APPENDIX. LIFE OF ROBIN HOOD. From MS. Sloan, 715. nu. 7. f. 157. I ROBIN HOOD was borne at Lockesley in yorkeshyre, or after others in Notinghamsh. in ye dayes of Henry ye 2nd about ye yeare 1160, but lyued tyll ye latter end of Rich! ye fyrst, he was of wo!* parentage, but so ryotos yt he lost or sould his patrimony & for debt became an outlawe, the ioyning to him many stout fellowes of like disposicōn, amongst whome one called little John was principal, or next to him they hauted about Barnsdale forrest, Clopton parke, & such oth places, they vsed most of al shooting wherin they excelled all the me of the land, though as occatio required, they had al so oth' weapons. one of his first exployts was ye goyng abrode into a * Ritson says, "though the material word is illegible the sense evidently requires noble.” + Qy. Plompton Park, in Cumberland, formerly very large and set apart for keeping of the king's deer. forrest, & bearing wth him a bowe of exceeding great strength, he fell in to cōpāy wth certayne rangers or woodmē, who fell to quarrel wth him as making showe to vse such a bowe as no mā was able to shoote wth all, wherto Robin replyed yt he had two better the that at Lockesley, only he bare yt wth him nowe as a byrding bowe at length the cōtententio* grewe so hote, yt there was a wager layd about the kylling of a deere a great distance of, for pformace wherof, Robin offred to lay his head to a certayne some of money, of ye advantage of wch rash speach the oth p'sently tooke, so the marke being found out, one of the they were both to make his hart faynt & hand vnsteady as he was about to shoote vrged him wth ye losse of his head if he myst yo marke, notwthstāding Robin kyld ye deare, & gaue evry mā his money agayne saue to him wch at ye poynt of shooting so vpbrayded him wth dag to loose his hed for that. . ey he sayd they would drinke to geyth, & herevpō the oth" stomached ye matter, & frō quarelling they grewe to fighting wth him, but Robin getting him somewhat of wth shooting dispact the & so fled away & the betaking him * So MS. for " contention." selfe to liue in the woods by such booty as he could get his company encreast to an hūdred and a halfe, & in those dayes whether they were favord or how so ev they were couted invincible, wheresoe' he hard of any yt were of vnvsual strength & hardynes, he would disgyse him selfe & rath the fayle go lyke a begg to become acqueynted with the & aft he had tryed the wth fyghting nev giue the over tyl he had vsed means to drawe the to lyve aft his fashiō aft such mañ he pcurd ye pyner of wakefeyld to become one of his company & a freyr called Muchel, though some say he was an oth' kynd of religio' ma, for yt ye order of freyrs was not yet sprung vp Scarlock, he induced vpō this occacon one day meting him as he walked solitary, & lyke to a mã forlorne because a mayd to whom he was affyāced was take frō by the violence of her frēds & giuē to anoth' yt was auld & welthy, whervpō Robin vnderstandyng whē ye maryage day should be came to ye church as a beggr, & having his compay not far of, wch came in so sone as they hard ye sound of his horne, he toking ye bryde pforce frō him yt was in hand to have maryed her & caused the preist to wed her & Scarlocke togeyth'. amongst oth yt greatly frēded him was Sr Rich Lee a knight of Lancashire lord of . . rso.. castle & that first vpō this occatio it was the man' of Robin & his retinue to lyue by theiving & robbing, though yet he were some what religiously affected, & not wth out supstitio, but of al sayts he most honored ye vgin mary, so y' if any for her sake asked ought of him, he wold pforme it if possibly he could, neith' would he suffer any yt belonged vnto him to violate womē poreme, or any of the husbadry, al theyr attempts were chiefly against fat p'lats & religious psons & howses fryres, and he is comeded of John Mayor for ye prince of all theyues & robbers &c; nowe once it hapned him to send little John Scarlock & Muchel to ye sayles vpō watling streete to meete with some booty they wanted when any prey came to theyr hands to lead them into ye wood to theyr habitacōn, as if they would vse some hospitalitye, but after they had eate, would make the pay deerely for theyr cates, by stripping the of such things as 'they had, so they dealt with Sr Richard Lee leading to theyr m who made him ye best cheare they had & whe S Rich! would have depted only wth giving the thāks, Robin tould him it was not his man to dyne any where but he payd for such things as he tooke, & so should oths do to him 1 ere they pted & it were as he sayd no good mañs to refuse such doing, ye knight tould him he had but xsh wch he ment should have borne his charges at Blyth or doncastre & if he had none yt fared ful yl wth him at ye tyme to pte frō it onely he promised as he as he should be able to requite his curtesy wth ye lyke, but Robin not so cōtented caused him to be searcht & found no more but what ye knight had told him of, wherevpō he cōmended his true dealing & enquired furth touching ye cause of his sadness & barenes, ye knight tould him the of his state & ancestry & how his soñe & hayre falling at varinge wth a knight in Lācashire, slewe him in ye feild, for wch & some oth such lyke exployts, being in dang to loose his lyfe, the knight to pcure his deliverance, had been at great charges & evē lastly dryvē to pawn his castle & lyving to ye abbot of St Maryes at yorke for 400lj & the cheife Justice so dealt wth y abbot for his state or int est therein, that being lyke to forfeyt his lyving for lacke of money to redeeme it at ye day appoynted, he despayred now of al recv y; Robin the pittying his case gave him 400łj wch was pte of suche bootyes as they had go ́d, & suerty for payment againe wth in a tweluemonth was |