Lordings, listen, and hold you still;
Hearken to me a spell;
I shall you tell of the fairest battell
That ever in England befell.
II
It befell in Edward the Third’s dayes,
When in England he ware the crowne,
That all the chief chivalry of England
They buskèd[1023] and made them bowne[1024].
III
They have chosen all the best archers
That in England might be found,
And all was to fight with the King of France,
Within a litle stounde[1025].
IV
And when our King was over the water,
And on the salt sea gone,
Then tydings into Scotland came
That all England was gone.
V
Bowes and arrowes they all were forth;
At home was not left a man
But shepards and millers both,
And preists with shaven crownes.