decennary period, 1285 to 1295; that he was born in a
family of some station and respectability, seated at Wakefield or in
villages around; that he, like many others, partook of the popular
enthusiasm which supported the Earl of Lancaster, the great baron of
those parts, who, having attempted in vain various changes in the
government, at length broke out into open rebellion, with many
persons, great and small, following his standard; that when the earl
fell, and there was a dreadful proscription, a few persons who had
been in arms not only escaped the hazards of battle, but the arm of
the executioner; that he was one of these; and that he protected
himself against the authorities of the time, partly by secreting
himself in the depths of the woods of Barnesdale or of the forest of
Sherwood, and partly by intimidating the public officers by the
opinion which was abroad of his unerring bow, and his instant command
of assistance from numerous comrades as skilled in archery as himself;
that he supported himself by slaying the wild animals which were found
in the forests, and by levying a species of blackmail on passengers
along the great road which united London with Berwick, occasionally
replenishing his coffers by seizing upon treasure as it was being
transported on the road; that there was a self-abandonment and a
courtesy in the way in which he proceeded, which distinguishes him
from the ordinary highwayman; that he laid down the principle, that he
would take from none but those who could afford to lose, and that, if
he met with poor persons, he would bestow upon them some part of what
he had taken from the rich: in short, that in this respect he was the
supporter of the rights or supposed reasonable expectations of the
middle and lower ranks--a _leveller_ of the times; that he continued
this course for about twenty months--April 1322 to December
1323--meeting with various adventures, as such a person must needs do,
some of which are related in the ballads respecting him; that when, in
1323, the king was intent upon freeing his forests from such
marauders, he fell into the king's power; that this was at a time when
the bitter feeling with which the king and the Spencers had first
pursued those who had shewn themselves such formidable adversaries,
had passed away, and a more lenient policy had supervened--the king,
possibly for some secret and unknown reason, not only pardoned him all
his transgressions, but gave him the