Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough and William of Cloudeslee

1. Merry it was, in green forest,
Among the leavès green,
Where that men walked, both east and west,
With bows and arrows keen.

2. To rise the deer out of their den:
Such sights as hath oft been seen,
As by three yeomen of the north country;
By them it is, as I mean.

3. The one of them hight Adam Bell,
The other Clim of the Clough,
The third was William of Cloudeslee,
An archer good enough.

4. They were outlawed for venison,
These three yeomen every each one.
They swore them brethren, upon a day,
To Inglewood for to go.

5. Now lithe and listen, Gentlemen!
And that of mirths loveth to hear!
Two of them were single men,
The third had a wedded fere:

6. William was the wedded man,
Much more then was his care!
He said to his brethren, upon a day,
To Carlisle he would fare,

7. For to speak with fair Alice his wife
And with his children three.
‘By my troth!’ said Adam Bell,
‘Not by the counsel of me!

8. ‘For if ye go to Carlisle, brother!
And from this wild wood wend.
If that the justice may you take,
Your life were at an end!’

9. ‘If that I come not tomorrow, brother!
By prime to you again;
Trust not else, but that I am take,
Or else that I am slain!’

10. He took his leave of his brethren two;
And to Carlisle he is gone.
There, he knocked at his own window,
Shortly and anon.

11. ‘Where be you, fair Alice, my wife!
And my children three?
Lightly let in thine own husband,
William of Cloudeslee!’

12. ‘Alas!’ then said fair Alice,
And sighèd wondrous sore,
‘This place hath been beset for you,
This half year and more!’

13. ‘Now am I here,’ said Cloudeslee,
‘I would that I in were!
Now fetch us meat and drink enough,
And let us make good cheer!’

14. She fetched him meat and drink plenty,
Like a true wedded wife;
And pleasèd him, with that she had,
Whom she loved as her life.

15. There lay an old wife in that place,
A little beside the fire;
Which William had found, of charity,
More than seven years.

16. Up she rose and walked full still,
Evil might she speed therefore!
For she had set no foot on ground
In seven years before.

17. She went unto the Justice Hall,
As fast as she could hie.
‘This night is come unto this town
William of Cloudeslee!’

18. Thereof the justice was full fain,
And so was the sheriff also,
‘Thou shalt not travel hither, Dame! for nought!
Thy meed thou shalt have or thou go!’

19. They gave to her a right good gown,
Of scarlet it was, as I heard sain;
She took the gift, and home she went,
And couched her down again.

20. They rised the town of merry Carlisle,
In all the haste that they can;
And came thronging to William’s house,
As fast as they might go.

21. There, they beset that good yeoman
Round about on every side.
William heard great noise of folks,
That hitherward fast hied.

22. Alice opened a back window,
And lookèd all about.
She was ’ware of the justice and sheriff both
With a full great rout.

23. ‘Alas! treason!’ crièd Alice,
‘Ever woe mayst thou be!
Go into my chamber, my husband!’ she said,
‘Sweet William of Cloudeslee!’

24. He took his sword and his buckler,
His bow, and his children three;
And went into his strongest chamber,
Where he thought surest to be.

25. Fair Alice followed him, as a lover true,
With a poleaxe in her hand,
‘He shall be dead, that here cometh in
This door, while I may stand!’

26. Cloudeslee bent a well good bow,
That was of trysty tree;
He smote the justice on the breast,
That his arrow burst in three.

27. ‘God’s curse on his heart,’ said William,
‘This day thy coat did on!
If it had been no better than mine,
It had gone near thy bone!’

28. ‘Yield thee, Cloudeslee!’ said the justice,
‘And thy bow and thy arrows thee fro!’
‘God’s curse on his heart’, said fair Alice,
That my husband counselleth so!’

29. ‘Set fire on the house,’ said the sheriff,
‘Sith it will no better be;
And burn we therein William,’ he said,
‘His wife and children three!’

