. Manners and customs of the English nation, from the invation of Julius Cæsar to the present time . his position as chief of the marauders tosuperior intelligence as well as valour. He was aSaxon by birth, and of no higher rank than thatof a peasant; the stories which assume that he hadbeen Earl of Huntingdon, or was descended froman earl, are at variance with the older the former is a beautiful romance, whichwould make him out to be the very child ofthe woods, born there Ci among flowering this may be, it is certain that he passedhis life in the forest, with a
. Manners and customs of the English nation, from the invation of Julius Cæsar to the present time . his position as chief of the marauders tosuperior intelligence as well as valour. He was aSaxon by birth, and of no higher rank than thatof a peasant; the stories which assume that he hadbeen Earl of Huntingdon, or was descended froman earl, are at variance with the older the former is a beautiful romance, whichwould make him out to be the very child ofthe woods, born there Ci among flowering this may be, it is certain that he passedhis life in the forest, with a band of several hundredarchers, who became the terror of all the rich lords,bishops, and abbots in the neighbourhood, es-pecially those of Norman birth. Robin Hoodmade war upon the rich, but he respected thepersons of his own countrymen, and never molestedor robbed the poor. The numerous ballads refer-ring to this trait in his character, are in their veryexistence a proof of what they assert; for no mancould have been made the theme of such generaleulogium unless he had been much beloved by the. P^ titty- Archery. THE ENGLISH NATION. 101 people. Little John, the lieutenant of RobinHood, is scarcely less celebrated than his chief,,whose constant companion he was in all his dangersor pleasures. Little John appears to have possess-ed a skill in archery second only to that of Robinhimself of which so many incredible stories aretold by romancers. There is also a third personmentioned by tradition—one Friar Tuck, whothought fit to retain his gown while every othersign of his former calling had disappeared. Thesewere the most noted among Robin Hoods band;a very merry company if we may believe thestory-tellers, leading a careless, gipsy life, doing agreat deal of harm, no doubt, but presenting, onthe whole, a favourable contrast to the cruelty andtyranny of their Norman oppressors. * The severity of the tyrannical forest laws,introduced by the Conqueror, and the greattemptation to
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