cadlock together." In
shooting with the long bow, the company excelled all the men in the
land; their archery indeed was unparalleled, as both Robin Hood and
Little John, _it is said_, have frequently shot an arrow a measured
mile, or 1,760 yards.

Charlton informs us, that in one of Robin's peregrinations, he, attended
by his trusty mate, John, went to dine at Whitby Abbey, with the abbot,
Richard, who having heard them often famed for their great dexterity
in shooting with the long bow, begged them after dinner to show him a
specimen. They went up top of the abbey, and each of them shot an arrow
that fell not far from Whitby-laths. The abbot placed a pillar on the
spot where each arrow fell, and named one Robin Hood's field, the other
John's field. Their distance from Whitby is more than a measured mile.

In these forests, and with his company, Robin for many years reigned
like an independent sovereign. At perpetual war with the King of England
and all his subjects, (with the exception of the poor and needy, the
desolate and oppressed, and those who stood in need of his protection,)
he defied the power of law and government; an outlaw in those times
having no protection, owed no allegiance, his hand was against every
man, and every man's hand against him;

The world was not his friend, nor the world's law.

The deer with which the royal forests then abounded, afforded Robin and
his companions an ample supply of food throughout the year. Their mode
of life and domestic economy are more easily guessed at than described.
Nevertheless, the poet has endeavoured to give us an outline in the
following:

The merry pranks he play'd would ask an age to tell,
And the adventures strange that Robin Hood befel;
When Mansfield many a time for Robin hath been laid,
How he hath cousen'd them, that him would have betray'd:
An hundred valiant men had this brave Robin Hood,
Still ready at his call, that bowmen were right good,
And of these archers brave, there was not any one
But he could kill a deer, his swiftest speed upon,
Which they did boil and roast, in many a mighty wood,
Sharp hunger, the fine sauce to their more kingly food.
Then taking them to rest, his merry men and he
Slept many a summer's night under the greenwood tree.
What oftentimes he took, he shar'd amongst the poor,
From wealthy Abbot's chests, and churl's abundant store,
He from the husband's bed no married woman wan,
B