Whyle Robyn Hode may ryde or gone,
And bere a bowe in his hondes,
364.
364.2 ‘The ball in the hood’ is a very early colloquialism for the head.
‘That he ne shall lese his hede,
That is the best ball in his hode:
Give it no man, my lorde the kynge,
That ye wyll any good.’
365.
Half a yere dwelled our comly kynge