MORFE FOREST. 23 



within reacli proving too strong for the Castellan, he 

 is entrapped, and litigation ensues. Sometimes the 

 stout foresters and sturdy guardians of the castle, 

 and burgesses of the town, indulge in friendly trials 

 of skill at quarter- staff or archery, or in a wrestling 

 match for a cross-bow, a ram, or a " red gold ring." 

 In Ritson's " Eobin Hood" we read : — 



" By a bridge was a wrastling, 

 And there taryed was he : 

 And there was all the best yemen 

 Of all th& west countrey. 

 A full fajTe game there was set up, 

 A white bull up y-pight, 

 A great courser with saddle and brydle 

 With gold burnished full bryght ; 

 A payre of gloves, a red golde ringe, 

 A pipe of wyne good fay : 

 What man bereth him best I wis, 

 The prize shall bear away." 



In 1292, a wrestHng match at a festive gathering 

 on Bernard's Hill takes place, when from ill blood 

 arising from an old feud a dispute ensues, and a 

 forester named Simon de Leyre quarrels with Robert 

 de Turbevill, a canon of St. Mary's, Bridgnorth, 

 over a greyhound, which the latter, contrary to the 

 regulations of the courts, had brought within the 

 forest ; and a jury of foresters, verderers, and re- 