30. They fired the house in many a place,
The fire flew up on high.
‘Alas!’ then crièd fair Alice,
‘I see we shall here die!’

31. William opened his back window
That was in his chamber on high,
And, with sheets, let his wife down.
And his children three.

32. ‘Have here my treasure,’ said William,
‘My wife and my children three!
For Christès love! do them no harm;
But wreak you all on me!’

33. William shot so wondrous well,
Till his arrows were all gone;
And the fire so fast upon him fell,
That his bow-string burnt in two;

34. The sparkles burnt and fell him on,
Good William of Cloudeslee:
But then was he a woeful man,
And said, ‘This is a coward’s death to me!’

35. ‘Lever I had’, said William,
‘With my sword in the rout to run,
Than here, among mine enemies wood,
Thus cruelly to burn!’

36. He took his sword and his buckler,
And among them all he ran;
Where the people were most in press,
He smote down many a man.

37. There might no man stand his stroke,
So fiercely on them he ran.
Then they threw windows and doors on him;
And so took that good yeoman.

38. There, they him bound, both hand and foot;
And in a deep dungeon him cast.
‘Now, Cloudeslee!’ said the high justice,
‘Thou shalt be hanged in haste!’

39. ‘One vow shall I make,’ said the sheriff,
‘A pair of new gallows shall I for thee make
And all the gates of Carlisle shall be shut,
There shall no man come in thereat!

40. ‘Then shall not help Clim of the Clough,
Nor yet shall Adam Bell;
Though they came with a thousand mo;
Nor all the devils in Hell!’

41. Early in the morning, the justice uprose,
To the gates fast gan he go.
And commanded to be shut full close,
Lightly every each one,

42. Then went he to the marketplace,
As fast as he could hie;
A pair of new gallows there did he up set
Beside the pillory.

43. A little boy stood them among,
And asked, ‘What meaned that gallows tree?’
They said, ‘to hang a good yeoman,
Called William of Cloudeslee.’

44. That little boy was the town swineherd,
And kept there Alice’s swine;
Full oft he had seen Cloudeslee in the wood,
And he had given him there to dine.

45. He went out at a crevice in the wall,
And lightly to the wood did go.
There met he with these wight young men,
Shortly and anon.

46. ‘Alas!’ then said that little boy,
‘Ye tarry here all too long!
Cloudeslee is taken, and ’demned to death!
All ready for to hang!’

47. ‘Alas!’ then said good Adam Bell,
‘That ever we see this day!
He might here with us have dwelled,
So oft as we did him pray.

48. ‘He might have tarried in green forest,
Under the shadows sheen;
And have kept both him and us in rest,
Out of trouble and teen!’

49. Adam bent a right good bow;
A great hart soon had he slain.
‘Take that, child!’ he said, ‘to thy dinner,
And bring me mine arrow again!’

50. ‘Now go we hence,’ said these wight young men,
‘Tarry we no longer here!
We shall him borrow, by God’s grace!
Though we bie it full dear!’

51. To Carlisle went these good yeomen,
In a merry morning of May.
Here is a fit of Cloudeslee;
And another is for to say.

52. And when they came to merry Carlisle,
In a fair morning tide,
They found the gates shut them until,
Round about on every side.

53. ‘Alas!’ then said good Adam Bell,
‘That ever we were made men!
These gates be shut so wondrous fast,
That we may not come herein.’

54. Then spake him Clim of the Clough,
‘With a wile, we will us in bring!
Let us say, “We be messengers
Straight come now from our king!” ’

55. Adam said, ‘I have a letter written well,
Now let us wisely work!
We will say, “We have the king’s seal!”
I hold the porter, no clerk!’

56. Then Adam Bell beat on the gates,
With strokès great and strong.
The porter heard such a noise thereat,
And to the gates he throng.

57. ‘Who is there now’, said the porter,
‘That maketh all this knocking?’
‘We be two Messengers,’ said Clim of the Clough,
‘Be come right from our King!’

