|
ROBIN HOOD'S DEATH
No. 120
From The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
by Francis James
Child, 1888.
The
earliest version of this tale is a few verses at the end of the longest
and one of the earliest ballads called A Gest of Robyn Hode. An earlier
version of the full tale of Robin's death was found in the famous Percy
folio, but because its language is more medieval and the text is fragmented,
I have decided to put a later version up first on my site. However, I have
also included the older and better version at the bottom of this page along
with the segment of the Gest that deals with Robin's demise.
In
the earlier version of the tale, after the Prioress bled Robin Hood, he
was stabbed by her lover Sir Roger of Doncaster or Red Roger. The
well-known tale of Robin launching his final arrow to mark his grave was
not in the earlier version. I should probably note that having iron
rods stuck into your arms and being drained of some (although not too much,
hence the Prioress's treachery) blood was a common medieval healing
techinque. The wicked prioress was not a vampire, as some modern supernaturalists
have claimed.
In
another ballad, A True Tale of Robin Hood, a "faithless friar" is said to have killed
Robin Hood, and in Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight, it is a monk who
did the dirty deed. But the story of prioress is the oldest and longest lasting
tradition of Robin Hood's death. While this story rarely appears
in film, it does make an unhappy ending to many Robin Hood children's
books. (The 1976 movie Robin and Marian, starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn is an obvious
exception. In this film, Marian is the abbess, and she poisons Robin and herself out of love.)
The
priory has been called in various ballads Kyrkesly, Church Lees, Kirkly
and even Bricklies or Bircklies. A gravestone can be found on the site
of the old Kirklees priory in Yorkshire, almost certainly the intended
location. The current stone is more recent than the first ballad
references to it. This gravesite is on private property, although
the owner of the property has been known to very occasionally allow visitors
if you ask nicely.
1
When Robin Hood and Little John
Down
a down a down a down
Went oer yon bank of broom,
Said
Robin Hood bold to Little John,
We have shot for many a pound.
Hey, etc.
2
But I am not able to shoot one shot more,
My
broad arrows will not flee;
But I have a cousin lives down below,
Please
God, she will bleed me.
3
Now Robin he is to fair Kirkly gone,
But before he came there, as we do hear,
4
And when he came to fair Kirkly-Hall,
He
knockd all at the ring,
But none was so ready as his cousin herself
For
to let bold Robin in.
5
'Will you please to sit down, cousin Robin,'
she
said
'And
drink some beer with me?'
'No, I will neither eat nor drink,
Till
I am blooded by thee.'
6
'Well, I have a room, cousin Robin,' she said,
'Which
you did never see,
And if you please to walk therein,
You
blooded by me shall be.'
'
7
She took him by the lily-white hand,
And
let him to a private room,
And there she blooded bold Robin Hood,
While
one drop of blood would run down.
8
She blooded him in a vein of the arm,
And
locked him up in the room;
Then did he bleed all the live-long day,
Until
the next day at noon.
9
He then bethought him of a casement there,
Thinking
for to get down;
But was so weak, he could not leap,
He
could not get him down.
10
He then bethought him of his bugle-horn,
Which
hung lown down to his knee;
He set his horn unto his mouth,
And
blew out weak blasts three.
11 Then
Little John, when hearing him,
'I fear my master is now near dead,
12
Then Little John to fair Kirkly is gone,
But when he came to Kirkly-hall,
He
broke locks two or three:
13 Until
he came bold Robin to see,
'A boon, a boon,' cries Little John,
14 'What
is that boon,' said Robin Hood,
'Little
John, [thou] begs of me?'
'It is to burn fair Kirkly-hall,
15 'Now
nay, now nay,' quoth Robin Hood,
'That
boon I'll not grant thee;
'I never hurt woman in all my life,
Nor
men in woman's company.
16 'I
never hurt fair maid in all my time,
Nor
at mine end shall it be;
But give me my bent bow in my hand,
And
a broad arrow, I'll let flee;
And where this arrow is taken up,
There
shall my grave digged be.
17 'Lay
me a green sod under my head,
And lay my bent bow by my side,
Which was my music sweet.
And make my grave of gravel and green,
Which
is most right and meet.
18 'Let
me have length and breadth enough,
With
a green sod under my head;
That they may say, when I am dead
Here
lies bold Robin Hood.'
19 These
words they readily granted him,
Which
did bold Robin please:
And there they buried bold Robin Hood,
Within
the fair Kirkleys.
