Tell me, quoth the king, whence you are, That thus disguised came, Whose valour speaks that noble blood Doth run through every vain. A boon, a boon, quoth Robin Hood, On my knees I beg and crave. By my crown, quoth the king, I grant, Ask what, and thou shalt have. {233} Then pardon I beg for my merry men, Which are in the green-wood, For Little John and Will Scadlock, And for me, bold Robin Hood. Art thou Robin Hood ? quoth the king ; For the valour thou hast shewn, Your pardons I do freely grant, And welcome every one, The princess I promise the victor’s prize, She cannot have you all three. She shall chuse, quoth Robin. Said Little John, Then little share falls to me. Then did the princess view all three, With a comely lovely grace, And took Will Scadlock by the hand, Saying, Here I make my choice. With that a noble lord stept forth, Of Maxfield earl was he, Who look’d Will Scadlock in the face, And wept most bitterly. Quoth he, I had a son like thee, Whom I lov’d wondrous well, But he is gone, or rather dead, His name it is young Gamwell. {234} Then did Will Scadlock fall on his knees, Cries, Father ! father ! here, Here kneels your son, your young Gamwèll, You said you lov’d so dear. But, lord ! what imbracing and kissing was there, When all these friends were met ! They are gone to the wedding, and so to [the] bedding : And so I bid you good night. [Illustration] {235} [Illustration] XII. ROBIN HOOD AND QUEEN KATHERINE. From an old black letter copy in a private collection, compared with another in that of Anthony a Wood. The full title is: “Renowned Robin Hood; Or, His famous archery truly related in the worthy exploits he acted before Queen Katherine, he being an outlaw man; and how he obtained his own and his fellows pardon. To a new tune.” It is scarcely worth observing that there was no queen-consort named KATHERINE before Henry the Fifth’s time; but as Henry the Eighth had no less than three wives so called, the name would be sufficiently familiar to our ballad-maker. Gold tane from the kings harbengers, _Downe, a downe, a downe_, As seldome hath beene seene, _Downe, a downe, a downe_, And carried by bold Robin Hood For a present to the queene, _Downe, a downe, a downe_. {236} If that I live a yeare to an end, Thus gan queene Katherine say, Bold Robin Hood, I will be thy friend, And all thy yeomen gay. The queene is to her chamber gone, As fast as she can wen ; She calls unto her lovely page, His name was Richard Patrington. “Come thou hither to mee, thou lovely page, Come thou hither to mee ; For thou must post to Nottingham. As fast as thou can dree ; And as thou goest to Nottingham, Search all the English wood, Enquire of one good yeoman or another, That can tell thee of Robin Hood.”