58. ‘We have a letter,’ said Adam Bell,
‘to the justice we must it bring!
Let us in, our message to do,
That we were again to our King.’

59. ‘Here cometh none in,’ said the Porter,
‘By Him that died on a tree!
Till a false thief be hanged,
Called William of Cloudeslee!’

60. Then spake the good yeoman, Clim of the Clough,
And swore, by Mary free!
‘If that we stand long without,
Like a thief hangèd shalt thou be!

61. ‘Lo! here we have the king’s seal!
What! lourdain! art thou wood?’
the porter had went it had been so;
And lightly did off his hood.

62. ‘Welcome be my lord’s seal!’ he said,
‘For that, ye shall come in!’
He opened the gate full shortly,
An evil opening for him!

63. ‘Now are we in,’ said Adam Bell,
‘Whereof we are full fain!
But Christ knoweth, that harrowed hell,
How we shall come out again!’

64. ‘Had we the keys,’ said Clim of the Clough,
‘Right well then should we speed!
Then might we come out well enough,
When we see time and need.’

65. They called the porter to counsel,
And wrung his neck in two;
And cast him in a deep dungeon,
And took his keys him fro.

66. ‘Now am I porter,’ said Adam Bell,
‘See, brother! the keys have we here!
The worst porter to merry Carlisle,
That they had this hundred year!

67. ‘Now will we our bowès bend,
Into the town will we go,
For to deliver our dear brother,
Where he liveth in care and woe!’

68. They bent their bows then full well,
And looked their strings were round.
The marketplace in merry Carlisle
They beset in that stound.

69. And as they lookèd them beside,
A pair of new gallows there they see;
And the justice, with a quest of swearers,
That had judged Cloudeslee there hanged to be:

70. And Cloudeslee himself lay ready in a cart,
Fast bound both foot and hand,
And a strong rope about his neck,
All ready for to be hanged.

71. The Justice called to him a lad,
Cloudeslee’s clothes should he have,
To take the measure of that yeoman;
And thereafter to make his grave.

72. ‘I have seen as great a marvel’, said Cloudeslee,
‘As between this and prime,
He that maketh this grave for me,
Himself may lie therein!’

73. ‘Thou speakest proudly,’ said the justice,
‘I shall thee hang, with my hand!’
Full well that heard his brethren two,
There still as they did stand.

74. Then Cloudeslee cast his eyen aside,
And saw his two brethren
At the corner of the marketplace,
Ready the justice for to chace.

75. ‘I see comfort,’ said Cloudeslee,
‘Yet hope I well to fare!
If I might have my hands at will,
Right little would I care!’

76. Then spake good Adam Bell,
To Clim of the Clough so free,
‘Brother! see ye mark the justice well!
Lo! yonder ye may him see!

77. ‘And at the sheriff shoot I will,
Strongly with an arrow keen!’
A better shot in merry Carlisle,
This seven year was not seen!

78. They loosed their arrows both at once,
Of no man had they dread,
The one hit the justice, the other, the sheriff,
That both their sides gan bleed;

79. All men voided, that them stood nigh.
When the justice fell to the ground,
And the sheriff fell nigh him by,
Either had his deathès wound,

80. All the citizens fast gan fly.
They durst no longer abide!
There lightly they loosèd Cloudeslee,
Where he with ropes lay tied.

81. William started to an officer of the town,
His axe out of his hand he wrung;
On each side he smote them down,
Him thought he tarried all too long!

82. William said to his brethren two,
‘This day let us live and die!
If ever you have need, as I have now,
The same shall you find by me!’

83. They shot so well, in that tide,
For their strings were of silk full sure,
That they kept the streets on every side,
That battle did long endure.

84. They fought together, as brethren true.
Like hardy men and bold;
Many a man to the ground they threw,
And made many a heart cold.

85. But when their arrows were all gone,
Men pressed to them full fast:
They drew their swordès then anon,
And their bows from them cast.

