| Robin Hood | Edwin H. Hoff |
| Little John | W.H. Macdonald |
| Scarlet | Eugene Cowles |
| Friar Tuck | George Frothingham |
| Alan-a-Dale | Jessie Bartlett Davis |
| Sheriff of Nottingham | H.C. Barnabee |
| Sir Guy | Peter Lang |
| Maid Marian | Marie Stone |
| Annabel | Carlotta Maconda |
| Dame Durden | Josephine Bartlett |
ACT I
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In Sherwood forest, the merriest of lives, Is our outlaw's life so free! We roam and rove in Sherwood's grove, Beneath the greenwood tree. Through all the glades and sylvan shades Our homes (through the glades) are found; We hunt the deer, afar and near, Our hunting horns do we sound. |
And thus begins the merriest tale of the merriest lives imaginable. It is on a May morning: every young sprint and his sweetheart in Nottingham are out in their best, for the fair—May-day fair in Nottingham; and near at hand, Alan-a-Dale, Little John, Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck, and the finest company of outlaws ever told about, are just entering the town to add to the gaiety.
Now in the village of Nottingham lived Dame Durden and her daughter, Annabel. Annabel was a flirtatious young woman who welcomed the outlaws in her very best manner. She assured them that outlaws of such high position would surely add much to the happiness of the occasion; and they certainly did, before the day was over. The outlaws came in, as fine a looking lot and as handsome as one would wish to see, and joined the village dance. It was an old English dance, called a "Morris Dance," with a lilt and a tilt which set all feet a-going.
[[Listen]]
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Fa la, fa la, Trip a morris dance hilarious, Lightly brightly, Trip in measure multifarious, Fa la la, fa la la, Trip a morris dance hilarious, Lightly and brightly we celebrate the fair! |
If anything was needed to add to the gaiety of the day, the outlaws furnished it, because, among other things, they brought to the fair a lot of goods belonging to other people, and they meant to put them up at auction.
Friar Tuck was an old renegade monk who travelled about with the merry men of Sherwood, to seem to lend a little piety to their doings. He had a little bottle-shaped belly and the dirtiest face possible, a tonsured head, and he wore a long brown habit tied round the middle with a piece of rope which did duty for several things besides tying this gown. He was a droll, jolly little bad man and he began the auction with mock piety: