115ROBYN AND GANDELEYN
Sloane MS., 2593, fol. 14 b, British Museum.
Printed by Ritson, Ancient Songs, 1790, p. 48, and by Thomas Wright, Songs and Carols (selected from the Sloane MS.), No X, London, 1836, and again in his edition of the whole MS. for the Warton Club, 1856, p. 42. The manuscript is put at about 1450.
Wright remarks on the similarity of the name Gandelyn to Gamelyn in the tale assigned to the Cook in some manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales, and on the resemblance of the tale of Gamelyn to Robin Hood story. But he could hardly have wished to give the impression that Robin in this ballad is Robin Hood. This he no more is than John in the ballad which precedes is Little John; though Gandelyn is as true to his master as LittleJohn is, and is pronounced to be by the king, in ‘Robin Hood and the Monk.’ Ritson gave the ballad the title of ‘Robin Lyth,’ looking on the ‘lyth’ of the burden as the hero’s surname; derived perhaps from the village of Lythe, two or three miles to the north of Whitby. A cave on the north side of the promontory of Flamborough, called Robin Lyth’s Hole (popularly regarded as the stronghold of a pirate), may have been, Ritson thinks, one of the skulking-places of the Robin who fell by the shaft of Wrennok. “Robin Hood,” he adds, “had several such in those and other parts; and, indeed, it is not very improbable that our hero had been formerly in the suite of that gallant robber, and, on his master’s death, had set up for himself.” Thought is free.
Translated by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, page 44, No. 6.
1I herde a carpyng of a clerk,Al at ȝone wodesende,Of gode Robyn and Gandeleyn;Was þernonoþerþynge.Robynnlyth in grene wode bowndyn2Stronge theuys wern þo chylderinnon,But bowmengode and hende;He wentynto wode to getynhemfleych,If God wold it hemsende.3Al day wentynþo chylderintoo,And fleych fowndynhe non,Til it werea-geyn euyn;Þe chylderinwold gonhom.4Half anhonderid of fat falyf derHe comyna-ȝon,And alle he wern fayr and fat i-now,But markyd was þernon:‘Be dereGod,’ seyde gode Robyn,‘Here of we xul haue on.’5Robynbent his joly bowe,Þerin he set a flo;Þe fattest der of alleÞe herte he clef a to.6He hadde not þe der i-flawe,Ne half out of þe hyde,Therecam a schrewde arwe out of þe west,Þat felde Robertespryde.7Gandeleyn lokyd hymest and west,Be euery syde:‘Hoo hat mynmaysterslayin?Ho hat donþis dede?Xal I neuerout of grene wode goTil I se [his] sydis blede.’8Gandeleyn lokyd hymest and lokyd west,And sowt vnderþe sunne;He saw a lytil boyHe clepynWrennok of Donne.9A good bowe in his hond,A brod arwe þerine,And fowreand twenti goode arwys,Trusyd in a þrumme:‘Be war þe, war þe, Gandeleyn,Her-of þu xalt hansumme.10‘Be war þe, war þe, Gandeleyn,Her of þu gyst plente:’‘Eueron for anoþer,’ seyde Gandeleyn;‘Mysaunterhaue he xal fle.11‘Qwer-at xal ourmarke be?’Seyde Gandeleyn:‘Eueryche at oþeris herte,’Seyde Wrennok ageyn.12‘Ho xal ȝeue þe ferste schote?’Seyde Gandeleyn:‘And I xul ȝeue þe on be-forn,’Seyde Wrennok ageyn.13Wrennok schette a ful good schote,And he schet not to hye;Þrow þe sanchoþis of his bryk;It towchyd neyþerthye.14‘Now hast þu ȝouynme on be-forn,’Al þus to Wrennok seyde he,‘And þrow þe myȝt of ourladyA bettereI xal ȝeue þe.’15Gandeleyn bent his goode bowe,And set þerin a flo;He schet þrow his grene certyl,His herte he clef on too.16‘Now xalt þu neuerȝelpe, Wrennok,At ale ne at wyn,Þat þu hast slawe goode Robyn,And his knaue Gandeleyn.17‘Now xalt þu neuerȝelpe, Wrennok,At wyn ne at ale,Þat þu hast slawe goode Robyn,And Gandeleynhis knaue.’Robynlyȝth in grene wode bowndyn
