08

Little John and the Tanner of Blyth



ONE FINE DAY, not long after Little John had left abiding with the Sheriff

and had come back, with his worship's cook, to the merry greenwood,

as has just been told, Robin Hood and a few chosen fellows of his band

lay upon the soft sward beneath the greenwood tree where they dwelled.

The day was warm and sultry, so that while most of the band were

scattered through the forest upon this mission and upon that,

these few stout fellows lay lazily beneath the shade of the tree,

in the soft afternoon, passing jests among themselves and telling

merry stories, with laughter and mirth.



All the air was laden with the bitter fragrance of the May,

and all the bosky shades of the woodlands beyond rang with the sweet

song of birds--the throstle cock, the cuckoo, and the wood pigeon--

and with the song of birds mingled the cool sound of the gurgling brook

that leaped out of the forest shades, and ran fretting amid its rough,

gray stones across the sunlit open glade before the trysting tree.

And a fair sight was that halfscore of tall, stout yeomen, all clad

in Lincoln green, lying beneath the broad-spreading branches of

the great oak tree, amid the quivering leaves of which the sunlight

shivered and fell in dancing patches upon the grass.



Suddenly Robin Hood smote his knee.



"By Saint Dunstan," quoth he, "I had nigh forgot that quarter-day

cometh on apace, and yet no cloth of Lincoln green in all our store.

It must be looked to, and that in quick season. Come, busk thee,

Little John! Stir those lazy bones of thine, for thou must get

thee straightway to our good gossip, the draper Hugh Longshanks

of Ancaster. Bid him send us straightway twentyscore yards of fair

cloth of Lincoln green; and mayhap the journey may take some of

the fat from off thy bones, that thou hast gotten from lazy living

at our dear Sheriff's."



"Nay," muttered Little John (for he had heard so much upon this

score that he was sore upon the point), "nay, truly, mayhap I have

more flesh upon my joints than I once had, yet, flesh or no flesh,

I doubt not that I could still hold my place and footing upon a narrow

bridge against e'er a yeoman in Sherwood, or Nottinghamshire,

for the matter of that, even though he had no more fat about his

bones than thou hast, good master."



At this reply a great shout of laughter went up, and all looked at Robin Hood,

for each man knew that Little John spake of a certain fight that happened

between their master and himself, through which they first became acquainted.



"Nay," quoth Robin Hood, laughing louder than all. "Heaven forbid

that I should doubt thee, for I care for no taste of thy staff myself,

Little John. I must needs own that there are those of my band

can handle a seven-foot staff more deftly than I; yet no man

in all Nottinghamshire can draw gray goose shaft with my fingers.

Nevertheless, a journey to Ancaster may not be ill for thee;

so go thou, as I bid, and thou hadst best go this very evening,

for since thou hast abided at the Sheriff's many know thy face,

and if thou goest in broad daylight, thou mayst get thyself

into a coil with some of his worship's men-at-arms. Bide thou

here till I bring thee money to pay our good Hugh. I warrant

he hath no better customers in all Nottinghamshire than we."

So saying, Robin left them and entered the forest.



Not far from the trysting tree was a great rock in which a chamber had been

hewn, the entrance being barred by a massive oaken door two palms'-breadth

in thickness, studded about with spikes, and fastened with a great padlock.

This was the treasure house of the band, and thither Robin Hood went and,

unlocking the door, entered the chamber, from which he brought forth a bag

of gold which he gave to Little John, to pay Hugh Longshanks withal,

for the cloth of Lincoln green.



Then up got Little John, and, taking the bag of gold, which he

thrust into his bosom, he strapped a girdle about his loins,

took a stout pikestaff full seven feet long in his hand,

and set forth upon his journey.



So he strode whistling along the leafy forest path that led

to Fosse Way, turning neither to the right hand nor the left,

until at last he came to where the path branched, leading on

the one hand onward to Fosse Way, and on the other, as well

Little John knew, to the merry Blue Boar Inn. Here Little John

suddenly ceased whistling and stopped in the middle of the path.

First he looked up and then he looked down, and then, tilting his

cap over one eye, he slowly scratched the back part of his head.

For thus it was: at the sight of these two roads, two voices

began to alarum within him, the one crying, "There lies the road

to the Blue Boar Inn, a can of brown October, and a merry night

with sweet companions such as thou mayst find there"; the other,

"There lies the way to Ancaster and the duty thou art sent upon."

