[THE SECOND FIT.]
And when they came to merry Carlisle,
In a fair morning tide,
They found the gates shut them until,
Round about on every side.
"Alas!" then said good Adam Bell,
"That ever we were made men!
These gates be shut so wonderly well,
That we may not come here in."
Then spake him Clym of the Clough,
"With a wile we will us in bring;
Let us say we be messengers,
Straight comen from our king."
Adam said, "I have a letter written well,
Now let us wisely work;
We will say we have the king's seal,
I hold the porter no clerk."
Then Adam Bel beat on the gate,
With strokes great and strong;
The porter heard such noise thereat,
And to the gate fast he throng.
throng, hurried.
"Who is there now," said the porter,
"That maketh all this knocking?
"We be two messengers," said Clym of the Clough,
"Be comen straight from our king."
"We have a letter," said Adam Bel,
"To the justice we must it bring;
Let us in, our message to do,
That we were again to our king."
"Here cometh no man in," said the porter,
"By Him that died on a tree,
Till a false thief be hanged,
Called William of Cloudeslè.
Then spake the good yeoman Clym of the Clough,
And swore by Mary free,
"And if that we stand long without,
Like a thief hanged shalt thou be.
"Lo here we have the kings seal;
What! lordeyne, art thou wode?"
The porter wend it had been so,
And lightly did off his hode.
"Welcome be my lord's seal," he said,
"For that ye shall come in:"
He opened the gate full shortly,
An evil opening for him.
free, gracious. lordeyne, clown. wode, mad. wend, weened, thought. hode, hood.
"Now are we in," said Adam Bel,
"Thereof we are full fain,
But Christ knoweth that harrowed hell,
How we shall come out again."
"Had we the keys," said Clym of the Clough,
"Right well then should we speed;
Then might we come out well enough,
When we see time and need."
They called the porter to a council,
And wrang his neck in two,
And cast him in a deep dungeon,
And took his keys him fro.
"Now am I porter," said Adam Bel,
"See, brother, the keys, have we here;
The worst porter to merry Carlisle,
That ye had this hundred year.
"And now will we our bows bend,
Into the town will we go,
For to deliver our dear brother,
That liveth in care and woe."
[And thereupon] they bent their bows,
And looked their strings were round;
The market place of merry Carlisle,
They beset in that stound.
And as they looked them beside,
A pair of new gallows there they see,
And the justice with a quest of swearers,
That had judged Cloudeslè there hanged to be.
And Cloudeslè himself lay ready in a cart,
Fast bound both foot and hand,
And a strong rope about his neck,
All ready for to be hanged.
The justice called to him a lad,
Cloudeslès clothes should he have,
To take the measure of that good yeoman,
And thereafter to make his grave.
"I have seen as great a marvel," said Cloudeslè,
"As between this and prime,
He that maketh this grave for me,
Himself may lie therein."
"Thou speakest proudly," said the justice,
"I shall thee hang with my hand:"
Full well that heard his brethren-two,
There still as they did stand.
Then Cloudeslè cast his eyen aside,
And saw his two brethren stand,
At a corner of the market place,
With their good bows bent in their hand.
quest, jury.
"I see good comfort," said Cloudeslè,
"Yet hope I well to fare;
If I might have my hands at will,
Right little would I care."
Then spake good Adam Bel,
To Clym of the Clough so free,
"Brother, see ye mark the justice well,
Lo yonder ye may him see.
"And at the sheriff shoot I will,
Strongly with an arrow keen;
A better shot in merry Carlisle
This seven year was not seen."
They loosed their arrows both at once,
Of no man had they dread;
The one hit the justice, the other the sheriff,
That both their sides gan bleed.
All men voided, that them stood nigh,
When the justice fell down to the ground,
And the sheriff fell nigh him by,
Either had had his deaths wound.
All the citizens fast gan fly,
They durst no longer abide;
Then lightly they loosed Cloudeslè,
When he with ropes lay tied.
William stert to an officer of the town,
His axe out of his hand he wrong,
On each side he smote them down,
Him thought he tarried all too long.
William said to his brethren two,
"This day let us together live and die;
If ever you have need as I have now,
The same shall you find by me."
They shot so well in that tide,
For their strings were of silk full sure,
That they kept the streets on every side:
That battle did long endure.
They fought together as brethren true,
Like hardy men and bold;
Many a man to the ground they threw,
And many a heart made cold.
But when their arrows were all gone,
Men pressed on them full fast;
They drew their swords then anon,
And their bows from them cast.
They went lightly on their way,
With swords and bucklers round;
By that it was the middle of the day,
They had made many a wound.
stert, rushed. wrong, wrung. sure, trusty.
There was many an out-horn in Carlisle blowen,
And the bells backward did they ring;
Many a woman said alas,
And many their hands did wring.
The mayor of Carlisle forth come was,
And with him a full great rout;
These three yeomen dread him full sore,
For of their lives they stood in great doubt.
The mayor came armed a full great pace,
With a pollaxe in his hand;
Many a strong man with him was,
There in that stour to stand.
The mayor smote at Cloudesle with his bill,
His buckler he burst in two;
Full many a yeoman with great ill,
"Alas, treason!" they cried for woe.
"Keep we the gates fast," they bad,
"That these traitors theréout not go."
But all for nought was that they wrought,
For so fast they down were laid,
Till they all three, that so manfully fought,
Were gotten without at a braid.
"Have here your keys," said Adam Bel,
"Mine office I here forsake;
If you do by my counsèl,
A new porter do ye make."
stour, battle. at a braid, in a moment.
He threw the keys there at their heads,
And bad them evil to thrive,
And all that letteth any good yeoman
To come and comfort his wife.
Thus be these good yeomen gone to the wood,
As light as leaf on lind;
They laugh and be merry in their mood,
Their enemies were far behind.
When they came to English wood,
Under the try sty tree,
There they found bows full good,
And arrows full great plenty.
"So God me help," said Adam Bel,
And Clym of the Clough so free,
"I would we were now in merry Carlisle,
Before that fair meany."
They set them down and made good cheer,
And eat and drank full well:
Here is a fit of these wight young men,
And another I shall you tell.
letteth, hindereth. lind, tree. trysty tree, trysting tree. meany, company.