John Bell Hood

“ III, 63, 152; 414, 49: strong; but also, denoting bodily activity, brisk, as III, 117, 20; III, 63, 148, of John, who has shot well. III, 27, 97; 65, 195; 75, 389; 78, 448, Adam Bell, Clim, and William, and Robin Hood’s men are wight young [Pg 393] men. III, 91 f., 6, 8, Guy of Gisborne is a wight yeoman: sturdy. ”

“ It would appear that, in the later years of Hood's life, he was not on entirely good terms with some members of his wife's family, including his old friend John Hamilton Reynolds. What may have caused this I do not find specified: all that we know of the character of Hood justifies us in thinking that he was little or not at all to blame, for he appears throughout a man of just, honorable, and loving nature, and free besides from that sort of self-assertion which invites a collision. Every one, however, has his blemishes ”

“ In one of these excursions, he overheard a conversation between two priests, by which he learned that the bishop of Hereford was expected to pass that way very shortly, upon a visit to his holy brother, the archbishop of York. The outlaw lost no time in ascertaining the route which the reverend father would travel, and with a merry heart he hurried back to his followers in Sherwood forest. At the sound of his well known bugle, two-score yeomen quickly surrounded him, Little John and Will Scarlet among them.
“‘We shall have noble company to dine with us,’ said Robin Hood. ”

“ Robin Hood pulld off the bishops coat,
And put it upon Little John;
'By the faith of my body,' then Robin said,
This cloath doth make thee a man.'
When Little John went into the quire,
The people began for to laugh;
He askt them seven times in the church,
Least three times should not be enough. ”

“ Us archers to beguile.'
'O thou smells of a coward,' said Robin Hood,
'Thy words does not please me;
Come on't what will, I'll try my skill
At yon brave archery.'
O then bespoke brave Little John:
Come, let us thither gang;
Come listen to me, how it shall be
That we need not be kend.
Our mantles, all of Lincoln green,
Behind us we will leave;
We'll dress us all so several
They shall not us perceive. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And when we come thither, we found as good cheer
As any man needs for to eat.
For there was hot venison, and warden pies cold,
Cream clouted, with honey-combs plenty;
And the sarvitors they were, beside Little John,
Good yeomen at least four and twenty.
Clorinda said, Tell me your name, gentle sir;
And he said, 'Tis bold Robin Hood:
Squire Gamwel's my uncle, but all my delight
Is to dwell in the merry Sherwood.
For 'tis a fine life, and 'tis void of all strife.
'So 'tis, sir,' Clorinda reply'd ”

“ Came riding up all in a row.
'Come, give us a reckoning,' says the Bishop,
'For I think you drink wondrous large:'
'Come, give me your purse,' said bold Robin Hood,
'And I will pay all your charge.'
He pulled off his long shepherds coat,
And he spread it on the ground,
And out of the Bishops long trunk-hose,
He pulled a hundred pound.
'O master,' quoth Little John,
'It's a very bony sight for to see;
It makes me to favour the Bishop,
Tho in heart he loves not me.'
'Come, sing us a mass,' sayes bold Robin Hood,
'Come, sing us a mass all anon ”

“ You shall take Little John and Will Scarlet and Allen-a-Dale, who is the sweetest singer I ever heard; and the rest of your men I will make into royal rangers, since I judge that they can protect Sherwood Forest better than any others."
So Robin Hood left the greenwood and went to the king's court and he served King Richard well. But he did not like the confinement of the court and could not abide the gaieties and jealousies of the courtiers. After King Richard died, his brother John took the throne, and he was one of the worst kings that ever ruled England. ”

“ There is plentiful “learning” about Robin Hood, but no real knowledge. He is first mentioned in literature, as the subject of “rhymes,” in Piers Plowman (circ. 1377) . As a topic of ballads he must be much older than that date. In 1439 his name was a synonym for a bandit. Wyntoun, the Scots chronicler, dates the outlaw in the time of Edward I. Major, the Scots philosopher and master of John Knox, makes a guess (taken up by Scott in Ivanhoe) as the period of Richard I. Kuhn seeks to show that Hood is a survival of Woden, or of his Wooden, “wooden horse” or hobby horse. ”

