283. were it but.
294. five for three, wrongly, see 222.
301. he wanting: through.
123
ROBIN HOOD AND THE CURTAL FRIAR
A. ‘Robine Hood and Ffryer Tucke,’ Percy MS., p. 10; Hales and Furnivall, I, 26.
B. ‘The Famous Battel between Robin Hood and the Curtal Fryer.’ a. Garland of 1663, No 11. b.[[99]] Pepys, I, 78, No 37. c. Garland of 1670. d. Wood, 401, leaf 15 b. e. Pepys, II, 99, No 86. f. Douce, II, 184.
B also in the Roxburghe collection, III, 16.
B d was printed in Ritson’s Robin Hood, 1795, II, 58, corrected by b and compared with e; and in Evans’s Old Ballads, 1777–1784, I, 136, probably from the Aldermary garland.
The opening verses of A are of the same description as those with which Nos 117, 118, 119, and others begin. 1 has been corrupted, and 2 also, one would think, as there is no apparent reason for maids weeping and young men wringing hands in the merry month of May. In the first stanza,
But how many merry monthes be in the yeere?