“ Beloved of lord and knight.
The earl of Hun­ting­ton, nobly born,
That came of noble blood,
To Marian went, with a good intent,
By the name of Robin Hood.
With kisses sweet their red lips did meet,
For she and the earl did agree ;
In every place, they kindly embrace,
With love and sweet unity.
But fortune bearing these lovers a spight,
That soon they were forced to part :
To the merry green wood then went Robin Hood,
With a sad and sorrowfull heart.
And Marian, poor soul, was troubled in mind,
For the absence of her friend ”

“ When Robin Hood he heard this news,
Lord ! he was grieved sore ;
And to his merry men he did say,
(Who altogether swore) ,
That Will Stutly should rescued be,
And be brought ‘back’ again ;
Or else should many a gallant wight
For his sake there be slain.
He cloathed himself in scarlet ‘red,’
His men were all in green ;
A finer shew, throughout the world,
In no place could be seen.
Good lord ! it was a gallant sight
To see them all on a row ;
With every man a good broad sword,
And eke a good yew bow. ”

“ Such was the end of Robin Hood: a man who, in a barbarous age, and under a complicated tyranny, displayed a spirit of freedom and independence which has endeared him to the common people, whose cause he maintained (for all opposition to tyranny is the cause of the people) , and, in spite of the malicious endeavours of pitiful monks, by whom history was consecrated to the crimes and follies of titled ruffians and sainted idiots, to suppress all record of his patriotic exertions and virtuous acts, will render his name immortal. ”

“ Therefore a trusty and most worthy knight
The king was pleased to call,
Sir William by name ; when to him he came,
He told him his pleasure all.
“Go you from hence to bold Robin Hood,
And bid him, without more ado,
Surrender himself, or else the proud elf
Shall suffer with all his crew.
Take here a hundred bowmen brave,
All chosen men of great might,
Of excellent art to take thy part,
In glittering armour most bright.” ”

“ No, by my faith, quoth Robin Hood,
I love it with all my heart.
What news abroad ? quoth Robin Hood,
Tell me what thou dost hear :
Seeing thou goest from town to town,
Some news thou need not fear.
All the news I have, the tinker said,
I hear it is for good,
It is to seek a bold outlàw,
Which they call Robin Hood.
I have a warrand from the king,
To take him where I can ;
If you can tell me where hee is,
I will make you a man. ”

“ You meet with bold Robin Hood.”
“We be content, thou bold outlàw,
Our valour here to try,
And will make you know, before we do go,
We will fight before we will fly. {271}
Then, come draw your swords, you bold outlàws,
No longer stand to prate,
But let us try it out with blows,
For cowards we do hate.
Here is one of us for Will Scarlòck,
And another for Little John,
And I myself for Robin Hood,
Because he is stout and strong.” ”

“ The speech spoken by Earl Robert de la Hude,
commonly called Robin Hood.
Since graves may not their dead containe,
Nor in their peacefull sleepes remaine,
But triumphes and great showes must use them,
And we unable to refuse them;
It joyes me that earle Robert Hood,
Fetcht from the forrest of merrie Shirwood,
With these my yeomen tight and tall,
Brave huntsmen and good archers all,
Must in this joviall day partake,
Prepared for your honour’s sake. ”

“ Robin could shoot at many a hart and misse,
Cupid at first could hit a hart of his.
Hey jolly Robin, hoe jolly Robin, hey jolly Robin Hood,
Love finds out me, as well as thee, to follow me, to follow me to the green wood.
A noble thiefe was Robin Hoode,
Wise was he could deceive him ;
Yet Marrian, in his bravest mood,
Could of his heart bereave him.
No greater thief lies hidden under skies
Then beauty closely lodgde in womens eyes. ”

“ Where lies your grief ? quoth Will ‘Scadlòck,’
O, master, tell to me :
If the damsels eyes have pierc’d your heart,
I’ll fetch her back to thee.
Now nay, now nay, quoth Robin Hood,
She doth not cause my smart ;
But ’tis the poor distressed princèss,
That wounds me to the heart ;
I’ll go fight the [prince and] giants all,
To set the lady free.
The devil take my soul, quoth Little John,
If I part with thy company.
Must I stay behind ? quoth Will Scadlòck,
No, no, that must not be ;
I’le make the third man in the fight,
So we shall be three to three. ”

“ Down to Barnsdale ;
Where Robin Hood prepared stood
All company to assail.
The king was higher than the rest,
And Robin thought he had
An abbot been whom he had seen,
To rob him he was glad.
He took the king’s horse by the head,
Abbot, says he, abide ;
I am bound to rue such knaves as you,
That live in pomp and pride.
But we are messengers from the king,
The king himself did say ;
Near to this place his royal grace
To speak with thee does stay. {316}
God save the king, said Robin Hood,
And all that wish him well ;
He that does deny his sovereignty,
I wish he was in hell. ”

