Cundall Robin Hood and his Merry Foresters

1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-98531-478-2
Verlag: OTB eBook publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 87 Seiten

Written in 1841 by Joseph Cundall, (1818 - 1895), a Victorian English writer who also published under the pseudonym of 'Stephen Percy', and was a pioneer photographer and London publisher of children's books. Great tales of Robin Hood, that the author is telling his school chums during successive days at school. Very well done with great stories of Robin and his men. (Goodreads)

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cundall, Joseph

Leseproben

OUR SECOND MEETING.
ROBIN HOOD AND ALLEN-A-DALE.
On the next evening, when I took my seat beneath the sycamore, I found that it was surrounded by no less than six of my school-fellows; so popular had been the legends of Robin Hood with my hearers of the previous day. I was mightily pleased at this, and with renewed confidence began the following tale:— “Shortly after the accession of Will Scarlet to his company, Robin Hood was one morning roaming through the forest, when he beheld a young man, very elegantly dressed in crimson silk, skipping merrily over the green plain, singing a roundelay; his face was lighted up with gladness, and his heart seemed overflowing with joy. “On the very next morning Robin Hood again encountered the same youth. All his finery was gone. He wore a russet suit, and his countenance was overspread with melancholy. He walked slowly, absorbed in meditation, and now and then broke out into exclamations of the keenest grief. The outlaw’s heart was moved. ‘What can have caused this sudden change,’ he said to himself: ‘perhaps I may relieve his sorrows;’ and emerging from the grove he stood before the young man’s path. “‘What ailest thou my friend?’ he said to him; ‘but yesterday thou wert as gay as a lark, and to-day as thou wert at a funeral.’ “‘Why dost thou ask?’ said the youth: ‘thou canst not help me in my distress.’ “‘I have a hundred as good yeomen as ever drew bow in the green-wood,’ replied the outlaw, ‘that will do my bidding as I list.’ “‘Lend me thine aid,’ cried the young man eagerly, ‘and I’ll be thy true servant for ever. My name is Allen-a-Dale. But yesterday I was to have wedded the fairest maiden upon whom the sun ever shone. To-day she is taken from me, and will be forced to marry a rich old knight whom she detests.’ “‘Where is the wedding to take place,’ inquired Robin Hood. “‘At the little church in the vale ’twixt here and Nottingham,’ replied the lover; ‘’tis not five miles distant.’ “‘We will try what’s to be done,’ rejoined Robin. ‘Come with me, and by my faith it shall go hard but thou gettest thy fair maiden yet;’ and taking the now hopeful youth by the hand, the outlaw led him away. “Great preparations were made for the approaching wedding in the village church that Allen-a-Dale had mentioned. The lord bishop of the diocese was there, dressed in his gorgeous robes; and the cottagers, decked out in their holiday costume, were waiting anxiously to witness so grand a marriage. An old man with a long flowing beard likewise demanded and received admission into the interior of the sacred edifice. He wore a sombre-coloured mantle that entirely covered him, and carried, slung by a belt across his shoulders, a harp, which, as he seated himself near the altar, he placed at his feet, ready to strike on the appearance of the bridal party. Presently the grave old knight entered the church, leading the beautiful damsel by the hand. Young girls, dressed in white, scattered roses in their path as they advanced, and the harper sounded his noble instrument. The poor maiden seemed totally unconscious of all that passed. She walked slowly, with her head bent to the earth; and tears burst from her eyes, and coursed each other down her lovely cheeks: but the old knight was unmoved, and hurried her to the altar. The bishop opened his book and began the ceremony. “‘I forbid this match,’ exclaimed a voice that seemed to proceed from where the harper sat. “The reverend father, surprised at so unusual an interruption, stopped, and looked around:—‘Stand forth, whoever thou art, and state thy reasons,’ said he, after a long pause. “‘This old knight is not the damsel’s free choice,’ cried the old man, rising from his seat, ‘and I forbid the marriage.’ At the same moment pulling away his false beard, and casting aside his cloak, Robin Hood drew a bugle-horn from his baldric, and stunned the ears of bishop, knight, and maiden, with the loudness of his blast. At the summons four and twenty yeomen darted out of a grove that was close at hand, bounded like wild deer over the plain, and quickly entered the church. The first man among them was Allen-a-Dale. He ran to Robin Hood, and gave him his trusty bow; then, rushing to the altar, he hurled the old knight aside, and clasping the lovely maiden in his arms, bore her to the outlaw. “‘Now, my good lord bishop,’ said Robin Hood, ‘thou may’st marry this fair lady to her own true love.’ “‘That cannot be,’ returned the bishop, closing his book with a loud clap; ‘the law requireth that the banns be published three times in the church.’ “‘We will soon remedy that,’ cried Little John, stepping forward from among the bowmen. ‘Lend me thy gown awhile, good master bishop, and I will do that office;’ and as he spake, he entered the enclosed space by the altar, and stood by the side of the reverend father, who, with a very ill will, suffered his robe to be taken from his person. “The foresters and villagers, one and all, could not restrain their mirth when the tall yeoman put the garment upon himself, and took up the bishop’s volume. For fear that thrice might not be enough, he published the banns seven times, while Allen-a-Dale and his betrothed took their places at the altar steps. “‘Who gives away this maid?’ asked Little John when he had finished that part of his duty. “‘That do I,’ answered Robin Hood, who stood at the damsel’s side. ‘Where’s the man who dares dispute my gift?’ and clapping the bridegroom upon his shoulders—‘Cheer ye, my gallant friend,’ he cried; ‘by my troth thou hast boldly won the fairest maiden in Christendom.’ “Neither the old knight nor the bishop interposed, but while Little John proceeded with the ceremony they both left the church. As soon as all was concluded, the young girls again strewed flowers in the path of the now joyous bride, the bells struck up a merry peal, and the villagers and foresters, rushing out of the church, greeted the happy pair with loud shouts of joy. Robin Hood and his men escorted them home, and having drunk to the welfare and happiness of young Allen-a-Dale and his fair lady, they again returned to their green-wood shades. ROBIN HOOD’S GOLDEN PRIZE.
“There were many days in which the outlaws of Sherwood scarcely knew how to pass away their time. They often grew tired of their easy and careless life, and longed for an adventure where more active exertions would be required. Robin Hood, especially, could ill brook the monotony of a forester’s life. He was ever bent upon some enterprise, either by himself alone, or with the assistance of his followers; and rarely a week passed but that the bold captain threw a good store of gold into his treasury. One day he disguised himself in the dress of a friar. A long dark-coloured gown completely covered his green doublet, and a large cowl over his head nearly concealed his features. His waist was girt round with a white woollen rope, from which were suspended a string of beads and an ivory crucifix. Thus attired, with a staff in his hand, he took the high road, and trudged on merrily. The first persons he met were, an honest husbandman, clad in tattered garments, carrying a chubby boy in his arms, and his wife, with an infant, following mournfully in his steps. Robin Hood stopped them, inquired the cause of their grief, and learned that their cottage had been burned down by a party of marauders, and that they were then on their way to Nottingham, where the poor man hoped to obtain employment. “The seeming priest, moved with compassion at their forlorn state, drew forth a broad piece of gold and gave it to the wanderers, who ever after blessed the day they met the generous friar. “Robin Hood walked on nearly a mile farther without meeting a single traveller, when at last he espied two monks in black gowns coming towards him, riding upon mules. “‘Benedicite,’ said Robin Hood meekly, as they drew near him; ‘I pray ye, holy brethren, have pity upon a poor wandering friar, who has neither broken bread nor drank of the cup this day.’ “‘We are grieved, good brother,’ replied one of the monks, ‘we have not so much as a penny. Robbers met us on the way, who have stripped us of all our gold.’ “‘I fear thou tellest not the truth,’ returned the friar. ‘Wherefore did they leave ye those beasts?’ “‘Now by’r lady,’ cried the second monk, ‘thou art an insolent fellow,’ and pushing on their mules he and his companion galloped off. The outlaw laughed at their precipitate decampment, then starting off at his best speed, he soon overtook them. ‘Brethren,’ he cried, as one after the other he pulled them from their saddles, ‘since we have no money, let us pray to our dear lady to send us some;’ and falling on his knees he made the monks kneel down beside him. The old ballad says “‘The priests did pray, with mournful cheer, Sometimes their hands did wring, Sometimes they wept and cried aloud, Whilst Robin did merrily sing.’ “After some time thus spent, the outlaw rose. ‘Now, my brethren,’ quoth he, ‘let us see what money has been sent us—we will all share alike;’ and putting his hand in his pocket he pulled forth twenty pieces of gold, and laid them on the grass. The monks fumbled a long time amid their garments, but could find nothing. “‘Let me search,’ cried the friar; ‘perchance...