“ So saying, he cut the bonds, and Little John, quick as a wink, leaped forward and caught up the bow and arrows and the broadsword. At the same time Robin Hood threw back the cowl of horse's hide from his face and bent Guy of Gisbourne's bow, with a keen, barbed arrow fitted to the string. "Stand back!" cried he sternly. "The first man that toucheth finger to bowstring dieth! ”

“ Through the London Magazine, he got to know John Hamilton Reynolds (author of the Garden of Florence and other poems, and a contributor to this serial under the pseudonym of Edward Herbert) , Charles Lamb, Allan Cunningham, De Quincey, and other writers of reputation. To Hood the most directly important of all these acquaintances was Mr. Reynolds; this gentleman having a sister, Jane, to whom Hood was introduced. An attachment ensued, and shortly terminated in marriage, the wedding taking place on the 5th of May, 1824. The father of Miss Reynolds was the head writing-master at Christ Hospital. ”

“ The black wretch had seriously inclined her ear to the whole lecture, grinning and blubbering by turns. The Judge with his black cap, the Counsel and their wigs, the twelve men in a box, and Jack Ketch himself—whom she associated with that pleasant West Indian personage, John Canoe—had amused, nay, tickled her fancy; the press-room, the irons, the rope, and the Ordinary, whom she mistook for an overseer, had raised her curiosity, and excited her fears ”

“ We should have heard of the fatal field of Hastings, of the perfidy of Henry, of the sanguinary revenge of Edward,—and not of matches at archery and encounters at quarter-staff, the plundering of rich abbots and squabbles with the sheriff. The Robin Hood of our ballads is neither patriot under ban, nor proscribed rebel. An outlaw indeed he is, but an "outlaw for venyson," like Adam Bell, and one who superadds to deer-stealing the irregularity of a genteel highway-robbery. ”

“ In this, Billy could play the part of Robin Hood in his old age, and shoot the last arrow.”
“How does the epilogue go?” asked Brad.
“The story is this,” Mr. Holloway explained. “Robin Hood had left England, but as springtime returns, he craves again to roam the woodlands of his beloved Sherwood Forest.
[187]
“He renews acquaintance with his old friends, Little John, Will Stutely, Allan-a-Dale and Midge, the Miller.
“Finally he falls ill of a fever, and seeks the aid of his cousin, the Prioress of Kirklees. The woman always has disliked Robin Hood and plots to bring his downfall.” ”

“ Mister Crumpe and assistants; he is Rector of Bow and Curat of Harrow, and was disgised in every thing green, as Robin Hood and his mery Men; after geting Little John to string his bow for him, I am sorry to say, Robin Hood shot Worst of every Body, for he did not even hit the target, and we should have never Seen wear his arrow went, but by hereing it smash in to the conservatorry. When we came to look for the prize, a silver Arrow, every Body had lost it, for it had dropt out of the case, and would never have been found, but for Revd. ”

“ But in after days, when the men that saw that wrestling bout were bent with age, they would shake their heads when they heard of any stalwart game, and say, "Ay, ay; but thou shouldst have seen the great David of Doncaster cast stout William of the Scar at Denby fair."
Robin Hood stood in the merry greenwood with Little John and most of his stout yeomen around him, awaiting Sir Richard's coming. At last a glint of steel was seen through the brown forest leaves, and forth from the covert into the open rode Sir Richard at the head of his men. ”

“ During the time of his out-lawed life in the forest of merry Shirwood, and elsewhere, while the cruel oppression of a most unnatural and covetous brother hung heavy upon him, Gilbert de la Hude, lord abbot of Christall [r. Kirkstall] abbey, who had all or most of his lands in mortgage: he was commonly called Robin Hood, and had a gallant company of men (out-lawed in the like manner) that followed his downecast fortunes; as little John, Scathlocke, Much the miller’s son, Right-hitting Brand, fryar Tuck, and many more. ”

“ Then he fell on his knee:
"A boon, a boon," cries Little John,
"Master, I beg of thee."
"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 [44] woman in all my life,
Nor man in woman's company.
"I never hurt fair maid in all my time,
Nor at my end shall it be ”

