{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/eng/child/ch152.htm","path":"neu/eng/child/ch152.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch152.htm","text":"152A.1 WHEN as the sheriff of Nottingham\nWas come, with mickle grief,\nHe talkd no good of Robin Hood,\nThat strong and sturdy thief.\nFal lal dal de\n152A.2 So unto London-road he past,\nHis losses to unfold\nTo King Richard, who did regard\nThe tale that he had told.\n152A.3 \u2018Why,\u2019 quoth the king, \u2019what shall I do?\nArt thou not sheriff for me?\nThe law is in force, go take thy course\nOf them that injure thee.\n152A.4 \u2018Go get thee gone, and by thyself\nDevise some tricking game\nFor to enthral yon rebels all;\nGo take thy course with them.\u2019\n152A.5 So away the sheriff he returnd,\nAnd by the way he thought\nOf the words of the king, and how the thing\nTo pass might well be brought.\n152A.6 For within his mind he imagined\nThat when such matches were,\nThose outlaws stout, without [all] doubt,\nWould be the bowmen there.\n152A.7 So an arrow with a golden head\nAnd shaft of silver white,\nWho won the day should bear away\nFor his own proper right.\n152A.8 Tidings came to brave Robin Hood,\nUnder the green-wood tree:\n\u2018Come prepare you then, my merry men,\nWe\u2019ll go yon sport to see.\u2019\n152A.9 With that stept forth a brave young man,\nDavid of Doncaster:\n\u2018Master,\u2019 said he, \u2019Be ruld by me,\nFrom the green-wood we\u2019ll not stir.\n152A.10 \u2018To tell the truth, I\u2019m well informed\nYon match is a wile;\nThe sheriff, I wiss, devises this\nUs archers to beguile.\u2019\n152A.11 \u2018O thou smells of a coward,\u2019 said Robin Hood,\n\u2018Thy words does not please me;\nCome on\u2019t what will, I\u2019ll try my skill\nAt yon brave archery.\u2019\n152A.12 O then bespoke brave Little John:\nCome, let us thither gang;\nCome listen to me, how it shall be\nThat we need not be kend.\n152A.13 Our mantles, all of Lincoln green,\nBehind us we will leave;\nWe\u2019ll dress us all so several\nThey shall not us perceive.\n152A.14 One shall wear white, another red,\nOne yellow, another blue;\nThus in disguise, to the exercise\nWe\u2019ll gang, whateer ensue.\n152A.15 Forth from the green-wood they are gone,\nWith hearts all firm and stout,\nResolving [then] with the sheriff\u2019s men\nTo have a hearty bout.\n152A.16 So themselves they mixed with the rest,\nTo prevent all suspicion;\nFor if they should together hold\nThey thought [it] no discretion.\n152A.17 So the sheriff looking round about,\nAmongst eight hundred men,\nBut could not see the sight that he\nHad long expected then.\n152A.18 Some said, If Robin Hood was here,\nAnd all his men to boot,\nSure none of them could pass these men,\nSo bravely they do shoot.\n152A.19 \u2018Ay,\u2019 quoth the sheriff, and scratchd his head,\n\u2018I thought he would have been here;\nI thought he would, but, tho he\u2019s bold,\nHe durst not now appear.\u2019\n152A.20 O that word grieved Robin Hood to the heart;\nHe vex d in his blood;\nEer long, thought he, thou shalt well see\nThat here was Robin Hood.\n152A.21 Some cried, Blue jacket! another cried, Brown!\nAnd the third cried, Brave Yellow!\nBut the fourth man said, Yon man in red\nIn this place has no fellow.\n152A.22 For that was Robin Hood himself,\nFor he was cloathd in red;\nAt every shot the prize he got,\nFor he was both sure and dead.\n152A.23 So the arrow with the golden head\nAnd shaft of silver white\nBrave Robin Hood won, and bore with him\nFor his own proper right.\n152A.24 These outlaws there, that very day,\nTo shun all kind of doubt,\nBy three or four, no less no more,\nAs they went in came out.\n152A.25 Until they all assembled were\nUnder the green-wood shade,\nWhere they report, in pleasant sport,\nWhat brave pastime they made.\n152A.26 Says Robin Hood, All my care is,\nHow that yon sheriff may\nKnow certainly that it was I\nThat bore his arrow away.\n152A.27 Says Little John, My counsel good\nDid take effect before,\nSo therefore now, if you\u2019ll allow,\nI will advise once more.\n152A.28 \u2018Speak on, speak on,\u2019 said Robin Hood,\n\u2018Thy wit\u2019s both quick and sound;\n[I know no man amongst us can\nFor wit like thee be found.\u2019]\n152A.29 \u2018This I advise,\u2019 said Little John;\n\u2018That a letter shall be pend,\nAnd when it is done, to Nottingham\nYou to the sheriff shall send.\u2019\n152A.30 \u2018That is well advised,\u2019 said Robin Hood,\n\u2018But how must it be sent?\u2019\n\u2018Pugh! when you please, it\u2019s done with ease,\nMaster, be you content.\n152A.31 \u2018I\u2019ll stick it on my arrow\u2019s head,\nAnd shoot it into the town;\nThe mark shall show where it must go,\nWhen ever it lights down.\u2019\n152A.32 The project it was full performd;\nThe sheriff that letter had;\nWhich when he read, he scratchd his head,\nAnd rav\u2019d like one that\u2019s mad.\n152A.33 So we\u2019ll leave him chafing in his grease,\nWhich will do him no good;\nNow, my friends, attend, and hear the end\nOf honest Robin Hood.","title":"The Child Ballads: 152. Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow","type":"page"}