The book of archery : being the complete history and practice of the art, ancient and modern

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At home, whether in hall or cottage, it occupied the place of honour above the blazing hearth; abroad, it was borne like the modern fowling-piece by country gentlemen, whilst strolling over their estates, with a bolt for the pheasant whirring from the brake, and a broad arrow for the dun deer that sprang from the bracken around his path. Elsewhere, they might carry bow and broad arrow. The bolt being blunt-headed was feeble, and destructive to birds and small animals only, which will illustrate a very beautiful allusion of Shakspeare: Common Place Book which once belonged to a son of George Fox, the historian, a.

The company saying it was impossible, his man, which stood bye, accustomed to smooth his master's lies, sayd that the deare cratching his eare with his hinder foot, lost bothe, and the arrowe glancing, killed the foxe ; yet with this hint in his master's ear, that he should next time lye within compasse, " for," quoth he, " I had never so much ado as to bring the eare and foote together.

It is, I believe, not very generally known, that, previous to the Spanish Armada embarking for our shores, the Pope had despatched his emissaries into England to report upon the character and resources of its people. Their observations, which were committed to writing, still remain in MS.

The author states, the weapon in which our ancestors then most excelled as the bow and arrow ; and such delight took they in its exercise, that there was no rank or profession but pursued it with enthusiasm. As the hopes of a country rest principally upon the valour of the rising generation, boys, from the age of ten years, were taught to draw the bow, and all possible means practised to make the love of it supersede every other juvenile diversion.

The success attendant on this diligent ap- plication, he asserts, would be incredible to those who had not been witnesses of their proficiency. Of such as were but moderately skilled, whether they took aim in an horizontal or other direction, there were few who could not lodge the arrow within a palm of their mark. Hentzner, a German tra- veller, says he saw the husbandmen going forth to their daily toil with bow and arrows, which they laid either on the plough, or in a corner of the field under cultivation.

Patricias says that an arrow, with a little wax upon the point, will penetrate the stoutest breastplate. Like the Italians when assailed by the fierce hordes of the north, they made their chapels and abbeys, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, resound with litanies and prayers to avert the calamitous descent of English bowmen upon their shores. J " These were the men," continues the old English writer above quoted, "amongst whom the kings of England in foughten battles, were wont to remain who were their footmen , as the French kings did among their knights, the prince thereby showing where his chief strength did exist.

One of these Italian compositions still extant commences thus: Owing to the nature of the combats, in which the hero of the day was personally engaged, it is evident he quitted his mounted chivalry at the battle's commencement, to fight on foot among the ranks of his meanest soldiers.

England, therefore, at all times pos- sessed a national militia, ready for the field at an hour's warn- ing ; and hence sprang the large bodies of efficient troops, which, in an almost incredibly short time, were seen march- ing under the blood-stained banners of the Red and White Rose. That the result of a single engagement, like Tow- ton or St. Albans f, should have proved the temporary anni- and in a sheaf. And furthermore, that every archere do sweare that his bowe and arrowes be his own, or his mastyr's or captyne's. And also that no man, ones moustered and admitted as an archere, alter or change him- self to any other condition, without the kinge's special leave, upon payne of imprisonment.

This interesting work should be upon the shelves of every archer's library, and I am aware it is already exten- sively known to the craft. Indeed, so minutely accurate are the details, that, whilst perusing it, time, place, the very cunning of the scene, present them- selves as a terrible dream to our excited imaginations.

Like the ancient chro- nicler, whose curious narrative the author introduces in his work, we almost fancy ourselves " seated among the baggage," viewing the combat. These impressions are in some degree assisted by its curious antique typography. No sooner had his soldiers entered, than they raised a tremendous shout of " A Warwick! The King was shot into the neck at the onset ; Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, and the Lord Sandys, in their faces, and the Earl of Strafford in his right hand, with arrows.

The Marquis of Dorset also received many similar hurts, so that, beiflg able neither to ride on horseback nor to walk, he was carried away in a cart. This affair was entirely with the archers, for the men-at-arms never joined. Now followeth that black scene, borne up so wondrous high, That but a poor dumb show before a tragedy The former battles fought have seemed to this to be.

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The battle of Towton occurred on the 29th of March, being Palm Sunday. It commenced with a discharge from Henry's archers, but, owing to a snow-storm which drove into their faces as they shot, and prevented their seeing the foe, the arrows were of no execution, having all dropped short of the enemy. Lord Falconbridge, who commanded the Yorkists, like an able general, took instant advantage of this circumstance: Then the Lancastrians gave way and fled towards York, but seeking in a tumultuous manner to gain the bridge at Tadcaster, so many of them fell into the river Cock that it was quite filled up, and the Yorkists went over their backs in pursuit of their brethren.

This rivulet, and the river Wharfe, into which it empties itself hereabouts, are said to have been dyed with blood. Indeed, the tradition is more than probable, if, as historians assert, 36,, out of the , Englishmen that were in the field on that day, "paid the penalty of their fathers' transgressions" — the dethronement and murder of Richard II. On the very first summons, in accordance with the prevailing martial spirit, Up rose the land at the sound of waf. The ploughman left his team motionless in the furrow, the woodman abandoned his axe, the artisan his loom, the brawny smith his iron to cool upon the anvil, and snatching up the ever ready bow and shaft, hastened to the place of tryst.

They met there then, not an ill-armed, undisciplined rabble, but as men With hearts resolved, and hands prepared, The blessings they enjoy'd to guard ; every one sufficiently master of his weapon to riddle a steel corslet at five score paces, and act with terrific effect against masses of cavalry; while the majority could bring down the falcon Hovering in her pride of place ; or with a broad arrow, strong and unerring as rifle shot, transfix for two or three miles together. One of the Paston letters was written to calm a parent's anxiety re- specting the fate of a beloved son, who fought in this disastrous conflict.

Nevertheless he is hurt with an arrow on his right arm, beneath the elbow, and I sent him a surgeon, which hath dressed him, and he telleth me he trusteth he shall be whole within right short time. Such men could be neither oppressed nor enslaved. Having entered the city, the Duke brought four and twenty field- pieces, to the chief charge whereof he appointed Colonel Compenick, an Alman and a valiant leader, with his regiment of Almans, all of them old soldiers.

