In one of the Spectators, we meet with the following adver tisement, extracted, as we are told, from a paper called the Post Boy: "On the ninth of October next will be run for on Coleshill Heath, in Warwickshire, a plate of six gumeas value, three heats, by any horse, mare, or gelding, that hath not won above the value of five pounds: the winning horse to be sold for ten pounds, to carry ten stone weight if fourteen hands high: if above, or under, to carry or be allowed weight for inches, and to be entered on Friday the fifth, at the Swan, in Coleshill, by six in the evening. Also a plate of less value, to be run for by asses;" which, though by no means so noble a sport as the other, was, I doubt not, productive of the most mirth.

I Dated Sept. 11, A.D). 1711. Spectator, vol. ir. No. 173.

BOOK II.

RURAL EXERCISES GENERALLY PRACTISED.

CHAPTER 1.

1. The English famous for their Skill in Archery.-11. The Use of the Bow known to the Saxons and the Danes.-III. Form of the Saxon Bow, &c.-IV. Archery improved by the Normans.-V. The Ladies fond of Archery.-VI. Observations relative to the Cross Bow.-VII. Its Form, and the Manner in which it was used.VIII. Bows ordered to be kept.-IX. The Decay of Archery, and why.-X. Or dinances in its Favour;-The Fraternity of St. George established.-XI. The Price of Bows.-XII. Equipments for Archery.-XIII. Directions for its Practice.-XIV. The Marks to shoot at.-XV. The Length of the Bow and Arrows. XVI.-Extraordinary Performances of the Archers.-XVII. The modern Archers inferior to the ancient in long Shooting.-XVIII. The Duke of Shoreditch, why so called;-Grand Procession of the London Archers.-XIX. Archery a royal Sport;-A good Archer, why called Arthur.-XX. Prizes given to the Archers.

1.-SKILL OF THE ENGLISH IN ARCHERY.

AMONG the arts that have been carried to a high degree of perfection in this kingdom, there is no one more conspicuous than that of Archery. Our ancestors used the bow for a double purpose: in time of war, it was a dreadful instrument of destruction; and in peace it became an object of amusement. It will be needless to insist upon the skill of the English archers, or to mention their wonderful performances in the field of battle. The victories they obtained over their enemies are many and glorious; they are their best eulogiums, and stand upon record in the histories of this country for the perusal, and for the admiration of posterity. I shall therefore consider this subject in a general point of view, and confine myself, as much as possible, to such parts of it as relate to amusement only.

II. THE BOW KNOWN TO THE ANGLO-SAXONS AND DANES.

The Anglo-Saxons, and the Danes, were certainly well acquainted with the use of the bow; a knowledge they derived at

1

an early period from their progenitors. The Scandinavian scalds, speaking in praise of the heroes of their country, frequently add to the rest of their acquirements a superiority of skill in handling of the bow. It does not, however, appear, that this skill was extended beyond the purpose of procuring food or for pastime, either by the Saxons or by the Danes, in times anterior to the conquest. It is indeed said that Edmund, king of the East Angles, was shot to death with arrows by the Danes; but, if this piece of history be correct, it is no proof that they used the bow as a weapon of war. The action itself might be nothing more than a wanton piece of cruelty; and cruelty seems to have been a prominent feature in the character of those lawless plunderers.

Representations of the bow occur frequently in the Saxon manuscripts; and from one of them in the Cotton Library, written about the eighth century,? I have selected the following.

9. Two SAXON ARCHERS-VIII. CENTURY.

The one accompanied by his dog, is in search of the wild deer, the other has no companion, but is depicted in the act of shooting at a bird; and from the adornment of his girdle, appears to Olaii Worm. Lit. Run. p. 129. Barthol. p. 420. Pontoppiaan s Hist., Norway, 2 Claudius, B. iv.

p. 248.

F

have been no bad marksman. The first represents Esau going to seek venison for his father, and the second, Ishmael, after his expulsion from the house of Abraham, and residing in the desart,

10. SAXON BOW AND ARROW.-X. CENTURY.

This engraving is made from a manuscript of the tenth entury in the Cotton Library. The bow is curiously ornamented having the head and tail of a serpent carved at the ends; and was, probably, such a one as was used by the nobility. In all these bows we may observe one thing remarkable, that is, the string not being made fast to the extremities, but permitted to play at some distance from them. How far this might be more or less advantageous than the present method, I shall not presume to determine.

IV. NORMAN ARCHERY.

It is well known that the Normans used the bow as a military weapon; and, under their government, the practice of archery was not only much improved, but generally diffused throughout the kingdom.

In the ages of chivalry the usage of the bow was considered as an essential part of the education of a young man who wished to make a figure in life. The heroes of romance are therefore usually praised for their skill in archery; and Chaucer, with propriety, says of sir Thonas "He was a good archere."2

V.-ARCHERY PRACTISED BY LADIES.

In the seventeenth century archery was much commended as an exercise becoming a gentleman to practise, and greatly conducive to health. The ladies also were fond of this amusement, and by a previous representation1 from an original drawing in a manuscript of the fourteenth century, we see it practised by one who has shot at a deer, and wounded it with great adroitness; and in

1 Tiberius, C. vi.

Canterbury Tales.

• Peacham's Compleat Gentleman, p. 187. edit. 1622.

4 Engraving 4, p. 13.

another previous engraving1 the hunting equipments of the female archers about the middle of the fifteenth century are represented

It was usual, when the ladies exercised the bow, for the beasts to be confined by large inclosures, surrounded by the hunters, and driven in succession from the covers to the stands, where the fair sportswomen were placed; so that they might readily shoot at them, without the trouble and fatigue of rousing and pursuing them. It is said of Margaret, the daughter of Henry VII., that when she was on her way towards Scotland, a hunting party was made for her amusement in Alnwick Park, where she killed a buck with an arrow.3 It is not specified whether the long-bow or the cross-bow was used by the princess upon this occasion; we are certain that the ladies occasionally shot with both, for when queen Elizabeth visited lord Montecute at Cowdrey, in Sussex, on the Monday, August 17, 1591, “Her highness tooke horse, and rode into the park, at eight o'clock in the morning, where was a delicate bowre prepared, under the which were her highness musicians placed; and a cross-bow, by a nymph, with a sweet song, was delivered into her hands, to shoote at the deere; about some thirty in number were put into a paddock, of which number she killed three or four, and the countess of Kildare one."4

VI. THE CROSS-BOW.

The foregoing observations refer chiefly to the long-bow, so called, to distinguish it from the arbalist, or cross-bow, which was not only much shorter than the former, but fastened also upon a stock, and discharged by the means of a catch or trigger, which probably gave rise to the lock on the modern musket. Bayle, explaining the difference between testimony and argument, uses this simile, "Testimony is like the shot of a long-bow, which owes its efficacy to the force of the shooter; argument is like the shot of a cross-bow, equally forcible, whether discharged by a dwarf or a giant."

I cannot pretend to determine at what period the cross-bow was first brought into this country, but I believe not long before the commencement of the thirteenth century; at least, I have Rever met with any representation of such an engine prior to

1 Engraving 5. p. 15.

3 Leland's Collect. vol. iv. p. 278.

2 See book i. ch. i. sec. xvii. p. 21.
4 Nichols's Progresses, vol. ii.

5 Arcübalista in Latin, and also frequently steel bow in English, because the horns were usually made with steel.