1I herde a carpyng of a clerk,Al at ȝone wodesende,Of gode Robyn and Gandeleyn;Was þernonoþerþynge.Robynnlyth in grene wode bowndyn2Stronge theuys wern þo chylderinnon,But bowmengode and hende;He wentynto wode to getynhemfleych,If God wold it hemsende.3Al day wentynþo chylderintoo,And fleych fowndynhe non,Til it werea-geyn euyn;Þe chylderinwold gonhom.4Half anhonderid of fat falyf derHe comyna-ȝon,And alle he wern fayr and fat i-now,But markyd was þernon:‘Be dereGod,’ seyde gode Robyn,‘Here of we xul haue on.’5Robynbent his joly bowe,Þerin he set a flo;Þe fattest der of alleÞe herte he clef a to.6He hadde not þe der i-flawe,Ne half out of þe hyde,Therecam a schrewde arwe out of þe west,Þat felde Robertespryde.7Gandeleyn lokyd hymest and west,Be euery syde:‘Hoo hat mynmaysterslayin?Ho hat donþis dede?Xal I neuerout of grene wode goTil I se [his] sydis blede.’8Gandeleyn lokyd hymest and lokyd west,And sowt vnderþe sunne;He saw a lytil boyHe clepynWrennok of Donne.9A good bowe in his hond,A brod arwe þerine,And fowreand twenti goode arwys,Trusyd in a þrumme:‘Be war þe, war þe, Gandeleyn,Her-of þu xalt hansumme.10‘Be war þe, war þe, Gandeleyn,Her of þu gyst plente:’‘Eueron for anoþer,’ seyde Gandeleyn;‘Mysaunterhaue he xal fle.11‘Qwer-at xal ourmarke be?’Seyde Gandeleyn:‘Eueryche at oþeris herte,’Seyde Wrennok ageyn.12‘Ho xal ȝeue þe ferste schote?’Seyde Gandeleyn:‘And I xul ȝeue þe on be-forn,’Seyde Wrennok ageyn.13Wrennok schette a ful good schote,And he schet not to hye;Þrow þe sanchoþis of his bryk;It towchyd neyþerthye.14‘Now hast þu ȝouynme on be-forn,’Al þus to Wrennok seyde he,‘And þrow þe myȝt of ourladyA bettereI xal ȝeue þe.’15Gandeleyn bent his goode bowe,And set þerin a flo;He schet þrow his grene certyl,His herte he clef on too.16‘Now xalt þu neuerȝelpe, Wrennok,At ale ne at wyn,Þat þu hast slawe goode Robyn,And his knaue Gandeleyn.17‘Now xalt þu neuerȝelpe, Wrennok,At wyn ne at ale,Þat þu hast slawe goode Robyn,And Gandeleynhis knaue.’Robynlyȝth in grene wode bowndyn
1I herde a carpyng of a clerk,Al at ȝone wodesende,Of gode Robyn and Gandeleyn;Was þernonoþerþynge.Robynnlyth in grene wode bowndyn
1
I herde a carpyng of a clerk,
Al at ȝone wodesende,
Of gode Robyn and Gandeleyn;
Was þernonoþerþynge.
Robynnlyth in grene wode bowndyn
2Stronge theuys wern þo chylderinnon,But bowmengode and hende;He wentynto wode to getynhemfleych,If God wold it hemsende.
2
Stronge theuys wern þo chylderinnon,
But bowmengode and hende;
He wentynto wode to getynhemfleych,
If God wold it hemsende.
3Al day wentynþo chylderintoo,And fleych fowndynhe non,Til it werea-geyn euyn;Þe chylderinwold gonhom.
3
Al day wentynþo chylderintoo,
And fleych fowndynhe non,
Til it werea-geyn euyn;
Þe chylderinwold gonhom.
4Half anhonderid of fat falyf derHe comyna-ȝon,And alle he wern fayr and fat i-now,But markyd was þernon:‘Be dereGod,’ seyde gode Robyn,‘Here of we xul haue on.’
4
Half anhonderid of fat falyf der
He comyna-ȝon,
And alle he wern fayr and fat i-now,
But markyd was þernon:
‘Be dereGod,’ seyde gode Robyn,
‘Here of we xul haue on.’
5Robynbent his joly bowe,Þerin he set a flo;Þe fattest der of alleÞe herte he clef a to.
5
Robynbent his joly bowe,
Þerin he set a flo;
Þe fattest der of alle
Þe herte he clef a to.
6He hadde not þe der i-flawe,Ne half out of þe hyde,Therecam a schrewde arwe out of þe west,Þat felde Robertespryde.