But before they could well entrench themselves, those furious rebels, contrary to all expectations, descended their hill with such fury of shot of arrows, that they gave such a terror to our people, both strangers and English, as they were fain to run away with the loss of ordnance and slaughter of soldiers ; and before the Duke could make head against them, they had captured eighteen field-pieces and carried them up their hill.

Smith's Discourse on Weapons. Thence, by a natural, pleasing transi- tion, we pass to the records of that bold Saxon outlaw, whose still cherished memory exhibits some faint traces of an ani- mosity, once universal, amongst the native English, towards all of Norman race. Our venerable Bishop Latimer has recorded an amusing instance of this popular enthusiasm. During one of his.

The placid meekness which formed one distinguished character- istic of the most illustrious of England's martyrs need not be enlarged upon here. Yet this unceremonious preference of an outlaw's bow to the pastoral crook entirely overset the bishop's equanimity. He therefore rates the offenders soundly ; but, owing to the changes which time has made in colloquial ex- pressions, his reproof reminds us of the grumblings of some offended overgrown schoolboy ; at once quaint and ludicrous.

Yet, had the pursuits of these May-day revellers been " in season," could they have failed of sympathy with one, who informs us elsewhere, in a sermon, that his father " taught him to shoot like a true Englishman ; and bought him bows bigger and bigger as he increased in years ; and of whom the author pf the MS. Perhaps there lives not throughout the whole realm of merry England a single educated youth who has not dreamed through the pages of that little volume, elegantly entitled " The Garland," which contains a poetic chronicle of the exploits of Sherwood's famous Robber Chief.

Stout of heart and ready of hand, we see him reign lord paramount over its finest glades, in defiance of lion-hearted Richard, and his still more inveterate enemy, the " Sheriffe of Nottingham," to boot. With a manly dex- terity, which few could rival in that age of stalwart archery, he launches the grey goose wing, To cleave the willow wand ; or Hit the mark a hundred rod, And cause a hart to die. At the close of life, influenced by that chivalrous bravery which had formed its guiding star, he forbids retaliation upon the treacherous woman who drained the life's blood from his heart.

I never hurt fair maid in all my time, Nor at my end will I now. No doubt the lancet was thrust through the vein upon the artery, which produces aneurism, generally followed by mortification and death ; that such a man should have submitted literally to be " bled to death " seems improbable. In the latter case, I believe, a swelling of the limb ensues, with other symptoms, especially fatal to an archer. Give me my bent bow in my hand, And a broad arrow I '11 let flee ; And where that arrow lighteth, There shall my grave digged be.

Deep and lasting are the impressions produced by this sort of reading. They outlive the results of graver studies, and to them we may attribute much of the daily increasing fondness for archery which prevails among our English youth. Could we promote among the gentlemen, — and on the present occasion it is most important to add, the ladies of England, — an enthusiasm for recreations especially congenial to the beautiful domains which surround their ancestral homes, our object would be attained, and archery reign triumphant ; since who amongst us is igno- rant of the alliance claimed by Britain's time-honoured pastime with lawn and woodland glade, heath-clad hill, and ancient trysting oak?

Amidst such congenial scenes, as I rambled near the source of " Towy's foaming flood," the present chapter suggested itself. Remember, then, boys, that in youth only we readily acquire every accomplishment, and for none is early initiation more requisite than for archery. All nations famed for their adroit- ness with the bow seem to have been aware of this.

The Goths, like the ancient Persians, esteemed an inviolable attachment to truth, and skilful shooting, to be the most desirable attainments a young man could possess. They suspended impleiajents of archery over a male infant's cradle, at once to indicate its sex, and the profession to which, thereafter, it was to be devoted. Traces of a somewhat similar custom are also discernible in the East. Vincent and Tobago, the only islands of the West Indies whence the aboriginal inhabitants have not been extirpated. Thomas Davies, of Llanelly, in South Wales, about the year , wrote an amusing account of the Caribbees.

He thus explains, by reference to archery, an extraordinary receding of the forehead observable in the male inhabitants of that race. On bidding adieu to his hospitable, kind-hearted entertainers, one of the white men imprudently took more notice of a young Indian girl than was agreeable to Indian notions of propriety. All instantly retired, leaving him and his party alone ; upon which his knowledge of the habits of these savages induced him to warn them that instant flight could alone preserve them from " being treated as they had seen the monkeys. No pursuit was attempted ; the outraged Caribs having been to all appear- ance appeased by this sacrifice of the offending Englishman.

The fate of a number of his countrymen, who attempted to settle among these Indians about two centuries and a half since, also furnishes us with a very lively description of the terrors of their archery. Some they shot in the faces, others through the shoulders, and of others they would nail the feet and the ground together.

Master Finch had a little buckler, with which he did save himself a long time, but at the last an arrow passed through both legs, that he could not go, and, stooping to pull it out, they killed him ; and if any of us offered to run at one or two savages, straight- way they fled a little distance, but suddenly twenty or thirty would enclose us, and still shooting arrows into them until they were down, with a great Brazil sword they beat them to death.

Master Kettlebye did behave himself very gallantly, for he did not respect what arrows he received in his body so he could reach one stroke at a Caribbee ; but they were too nimble for us, in regard they were naked. Yet, nevertheless, we ran through them all. John, his body almost full of arrows, of which I pulled out a number ; but what for the blood that ran from him, and the extreme heat he was in from his flight, he failed to overtake the rest of our company that was before.

John ; yet to my grief I did stand and behold his end, who, before he fell, did make them give back like so many curs from a lion, for which way soever he ran they all fled before him. His body was so loaded with arrows that he fell to the ground ; and upon one hand and knee he did keep them from him with his sword, so much he scorned basely to die at their hands. John they pursued very hotly, which caused us to make haste to four of our fellows who were entered into a narrow path leading through the woods from the sands, to the houses where we dwelt.

