In a week’s time we shall go to Nottingham and take part in the Sheriff’s own shooting match, for I crave to bring the golden arrow back to Greenwood.” He spoke to his faithful outlaws like this: Robin blew his horn to call his followers to meet around the oldest Yew Tree in Greenwood. The very idea made him chuckle, for all the people of Nottingham would see how their chief law keeper was powerless to arrest the county’s most notorious outlaw. When Robin heard news of the contest, he thought what a fine thing it would be to claim the prize from the hand of the Sheriff himself. Its shaft was made of white gold, and it was tipped and feathered with yellow gold. The trophy was to be a arrow, the like of which had not been seen in England. He ordered that on a certain day an archery contest would be held on the field outside the city walls. The Sheriff decided to give the outlaw a chance to claim his title. Everyone knew that the title for the finest archer in all the North of England belonged by right to Robin Hood. And in those days the most popular sport in England was archery. Like most men, he loved to watch a good sporting contest. The Sheriff’s plan came quite naturally to him.
But he shall prove unable to resist my invitation to the gallows – all the more because I shall send it indirectly.” I do not have in mind a polite note addressed to Robin Hood in his robber’s lair in Greenwood. “My dear Abbot,” said the Sheriff, “You are right to say that we are facing no straight-forward villain. The Sheriff smiled over the top of his tankard of frothy brown ale and the Abbot realised by the self-satisfied curl of his friend’s upper lip that the sheriff was confident of his plan. I do not think that he will walk so easily into your hospitable trap.” The Abbot shook his head, “The outlaw has not remained at large for so long by being a simpleton. It is time for me to return an invitation to Robin Hood and pay his hospitality back in kind.” "Let no one say that I am an ill-mannered man," he mused. Some time after that memorable dinner, the Sheriff was drinking ale with his friend, the Abbot. The Sheriff of Nottingham did not forget how Robin Hood had invited him to dinner under the trees of Greenwood. In this story, we shall hear if the Sheriff was true to his word.
At the end of the dinner Robin forced the Sheriff to swear an oath never to harm Robin or his men. I’ve told you before how Robin Hood once tricked the Sheriff of Nottingham into coming to dinner with him in Greenwood. He feels certain that the outlaw will not be able to resist taking part. He holds an archery contest - and the prize is a golden arrow. In this story, the Sheriff decides to send Robin an invitation he cannot refuse. Before he left, they made him swear an oath never to harm them. In an earlier story ( The Sheriff Who Came to Dinner) Little John tricked the Sheriff of Nottingham into coming to dinner with Robin Hood.
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