20 Thus
he that never feard bow nor spear
Was
murderd by letting blood;
And so, loving friend, the story it ends
21 There's
nothing remains but his epitaph now,
Which,
reader, here you have,
To this very day which read you may,
Hey down a derry derry down.
Robert Earl of Huntington
Lies under this little stone.
No archer was like him so good,
His wildness nam'd him Robin Hood,
Full thirteen years and something more
These northern parts he vexed sore:
Such out-laws as he and his men
May England never know again.
Below
is a picture of the real gravestone of Robin Hood on the Kirklees estate.
As you can see, the epitaph is a bit different than the ballad version.
The
photo was taken by David Hepworth, with the permission of Lady Armytage.
[Please do not copy without permission.]
[Originally
found in a folio manuscript (along with many Robin Hood ballads) belonging
to Bishop Percy, some sections are sadly missing. The old woman who
is cursing Robin Hood and it would seem (judging from the fragment) women
weeping for him seem like the harbingers of death out of myth, like the
washer at the ford. Red Roger is carrying a glave -- a kind of sword, and
Robin's brand is also a sword. When Robin speaks of mood and houzel,
he is asking for help in receiving the last sacraments for the dead.
As I mentioned above, having a little blood drained was a common medieval
healing practice, but the prioress betrays Robin by draining too much.]
1
'I will neuer eate nor drinke,' Robin Hood said,
'Nor
meate will doo me noe good,
Till I haue beene att merry Churchlees,
My
vaines for to let blood.'
2
'That I reade not,' said Will Scarlett,
'Master,
by the assente of me,
Without halfe a hundred of your best bowmen
You
take to goe with yee.
3
'For there a good yeoman doth abide
Will
be sure to quarrell with thee,
And if thou haue need of vs, master,
In
faith we will not flee.'
4
'And thou be feard, thou William Scarlett,
Att
home I read thee be:'
'And you be wrothe, my deare master,
You shall neuer heare more of mee.'
5
'For there shall noe man with me goe,
And Litle Iohn shall be my man,
And
beare my benbow by my side.'
6
'You'st beare your bowe, master, your selfe,
And
shoote for a peny with mee:'
'To that I doe assent,' Robin Hood sayd,
'And
soe, Iohn, lett it bee.'
7
They two bolde children shotten together,
All
day theire selfe in ranke,
Vntil they came to a blacke water,
And
over it laid a planke,
8
Vpon it there kneeled an old woman,
'Why dost thou bann Robin Hoode?' said Robin,
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Half
a page missing]
9
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
We weepen for his deare body,
That
this day must be lett bloode.'
10
'The dame prior is my aunts daughter,
I know shee wold me noe harme this day,
For
all the world to winne.'
11
Forth then shotten these children,
Vntill they came to merry Churchlees,
To
merry Churchlee[s] with-in.
12
And when they came to merry Churchlees,
Vpp then rose dame prioresse,
13
Then Robin gaue to dame prioresse
And bad her spend while that wold last,
And
she shold haue more when shee wold.
14
And downe then came dame prioresse,
Downe
she came in that ilke,
With a pair off blood-irons in her hands,
Were
wrapped all in silke.
15
'Sett a chaffing-dish to the fyer,' said dame prioresse
'And
stripp thou vp thy sleeue:'
I hold him but an vnwise man
That
will now warning leaeve..
16
She laid the blood-irons to Robin Hoods vaine,
And pearct the vaine, and let out the bloode,
That
full red was to see.
17
And first it bled, the thicke, thicke bloode,
And
afterwards the thinne,
And well then wist good Robin Hoode
Treason
there was within.
18
'What cheere my master?' said Litle Iohn;
'In
faith, Iohn, litle goode;'
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [Half a page missing]
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19 'I
haue upon a gowne of greene,
And in my hand a bright browne brand
That
will well bite of thee.'
20
But forth then of a shot-windowe
Good
Robin Hood he could glide;
Red Roger, with a grounden glaue,
Thrust
him through the milke-white side.
21 But
Robin was light and nimble of foote,
And
thought to abate his pride,
For betwixt his head and his shoulders
He
made a wound full wide.
22
Says, ly there, ly there, Red Roger,
The
doggs they must thee eate;
'For I may haue my houzle,' he said,
'For
I may both goe and speake.
23
'Now giue me mood,' Robin said to Litle Iohn,
'Giue
me mood with thy hand;
I trust to God in heauen soe hye
My
houzle will me bestand.'
24
'Now giue me leaue, giue me leaue, master,' he said,
'For
Christs loue giue leaue to me,
To set a fier within this hall,
And
to burne vp all Churchlee.'