But there was in the path another ambush, which drove us back to the sands ; and when they saw us so hardly chased they entered the path with us again. The first four of our friends took up the mountain, by which means they offered too fair a mark for them to hit, who dropped down one after another. He asserts that he knew an old man whose crossbow had such a huge nutf , that he could set ten arrows to the string, and these being shot vigorously against the enemy, made as many wounds in his body. Many Scandinavian youths became archers by profession, and subsisted altogether on the produce of their bows.

The large black bear, with which northern Europe is infested, was the special object of their pursuit. In autumn, the animal feeds on a species of ripe red fruit, growing in clusters, like against my heart the other through my shoulder blade ; so sword in hand ran I upon them desperately, thinking before I had died to have been the death of some of them: Nevertheless I continued running at him still, and before he could nock another, made him and all the rest turn their backs and flee unto the sands again ; which opportunity when I espied I leaped into the wood, down to the valley, where I found a salt lake ; and hearing them with loud shouts and cry, which they use in sign of triumph and victory, pursue me still, I leaped into the water, with my sword nailed to my hand, and two arrows in my back, and, by the help of God, swam over, but with much ado, for the further side was shallow, and I waded in mud up to the waist, which, had almost spent me.

By John Nichol, one of the aforesaid Company, a. To procure this, the bear either ascends the trees, which he can do with the agility of a cat, or, standing on his two hind legs, pulls down the branches within his reach. The cunning hunter, who lies concealed behind a tree or fragment of rock, now pierces his distended body with a broad-headed arrow, and maddened by pain, the enraged animal immediately rushes upon a rude image of a man, purposely placed to attract his attention. Whilst engaged in tearing and rending it, a second arrow, discharged by the hunter from his hiding-place, generally laid the shaggy monster prostrate in death.

Many boys also gained their entire support by shooting crows in the fields. They reserved the backs only, strung upon a small osier twig ; and on exhibiting these to the elders of their village, they received a small gratuity in money, with arrows, in proportion to the number of birds. But young gentlemen and young ladies, likewise, are some- times fickle and capricious even in their sports, the toy or pur- suit which has amused them at one moment being often thrown aside in the next: Be- sides daily instruction from professors who taught the proper method of holding the weapon when aiming aloft, or at an object beneath them, their mothers never permitted them to breakfast until they had repeatedly struck a very small mark.

Thus it is with the Bashkirs, a modern nation of archers sub- ject to Russia, who inhabit the shores of Lake Aral. A large squadron of these Tartar warriors hung upon and harassed the French, during their memorable retreat from Moscow, and entered Paris with the allied army in Now, bread and vegetables being unknown to these uncultivated sons of the desert, they subsist entirely upon flesh procured in hunting ; and when the reader is aware that, from the age of seven years, their children receive no food except what they strike down with their arrows, he will not be sur- prised that the Russians should esteem a Bashkir archer equal to the best rifleman in their service.

The Margravine of Anspach describes the exploits of a neighbouring horde of Tartars, several of whose young men had assembled one morn- ing beneath her chamber window ; at fifty paces they broke an egg, and killed a goose at one hundred. In the same manner the little Indian of Demerara gets no breakfast until his arrows reach the maize cake and dried venison which his mother has placed in the fork of some lofty tree.

You may be disposed, my little friends, to consider these as hard conditions. Be resolute, however, in abstaining from yours every morning, for one twelvemonth, until half a dozen arrows have hit the target, and I'll stake my best yew bow against a hazel wand, your proficiency shall equal that of the Catabuwa warriors, who, about forty years ago, delighted the archery world by an exhibition of their skill at one of the London theatres. In all operations dependent on manual dexterity, how great are the advantages possessed by the child over the grown man I A youth shall become a far better archer in one than the other in three years' practice, and must infallibly prove victorious over his full-grown competitor in every contest.

We esteem it the peculiar excellence of archery, that neither satiety nor fatigue attend it. From the first initiatory lesson of stringing the bow, to the attainment of that excellence which enables the archer to "clap into the clout at twelve score," all is plea- surable excitement. Assiduity and exertion are indispensable ; but The labour we delight in physics pain.

The first bows used by Indian children are nothing more than a bent stick, their arrows a stout straw or small reed found abundantly in the savannahs. With this simple contrivance they will hit a small piece of tobacco-pipe twenty times suc- cessively, at the distance of a dozen yards. They have a favourite game practised with a bow and two shafts ; one of which, short and unfledged, being cast into the air, the archer aims to strike it with the other in its descent. As the youths approach manhood, their weapons are gradually strengthened, and more carefully constructed.

Patient and laborious, the tawny hunter works at his bow from day to day, scraping it into form with a flint stone, or the sharp edge of some sea-shell ; he next manufactures a string, tough and strong, from the entrails of deer, or a thong of hide carefully twisted. The great wood squirrel, wild turkeys, and other winged game are killed with these.

Another kind of arrow he forms of a fine yellow reed, pierced with hard wood ; the spur or bill of a wild turkey-cock, or a splinter of crystal, serves for the head ; and in winging them the Indian exhibits similar ingenuity. With a knife made from a bit of reed, sharpened like a surgeon's scalpel, the feathers are cut to their proper form, and then neatly sewn on with cotton thread of his own spinning.

The nock he forms with a beaver's tooth, set in a small stick ; rubbing patiently until it is deep enough. Such is the slow, and often laborious process, by which the little North American savage equips himself for war or the chase. Of all the archers of the New World, those nations who inhabit the vast interior of its southern continent seem at this day to exhibit the greatest strength, adroitness, and accuracy of aim. Their ancestors bore a similar reputation, especially the Tupinambas, whose weapons De Lery has so accurately described: A plant called tocon formed the string, which, though slender, was so strong that a horse could not by fair pulling break it.

Their arrows were a full cloth yard in length, and curiously constructed in three parts — the middle being of reed, the two others of heavy hard wood ; the feathers were fastened on with cotton ; and the head was either of bone, or a blade of dry reed, cut into the form of an old lancet, or the sting of a certain species of fish. They were incomparable archers.

The exercise of archery forms the first sport of childhood ; and their young and agile warriors consider its implements confer a peculiar grace on all who bear them. No sooner does the infant walk, than, actuated by the spirit of imitation peculiar to that age, he watches his father as he arms himself for the chase, and follow- ing his footsteps beneath the tall forest trees, earnestly begs from him a mimic bow and arrows.

