Faustus - The Death of the Hart Royal

      The Death of the Hart Royal performed by the English folk trio Faustus. This unusual ballad of Robin Hood, Lord of the Greenwood, was found in the archives of Somerset folk song collector Ruth Tongue. The band recorded it for their third album, Death and Other Animals (2017).

The Hart Royal sped where the old oak stood,

Dark were his flanks and his lips ran blood.

King John has sent after me companies three,

But none of them shall bring death to me.

   Hart Royal am I, Hart Royal am I,

   And the Lord of the Greenwood shall watch me die.

They hunted me high and they hunted me low,

With horse and hound and fine crossbow.

All through the land up to Nottingham town,

But never a one could drag me down.

They followed me far but the hounds ran true,

From dawning to dusk they harried me through.

The horses went lame, their hearts did crack,

But still the hounds are on my track.

Call Robin Hood with his longbow,

To Robin alone does the Hart Royal bow.

He never will die at the hands of men,

Call Goodman Oak again and again.

Bold Robin he stood on a far off hill,

Let fly his shot and the Hart lay still.

Farewell good Hart Royal bold Robin he said,

And the Hart sighed and lay dead.