Whilst the poems and ballads on Robin Hood are more plentiful than on any other Englishman, the Chap-books are comparatively scarce, probably on account of the impossibility of condensing his numerous adventures and exploits into the conventional twenty-four pages. There are several editions printed in London, all having similar engravings, of which, however, but three or four belong properly to the work, which are reproduced below, the first being Robin Hood and the Abbot of St. Mary.
"He bound the Abbot to a tree,
And would not let him pass
Before that to his men and he,
His Lordship had said Mass."
The next is Robin's attack on the Bishop of Ely.