3/25/2023 0 Comments Sherriff of nottingham grave![]() ![]() But come, tell me for what price thou wilt sell me all of thy meat and thy horse and cart.” “Nay, Heaven forbid, indeed,” quoth Robin, “that I should take from such as thee, jolly fellow! Not so much as one farthing would I take from thee, for I love a fair Saxon face like thine right well-more especially when it cometh from Locksley Town, and most especially when the man that owneth it is to marry a bonny lass on Thursday next. But Heaven forbid that thou shouldst take aught of me! An honest man am I, and have wronged neither man nor maid so trouble me not, good master, as I have never troubled thee.” “Now, by Our Lady’s grace,” cried the Butcher, “well do I know thy name, and many a time have I heard thy deeds both sung and spoken of. “A yeoman am I, and men do call me Robin Hood.” “But who art thou that comest from Locksley Town?” “I go to the market at Nottingham Town to sell my beef and my mutton,” answered the Butcher. Now, where goest thou with thy meat, my fair friend?” “Ha,” said Robin, “comest thou from Locksley Town? Well do I know that fair place for miles about, and well do I know each hedgerow and gentle pebbly stream, and even all the bright little fishes therein, for there I was born and bred. “Ay, that am I,” quoth the jolly Butcher, “and why should I not be so? Am I not hale in wind and limb? Have I not the bonniest lass in all Nottinghamshire? And lastly, am I not to be married to her on Thursday next in sweet Locksley Town?” “Good morrow to thee, jolly fellow,” quoth Robin, “thou seemest happy this merry morn.” ![]() Merrily whistled the Butcher as he jogged along, for he was going to the market, and the day was fresh and sweet, making his heart blithe within him. ![]() There, as he rambled along the sunlit road, he met a lusty young butcher driving a fine mare and riding in a stout new cart, all hung about with meat. At last he began to fret at his confinement so one day he took up his stout cudgel and set forth to seek adventure, strolling blithely along until he came to the edge of Sherwood. Thus they dwelled for nearly a year, and in that time Robin Hood often turned over in his mind many means of making an even score with the Sheriff. Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength. But though they did not go abroad, they lived a merry life within the woodlands, spending the days in shooting at garlands hung upon a willow wand at the end of the glade, the leafy aisles ringing with merry jests and laughter: for whoever missed the garland was given a sound buffet, which, if delivered by Little John, never failed to topple over the unfortunate yeoman. Maybe I may bring him some time into Sherwood Forest and have him to a right merry feast with us.” For when Robin Hood caught a baron or a squire, or a fat abbot or bishop, he brought them to the greenwood tree and feasted them before he lightened their purses.īut in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him. NOW AFTER all these things had happened, and it became known to Robin Hood how the Sheriff had tried three times to make him captive, he said to himself, “If I have the chance, I will make our worshipful Sheriff pay right well for that which he hath done to me.
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