Should his request be denied or neglected — which, it may be presumed, is rarely the case — the little urchin himself forms a rude imitation with the branch of some small tree growing around the wigwam, and wages war upon mice and vermin which infest his native hut. When these are entirely driven away or destroyed, he sallies forth to hunt lizards and other reptiles concealed in the tall grass, or watches patiently for hours around their holes, until the want of food obliges them to come out, and affords their persecutor an opportunity of getting a shot.

With muscles thus hardened by daily exercise, ere the Indian has attained his eighteenth summer he is master of a bow, such as even in the prime of manhood the most skilful modern Toxophilite is seldom found competent to manage. It is repeatedly asserted by the Spanish historians, that none of their countrymen could ever draw the string of a Floridan's bow to his face, while the young natives did so with ease even behind the ear.

Southey's History of Brazil Notes. Among the troops composing the expedition was a body of cavalry, all equipped in the completest manner, as they considered their coats of mail musket-proof, and used bucklers, for the admirable tempering of which their native armourers have always enjoyed a deserved reputation. How far these defences availed them against the arrows of a people unacquainted with the use of iron, I now proceed to show. In one of their earliest skirmishes with the Apalachites, a Spanish general called Moscoso received an arrow in his right side, which pierced his buff jerkin and coat of mail, but did not prove mortal, because it entered in a slanting direction.

The officers of his staff, wondering that a piece of armour valued at more than ducats should be unable to resist a reed arrow headed merely with a sharp flint, resolved to prove the temper of their own, in order to ascertain how far they might be depended on. Whilst, therefore, they were quartered in the town of Apalachia, several who wore that species of defence procured a wicker basket, very strong and closely woven, and hung around it a coat of mail which was judged to be about the heaviest and most impregnable in the whole army.

Then ordering a youthful Indian captive to be introduced, they promised him freedom in case he pierced the mark at the distance of paces. Immediately the barbarian clenched his fists, shook himself violently, and contracted and extended his arms as if to awaken all his force ; then stringing a bow which had been previously delivered to him, he elevated it at the mark ; and loosing his arrow, it drove through both armour and basket, and came out at the opposite side with violence sufficient to have slain a man. Nevertheless, as the shaft did not pass entirely through, but remained sticking half in front and half behind, because, as the barbarian asserted, he had failed this time to put forth his utmost strength, he begged to be allowed to shoot a third time, on condition that if he failed to drive the arrow through and through, he should im- mediately suffer death.

The Spaniards, satisfied with what they had already witnessed, refused to comply with his request, but ever afterwards held their coats of mail in little esteem, and contemptuously styled them "Dutch Holland. Of those which were killed in battle was a gallant steed called Ageituno, ridden by the Spanish general ; he fell pierced with eight arrows, for at him the Indians principally directed their aim. Indeed, in all battles with the Chris- tians, they aimed at the horses rather than at their riders, knowing if the former were destroyed their distant shooting and swiftness of foot would render them a match for the Spaniards ; and many instances of their success occurred during this invasion.

On one occasion, twelve cavaliers and as many foot soldiers, desirous of furnishing themselves with slaves, placed them- selves in ambush to intercept the natives, who usually came to pick up such trifles as the Christians left behind on breaking up their encampments. Having posted themselves beneath the shelter of a group of trees, with a centinel among the branches of one of the loftiest, their plan succeeded so well that a number of Indians were surrounded and taken ; of these the Spaniards made an equal distribution ; and then the party agreed to return to their quarters, one trooper excepted, who, dissatisfied that two captives only had fallen to his share, insisted on remaining until he procured another, and as his comrades found him obstinately resolved neither to defer his inten- tions to a better opportunity, nor to accept one of theirs instead, they un- willingly consented.

These examples will serve to illustrate the force and vigour with which early discipline enabled the Indian youth to ply their bows. I will but detain my little readers with an additional anecdote to show the minute accuracy of their aim. A poor mariner named Alexander Cockburn, about a century since, suffered shipwreck upon the shores of the Isthmus of Darien, and being desirous of reaching some Christian settlement, penetrated into the interior of the country for several hundred miles on foot.

During this long and painful expedition, his sole dependence was upon the hospitality of the tawny inha- bitants of the forest; and as each declining sun successively admonished him to seek food and shelter for the night, he Whilst they were thus disputing, their centinel gare notice that he saw a young Indian in the neighbourhood ; and Paez, whose previous mishaps should have rendered him more prudent, instantly spurred straight towards the barbarian, who, as usual, sought refuge beneath a tree.

The branches being low, the Spaniard was unable to ride beneath them, but, wheeling his charger upon the gallop, made a sidelong thrust over the bridle-arm with his l3,nce. He missed his aim, however ; and then the Indian, who held his bow- arm extended, and his arrow ready nocked, drew up to the head, and wounded the horse in his flank: Bolanos, who had closely followed his comrade, was similarly treated, his steed being slain outright. Juan de Vega now came up at a hand gallop, and enraged to see his com- panions thus dismounted by a naked savage, spurred towards him with the utmost fury.

The latter, however, advanced without the slightest symptom of fear, evidently intending to slay the horse, and then seek shelter in the forest. But the cavalier, warned by the accident that occurred a short time previously to Paez, had provided his with a threefold breastplate of cow's hide, like the other horsemen of his band.

No sooner, however, did the Indian get within bowshot, than he aimed at De Vega's horse ; and the shaft, driven completely through the leathern protection, entered three fingers deep within its breast. Having thus effected his purpose, the bar- barian fled towards the forest, but was quickly surrounded and slain. The crest-fallen Spaniards then steered homewards, admiring the courage and adroitness of their enemy, whilst they blamed the folly of him who had been the cause of such irreparable losses.

Looking about withoutside the wigwam, I saw an arrow sticking in the sand at one end of it, and within there hung a net containing two ripe plantains, which I made bold to eat. Never had I met with such delicious fare as this seemed to me at the time, not having tasted anything for above forty days but cocoa-nuts and such like food. After describing how these hospitable Indians detained him several days in order that he might recruit his strength, and heal with the juice of herbs the wounds he had received in " fencing with the rocks," he adds, that the two boys grew extremely attached to him, and were curious to know whether he could use a bow and arrows.

