ROBIN HOOD

AND HIS §

MERRY-MEN.

 

Rosin Hoop, Earl of Huntingdon, when quite a young man,
lived at the Court of King Henry the Second. He was very rich
and very generous; but he wanted prudence, and gave away and
entertained so liberally, that he soon became in debt, and unable
to pay all that he owed. The Abbot of St. Mary’s, who had lent
him money, and who was a cruel and greedy man, took advantage
of Robin’s wants, and would have put him in prison, but Robin
fled, and hid himself in the great forest of Sherwood. He had
always been very fond of archery; but now he had to use his bow,
not in sport, but in earnest, to shoot the dappled deer that ran
wild in the woods, for his daily food. But Robin was much beloved
by the poor, to whom he had always been kind, and a number of
archers gradually joined him, and made him their Captain. In the
picture you will see Robin and some of his band. Robin wears an
eagle’s feather, because he is their chief. Little John, his Lieu-
tenant, is blowing the horn, to call the band together; for Friar
Tuck has killed a fat deer, and they will have a good supper by-
and-bye. Allan-a-Dale is sitting near, with his harp, to which he
will sing at the feast; and Will Scarlet, close behind him, is
listening to the Friar’s story of how he shot the deer.