Now the first of these two voices was far the louder,

for Little John had grown passing fond of good living through

abiding at the Sheriff's house; so, presently, looking up

into the blue sky, across which bright clouds were sailing

like silver boats, and swallows skimming in circling flight,

quoth he, "I fear me it will rain this evening, so I'll e'en stop

at the Blue Boar till it passes by, for I know my good master

would not have me wet to the skin." So, without more ado,

off he strode down the path that lay the way of his likings.

Now there was no sign of any foul weather, but when one wishes

to do a thing, as Little John did, one finds no lack of reasons

for the doing.



Four merry wags were at the Blue Boar Inn; a butcher, a beggar,

and two barefoot friars. Little John heard them singing from afar,

as he walked through the hush of the mellow twilight that was now falling

over hill and dale. Right glad were they to welcome such a merry

blade as Little John. Fresh cans of ale were brought, and with jest

and song and merry tales the hours slipped away on fleeting wings.

None thought of time or tide till the night was so far gone that Little John

put by the thought of setting forth upon his journey again that night,

and so bided at the Blue Boar Inn until the morrow.



Now it was an ill piece of luck for Little John that he left

his duty for his pleasure, and he paid a great score for it,

as we are all apt to do in the same case, as you shall see.



Up he rose at the dawn of the next day, and, taking his stout

pikestaff in his hand, he set forth upon his journey once more,

as though he would make up for lost time.



In the good town of Blyth there lived a stout tanner, celebrated far and near

for feats of strength and many tough bouts at wrestling and the quarterstaff.

For five years he had held the mid-country champion belt for wrestling,

till the great Adam o' Lincoln cast him in the ring and broke one of his ribs;

but at quarterstaff he had never yet met his match in all the country about.

Besides all this, he dearly loved the longbow, and a sly jaunt in the forest

when the moon was full and the dun deer in season; so that the King's rangers

kept a shrewd eye upon him and his doings, for Arthur a Bland's house was apt

to have aplenty of meat in it that was more like venison than the law allowed.



Now Arthur had been to Nottingham Town the day before Little John set

forth on his errand, there to sell a halfscore of tanned cowhides.

At the dawn of the same day that Little John left the inn,

he started from Nottingham, homeward for Blyth. His way led,

all in the dewy morn, past the verge of Sherwood Forest, where the birds

were welcoming the lovely day with a great and merry jubilee.

Across the Tanner's shoulders was slung his stout quarterstaff,

ever near enough to him to be gripped quickly, and on his head was

a cap of doubled cowhide, so tough that it could hardly be cloven

even by a broadsword.



"Now," quoth Arthur a Bland to himself, when he had come to

that part of the road that cut through a corner of the forest,

"no doubt at this time of year the dun deer are coming

from the forest depths nigher to the open meadow lands.

Mayhap I may chance to catch a sight of the dainty brown

darlings thus early in the morn." For there was nothing

he loved better than to look upon a tripping herd of deer,

even when he could not tickle their ribs with a clothyard shaft.

Accordingly, quitting the path, he went peeping this way

and that through the underbrush, spying now here and now there,

with all the wiles of a master of woodcraft, and of one who had

more than once donned a doublet of Lincoln green.



Now as Little John stepped blithely along, thinking of nothing but of such

things as the sweetness of the hawthorn buds that bedecked the hedgerows,

or gazing upward at the lark, that, springing from the dewy grass,

hung aloft on quivering wings in the yellow sunlight, pouring forth

its song that fell like a falling star from the sky, his luck led him

away from the highway, not far from the spot where Arthur a Bland

was peeping this way and that through the leaves of the thickets.

Hearing a rustling of the branches, Little John stopped and presently

caught sight of the brown cowhide cap of the Tanner moving among the bushes



"I do much wonder," quoth Little John to himself, "what yon knave

is after, that he should go thus peeping and peering about I

verily believe that yon scurvy varlet is no better than a thief,

and cometh here after our own and the good King's dun deer."

For by much roving in the forest, Little John had come to look upon

all the deer in Sherwood as belonging to Robin Hood and his band

as much as to good King Harry. "Nay," quoth he again, after a time,

"this matter must e'en be looked into." So, quitting the highroad,

he also entered the thickets, and began spying around after stout

Arthur a Bland.



So for a long time they both of them went hunting about,

Little John after the Tanner, and the Tanner after the deer.

At last Little John trod upon a stick, which snapped under

his foot, whereupon, hearing the noise, the Tanner turned

quickly and caught sight of the yeoman. Seeing that the Tanner

had spied him out, Little John put a bold face upon the matter.



"Hilloa," quoth he, "what art thou doing here, thou naughty fellow?

Who art thou that comest ranging Sherwood's paths?