6
He hadde not þe der i-flawe,
Ne half out of þe hyde,
Therecam a schrewde arwe out of þe west,
Þat felde Robertespryde.
7Gandeleyn lokyd hymest and west,Be euery syde:‘Hoo hat mynmaysterslayin?Ho hat donþis dede?Xal I neuerout of grene wode goTil I se [his] sydis blede.’
7
Gandeleyn lokyd hymest and west,
Be euery syde:
‘Hoo hat mynmaysterslayin?
Ho hat donþis dede?
Xal I neuerout of grene wode go
Til I se [his] sydis blede.’
8Gandeleyn lokyd hymest and lokyd west,And sowt vnderþe sunne;He saw a lytil boyHe clepynWrennok of Donne.
8
Gandeleyn lokyd hymest and lokyd west,
And sowt vnderþe sunne;
He saw a lytil boy
He clepynWrennok of Donne.
9A good bowe in his hond,A brod arwe þerine,And fowreand twenti goode arwys,Trusyd in a þrumme:‘Be war þe, war þe, Gandeleyn,Her-of þu xalt hansumme.
9
A good bowe in his hond,
A brod arwe þerine,
And fowreand twenti goode arwys,
Trusyd in a þrumme:
‘Be war þe, war þe, Gandeleyn,
Her-of þu xalt hansumme.
10‘Be war þe, war þe, Gandeleyn,Her of þu gyst plente:’‘Eueron for anoþer,’ seyde Gandeleyn;‘Mysaunterhaue he xal fle.
10
‘Be war þe, war þe, Gandeleyn,
Her of þu gyst plente:’
‘Eueron for anoþer,’ seyde Gandeleyn;
‘Mysaunterhaue he xal fle.
11‘Qwer-at xal ourmarke be?’Seyde Gandeleyn:‘Eueryche at oþeris herte,’Seyde Wrennok ageyn.
11
‘Qwer-at xal ourmarke be?’
Seyde Gandeleyn:
‘Eueryche at oþeris herte,’
Seyde Wrennok ageyn.
12‘Ho xal ȝeue þe ferste schote?’Seyde Gandeleyn:‘And I xul ȝeue þe on be-forn,’Seyde Wrennok ageyn.
12
‘Ho xal ȝeue þe ferste schote?’
Seyde Gandeleyn:
‘And I xul ȝeue þe on be-forn,’
Seyde Wrennok ageyn.
13Wrennok schette a ful good schote,And he schet not to hye;Þrow þe sanchoþis of his bryk;It towchyd neyþerthye.
13
Wrennok schette a ful good schote,
And he schet not to hye;
Þrow þe sanchoþis of his bryk;
It towchyd neyþerthye.
14‘Now hast þu ȝouynme on be-forn,’Al þus to Wrennok seyde he,‘And þrow þe myȝt of ourladyA bettereI xal ȝeue þe.’
14
‘Now hast þu ȝouynme on be-forn,’
Al þus to Wrennok seyde he,
‘And þrow þe myȝt of ourlady
A bettereI xal ȝeue þe.’
15Gandeleyn bent his goode bowe,And set þerin a flo;He schet þrow his grene certyl,His herte he clef on too.
15
Gandeleyn bent his goode bowe,
And set þerin a flo;
He schet þrow his grene certyl,
His herte he clef on too.
16‘Now xalt þu neuerȝelpe, Wrennok,At ale ne at wyn,Þat þu hast slawe goode Robyn,And his knaue Gandeleyn.
16
‘Now xalt þu neuerȝelpe, Wrennok,
At ale ne at wyn,
Þat þu hast slawe goode Robyn,
And his knaue Gandeleyn.
17‘Now xalt þu neuerȝelpe, Wrennok,At wyn ne at ale,Þat þu hast slawe goode Robyn,And Gandeleynhis knaue.’
17
‘Now xalt þu neuerȝelpe, Wrennok,
At wyn ne at ale,
Þat þu hast slawe goode Robyn,
And Gandeleynhis knaue.’
Robynlyȝth in grene wode bowndyn
Robynlyȝth in grene wode bowndyn
Written continuously, without division of stanzas or verses. The burden, put after 1, stands at the head of the ballad.
Andfor&always.
14. gynge.
43. I now.
45. Robynwanting.
51. went.
76. Ti I.
93. & xx.
102. hir.
123. ȝewe.
124. seyd.
143. þumyȝt.
174. Gandelyyn: knawe.
Last line: bowdyn.