Had unto favour him receiv'd,
His brave men elevated:
'Tis pitty he was of life bereav'd
By one which he so hated.380
A treacherous leach this fryer was,
To let him bleed to death;
And Robbin was, methinks, an asse
To trust him with his breath.
His corpse the prioress of the place,385
The next day that he dy'd,
Caused to be buried, in mean case,
Close by the high-way side.
And over him she caused a stone
To be fixed on the ground;390
An epitaph was set thereon,
Wherein his name was found.
The date o' th' yeare, and day also,
Shee made to be set there,
That all who by the way did goe395
Might see it plain appeare,
That such a man as Robbin Hood
Was buried in that place;
And how he lived in the greene wood
And robb'd there for a space.400
It seemes that though the clergie he
Had put to mickle woe,
He should not quite forgotten be,
Although he was their foe.
This woman, though she did him hate,405
Yet loved his memory;
And thought it wondrous pitty that
His fame should with him dye.
This epitaph, as records tell,
Within this hundred yeares,410
By many was discerned well,
But [time] all things out-weares.
His followers, when he was dead,
Were some receiv'd to grace;
The rest to forraign countries fled,415
And left their native place.