bow (in the proper manner) to his ear, with the following infcription: Regina Catherine Sagittarii. The fupporters are two bow-men, with the arms of England and Portugal. In 1682 there was a moft magnificent cavalcade and entertainment given by the Finsbury archers*, when they beftowed the titles of duke of Shoreditch, marquis of Iflington, &c. upon the upon the mott deferving. Charles the Second was prefent upon this occafion, but the day being rainy, he was obliged foon to leave the field. I do not find any thing relative to the ftate of archery during the fhort reign of James the Second; but it continued after this to be ufed for a manly exercife, as appears by the following epitaph on the fouth fide of Clerkenwell Church, which is ftill very legible. Sir William Wood lies very near this fione, There is a very good portrait of this famous archer, belonging to -the Artillery Company, at a pub lic-houfe which looks into the Ar tillery ground. Archery however did not entirely die with Sir William Wood; for in 1696 a widow (named Mrs. Elizabeth Shakerly () left by her will thirty-five pounds to be diftributed in prizes to this fraternity, Obiit Sept. 4. A. D. 1691. æt. 82. Poftibly fhe had attended the Finfbury archers, from the fane curiofity which Ovid afcribes to Penelope II. In the fucceeding reign of queen Anne, I have been informed by general Oglethorpe, that, together with the duke of Rutland and feveral others of confiderable rank, he ufed frequently to shoot in the neighbourhood of London. I do not pre Markham. 1634. 12ino. * See the Art of Archery, by Gervas Thefe arrows are ftill fometimes ufed, the horn work being hollow, as alfo filled with holes the air paffing through thefe arrows, makes a whiftling both in the afcent and defcent. They are fuppofed to have been used by the piquet guards, to give notice to the camp of the enemy's approach during the night. The Blue Anchor, Bunhill Row. See MS. penes the Artillery Company. F4 fume fume to guess the General's age; but he must be advanced in years, as he was aid-de-camp to prince Engene of Savoy; and ftill continues to handle his bow in fuch a manner, that there is little doubt but that he would diftinguith himself in this manly exercife. I do not find in the archives of the company any memoranda of confequence during the reign of George the Firft; but, till the year 1753, targets were erected in the Finfbury Fields, during the Eafter and Whitfun holidays, when the bet fhooter was ftyled captain for the enfuing year; and the fecond, lieutenant. Of these there are only two now furviving, viz. Mr. Benjamin Poole and Mr. Philip Conflable, who have frequently obtained thefetitles. The former of these is now rather aged and infirm ; but the latter bath been fo obliging as to fhew me most of their marks in the Finsbury Fields, as well as to communicate feveral anecdotes and obfervations relative to archery. Though we hear of arrows at Cheviot Chafe which were a yard long, yet it is by no means to be fuppofed that the whole band made ufe of fuch, or could draw them to the head. The regulation of the Irish ftatute of Edward the Fourth, viz. that the bow fhall not exced the height of the man, is allowed by archers to have been well confidered; and as the arrow fhould be half the length of the bow, this would give an arrow of a yard in length to thofe only who were fix feet high. A ftrong man of this fize, in the prefent times, cannot eafily draw above twenty four inches, if the bow is of a proper ftrength to do execution at a confiderable distance. At the fame time it must be admitted, that, as our ancestors were obliged by fome of the old ftatutes to begin fhooting with the long-bow at the age of feven, they might have acquired a greater flight in this exercise than their defcendants, though the latter fhould be allowed to be of equal ftrength. As the fhooting with the longbow was firft introduced in England, and practifed almoft exclufively for nearly two centuries, fo it hath occationed a peculiar method of drawing the arrow to the ear, and not to the breaft. That this is contrary to the ufage of the ancients* is very clear from their reli fs, and from the tradition of the Amazons cutting off one of their paps, as it occafioned an im pediment to their fhooting +. As for Diana's not having fuffer. ed the fame amputation, it must be remembered that the was not only a goddess, but most active huntress, and profeffed the moft perfect chaftity; the therefore could not be fuppofed to have been impeded by fuch an obftacle to archery as June or Ces. The Finsbury archer is therefore reprefented in this attitude of drawing to the ear, both in The Bowman's Glory, as alfo in the filver badge given by Catherine queen of Charles the Second) to the Artillery Company. Several years ago there was a man named Topham, who exhibited moft furprising feats of strength, and who happened to be at a public houfe near Iflington, to which the Finsbury archers reforted after their exercife. Topham confidered the long-bow as a play-thing, only fit for a child; upon which one of the archers laid him a bowl of punch, that he could not draw the arrow two-thirds of its length. Topham accepted this bet with the greatest confidence of winning; but bringing the arrow to his breaft, inftead of his ear, he was greatly mortified by paying the wager, after many fruitless efforts. As to the distance to which an arrow can be thot from a long bow, with the beft elevation of forty-five degrees, that must neceffarily depend much both upon the ftrength and flight of the archer; but as the longeft diftance I can find in the annexed plans is eleven fcore and feven yards*, I conclude that fuch length is not often exceeded t. There is indeed a tradition that an attorney of Wigan in Lancashire (named Leigh) fhot a mile in three Aights; but the fame tradition flates that he placed himself in a very particular attitude, which cannot be ufed commonly in this exercife‡. The archers confider an arrow of an ounce weight § to be the best for flight, or hitting a mark at a confiderable dittance; and that afp alfo is the beft material of which they can be made. As to the feathers, that of a goose is preferred: it is alfo withed, that the bird thould be two or three years old, and that the feather may drop of itfelf ||. And here it may not perhaps be improper to explain the grey goofe wing in the ballad of Cheviot Chafe. Two out of the three feathers in an arrow are commonly white, being plucked from the gander; but the third is generally