Having made them understand, in broken Spanish, that he was entirely unacquainted with them, because in his own country guns only were used, they often displayed astonishing feats of dexterity by striking down the smallest bird flying. Beltroni describes how dexterously some Indian children hit a five sous piece, in size equal to our sixpence, which he fixed up at twenty-five paces as a mark, often at the second trial. By-and-bye he was fain to remove it ten paces further, or very- soon they would have emptied the little purse prepared for his visit to their encampment. They have, in fact, no other weapon, offensive or defensive, than the bow and arrow.

Navaretti, a French gentleman, who landed there during his voyage to China, witnessed a remarkable feat performed by these savages. Experience, however, soon taught me that if it becomes us to be cautious in implicitly receiving all we hear, neither ought we to be so incredulous as I was. In rambling through some mountains in the interior of the island, a party of natives overtook me. Among them were four boys about seven or eight years of age, all equipped as archers.

This occurred in the little town they call Albucanamtas. He therefore leaned his body quite on one side, and held his bow directly before him, trusting to the proudly arched neck of his steed as a protection from Busjady's shaft. This pusillanimous manceuvre saved his life, for pity succeeded to rage within the brother's breast ; he resolved not to kill him, as he could easily have done, but merely to exhibit some memorable token of his skill.

With this view, he aimed at Cabuscheira's cheek, and struck from his ear the pendant of pearls, leaving behind the gold ring to which it had been attached.

Should the reader chance to light upon a scarce work called InatuUi, or the Garden of Delhi, he may there peruse the original. Let it not be concealed that from this period, about twenty years, your atom-like slave lived as a soldier. One day, in company with some faithful friends and similarly minded com- panions, I went to visit a fruit garden.

In it was a tree taller than all the rest, its dates hanging in clusters, like moist con- fections, delicious, full of juice, sweet, and full-flavoured ; but, from the great height, the hand of no one's power could pluck the fruit. No person having yet had the boldness to climb the tree, its produce was free from the devastation of man. It was a date tree of tallest growth, From whose size the garden received honour ; Every cluster of its fruits was a storehouse of sweets, From which the crow and paroquet seized a treasure. It must be by miracle, for what power has humanity to scale the turrets of the heavens?

At length, in spite of disinclination, I tucked up my skirts like a running footman, and drawing in my sleeves in the manner of a magic acting rope-dancer, climbed up this heaven-touching tree, which you might have styled the ladder of the sky; while a vast crowd below formed a circle round the trunk to admire my agility. When I got to the top, the tallest and lustiest men seemed from its towering height to my eye as little children, and some- times my sight was lost halfway.

The crowd began to form alarming conjectures in their minds concerning my safety. In short, having gathered some clusters of great beauty, richness, and fragrance, I put them in the skirts of my vest, and threw others to my friends below, when suddenly a black snake, with a white hood tinged with yellow, of great thickness and length, from whose life-destroying glance the gall would melt to water, and the stoutest heart dissolve like salt, appeared among the leaves, and darted towards me, devoted to death.

A trembling seized my whole frame at the sight ; and, from dread at his mon- strous figure, my joints and members seemed as if they would separate from each other, and the bird of life would quit the nest of my body. Both these are grievous ; but what is still more afflicting is my becoming a mark for the tongue of mankind, who will say, ' This foolish wretch, a slave to gluttony, sacrificed his life for a few dates.

From affright my senses now deserted me, so that to describe my alarm and despair is out of the power of relation. My hair even now stands erect at the remembrance. Such a dryness seized my joints and members from terror, that not the least moisture remained in my body, and the blood became stagnant in my veins. A vast concourse of people stood around below, who beat together their hands in distress, and from despair uttered cries and shrieks, which reached my ears in horrible sound ; while my kinsmen and friends in despondency scattered dust upon their heads.

At this crisis, a well-looking young man, of tall stature, mounted on a horse without a saddle, and accompanied by a servant carrying a bow and two or three arrows, came to the place, and inquired the reason for the assemblage of so great a concourse, and their outcries. Some of them informed him, pointing me out with their fingers.

The youth having examined my situation, and the folds of the serpent around my neck, said, ' Are there here any of the nearest kin to this death-devoted person? I am a per- fect judge of distance, and in the skill of archery a professor. I can hit the foot of an ant in a dark night ; and should they hang a grain of mustard seed by a single hair, I should not miss it a hair's breadth. My skill in this art is such as I cannot ex- press; for the direction point of the arrow is the bent of my power. As an instance — at present I shall not miss, and at the first aim so bring down the head of yonder serpent, that even the wind of the arrow will not reach the face of the young man, or an injury happen to a single hair.

Thus far I confide in myself; — yet as Divine decree rules all things, and Providence acts for itself, it is possible that the matter may turn out con- trary to my wishes, and you in that case, fixing your hands on my skirts, may accuse me of shedding his blood. The youth — may the mercy of God attend his soul I — took his auspicious omened bow in his grasp, and placing an arrow on the string, prayed the Almighty to direct his aim for my sake. Then, like a magician practised in sorcery — not magic- like, but altogether miraculously drew the shaft, and aiming at the eye of the serpent, let fly.

The point of the arrow reaching its mark, brought down the monster's head to the ground ; and this exclamation from the crowd ascended to the skies, ' Praise be to the Giver of life I He cannot die whom he destines to live, though he seemeth dead. God is potent over all things. The noble youth, angel like, fleeted to Para- dise in the twinkling of an eye ; and the head of the snake, like a paper-catching fishf, remained fastened on his lip.

The Persians assert that Aresh, the best archer of his day, shot an arrow previously marked, in order that it might be re- cognised, from the top of the mountain Damovend to the banks of the river Gihon. Agoutha, a Tartar prince, long before his tenth year, displayed the greatest fondness for the bow, and even at that early age was an unrivalled archer. One day, certain ambassadors being in the court yard of his father's palace, and espying Agoutha, who stood holding his bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, they requested him to shoot at some birds then passing over their heads ; Agoutha complied, and with three arrows brought down an equal quantity of game.