In very sooth thou hast an evil cast of countenance,

and I do think, truly, that thou art no better than a thief,

and comest after our good King's deer."



"Nay," quoth the Tanner boldly--for, though taken by surprise, he was

not a man to be frightened by big words--"thou liest in thy teeth.

I am no thief, but an honest craftsman. As for my countenance, it is

what it is; and, for the matter of that, thine own is none too pretty,

thou saucy fellow."



"Ha!" quoth Little John in a great loud voice, "wouldst thou give

me backtalk? Now I have a great part of a mind to crack thy pate

for thee. I would have thee know, fellow, that I am, as it were,

one of the King's foresters. Leastwise," muttered he to himself,

"I and my friends do take good care of our good sovereign's deer."



"I care not who thou art," answered the bold Tanner, "and unless

thou hast many more of thy kind by thee, thou canst never make

Arthur a Bland cry `A mercy.' "



"Is it so?" cried Little John in a rage. "Now, by my faith,

thou saucy rogue, thy tongue hath led thee into a pit thou

wilt have a sorry time getting out of; for I will give thee

such a drubbing as ne'er hast thou had in all thy life before.

Take thy staff in thy hand, fellow, for I will not smite

an unarmed man.



"Marry come up with a murrain!" cried the Tanner, for he, too, had talked

himself into a fume. "Big words ne'er killed so much as a mouse.

Who art thou that talkest so freely of cracking the head

of Arthur a Bland? If I do not tan thy hide this day as ne'er

I tanned a calf's hide in all my life before, split my staff

into skewers for lamb's flesh and call me no more brave man!

Now look to thyself, fellow!"



"Stay!" said Little John. "Let us first measure our cudgels.

I do reckon my staff longer than thine, and I would not take

vantage of thee by even so much as an inch."



"Nay, I pass not for length," answered the Tanner. "My staff is long enough

to knock down a calf; so look to thyself, fellow, I say again."



So, without more ado, each gripped his staff in the middle, and, with fell

and angry looks, they came slowly together.





Now news had been brought to Robin Hood how that Little John, instead of

doing his bidding, had passed by duty for pleasure, and so had stopped

overnight with merry company at the Blue Boar Inn, instead of going

straight to Ancaster. So, being vexed to his heart by this, he set forth

at dawn of day to seek Little John at the Blue Boar, or at least to meet

the yeoman on the way, and ease his heart of what he thought of the matter.

As thus he strode along in anger, putting together the words he would

use to chide Little John, he heard, of a sudden, loud and angry voices,

as of men in a rage, passing fell words back and forth from one to the other.

At this, Robin Hood stopped and listened. "Surely," quoth he to himself,

"that is Little John's voice, and he is talking in anger also.

Methinks the other is strange to my ears. Now Heaven forfend that my good

trusty Little John should have fallen into the hands of the King's rangers.

I must see to this matter, and that quickly."



Thus spoke Robin Hood to himself, all his anger passing away

like a breath from the windowpane, at the thought that perhaps

his trusty right-hand man was in some danger of his life.

So cautiously he made his way through the thickets whence

the voices came, and, pushing aside the leaves, peeped into

the little open space where the two men, staff in hand,

were coming slowly together.



"Ha!" quoth Robin to himself, "here is merry sport afoot.

Now I would give three golden angels from my own pocket if yon

stout fellow would give Little John a right sound drubbing!

It would please me to see him well thumped for having failed

in my bidding. I fear me, though, there is but poor chance

of my seeing such a pleasant sight." So saying, he stretched

himself at length upon the ground, that he might not only see

the sport the better, but that he might enjoy the merry sight

at his ease.



As you may have seen two dogs that think to fight, walking slowly

round and round each other, neither cur wishing to begin the combat,

so those two stout yeomen moved slowly around, each watching for a

chance to take the other unaware, and so get in the first blow.

At last Little John struck like a flash, and--"rap!"--the Tanner met

the blow and turned it aside, and then smote back at Little John,

who also turned the blow; and so this mighty battle began.

Then up and down and back and forth they trod, the blows falling

so thick and fast that, at a distance, one would have thought that half

a score of men were fighting. Thus they fought for nigh a half an hour,

until the ground was all plowed up with the digging of their heels,

and their breathing grew labored like the ox in the furrow.

But Little John suffered the most, for he had become unused to such

stiff labor, and his joints were not as supple as they had been

before he went to dwell with the Sheriff.



All this time Robin Hood lay beneath the bush, rejoicing at such

a comely bout of quarterstaff. "By my faith!" quoth he to himself,

"never had I thought to see Little John so evenly matched in all my life.