86. They went lightly on their way,
With swords and bucklers round,
By that it was mid of the day,
They made many a wound.

87. There was many an out-horn in Carlisle blown,
And the bells backward did ring;
Many a woman said, ‘Alas!’
And many, their hands did wring!

88. The mayor of Carlisle forth come was,
And with him a full great rout.
These Yeomen dreaded him full sore,
For of their lives they were in great doubt.

89. The mayor came, armed, a full great pace,
With a poleaxe in his hand;
Many a strong man with him was
There, in that stour to stand.

90. The mayor smote at Cloudeslee with his bill,
His buckler he burst in two;
Full many a yeoman with great evil,
‘Alas! treason!’ they cried for woe.
‘Keep we the gates fast’, they bade,
‘That these traitors thereout not go!’

91. But all for nought, was that they wrought;
For so fast they down were laid.
Till they all three, that so manfully fought,
Were gotten without, at a braid.

92. ‘Here, have your keys!’ said Adam Bell,
‘Mine office I here forsake!
And if you do by my counsel,
A new porter do ye make!’

93. He threw their keys at their heads;
And bade them evil to thrive;
And all that letteth any good yeoman
To come and comfort his wife!

94. Thus be these good yeomen gone to the wood,
As lightly as leaf on linde.
They laugh, and be merry in their mood,
Their enemies were far behind.

95. When they came to Inglewood,
Under their trysty tree,
There, they found bowès full good,
And arrows full great plenty.

96. ‘So God me help!’ said Adam Bell
And Clim of the Clough so free,
‘I would we were in merry Carlisle,
Before that fair meiny!’

97. They set them down, and made good cheer;
And eat and drank full well.
Here is a fit of these wight young men,
Another I will you tell.

98. As they sat in Inglewood,
Under their trysty tree,
They thought they heard a woman weep;
But her they might not see.

99. Sore sighèd the fair Alice,
And said, ‘Alas! that ever I saw this day!
For now is my dear husband slain!
Alas! and wellaway!

100. Might I have spoken with his dear brethren,
Or with either of them twain
To shew them what him befell,
My heart were put out of pain.’

101. Cloudeslee walked a little beside,
And looked under the greenwood linde;
He was ’ware of his wife and his children three,
Full woe in heart and mind.

102. ‘Welcome, wife!’ then said William,
‘Under this trysty tree!
I had weened yesterday, by sweet Saint John!
Thou shouldst me never have see!’

103. ‘Now, well is me’, she said, ‘that ye be here!
My heart is out of woe!’
‘Dame!’ he said, ‘be merry and glad;
And thank my brethren two!’

104. ‘Hereof to speak,’ said Adam Bell,
‘Iwis it is no boot!
The meat that we must sup withal,
It runneth yet fast on foot!’

105. Then went they down into a lawn,
These noble archers all three,
Each of them slew a hart of grease,
The best they could there see.

106. ‘Have here the best! Alice, my wife!’
Said William of Cloudeslee,
‘Because ye so boldly stood by me,
When I was slain full nigh.’

107. Then went they to supper
With such meat as they had,
And thankèd God of their fortune.
They were both merry and glad.

108. And when they had suppèd well,
Certain withouten any lease,
Cloudeslee said, ‘We will to our king!
To get us a charter of peace!

109. ‘Alice shall be, at our sojourning,
In a nunnery here beside;
My two sons shall with her go,
And there they shall abide!

110. Mine eldest son shall go with me,
For him have I no care!
And he shall you bring word again,
How that we do fare!’

111. Thus, be these yeomen to London gone,
As fast as they might hie.
Till they came to the king’s palace,
There they would needs be;

112. And when they came to the king’s court,
Unto the palace gate,
Of no man would they ask no leave;
But boldly went in thereat.

113. They pressed prestly into the hall;
Of no man had they dread.
The porter came after, and did them call;
And with them began to chide.