One of the ambassadors, delighted with this proof of juvenile adroitness, exclaimed, — " Behold an extraordinary child, worthy to reign over the great empire of the Manchons! Perceiving a hillock at some distance, he requested all present to loose their arrows at it, but none fell within even a reasonable space of the mark ; then Agoutha, with his first arrow, shot beyond the bank, and on measuring, the distance was found to be paces.

The arrow of Manthou, a boy of the same race as Agoutha, and previously accounted the cleverest bowman of his age, fell yards short of that of his kinsman. In the year , a monument was erected where the successful shaft had alighted, with an inscription commemorative of such extraordinary distant shooting in a child. This prince had occupied himself with archery almost from the cradle, and when not more than nine years of age, the Khan, wishing to mortify his self- love, observed, contemptuously, that ' a distaff would better become the hand of such a poltron, than the manly weapon with which he was then exercising.

Teon Man, Khan of the Tartars, wishing to disinherit and destroy his eldest son Mothe, in order to give tlie kingdom to a child by his second empress, sent him as hostage to the king of the Yuetchi, whose dominions he immediately after- wards ravaged with fire and sword, in the hope this outrage might be avenged by the death of his obnoxious son. The unnatural desire would have been gratified, had not Mothe mounted a swift horse taken from the stables of his enemy, and fled with the utmost speed homewards. The largest, used for butt practice only, instead of the iron pile, have a button of horn or hard wood at the point, pierced with several holes.

When discharged from the bow, these arrows make a shrill whistling noise, caused by the rush of air through the apertures, and in war are useful for night signals. Letters, also, secured in these holes, are often shot into the enemy's camp ; though, as a Chinese author remarks, these missives sometimes fall into the hands of persons for whom they were never intended, but who, nevertheless, do not fail to turn them to good account.

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The arrow next in size has usually a steel spear- shaped head ; and a third sort is armed with a formidable trident of the same metal. The fletcher's art seems to be carried to a high degree of perfection in China. Besides those already described, most of their quivers contain a certain number, classed as follows; viz. They use also a remarkable description of arrow, styled by the French esprits caches, having a triple head rivetted upon a small steel plate.

With these they can strike a very minute object from one hundred yards' distance; and for all of them the archer has distinct compartments in his leathern quiver. Being at the chase soon afterwards, he aimed a whistlhig arrow at an antelope: The death signal, whistling through the air, struck her full upon the breast: As he rode forth soon afterwards he espied one of the finest of his father's horses grazing in a meadow ; instantly he struck him with a fatal shaft.

Then, his whole suite following the example, rained a storm of arrows upon the poor beast, which fell absolutely larded therewith. Apparently now secure of their devotion, Mothe one day persuaded his father to take part in a grand hunting match, and, loosing at him the death signal, in an instant he sunk from his horse pierced by a thousand arrows. The wretched parricide imme- diately returned to the palace, where he was soon declared Schen Yu, that is, emperor, in the room of his murdered parent. One of these magnificent spectacles, which took place about two centuries ago, has been graphically described by an eye-witness, and I shall here give the substance of his very accurate narrative.

About its middle, and on one side, were three artificial hillocks of sand, about fifty paces distant one from the other, and on the summit of each stood a spear and banner, being marks destined for the archers. Similar preparations had been made on the opposite side, so that the intermediate space barely allowed six horses to run abreast. Here was drawn up a body of youths selected to ex- hibit their address in mimic warfare, who, accoutred in their usual light harness, and mounted on sprightly steeds, awaited the signal to begin.

He wore a pointed diadem, a black thick curling beard, and was arrayed in the purest white, as were the whole sixty thousand Mamelukes who stood before him, with an air of the most respectful submissive devotion. He waved his hand, and immediately the sports commenced by several of these youths running at full career between the first two hillocks, dexterously shooting at the marks right and left, until they were absolutely covered with arrows. They next passed at equal speed throughout the other vacant spaces, not one missing his aim, but, galloping with reins loose, each discharged sometimes two, sometimes three arrows.

Again they cantered back towards the goal, and, spurring their foaming horses, leaped on and off, six or seven times successively, and discharged arrows at intervals, without once missing their aim. Whilst the horses absolutely seemed to fly over the sand, three Mamelukes unstrung their bows, whirled them around their heads by means of the string ; restrung them, nocked their arrows, and failed not to transfix the butt. A fresh party now advanced, who, after throwing themselves off" their horses thrice backwards, again vaulted into the saddle, and drove into the mark without a single miss.

Some lay backward on the horse's croup, and, taking his tail between their teeth, raised themselves upright, and shot as well as at first. Others sat between sharp-pointed drawn swords, three before and three behind, whilst the riders were protected only by a light silken dress, so that the smallest inclination of their body could not fail of wounding them.

Yet so adroitly did they manage themselves that there was, in reality, no danger, and, surrounded thus, they were still successful with their arrows. Of all these youths, however, one only was seen to stand bare- footed and erect upon the backs of two of the swiftest horses, and, putting them to the utmost speed, to plant in the butt three arrows discharged in front, and also backwards like a Parthian.

Another also performed several feats of dexterity peculiar to himself: At length, when the marks appeared quite loaded with arrows, the master of these youths, a venerable grey-bearded man, ad- vanced, and seizing the banners, first held them aloft, and then cast them on the earth, whereupon his scholars showered down their lances and arrows, as if about to end the lives of ten thousand wounded adversaries, and then rode away, making their horses curvet triumphantly up and down the arena.

The Book of Archery

So much for the ancient Mameluke archer. I shall only add, in reference to these Oriental matters, that, among the Monguls, a bow is symbolical of a king, an arrow of an ambassador or viceroy ; the one sending, the other being sent. Common arrows made of reeds are called Schem in Arabic, and those of the Persians, formed of hard wood, they style Neschab. I have already remarked how solicitous our own brave fore- fathers were to train up a race of expert archers in defence of their own and their prince's rights.

Their feelings on this im- portant subject are well expressed in the spirited lines selected as a motto to the present chapter.

