Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws Part 18

403.

At the last shot that Robyn shot, For all his frendes fare, Yet he fayled of the garlonde Thre fyngers and mare.

404.

Than bespake good Gylberte, And thus he gan say; 'Mayster,' he sayd, 'your takyll is lost; Stande forth and take your pay.'

405.

'If it be so,' sayd Robyn, 'That may no better be, Syr abbot, I delyver thee myn arowe, I pray thee, syr, serve thou me.'

406.

'It falleth not for myn ordre,' sayd our kynge, 'Robyn, by thy leve, For to smyte no good yeman, For doute I sholde hym greve.'

407.

'Smyte on boldely,' sayd Robyn, 'I give thee large leve': Anone our kynge, with that worde, He folde up his sleve,

408.

And sych a buffet he gave Robyn, To grounde he yede full nere: 'I make myn avowe to G.o.d,' sayd Robyn, 'Thou arte a stalworthe frere.

409.

'There is pith in thyn arme,' sayd Robyn, 'I trowe thou canst well shete.'

Thus our kynge and Robyn Hode Togeder gan they mete.

410.

Robyn behelde our comly kynge Wystly in the face, So dyde Syr Rycharde at the Le, And kneled downe in that place.

411.

And so dyde all the wylde outlawes, Whan they se them knele: 'My lorde the kynge of Englonde, Now I knowe you well.'

412.

'Mercy then, Robyn,' sayd our kynge, 'Under your trystyll-tre, Of thy goodnesse and thy grace, For my men and me!'

413.

'Yes, for G.o.d,' sayd Robyn, 'And also G.o.d me save, I aske mercy, my lorde the kynge, And for my men I crave.'

414.

'Yes, for G.o.d,' than sayd our kynge, 'And therto sent I me, With that thou leve the grene-wode And all thy company;

415.

'And come home, syr, to my courte, And there dwell with me.'

'I make myn avowe to G.o.d,' sayd Robyn, 'And ryght so shall it be.

416.

'I wyll come to your courte, Your servyse for to se, And brynge with me of my men Seven score and thre.

417.

'But me lyke well your servyse, I wyll come agayne full soone, And shote at the donne dere, As I am wonte to done.'

[Annotations: 354.4: 'and yf' = if.

357.3: Plumpton Park is said by Camden in his Britannia to be in c.u.mberland, east of Inglewood.

358.3: 'unneth,' scarcely.

364.2: 'The ball in the hood' is a very early colloquialism for the head.

366.2: 'halke,' hiding-place.

366.4: 'welt,' disposed of.

367.1: 'fostere,' forester.

371.1: 'dyght,' dressed.

372.1: 'cote' = cowl; here, however, not the hood, but the frock of a monk.

373.4: 'covent' = convent (as in 'Covent Garden'), company of monks.

374.1: 'male-hors,' pack-horse; 'somers,' sumpter-horses.

374.4: 'lynde,' trees.

382.3: 'Halfendell' = halfen deal (which survives in Somerset dialect), the half portion: _deal_, as in 'a great deal' = dole, or that which is dealt.

385.1: 'brode targe,' broad charter. Cf. a 'braid letter.'

388.4: 'dyghtande' (intended for a past participle), made ready.

389.4: 'on a row': cf. 306.4.

391.2: 'pyne,' pa.s.sion.

394.3: 'ylke,' same.

395.2: 'Or' = ere.

395.4: 'lende,' dwell.

397.4: 'merkes,' distances between the 'yerdes' or rods.

398.4: _i.e._ his arrow he shall lose.

408.2: 'yede,' went.

410.2: 'Wystly,' observantly, closely.

414.2: 'sent' = a.s.sent.

414.3: 'With that,' provided that, on condition that.

417.1: 'But,' unless.

417.3: 'donne,' dun.]

THE EIGHTH FYTTE (418-456)

+Argument.+--For a jest, the king disguises himself and his men once more, this time in Lincoln green, which he purchases off Robin Hood.

The whole party proceeds to Nottingham, where the appearance of so many green mantles causes a general flight of the inhabitants. The king, however, reveals himself, and after a feast, pardons the knight.

Robin dwells in the king's court for fifteen months, at the end of which time he has spent much money, and has lost all his men except Little John and Scathlock. He therefore begs the king's leave to go on a pilgrimage to a shrine of St. Mary Magdalen in Barnsdale, and the king consents, but allows him only seven nights' absence. Robin comes to the greenwood, and shoots a great hart; and on blowing his horn, seven score yeomen come and welcome him back, and he dwells two-and-twenty years in the greenwood. In the end he was betrayed by his kinswoman, the Prioress of Kirkesly Abbey, and her lover, Sir Roger of Doncaster.

It has been suggested (by Professor Brandl) that the episode of the king's disguise in green is an intentional variation of the episode in the Third Fytte, where the Sheriff of Nottingham is forced to wrap himself in a green mantle. In any case it is probable that most of this Eighth Fytte is the work of the compiler of the _Gest_; possibly even the delightful verses (stt. 445-6) in which the joy of greenwood life overcomes Robin.

One could wish the _Gest_ ended with st. 450; but it is clear that the compiler knew of a ballad which narrated the death of Robin Hood, no doubt an earlier version of the _Robin Hood's Death_ of the Percy Folio, a ballad unfortunately incomplete (see p. 140).

Every famous outlaw of English tradition visits the king's court sooner or later, and makes peace with the king; but Robin's independence was too dear to him--and to the ballad-singers whose ideal he was--to allow him to go to the king voluntarily. Therefore the king must come to Robin; and here the compiler, perhaps, saw his opportunity to introduce the king-in-disguise theme, and so evolved the two last fyttes of the _Gest_.

THE EIGHTH FYTTE

418.

'Haste thou ony grene cloth,' sayd our kynge, 'That thou wylte sell nowe to me?'

'Ye, for G.o.d,' sayd Robyn, 'Thyrty yerdes and three.'

419.