Ancient Scottish ballads, recovered from tradition, and never before ...

tury .
66
' ' The game of Robin Hood was celebrated
in the month of May. The populace assembled
previous to the celebration of this festival, and
chose some respectable member of the corpor-
ation to officiate in the character of Robin Hood,
and another in that of Little John, his squire.
Upon the day appointed, which was a Sunday
or a holiday, the people assembled in military
array, and went to some adjoining field, where,
either as actors or spectators, the whole inhabi-
tants of the respective towns were convened.
In this field they probably amused themselves
with a representation of Robin Hood's preda-
tory exploits, or of his encounters with the
officers of Justice. As numerous meetings for
disorderly mirth are apt to engender tumult,
when the minds of the people came to be agita-
ted with religious controversy, it was found ne-
cessary to repress the game of Robin Hood by
public statute. The populace were by no means
willing to relinquish their favourite amusement.
Year after year the Magistrates of Edinburgh
were obliged to exert their authority in repress-
ing this game, often ineffectually. In the year