83–4.
Thou shalt have a livery twice in the year,
Th’one greene, tither brown shall be.
These parts of stanzas 7, 8 he gives as from a black-letter copy, which he does not describe.
B.
11,2 make half a stanza in the MS., and 13,4 are joined with 21,2. 45,6 and 51,2 make a stanza. It is not supposed that 4 and 5 were originally stanzas of six lines, but rather that, one half of each of two stanzas having been forgotten, the other has attached itself to a complete stanza which chanced to have the same rhyme. Stanzas of six lines, formed in this way, are common in traditional ballads.
34. guests.
43. 2s
:. in.
125
ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN
a. A Collection of Old Ballads, 1723, I, 75. b. Aldermary Garland, by R. Marshall, n. d., No 22.