114. The Usher said, ‘Yeomen! what would ye have?
I pray you, tell to me!
You might thus make officers shent!
Good sirs! of whence be ye?’

115. ‘Sir! we be outlaws of the forest,
Certain, without any lease;
And hither we be come to our king,
To get us a charter of peace.’

116. And when they came before the King,
As it was the law of the land,
They kneelèd down, without letting,
And each held up his hand!

117. They said, ‘Lord! we beseech thee here,
That ye will grant us grace!
For we have slain your fat fallow deer
In many a sundry place!’

118. ‘What be your names?’ then said our king,
‘Anon, that you tell me!’
They said, ‘Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough,
And William of Cloudeslee.’

119. ‘Be ye those thieves!’ then said our king,
‘That men have told of to me?
Here to God, I make a vow,
Ye shall be hanged all three!

120. ‘Ye shall be dead, without mercy,
As I am king of this land!’
He commanded his officers every each one,
Fast on them to lay hand.

121. There, they took these good yeomen;
And arrested them all three.
‘So may I thrive,’ said Adam Bell,
‘This game liketh not me!

122. ‘But, good lord! we beseech you now,
That you grant us grace,
Insomuch as we be to you comen;
Or else that we may from you pass,

123. ‘With such weapons as we have here,
Till we be out of your place;
And if we live this hundred year,
We will ask you no grace!’

124. ‘Ye speak proudly!’ said the king,
‘Ye shall be hanged all three!’
‘That were great pity!’ then said the queen,
‘If any grace might be !

125. ‘My lord! when I came first into this land,
To be your wedded wife,
You said, “The first boon that I would ask,
Ye would grant it me belive.”

126. ‘And I asked you never none till now;
Therefore, good lord! grant it me!’
‘Now ask it, madam!’ said the king,
‘And granted shall it be!’

127. ‘Then, good my lord! I you beseech,
These yeomen grant ye me!’
‘Madam! ye might have asked a boon,
That should have been worth them all three!

128. ‘Ye might have asked towers and towns,
parks and forests, plenty!’
‘None so pleasant to my pay,’ she said,
‘Nor none so lief to me!’

129. ‘Madam! sith it is your desire,
Your asking granted shall be!
But I had lever have given you,
Good market towns three!’

130. The queen was a glad woman,
And said, ‘Lord! gramercy!
I dare undertake for them,
That true men shall they be!

131. ‘But, good my lord! speak some merry word,
That comfort they may see!’
‘I grant you grace!’ then said our king,
‘Wash, fellows! and to meat go ye!’

132. They had not sitten but a while,
Certain, without leasing,
There came messengers out of the north,
With letters to our king;

133. And when they came before the king,
They kneeled down upon their knee,
And said, ‘Lord! Your officers greet you well!
Of Carlisle in the north country.’

134. ‘How fares my justice,’ said the king,
‘And my sheriff also?’
‘Sir! they be slain, without leasing,
And many an officer mo!’

135. ‘Who hath them slain?’ said the king,
‘Anon, that thou tell me!’
‘Adam Bell, and Clim of the Clough,
And William of Cloudeslee.’

136. ‘Alas! for ruth,’ then said our king,
‘My heart is wondrous sore!
I had lever than a thousand pound,
I had known of this before!

137. ‘For I have granted them grace;
And that forthinketh me!
But had I known all this before,
They had been hanged all three!’

138. The king opened the letter anon,
Himself he read it tho,
And found how these three outlaws had slain
Three hundred men and mo.

139. First, the justice and the sheriff,
And the mayor of Carlisle town;
Of all the constables and catchpoles,
Alive was left not one!

140. The bailiffs and the beadles both,
And the serjeants of the law,
And forty foresters of the fee,
These outlaws had yslaw!

141. And broke his parks, and slain his deer;
Over all they chose the best!
So perilous outlaws as they were,
Walked not by east nor west!

142. When the king this letter had read,
In his heart he sighèd sore,
‘Take up the table,’ anon he bade,
‘For I may eat no more!’

