And when they came before the king,
They knelt down on their knee:
And said, Lord, your officers greet you well,
Of Carlisle, in the north country.
How fareth my justice, said the king,
And my sheriff also?
Sir, they be slain, without lesynge,
And many an officer mo'.
Who hath them slain, said the king;
Anon thou tell to me?
Adam Bell, and Clym of the Clough,
And William of Cloudesly.
Alas for ruth! then said our king:
My heart is wondrous sore;
I had rather than a thousand pound,
I had known of this before;
For I have granted them grace,
And that forthinketh me:
But had I known all this before,
They had been hanged all three.
The king he opened the letter anon,
Himself he read it thro',
And found how these outlaws had slain
Three hundred men and mo':
First the justice, and the sheriff,
And the mayor of Carlisle town;
Of all the constables and catchpolls
Alive were scarce left one:
The baillies, and the beadles both,
And the sergeants of the law,
And forty foresters of the fee,[68]
These outlaws had yslaw.[69]
And broke his parks, and slain his deer;
Of all they chose the best;
Such perilous outlaws, as they were,
Walked not by east nor west.
When the king this letter had read,
In his heart he sighed sore:
Take up the tables anon he said,
For I may eat no more.