The project it was well perform'd;125
The sheriff that letter had,
Which when he read, he scratch'd his head,
And rav'd like one that's mad.
So we'll leave him chafing in his grease,
Which will do him no good;130
[Now, my friends, attend, and hear the end]
[Of honest Robin Hood.]
[27], on the day. Ritson.
[111, 112]. Wanting in Ritson; supplied by Gutch, from a York edition.
[131, 132]. These lines, like the last two of the preceding ballad, refer to Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight.
ROBIN HOOD AND THE VALIANT KNIGHT:
Together with an account of his death and burial, &c. Tune of Robin Hood and the fifteen foresters.
"From the common garland of Aldermary-churchyard; corrected by the York copy." Ritson's Robin Hood, ii. 182.
When Robin Hood and his merry men all,
Derry down, down,
Had reigned many years,
The king was then told that they had been bold
To his bishops and noble peers.
Hey down, derry, derry down.