Being the Complete History and Practice of the Art, Ancient and Modern

My little toxophilites, how- ever, may be tolerable historians, without knowing how many English monarchs and nobles excelled in the art which they admire, such information belonging rather to the private than the public annals of a people. Yet they must have heard of that gorgeous interview between our Henry the Eighth and Francis of France, styled, by way of pre-eminence, " The Field of the Cloth of Gold.

France reckoned among her chivalry many noble and accomplished knights ; and, in the sports of the tournament, policy perhaps dictated the surrender of a triumph where victory would have been easy. But when, after a morning passed in exercises of mimic warfare, Henry, at the particular request of the French monarch, under- took to exhibit the skill and vigour with which Englishmen wielded the long bow and cloth-yard arrow, he owed nothing to the concessions of his adversaries.

The bugle horn of gold, suspended from his shoulder, was sustained by a baldric richly embossed with the same precious metal, a number of arrows couched beneath his embroidered girdle, and in his hand he carried a long bow of the finest Venetian yew. The crowd of nobles who waited on their monarch were equipped in a corresponding style of magnificence ; and the gallant bearing of this hunter band, as they stationed themselves around the butt, called forth a spontaneous burst of admiration from the whole French court.

Henry was then in the bloom of youth: The plumed bonnet and sylvan dress, assumed for the present occa- sion, served to enhance these personal advantages not a little, and, in truth, he appeared a noble personification of the tall English archer. As he drew the first arrow from his belt, the French, delighted with the novelty of this spectacle, suffered not a whisper to escape them ; the English, forgetful that the fame of their archery resounded throughout all Europe, felt as though it depended solely upon their royal champion's success.

And right well did Henry on that day maintain the reputation of his coun- trymen. He repeatedly shot into the centre of the white, though the marks were erected at the extraordinary distance of twelve score yards apart. Britannicum ingentem arcum contentius flexit ; nemo certius atque validius sagittavit. A contemporary writer, whilst briefly alluding to this gorgeous pageant, paints Henry's dexterity in the following quaint terms: In after years, our bluff" Hal lost none of the relish for this exercise which had distinguished his boyhood. When a gentle- man named Cavendish waited on him at Hampton Court, in obedience to his majesty's commands, he found him engaged with a party, shooting rounds, or butts, in a portion of the park situated behind the garden.

Being in a great study, at the last the King came sud- denly behind me where I stood, and clapped his hands upon my shoulders ; and when I perceived him I fell upon my knee, to whom he said, calling me by name, ' I will,' quoth he, ' make an end of my game, and then I will talk with you ;' and so departed to his mark, whereat the game was ended. Then the King delivered his bowe unto the yeoman of his bowes, and went his way towards the palace. Of these, some relate to losses at shooting matches, others to presents of archery gear, dear ones, indeed, but with which the courtiers aimed to bespeak their prince's gracious favour by ministering to a dominant taste.

Paid to a servant of my Lord of Suffolk, in reward for bringing bowes and arrowes to the King's grace, xk. Paid to George Coton, for vii shott lost by the King's grace unto him at Totthill, at 6s. Paid to the iij Cotons iij setts, the which the King's grace lost to them at Greenwiche Parke, xx livres. Paid to Thomas Carey, for shooting money, xxd. At the close of a grand shooting match held in Windsor Park, the upshot being given, he observed a guards- man, named Barlow, preparing to discharge his last arrow ; upon which the king exclaimed, "Beat them all.

Barlow, and thou shalt be Duke of Archers.

Henry the Seventh, his father, showed an equal love for archers, who principally composed the army by which he tri- umphed over the tyrant Richard. His son, Einon Llwyd, was one of those formidable Welsh archers, whose prowess excited as much terror among their English neighbours, as theirs had done among French and Spaniards; and, Richmond being a countryman -j- , he readily joined his standard with a party of hardy mountain warriors, brave and skilful like himself. On his departure, as a testimony of grateful friendship, the Earl presented his hospitable entertainer with a silver flagon, still possessed by the Llwyd family.

Richmond was the issue of this union. Henry went thence to London, and was crowned king of England. The king himself took an active part in these shooting matches ; a fact thus alluded to in a very ancient ballad: Whilst quite a youth he kept a journal, still preserved among the manuscripts in the British Museum. It contains many allusions to archery, particularly some curious memoranda of the amiable young prince's suc- cesses and disappointments at matches in which he took a part. Prince Henry, and his brother Charles the First, were great admirers of the bow.

An engraving of the latter, in archer's costume, forms the frontispiece of Markham's Treatise. Charles the Second, on his restoration, did much towards the revival of archery. It is not generally known that the merry monarch, endowed with facile manners, which readily accom- modated themselves to the tastes and habits of all with whom he associated, was a member of an archery society during his exile in the Low Countries.

I really forget whether Ghent or Bruges, but his majesty's statue occupies the salon belonging to an ancient fraternity of bowmen in one or the other. And now, my little friends, having done our devoir as regards the achievements of princes and potentates, we will next take a hasty survey of archery as it flourished in a less exalted sphere of life. The famous Earl Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, would have acquired among the Romans the cognomen of Longae manus-j-, just as the poet Ovid was nicknamed Naso, from the extraordinary dimensions of his nose.

This preternatural length of arm gave him an immense advantage over ordinary archers. We may, therefore, conclude contemporary writers have not exaggerated, when they assert that, at the age of eighteen, he was master of a bow in which no other man could draw an arrow to the head. During his expedition for the con- quest of Ireland, he frequently resigned sword and lance, the ordinary weapons of knighthood, to fight among his archers, armed with this redoubtable bow. The young Lord Henry Vesci was remarkable for skill in archery, and his untimely fate. Being indicted by the sheriff of Yorkshire for some trivial offences against the forest laws, a warrant was issued to Henry de Clydnau for his apprehension.

To this the refractory noble refused to submit. Catching up his bow and shafts, he fled through a wood, pursued by the deputy- sheriff and his men, and would certainly have escaped, had not revenge induced him to slacken his pace, that he might bring his adversaries within bowshot. Then, discharging his cloth-yard shafts with fatal aim, three of the foremost quickly bit the dust.