“ Brown Robin and White Lily, Arthur and Rose the Red, go to church and are married.
In B the two maids, ill-treated by their step-mother, betake themselves to the wood, where they meet, not Brown Robin, but Robin Hood, and take service with him. Rose and Lily change parts; Rose, under the name of Nicholas, consorting with Robin Hood, and Lily, alias Roger Brown, with Little John. It is not, however, Robin Hood and Little John who turn out to be their lovers, but "a lad in the company," and "another youth among the company," stanzas 30, 51. Nothing is said of the king. ”

“ So up to their master they steerd.
'O what's the matter?' quoth William Stutely;
'Good master, you are wet to the skin:'
'No matter,' quoth he; 'The lad which you see,
In fighting, hath tumbld me in.'
'He shall not go scot-free,' the others reply'd;
So strait they were seizing him there,
To duck him likewise; but Robin Hood cries,
He is a stout fellow, forbear.
There's no one shall wrong thee, friend, be not afraid;
These bowmen upon me do wait;
There's threescore and nine; if thou wilt be mine,
Thou shalt have my livery strait.
And other accoutrements fit for a man ”

“ Well! after all, there’s nothing like good ironstone ware for wear.
If ever I marry, that’s flat, I’m sure it won’t be John Dockery,—
I should be a wretched woman in a shop full of crockery.
I should never like to wipe it, though I love to be neat and tidy,
And afraid of mad bulls on market-days every Monday and Friday.
I’m very much mistook if Mr. Lambert’s will be a catch;
The breaking the Chiney will be the breaking-off of his own match.
Missis wouldn’t have an angel, if he was careless about Chiney;
She never forgives a chip, if it’s ever so small and tiny.
Lawk! ”

“ Robin Hood seated himself upon one of the twisted roots that grew above the surface of the turf, and commanded that his visitor should be brought before him. Little John, [81] taking off his cap as he approached, gently led him to the outlaw, while, to show his spite against him, one of the young foresters had the audacity to tie the prelate’s arms behind his back.
“‘Thou art accused of deep crimes,’ exclaimed Robin Hood. ‘It is said that thou dost gripe the poor man with a hard hand, and showest but little mercy to the unfortunate. ”

“ John Major (or Mair) was born about 1450, and his Historia Maioris Britanniæ was published in xvi 1521. In the part dealing with the reign of Richard I. (lib. iv. cap. ii.) , we find:—
‘About this time it was, as I conceive, that there flourished those most famous robbers Robert Hood, an Englishman, and Little John, who lay in wait in the woods, but spoiled of their goods those only who were wealthy. They took the life of no man, unless either he attacked them or offered resistance in defence of his property. ”

“ But as it is said, when men be mett
Fyve can doe more than three,
The sheriffe hath taken Little John,
And bound him fast to a tree. {119}
“Thou shalt be drawen by dale and downe,
And hanged hye on a hill.”
But thou mayst fayle of thy purpose, quoth John,
If it be Christ his will.
Lett us leave talking of Little John,
And thinke of Robin Hood,
How he is gone to the wight yeomàn,
Where under the leaves he stood.
Good morrowe, good fellowe, sayd Robin so fayre,
Good morrowe, good fellow, quo’ he :272
Methinkes by this bowe thou beares in thy hande,
A good archere thou sholdst bee. ”

“ In March 1748 Hood was appointed to the Greenwich, then commissioned by Captain John Montagu, but left her in a few months to join the Lyon, going out to North America with the flag of Rear-admiral Watson. She returned to England in November, and was paid off. Hood was placed on half-pay, and the following year married Susannah, daughter of Edward Linzee, for several years mayor of Portsmouth. In January 1753 he was appointed to the Invincible, guardship at Portsmouth, from which in May he was turned over to the Terrible. ”

“ John Bellenden, the Scottish translator of Boece's Latin 'History of Scotland' in 1533, remarks that Robin Hood was the subject of 'many fabillis and mery sportis soung amang the vulgar pepyll.' A connected life, in ballad verse, of the hero, compiled out of older ballads about 1495, was entitled 'A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hoode,'and was first printed by Wynkyn de Worde. ”