ially hard on the
clergy. There is a tradition that a woman named Maid Marian went with
Robin into the forest, but nothing is known about her. Robin lived till
the age of eighty-seven, and he might have lived longer but that a
treacherous relative, the prioress of Kirkley--to whose care he had
entrusted himself in order that he might be bled--allowed him to bleed
to death. At the time indicated in Tennyson's comedy--the year 1194,
which was the year of King Richard's return from captivity in
Germany--he was thirty-four years old. It is the year of _Ivanhoe_, and
in the play as in the novel, the evil agent is the usurper Prince John.

Fifteen characters take part in this comedy. Act first is called "The
Bond and the Outlawry." The action begins in a garden before Sir Richard
Lea's castle--or rather the dialogue begins there, by which the basis of
the action is revealed. Maid Marian is Marian Lea, the daughter of Sir
Richard. Walter Lea, the son of Sir Richard, has been captured by the
Moors, and in order to pay the boy's ransom Sir Richard has borrowed a
large sum of money from the Abbot of York. That debt must presently be
paid; but Sir Richard does not see his way clear to its payment, and if
he does not pay it he must forfeit his land. The Sheriff of Nottingham,
a wealthy suitor for the hand of Marian, is willing to pay that debt, in
case the girl will favour his suit. But Marian loves the Earl of
Huntingdon and is by him beloved; and all would go well with those
lovers, and with Sir Richard, but that the Earl of Huntingdon is poor.
Poor though he be, however, he makes a feast, to celebrate his birthday,
and to that festival Sir Richard and his daughter are bidden. Act first
displays the joyous proceedings of that good meeting and the posture of
those characters toward each other. The Sheriff of Nottingham intrudes
himself upon the scene, accompanied by Prince John, who is disguised as
a friar. The Prince has cast a covetous eye upon Marian, and, although
he outwardly favours the wish of the Sheriff, he is secretly determined
to seize her for himself. The revellers at Huntingdon's feast, unaware
of the Prince's presence, execrate his name, and at length he retires,
in a silent fury. Robin gives to Marian a remarkable ring that he has
inherited from his mother. Later a herald enters and reads a
proclamation from Prince John, declaring the Earl of Huntingdon to be a
felon, and commanding his banishment. Robin cannot forc