Belike, though, he would have overcome yon fellow before this had he been

in his former trim."



At last Little John saw his chance, and, throwing all the

strength he felt going from him into one blow that might have

felled an ox, he struck at the Tanner with might and main.

And now did the Tanner's cowhide cap stand him in good stead,

and but for it he might never have held staff in hand again.

As it was, the blow he caught beside the head was so shrewd

that it sent him staggering across the little glade, so that,

if Little John had had the strength to follow up his vantage,

it would have been ill for stout Arthur. But he regained himself

quickly and, at arm's length, struck back a blow at Little John,

and this time the stroke reached its mark, and down went Little John

at full length, his cudgel flying from his hand as he fell.

Then, raising his staff, stout Arthur dealt him another blow

upon the ribs.



"Hold!" roared Little John. "Wouldst thou strike a man when he is down?"



"Ay, marry would I," quoth the Tanner, giving him another thwack

with his staff.



"Stop!" roared Little John. "Help! Hold, I say! I yield me!

I yield me, I say, good fellow!"



"Hast thou had enough?" asked the Tanner grimly, holding his staff aloft.



"Ay, marry, and more than enough."



"And thou dost own that I am the better man of the two?"



"Yea, truly, and a murrain seize thee!" said Little John,

the first aloud and the last to his beard.



"Then thou mayst go thy ways; and thank thy patron saint that I

am a merciful man," said the Tanner.



"A plague o' such mercy as thine!" said Little John, sitting up and

feeling his ribs where the Tanner had cudgeled him. "I make my vow,

my ribs feel as though every one of them were broken in twain.

I tell thee, good fellow, I did think there was never a man in all

Nottinghamshire could do to me what thou hast done this day."



"And so thought I, also," cried Robin Hood, bursting out of the thicket

and shouting with laughter till the tears ran down his cheeks.

"O man, man!" said he, as well as he could for his mirth, " 'a didst

go over like a bottle knocked from a wall. I did see the whole

merry bout, and never did I think to see thee yield thyself so,

hand and foot, to any man in all merry England. I was seeking thee,

to chide thee for leaving my bidding undone; but thou hast been

paid all I owed thee, full measure, pressed down and overflowing,

by this good fellow. Marry, 'a did reach out his arm full

length while thou stood gaping at him, and, with a pretty rap,

tumbled thee over as never have I seen one tumbled before."

So spoke bold Robin, and all the time Little John sat upon

the ground, looking as though he had sour curds in his mouth.

"What may be thy name, good fellow?" said Robin, next, turning

to the Tanner.



"Men do call me Arthur a Bland," spoke up the Tanner boldly,

"and now what may be thy name?"



"Ha, Arthur a Bland!" quoth Robin, "I have heard thy name before,

good fellow. Thou didst break the crown of a friend of mine

at the fair at Ely last October. The folk there call him

Jock o' Nottingham; we call him Will Scathelock. This poor

fellow whom thou hast so belabored is counted the best hand at

the quarterstaff in all merry England. His name is Little John,

and mine Robin Hood."



"How!" cried the Tanner, "art thou indeed the great Robin Hood,

and is this the famous Little John? Marry, had I known who thou art,

I would never have been so bold as to lift my hand against thee.

Let me help thee to thy feet, good Master Little John, and let me

brush the dust from off thy coat."



"Nay," quoth Little John testily, at the same time rising carefully,

as though his bones had been made of glass, "I can help myself,

good fellow, without thy aid; and let me tell thee, had it not

been for that vile cowskin cap of thine, it would have been ill

for thee this day."



At this Robin laughed again, and, turning to the Tanner, he said,

"Wilt thou join my band, good Arthur? For I make my vow thou art

one of the stoutest men that ever mine eyes beheld."



"Will I join thy band?" cried the Tanner joyfully.

"Ay, marry, will I! Hey for a merry life!" cried he, leaping aloft

and snapping his fingers, "and hey for the life I love!

Away with tanbark and filthy vats and foul cowhides!

I will follow thee to the ends of the earth, good master,

and not a herd of dun deer in all the forest but shall know

the sound of the twang of my bowstring."



"As for thee, Little John," said Robin, turning to him and laughing,

"thou wilt start once more for Ancaster, and we will go part way with thee,

for I will not have thee turn again to either the right hand or the left

till thou hast fairly gotten away from Sherwood. There are other inns

that thou knowest yet, hereabouts." Thereupon, leaving the thickets,

they took once more to the highway and departed upon their business.

****

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