“ There Robin, and Will, and Little John,
They fought most manfully,
Till all their winde was spent and gone,
Then Robin aloud did cry :
O hold, O hold, cries bold Robìn,
I see you be stout men ;
Let me blow one blast on my bugle-horn,
Then Ile fight with you again.
“That bargain’s to make, bold Robin Hood,
Therefore we it deny ;
Thy blast upon the bugle-horn
Cannot make us fight or fly. {272}
Therefore fall on, or else be gone,
And yield to us the day :
It never shall be said that we are afraid
Of thee, nor thy yeomen gay.” ”

“ Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone,
With a link, a down, and a ‘day,’ 323
And there he met with a silly old palmer,
Was walking along the highway.
“What news ? what news ? thou silly old man,
What news, I do thee pray ?”
Said he, Three squires in Nottingham town,
Are condemn’d to die this day.
“Come change thy apparel with me, old man,
Come change thy apparel for mine ;
Here is forty shillings in good silvèr,
Go drink it in beer or wine.”
Oh, thine apparel is good, he said,
And mine is ragged and torn ;
Wherever you go, wherever you ride,
Laugh ne’er an old man to scorn. ”

“ What is that boon, quoth Robin Hood,
Little John, thou begs of me ?
“It is to burn fair Kirkley-hall,
And all their nunnery.”
Now nay, now nay, quoth Robin Hood,
That boon I’ll not grant thee ;
I never ‘hurt’ 330 woman in all my life,
Nor man in woman’s company. ”

“ A midi file is not a recording of audio. It is instead a set of instructions that are interpreted by your own software, so that what you hear may be different from what the transcriber heard. Sadly, many e-reading devices that use the epub or mobi e-book format don't support links to external files, which means that readers using such devices won't be able to conveniently hear or download the mobi files. In that case, the html edition of the ebook must be consulted. Also, some html browsers don't automatically play MIDI files when the link is clicked. ”

“ The prince and Scathlocke fight, Scathelocke grows weary, and the frier takes his place. Marion enters, and perceiving the frier, parts the combatants. Robin enters, and John submits to him. Much enters, running, with information of the approach of “the king and twelve and twenty score of horses.” Robin places his people in order. The trumpets sound, the king and his train enter, a general pardon ensues, and the king confirms the love of Robin and Matilda. Thus the play concludes, Skelton promising the second part, and acquainting the audience of what it should consist. ”

“ This epitaph, as records tell,
Within this hundred years,
By many was discerned well,
But time all things out-wears.
His followers, when he was dead,
Were some repriev’d to grace ;
The rest to foreign countries fled,
And left their native place.
Although his funeral was but mean,
This woman had in mind,
Least his fame should be buried clean
From those that came behind. {146}
For certainly, before nor since,
No man e’re understood,
Under the reign of any prince,
Of one like Robin Hood. ”

“ Is Warman, once the steward of his house,
Who, Judas like, betraies his liberall lord,
Into the hands of that relentlesse prior,
Calde Gilbert Hoode, uncle to Hun­ting­ton.
Those two that seeke to part these lovely friends,
Are Elenor the queene, and John the prince,
She loves earle Robert, he maide Marian,
But vainely; for their deare affect is such,
As only death can sunder their true loves. ”

“ Heardst thou not, little John, the frier’s speach?
John. He seemes like a good fellow, my good lord.
Rob. He’s a good fellowe, John, upon my word.
Lend me thy horne, and get thee in to Much,
And when I blowe this horne, come both and helpe mee.
John. Take heed, my lord: the villane Warman knows you,
And ten to one he hath a writ against you.
Rob. Fear not: below the bridge a poor blind man doth dwell,
With him I will change my habit, and disguise,
Only be readie when I call for yee,
For I will save their lives, if it may bee. . . . ”

“ Anciently, the use of the bow or bill qualified every man for a soldier; and a body of peasants, led on by a Tyler or a Cade, was not less formidable than any military force that could be raised to oppose them: by which means the people from time to time preserved the very little liberty they had, and which their tyrants were constantly endeavouring to wrest from them. ”

“ Then Robin Hood bent a very good bow,
To shoot, and that he would fain ;
The stranger he bent a very good bow,
To shoot at bold Robin again.
Hold thy hand, hold thy hand, quod Robin Hood,
To shoot it would be in vain ;
For if we should shoot the one at the other,
The one of us may be slain. ”

“ Fordun, in the fourteenth century, calls him “ille famosissimus siccarius,” that most celebrated robber, and Major terms him and Little John “famatissimi latrones.” But it is to be remembered, according to the confession of the latter historian, that, in these exertions of power, he took away the goods of rich men only; never killing any person, unless he was attacked or resisted: that he would not suffer a woman to be maltreated; nor ever took anything from the poor, but charitably fed them with the wealth he drew from the abbots. ”

“ But tell me, O tell me, where is Little John ?
Of him fain would I hear ;
For we are alide by the mothers side,
And he is my kinsman dear.
Then Robin Hood blew on the beugle horn,
He blew full lowd and shrill ;
But quickly anon appear’d Little John,
Come tripping down a green hill ;
O what is the matter ? then said Little John,
Master, I pray you tell :
Why do you stand with your staff in your hand ?
I fear all is not well.
“O man I do stand, and he makes me to stand,
The tanner that stands thee beside ”