"This is not a fit match," quoth Robin Hood,
"That you do seem to make here,
For since we are come into the church,
The bride shall choose her own dear."
Then Robin Hood put his horn to his mouth,
And blew blasts two or three;
When four-and-twenty yeomen bold
Came leaping over the lea.
And when they came into the churchyard,
Marching all in a row,
The first man was Allen-a-Dale
To give bold Robin his bow.
"This is thy true love," Robin he said,
"Young Allen, as I hear say;
And you shall be married this same time,
Before we depart away."
"That shall not be," the bishop cried,
"For thy word shall not stand;
They shall be three times ask'd in the church,
As the law is of our land."
Robin Hood pull'd off the bishop's coat,
And put it upon Little John;
"By the faith of my body," then Robin said,
"This cloth doth make thee a man."
When Little John went into the quire,
The people began to laugh;
He asked them seven times into church,
Lest three times should not be enough.
"Who gives me this maid?" said Little John,
Quoth Robin Hood, "That do I;
And he that takes her from Allen-a-Dale,
Full dearly he shall buy."
And then having ended this merry wedding,
The bride looked like a queen;
And so they returned to the merry greenwood,
Amongst the leaves so green.
—Author Unknown.