of the truest writers of our English
Chronicles: and published for the satisfaction of those who desire
truth from falshood.

BY MARTIN PARKER. {127}

This poem, given from an edition in black letter printed for I.
Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passinger, 1686, remaining in the
curious library left by Anthony a Wood, appears to have been first
entered on the hall-book of the Stationers’ Company the 29th of
February 1631.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Robin Hood: A collection of all the ancient poems, songs, and ballads, now extant, relative to that celebrated English outlaw. To which are prefixed historical anecdotes of his life.

Robin Hood: A collection of all the ancient poems, songs, and ballads, now extant, relative to that celebrated English outlaw. To which are prefixed historical anecdotes of his life.

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