CCCXXVI
‘Go home, thou proud Sheriff,
And do as I bid thee,
And ordain good archers enough,
Of all the wide countrey.’
CCCXXVII
The Sheriff had his leave i-take,
And went him on his way;
And Robin Hood to green-wood went
Upon a certain day;
CCCXXVIII
And Little John was whole[881] of the arrow,
That shot was in his knee,
And did him straight to Robin Hood,
Under the green-wood tree.
CCCXXIX
Robin Hood walked in the forest
Under the leavès green;
The proud Sheriff of Nottingham
Thereof he had great teen.
CCCXXX
The Sheriff there fail’d of Robin Hood,
He might not have his prey;
Then he awaited this gentle Knight,
Both by night and day.