“I pray thee, Will, before thou die, Of thy dear friends take leave :— I needs must borrow him for a while, How say you, master ‘shrieve’ ?” Now, as I live, the sheriff he said, That varlet will I know ; Some sturdy rebell is that same, Therefore let him not go. Then Little John most hastily, Away cut Stutly’s bands, And from one of the ‘sheriffs’ men, A sword twicht from his hands. “Here, Will, here, take thou this same, Thou canst it better sway ; And here defend thyself awhile, For aid will come straightway.” And there they turn’d them back to back, In the middle of them that day, Till Robin Hood approached near, With many an archer gay. {260} With that an arrow by them flew, I wist from Robin Hood ; Make haste, make haste, the sheriff he said, Make haste, for it is good. The sheriff is gon, his ‘doughty’[314] men Thought it no boot to stay, But, as their master had them taught, ‘They’ run full fast away. O stay, O stay, Will Stutly said, Take leave ere you depart ; You neere will catch bold Robin Hood, Unless you dare him meet. O ill betide you, quoth Robin Hood, That you so soon are gone ; My sword may in the scabbord rest, For here our work is done. I little thought, ‘Will Stutly said,’[315] When I came to this place, For to have met with Little John, Or seen my masters face. Thus Stutly was at liberty set, And safe brought from his foe : “O thanks, O thanks to my mastèr, Since here it was not so : {261} And once again, my fellows [all], We shall in the green woods meet, Where we [will] make our bow-strings twang, Musick for us most sweet.” [Illustration] {262} [Illustration] XVI. THE NOBLE FISHER-MAN; OR, ROBIN HOOD’S PREFERMENT: “Shewing how he won a prize on the sea, and how he gave the one halfe to his dame, and the other to the building of almes-houses. The tune is, In summer time, &c.” From three old black letter copies, one in the collection of Anthony a Wood, another in the British Museum, and the third in a private collection. In summer-time, when leaves grow green, When they doe grow both green and long,— Of a bold outlaw, call’d Robin Hood, It is of him I sing this song,— {263} When the lilly leafe, and the ‘eglantine,’ Doth bud and spring with a merry cheere, This outlaw was weary of the wood-side, And chasing of the fallow-deere. “The fisher-men brave more mony have Than any merchants two or three ; Therefore I will to Scarborough go, That I a fisherman brave may be.” This outlaw called his merry men all, As they sate under the green-wood tree : “If any of you have gold to spend, I pray you heartily spend it with me.” Now, quoth Robin Hood, Ile to Scarborough go, It seems to be a very faire day. ‘He’ tooke up his inne at a widdow-womans house, Hard by upon the water gray :