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Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow No. XXI. (page 224.): The Birth of Robin Hood. 1 - History of the Conquest of England by the Normans; Its Causes, and its Consequences, in England, Scotland, Ireland, & on the Continent, vol. 2

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No. XXI. (page 224.): The Birth of Robin Hood. 1 - Augustin Thierry, History of the Conquest of England by the Normans; Its Causes, and its Consequences, in England, Scotland, Ireland, & on the Continent, vol. 2 [1856]

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History of the Conquest of England by the Normans; Its Causes, and its Consequences, in England, Scotland, Ireland, & on the Continent, translated from the seventh Paris edition, by William Hazlitt (London: H.G. Bohn, 1856). In 2 volumes. Vol. 2.

Part of: History of the Conquest of England by the Normans; Its Causes, and its Consequences, in England, Scotland, Ireland, & on the Continent, 2 vols.

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No. XXI. (page 224.)

The Birth of Robin Hood.1

    • O Willie’s large o’ limb and lith,
    • And come o’ high degree;
    • And he is gane to Earl Richard
    • To serve for meat and fee.
    • Earl Richard had but ae daughter,
    • Fair as a lily flower;
    • And they made up their love-contract
    • Like proper paramour.
    • It fell upon a simmer’s nicht,
    • Whan the leaves were fair and green,
    • That Willie met his gay ladie
    • Intil the wood alane.
    • “O narrow is my gown, Willie,
    • That wont to be sae wide:
    • And gane is a’ my fair colour,
    • That wont to be my pride.
    • “But gin my father should get word
    • What’s past between us twa,
    • Before that he should eat or drink,
    • He’d hang you o’er that wa.
    • “But ye’ll come to my bower, Willie,
    • Just as the sun gaes down;
    • And kep me in your arms twa,
    • And latna me fa’ down.”
    • O whan the sun was now gane down,
    • He’s gaen him till her bower;
    • And there, by the lee licht o’ the moon,
    • Her windows he lookit o’er.
    • Intil a robe o’ red scarlet
    • She lap, fearless o’ harm;
    • And Willie was large o’ lith and limb,
    • And keppit her in his arm.
    • And they’ve gane to the gude green wood;
    • And ere the night was deen,
    • She’s born to him a bonny young son,
    • Amang the leaves sae green.
    • When night was gane, and day was come,
    • And the sun began to peep,
    • Up and raise he earl Richard,
    • Out o’ his drowsy sleep.
    • He’s ca’d upon his merry young men,
    • By ane, by twa, and by three:
    • “O what’s come o’ my daughter dear,
    • That she’s nae come to me?
    • “I dreamt a dreary dream last night,
    • God grant it come to gude!
    • I dreamt I saw my daughter dear
    • Drown in the saut sea flood.
    • “But gin my daughter be dead or sick,
    • O yet be stown awa,
    • I mak a vow, and I’ll keep it true,
    • I’ll hang ye ane and a’.”
    • They sought her back, they sought her fore,
    • They sought her up and down;
    • They got her in the gude green wood
    • Nursing her bonny young son.
    • He took the bonny boy in his arms
    • And kist him tenderlie;
    • Says, “Though I would your father hang.
    • Your mother’s dear to me.”
    • He kist him o’er and o’er again;
    • “My granson I thee claim;
    • And Robin Hood in gude green wood,
    • And that shall be your name.”
    • And mony ane sings o’ grass, o’ grass,
    • And mony ane sings o’ corn;
    • And mony ane sings o’ Robin Hood,
    • Kens little whare he was born.
    • It wasna in the ha’, the ha’,
    • Nor in the painted bower;
    • But it was in the gude green wood,
    • Amang the lily flower.

[1 ] Jamieson’s Popular Songs, ii. 44—48.