“O cowardly dastard!” Will Scadlocke exclaim’d.
“Thou faint-hearted, sow-mothered reeve!
If ever my master doth deign thee to meet,
Thou shalt thy full paiment receive!”
Then Rhiban Hud, setting his horn to his mouth,
A blast he merrily blows;
His yeomen from bushes and treetops appeared,
A hundred, with trusty longbows.
And Little John came at the head of them all,
Cloath’d in a rich mantle, green;
And likewise the others were fancif ’ly drest,
A wonderous sight to be seen.
Forth from the greenwoode about they are come,
With hearts that are firm and e’er stout,
Pledging them all with the sheriff ’s yeomen
To give them a full hearty bout.
And Rhiban the Hud has removéd his cloak,
And the sheriff has uttered an oath,
And William now smites him on top of his pate
and swift exit is now made by both.
“Little I thought,” quod Scadlocke eft-soon,
“When I first came to this place,
For to have met with dear Little John,
Or again see my master’s fine face.”