The outlaw's shot it was so strong, That no man might him drive, And the proud sheriff's men, They fled away full blythe, — dreading the fate of their comrades ; and, after retreating some distance, halted to hold a council of war. Naturally suspicious that Vesci would still track and keep them in sight, they resolved to quit the wood altogether, in the hope of lulling their victim into security. And their stratagem had the desired effect ; for the young lord, really believing pursuit at an end, for the present, unstrung his bow, and, throwing it on the turf beside him, soon fell asleep beneath the shade of a large tree.

In the mean time the sheriff and his followers made a large circuit, and, creeping separately through the thick under- wood, they stole upon the defenceless youth, and killed him where he lay. Unwilling to expose his schemes of revenge to the hazard of disappointment, he de- clined engaging in his quarrel those public forces which were at his command by virtue of the shrievalty, but contented himself with a band of trusty neighbours and tenants, whose hearts and hands lay wholly devoted to his pleasure.

Possessing the lord- ship of EUand town, all its inhabitants were his homagers, and, as such, had sworn themselves his doomed servants, according to the ancient phraseology of law. With this knot of desperadoes, he " most illegally, being himself but a private gentleman," marched, in the middle of the night, to Quarmby Hall, the dwelling of Quarmby of Quarmby, Sir Robert Beaumont's nearest relative ; and, having broken into the house, incontinently slew its worthy proprietor, whilst wrapt in the arms of sleep.

Unsatiated with blood, the high sheriff and his followers passed on to the house of Lockwood of Lockwood, a gentleman universally esteemed as the darling and oracle of his county. Him also they murdered, in the midst of his domestic retire- ment, having no power of armed men to protect him, because neither fearing nor expecting such an assault. Sir Robert Beaumont being thus deprived of his most trusty friends, the ferocious EUand, ere day had dawned, bent his steps towards Crosland Hall.

But that house was deeply moated, and, the drawbridge being up, they were compelled to halt.

Evil fortune, however, favoured his designs, for, after an ambush of three hours, a girl, who had occasion to be early stirring, approached and let down the bridge. Rushing from their con- cealment, the EUanders seized the terrified maid, whom they dragged with them into the house. But her screams had roused the family, and they found Sir Robert in his bedchamber, with as many servants about him as could be assembled upon so sudden an emergency. Resistance, however, availed not against 46 THE BOOK OF ARCHERY- their more numerous and better armed assailants, who seized the poor old knight, and haled him down stairs into the hall, where the murderous Elland, nothing moved by the piteous shrieks of his terrified lady, stood by, whilst they severed his head from his body with the stroke of a sword.

He then com- manded all the bread and wine in the house to be brought forth, and the party sat down to regale after their bloody tragedy.

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As he sat, Elland espied the two sons of his victim, and ordered them to approach and eat. The younger complied, but his brother refusing, he furiously exclaimed, " See ye yon lad! Then, leaving mansion and property to its fate, she took refuge with her boys at the house of Townley of Brereton, her near kinsman, who gave a kind reception, with free and generous entertainment. Having associated themselves with young Lacy of Crumble Bottom, Lockwood of Lockwood, and Quarmby of Quarmby, both whose fathers, as I have already said, perished by Elland's hand, the young Beaumonts spent their time in devising schemes of retaliation.

With this view, they laboured to acquire dex- terity in such martial exercises as were calculated to render them dexterous in the anticipated game of death; namely, riding, tilting, the sword, and shooting in the long bow, then England's most famous and redoubtable artillery. Whilst halting between hope and fear, and daily busied with uncertain rumours, Dawson and Haigh, two faithful dependants of their family, suddenly visited them. For many reasons it was unanimously decided that a better opportunity of avenging their slaughtered parents could not be selected.

The roads, too, at such periods, were usually crowded with un- couth and strange persons, so that none would be likely "to question whence they came or whither they went. Accordingly, taking Dawson and Haigh as guides, and accompanied by a body of picked archers, these adventurous youths commenced their hazardous expedition. They passed unobserved through bye-ways or forest paths, and with vengeful punctuality reached Crumble Bottom Wood, true to the day of the sheriff-turn.

Here they placed themselves in ambush. Sir John Elland little dreaming, amidst the pride and gallantry of his shrievalty, and whilst assisting at the execution of meaner criminals, that, in a few short hours, his life would be devoted to expiate his own dark catalogue of crime. And now the spies placed in Brigg House arrived breathless, to tell that Elland was mounted, and on his journey homewards. Then the Beaumonts arrayed their men upon the hill tops leading from Brookfoot to Brigg House ; and then, with coun- tenances changed to fearful ghastliness, compressed lips, and eyes gleaming like those of the vengeful adder, they paced to and fro upon its narrow brow, intently looking towards that distant point which concealed or brought to view all who journeyed along the road.

Anecdotes of skilful modern. Earl of Arran character of Advantages of the bow as a. Flight shooting Miss Littledale. Flint arrow Anecdote of Rhys Wyn. Price of Welsh bow and arrows Gilded bows. Recapitulation of youthful ac Hunchback his rival Ineffectual attempts to cultivate Modern bowmen of Paris.

French and Spanish crossbow The prodd. Fatal accident of Archbishop. Observations on the Toxophilus. Cornish archers Peacocks feathers. Lieut Gore of treating arrow wounds. Ne Fauna gooma or ratshooting. Odyssey Itoman archers dicipline. Grecian marks Aster and King Philip. Being the Complete History and Practice of the Art And turning to his men, Quoth our brave Henry then, ' Though they to one be ten, Be not amazed. Yet have we well begun, Battles so bravely won Have ever to the sun By fame been raised. This while our noble King, His broad sword brandishing, 90 Down the French host did ding As to o'erwhelm it ; And many a deep wound lent, His arms with blood besprent, And many a cruel dent Bruised his helmet.

Well it thine age became, O noble Erpingham! Which did the signal aim To our hid forces ; When, from a meadow by, Like a storm, suddenly, The English archery Struck the French horses With Spanish yew so strong, Arrows a cloth-yard long, That like to serpents stung, Piercing the weather: None from his fellow starts, But, Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver.

There would this monster make a man.

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