143. The king then called his best archers,
To the butts with him to go.
‘I will see these fellows shoot’, he said,
‘That in the north have wrought this woe!’

144. The king’s bowmen buskèd them belive,
And the queen’s archers also;
So did these three wight yeomen,
With them they thought to go.

145. There twice, or thrice, they shot about,
For to assay their hand;
There was no shot these yeomen shot,
That any prick might stand.

146. Then spake William of Cloudeslee,
‘By God that for me died!
I hold him never no good archer,
That shooteth at butts so wide!’

147. ‘Whereat?’ then said our king,
‘I pray thee, tell to me!’
‘At such a butt, sir!’ he said,
‘As men use in my country!’

148. William went into a field,
And his two brethren with him;
There, they set up two hazel rods,
Twenty score paces between,

149. ‘I hold him an archer’, said Cloudeslee,
‘That yonder wand cleaveth in two!’
‘Here, is none such,’ said the king,
‘Nor none that can so do!’

150. ‘I shall assay, sir!’ said Cloudeslee,
‘Or that I farther go!’
Cloudeslee, with a bearing arrow,
Clave the wand in two.

151. ‘Thou art the best archer,’ then said the king,
‘Forsooth, that ever I see!’
‘And yet, for your love,’ said William,
‘I will do more mastery!

152. ‘I have a son, is seven years old;
He is to me full dear!
I will him tie to a stake,
All shall see that be here!

153. ‘And lay an apple upon his head,
And go six score paces him fro,
And I myself, with a broad arrow,
Shall cleave the apple in two!’

154. ‘Now haste thee’, then said the king,
‘By him that died on a tree!
But if thou do not, as thou hast said,
Hangèd shalt thou be!

155. ‘And thou touch his head, or gown,
In sight that men may see,
By all the saints that be in heaven!
I shall hang you all three!’

156. ‘That I have promised’, said William,
‘I will it never forsake!’
And there, even before the king,
In the earth he drove a stake,

157. And bound thereto his eldest son,
And bade him stand still thereat,
And turned the child’s face fro him.
Because he should not start.

158. An apple upon his head he set,
And then his bow he bent.
Six score paces, they were out met,
And thither Cloudeslee went.

159. There, he drew out a fair broad arrow,
His bow was great and long;
He set that arrow in his bow,
That was both stiff and strong.

160. He prayed the people that were there,
That they would all still stand;
‘For he that shooteth, for such a wager,
Behoveth a steadfast hand!’

161. Much people prayed for Cloudeslee,
That his life savèd might be!
And when he made him ready to shoot,
There was many a weeping eye!

162. Thus Cloudeslee cleft the apple in two,
That, many a man might see!
‘Our God’s forbode’, said the king,
‘That thou shoot at me!

163. ‘I give thee eighteen pence a day,
And my bow shalt thou bear!
And over all the north country,
I make thee chief rider!’

164. ‘And I give thee twelve pence a day,’ said the queen,
‘By God and by my fay!
Come, fetch thy payment, when thou wilt!
No man shall say thee “Nay!” ’

165. ‘William! I make thee a gentleman,
Of clothing and of fee;
And thy two brethren, yeomen of my chamber!
For they are so seemly to see.

166. Your son, for he is tender of age,
Of my wine cellar shall he be;
And when he cometh to man’s estate,
Better advanced shall he be!’

167. ‘And, William! bring me your wife!’ said the queen,
‘Me longeth her sore to see!
She shall be my chief gentlewoman,
To govern my nursery!’

168. The yeomen thanked them full courteously,
And said, ‘To Rome straight will we wend!
Of all the sins that we have done,
To be assoilèd at his hand!’

169. So forth be gone these good yeomen,
As fast as they might hie;
And after came, and dwelled with the king;
And died good men, all three.

170. Thus endeth the lives of these good yeomen.
God send them eternal bliss,
And all that with hand bow shooteth,
That of heaven they may never miss!