25
'That I reade not, said Robin Hoode then,
'Litle
Iohn, for it may not be;
If I shold doe any widow hurt, at my latter end,
God,'
he said, 'wold blame me;
26
'But take me vpon thy backe, Litle Iohn,
And
beare me to yonder streete,
And there make me a full fayre graue,
Of
grauell and of greete.
27 'And
sett my bright sword at my head,
Mine
arrowes at my feete,
And lay my vew-bow by my side,
My
met-yard wi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Half
a page missing]
The
Death Scene from A Gest of Robyn Hode
[Clearly
the story of Robin Hood's death has been around longer than the versions
of the ballad above. The events of Robin's death are summarized at
the end of a long early ballad.
The
surviving versions of the Gest were most likely composed around 1460 and printed near 1500 AD. It
is one of the earliest ballads and by far the longest (divided into eight sections called fyttes) and most influential.
For a variety of reasons, I have not put the whole Gest on my site -- even
though it's one of the best ballads. But here I offer a sample to compare
with the ballads which came later. If you want to read the Gest in full, an annotated version appears at the Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester website.
Movies
often end with Robin Hood being pardoned by the king [Richard the Lionheart
in the recent versions, but a king named Edward in the original ballad.
Current scholarship by Thomas Ohlgren and others suggests that the ballad
best reflects the time period of Edward III.] And like in the films,
the king comes to the greenwood in the disguise of an abbot. He befriends
and pardons Robin Hood.
Click here to read that section of the Gest where the king meets and pardons Robin Hood.
But
most movies don't show what comes next. Here are the concluding stanzas of the Gest where Robin becomes an outlaw again, and eventually dies.]
The Eighth Fytte (Continued)
433
Had Robyn dwelled he kynges courte
But
twelue monethes and thre,
That [he had] spent an hondred pounde,
434 In
euery place where Robyn came
Euer
more he layde downe,
Both for knyghtes and for squyres,
To
gete hym grete renowne.
435 By
than the yere was all agone
He
had no man but twayne,
Lytell Johan and good Scathelocke,
With hym all for to gone.
436 Robyn
sawe yonge men shote
'Alas!' than sayd good Robyn,
437 'Somtyme
I was an archere good,
A
styffe and eke a stronge;
I was compted the best archere
That
was in mery Englonde.
438 'Alas!'
then sayd good Robyn,
Yf I dwele lenger with the kynge,
439 Forth
than went Robyn Hode
Tyll
he came to our kynge;
'My lorde the kynge of Englonde,
440 'I
made a chapell in Bernysdale,
It is of Mary Magdaleyne,
441 'I
myght neuer in this seuen nyght
No
tyme to slepe ne wynke,
Nother all these seuen dayes
442 'Me
longeth sore to Bernysdale,
Barefote and wolwarde I haue hyght
443 'Yf
it be so,' than sayd our kynge,
Seuen nyght I gyue the leue,
No lengre, to dwell fro me.'
444 'Gramercy,
lorde,' then sayd Robyn,
He toke his leue full courteysly,
To
grene wode then went he.
445 Whan
he came to grene wode,
There he herde the notes small
446 'It
is ferre gone,' sayd Robyn,
Me lyste a lytell for to shote
447 Robyn
slewe a full grete harte;
His
horne than gan he blow,
That all the outlawes of that forest
That horne coud they knowe,
448 And
gadred them togyder,
Seven score of wyght yonge men
449
And fayre dyde of theyre hodes,
And
set them on theyr kne:
'Welcome,' they saydm 'our [dere] mayster,
Under
this grene-wode tre.'
450 Robyn
dwelled in grene wode
For all drede of Edwarde our kynge,
451 Yet
he was begyled, i-wys,
The pryoresse of Kyrkesly,
That nye was of hys kynne:
452 For
the loue of a knyght,
That was her owne speciall;
Full
euyll mote they thee!
453 They
toke togyder theyr counsell
And how they myght best do that dede,
454 Than
bespake good Robyn,
In
place where as he stode,
'To morow I muste to Kyrke[s]ly,
Craftely
to be leten blode.'
455 Syr
Roger of Donkestere,
And there they betrayed good Robyn Hode,
Through theyr false playe.
456 Cryst
haue mercy on his soule,
For he was a good outlawe,
And
dyde pore men moch god.
Now that you've finished the ballad cycle:
NEXT: Prologue, an excerpt from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
GO BACK TO: Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham (often seen as Robin's first crime)
|
