The earliest preserved script of a Robin Hood play is the fragmentary Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham[18] This apparently dates to the 1470s and circumstantial evidence suggests it was probably performed at the household of Sir John Paston. This fragment appears to tell the story of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne [39] There is also an early playtext appended to a 1560 printed edition of the Gest. This includes a dramatic version of the story of Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar and a version of the first part of the story of Robin Hood and the Potter. (Neither of these ballads are known to have existed in print at the time, and there is no earlier record known of the "Curtal Friar" story). The publisher describes the text as a "playe of Robyn Hood, verye proper to be played in Maye games", but does not seem to be aware that the text actually contains two separate plays [40] An especial point of interest in the "Friar" play is the appearance of a ribald woman who is unnamed but apparently to be identified with the bawdy Maid Marian of the May Games.[41] She does not appear in extant versions of the ballad.
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