by John Stow ?1525-1605

Henry Goes a-Maying

King Henry VIII was riding out with Queen Catherine one May Day, when they found themselves waylaid by Robin Hood and two hundred archers.

1509-1514

King Henry VIII 1509-1547 to Queen Elizabeth I 1558-1603

Introduction

At the close of the reign of Elizabeth I, historian John Stow (1525?-1605) looked back over the May Day celebrations in the time of her father Henry VIII. Those were the early, happier years (1515 by Stow’s reckoning) when Henry still rode out with his Spanish wife Catherine of Aragon, and before the country was thrown into turmoil and bloodshed by the English Reformation.

by John Stow ?1525-1605

IN the month of May, namely on May-day in the morning, every man, except impediment, would walk into the sweet meadows and green woods, there to rejoice their spirits with the beauty and savour of sweet flowers, and with the harmony of birds, praising God in their kind; and for example hereof, Edward Hall hath noted,* that King Henry VIII, as in the 3rd of his reign, and divers other years, so namely, in the 7th of his reign, on May-day in the morning, with Queen Katherine his wife, accompanied with many lords and ladies, rode a-Maying from Greenwich to the high ground of Shooter’s Hill*, where, as they passed by the way, they espied a company of tall yeomen, clothed all in green, with green hoods, and bows and arrows, to the number of two hundred. One being their chieftain was called Robin Hood,* who required the king and his company to stay and see his men shoot.

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* Edward Hall (?1496-1547) was a lawyer, historian and MP for Much Wenlock and Bridgnorth, who compiled a chronicle entitled The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke (1548) (or ‘Hall’s Chronicle’) charting the Wars of the Roses and the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. William Shakespeare turned to it as a source of material for his history plays.

* Shooter’s Hill is a district in South East London within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and at 433 ft one of the highest points in Greater London.

* William Langland, writing around the time of Richard II (r. 1377-1399), testifies that dashing outlaw Robin Hood was already a household name. The earliest surviving ballads of his exploits date to the fifteenth century. In 1521 the Scottish historian John Major (1467-1550) assigned Robin (or Robert as he named him) to the days of Richard I (r. 1189-1199). For his opinion of Robin, see A Prince Among Thieves.

Précis

Elizabethan historian John Stow tells us that one May Day early in Henry VIII’s reign, the King and Catherine his queen were out riding when they were waylaid by a party claiming to be Robin Hood and two hundred of his merry men. Robin insisted that the royal company halt, and watch a demonstration of superior archery.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Henry and Catherine went out riding. It was May 1st, 1515. Many lords and ladies went with them.

See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.

IAccompany. IICourt. IIIHorse.

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