‘I had a son forsooth, Robin,
That should have been mine heir;
When he was twenty winter old
In field would joust full fair.
LIII
‘He slew a knight of Lancashire,
And a squièr bold;
For to save him in his right
My goods are set and sold.
LIV
‘My lands are set to wed[749], Robin,
Until a certain day,
To a rich Abbot here beside
Of St. Mary’s Abbèy.’
LV
‘What is the sum?’ said Robin Hood;
‘The truthè tell thou me;’
‘Sir,’ he said, ‘four hundred pound;
The Abbot told[750] it me.’
LVI
‘An thou lose thy land,’ said Robin Hood,
‘What shall fall of[751] thee?’—
‘Hastily I will me busk[752]
Over the saltè sea,