O then bespoke brave Little John,45
"Come let us thither gang;
Come, listen to me, how it shall be
That we need not be ken'd.
"Our mantles, all of Lincoln-green,
Behind us we will leave;50
We'll dress us all so several,
They shall not us perceive.
"One shall wear white, another red,
One yellow, another blue;
Thus in disguise, to the exercise55
We'll gang, whate'er ensue."
Forth from the green-wood they are gone,
With hearts all firm and stout,
Resolving [then] with the sheriffs men
To have a hearty bout.60
So themselves they mixèd with the rest,
To prevent all suspicion;
For if they should together hold
They thought it no discretion.
So the sheriff looked round about,65
Amongst eight hundred men,
But could not see the sight that he
Had long suspected then.
Some said, "If Robin Hood was here,
And all his men to boot,70
Sure none of them could pass these men,
So bravely they do shoot."
"Ay," quoth the sheriff, and scratch'd his head,
"I thought he would have been here;
I thought he would, but tho' he's bold,75
He durst not now appear."
O that word griev'd Robin Hood to the heart;
He vexèd in his blood;
Ere long, thought he, thou shalt well see
That here was Robin Hood.80
Some cried "Blue jacket!" another cried "Brown!"
And a third cried "Brave Yellow!"
But the fourth man said, "Yon man in red
In this place has no fellow."