brown or grey, being taken from the goofe; and from this difference in point of colour informs the archer when the arrow is properly placed. From this moft diftinguished part therefore the whole arrow fometimes receives its name. Though archery continued to be encouraged by the king and legiflature for more than two centuries * Viz from the mark of Lambeth to that of Westminfler Hall. "He'll clap you in the clout at twelve score." ever, seems to be mentioned as an extraordinary feat. Shakespear. This, how It must be admitted, however, that by 33 Henry VIII. no one aged twentyfour is to fhcot at any mark under eleven fcore. He is fuppofed to have fet on a tool, the middle of his bow being fastened to one of his feet; to have elevated that foot forty-five degrees, and drawn the ftring of a strong bow with both his hands. They generally fpeak indeed of an arrow's weighing fo many fhillings. Edward the Third indeed directed the fherives to pluck the proper feathers from the geefe in every county. His majefty, however, wanted thefe upon the spur of an occafion, and could not wait till the feathers dropped. Afcham, in his Toxophilus, breaks out into the following panegyric on á goofe, because this bird fupplies feathers for arrows: "How well does the make a man fare at his table, how eafily does fhe make a "man lie down in his bed, how fit even as her feathers be for fhooting, fo be her quils only fit for writing." Julius Scaliger hath alfo given us "Laudes Anferis," after after the first knowledge of the effects of gunpowder, yet, by the latter end of the reign of Henry the Eighth, it feems to have been partly confidered as a pafiime*. Arthur, the elder brother of Henry, is faid to have been fond of this exercife in fo much, that a good fhooter was ftyled Prince Arthurt. that he We are alfo informed pitched his tent at Mile End, in order to be prefent at this recreation; and that Henry his brother alfo attended. When the latter afterwards became king, he gave a prize at Windfor to thofe who fhould excel in this exercife§; and a capital fhot having been made, Henry faid to Barlow (one of his guards)" if you «ftill win, you shall be duke over "all archers." Barlow therefore having fucceeded, and living in Shoreditch, was created duke thereof ||. Upon another occafion Henry and the queen were met by two hundred archers on Shooter's Hill, which probably took its name from their affen bling near it to shoot at marks. This king likewife gave the first charter to the Artillery Company, in the twenty-ninth year of his reign, by which they are permitted to wear dreffes of any colour except purple and scarlet; to thoot not only at marks, but birds,***if not pheasants or herons, and within two miles of the royal palaces. They are alfo enjoined by the fame charter not to wear furs of a greater price than thofe of the martin. The most material privilege however is, that of indemnification from murder, if any perfon patling between the fhooter and the mark is killed, provided the archers have firft called out FAST†. As it appears, by what had been ftated, that both Henry the Eighth Lord Herbert obferves, that in 1544 Henry the Eighth had himself invented fmall pieces of artillery to defend his waggons; as alfo that he took an account of all the ordnance then in the tower, and fent much of it to Tilbury, Gravesend, Dover, and Portmouth. That he availed himself of the artillery deftined for the laft of thefe places, appears by an engraving lately published by the Society. + See Stowe. Bowman's Glory. In the time of Charles the First, the gunners ftyled thofe who contended for the ufe of archery king Harry's captains. See the Lift of Archery, by Gervas Markham, 1634. 12mo. This title, together with that of marquis of Iflington, earl of Pancridge, &C. were kept up even fo late as 1683; thefe being all villages in the neighbourhood of the Finfbury Fields. Many itatutes of this reign reftrain expence and colours of the drefs. Though we hear that Indians fhoot both birds and beafts, it is believed that this is effected by the archers ftealing very near to them. Nor are animals to thy of man in an American wilderness, as they are in countries better inhabited. In the Falkland Islands therefore, when firft fettled by the English, the birds suffered themselves to be knocked down with fticks. De Pagés alfo informs us, that the birds between Surat and Bombay do not avoid man, because the country is peopled by Hindoos, who never moleft them. A horfe or cow is larger, and therefore would probably be more formidable to the feathered creation, did not they foon experience that they are liable to more attacks from man. ++ Poffibly an abbreviation of stand faft. It appears that Dr. John Rainolds was nearly killed by fuch an accident. See Holland's Herologia, part 11. p. 229. and tation: "Another coureth downe, and "layeth out his buttocks, as though "he thould boot at crowes*." Which laft part moreover explains a paffage in Shakespear's King Lear, Act IV. fc. 6. "That fellow handles his bow "like a crowkeeper." From the words above quoted it is to be inferred,that, when gunpowder was yet very dear, fields were kept from crows by unfkilful archers, who had no grace in their attitudes, and were therefore fpoken of by the expert with the greatest contempt; fo that to boot like a crowkeeper had become proverbial. Afcham mentions another particular with regard to archery in his time, which is, that (as it commonly happens in other -paftimes) the bets at these fhooting matches began to be confiderable. I fhall conclude this effay by men. tioning, that the long-bow continues to be used as a manly exercife by the inhabitants of Geneva, and in many parts of Flanders; nor is it totally neglected in Great Britain, Toxophilus, 29. B. particularly Lancashire+, and Lon don, where a fociety (of which our worthy member Sir Afhton ever is the prefident) frequently ufe this manly recreation. I take the liberty alfo of prefent. ing, for the perufal of the fociety, a MS. treatife on the fame subject ad. dreffed to Sir Afhton Lever, which, though compiled by a fadler at Man chetter, contains fome particulars which may deferve attention; as likewife drawings of the different forts of arrows, which muft always exceed mere verbal defcriptions. Believe me, dear Sir, Your most faithful humble fervant, DAINES BARRINGTON. f This county hath long been famous for this exercife, as appears by the following line to be found fomewhere in Leland's Collectanea, "Lancasheere faire archere.” fons |