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.
The book of archery : being the complete history and practice of the art, ancient and modern ...
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.
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.
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. 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.
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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.
- Die römische Armee (German Edition);
- Account Options;
- A Long Day (Ticonderoga Book 3).
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.
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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. 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.
At length, three horsemen abreast rounded it suddenly, followed by a numerous cavalcade, two and two ; and, after sweeping quickly along the valley's sinuosities, continued to ascend the narrow hill path at a sharp trot. The appear- ance of an armed company thus loitering in the road might natu- rally have excited alarm ; but the sheriff evidently suspected nothing, for, riding briskly up at the head of his party, he cour- teously vailed to them his bonnet.
Adam Beaumont fiercely returned his salute. Sir Knight," he exclaimed, " shall avail thee little ; I am Adam Beaumont. Their main object being thus accomplished, the young leaders fled away that very night to Furness Fells, a place between forty and fifty miles from the scene of their revenge. In this wild and remote district they took up their winter quarters, to plot new schemes for extirpating the whole male line of Elland. With this view they surrounded the Hall with constant spies, by whose advice, at the opening of spring, the Beaumonts returned to Crumble Bottom, and on Palm Sunday eve, in the silence of midnight, took forcible possession of Elland mill ; for, being near the hall, it was well adapted for assaulting the young knight and his family, the following morning, on their way to church.
Still the conspirators' arrival was not managed so secretly as to prevent its being observed by the neighbouring cottagers. From them several dark hints reached Sir John, warning him to be on his guard that he was not surprised in his bed. A consciousness of his father's crimes, and his recent expiation of them, tended to strengthen these suspicions.
He was unwilling to trust himself abroad, and mentioned to his wife that armed men were reported to have been seen lurking in the vicinity. However, she made light of his fears, and merely answered, " This day is Palm Sunday: On her approach she found the door open, and the conspirators in possession, by whom she was straightway seized, bound hand and foot, and laid in a secure place.
The woman not returning so soon as her husband expected, he began to be wroth, threaten-. On repairing to the mill, in great haste, he finds his wife a captive, and the gentle- men present ready to explain the delay, by binding and laying him in a similar posture close by her side. In the mean while Sir John Elland and his family were pre- paring for church. The warning he had received lay heavy upon his spirit, and he secretly clad himself in a breastplate of proof.
Their usual path was by the mill-pool side, but, during low water, a shorter passage lay over the dam stones ; and from their hiding-place Beaumont and his associates had a full view of the party, as cautiously and one behind the other they began to cross the stream. Repelled, however, by the armour, it glanced away and dropt harmless. Seeing this, Wilkin of Lockwood ran forward, and exclaiming fiercely, "Cousin, you shoot wide! Thus, for a moment, it seemed destined their victims should escape ; but Beaumont, grown wise by experience, fully comprehended the reason of their failure ; and, discharging a second arrow, pierced his victim through the brain.
He fell headlong into the mill-stream, whose waters were crimsoned with his gore, and, at the same instant, Lockwood's second arrow mortally wounded his only boy.
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The affrighted domestics carried him and his swooning mother back to the house, where he almost immediately expired ; and so perished the last male branch of Elland of Elland Hall. Scarcely, therefore, had they gained Aneley Wood ere they distinctly heard the shouts of their pursuers as the fore- most viewed their chase. Seeing no hope of escape, the whole party resolutely faced about, and, ranged in a hollow square, made brave resistance, until their arrows were spent: It appears he there became deeply enamoured of his host's daughter, a young woman possessing great beauty, united with apparent artlessness.
Their place of assignation was the park, for Camel Hall once belonged to a family of distinction. It unfortunately happened that the keeper, in going his evening rounds, observed Lockwood in earnest conversation with this damsel: Boswell immediately rode over to his tenant, to contrive some mode of seizing the youth at his next visit.
Overawed by threats of being expelled from his farm, and tempted by the offer of a considerable reward, the farmer promised his assistance: The bold archer, however, who never stirred abroad without his trusty bow, quickly ascended the stairs to an upper room, and appeared at the open window, breathing defiance against his enemies: The woman on whom the heroic Lockwood had placed his affections, far from making suitable return, actually sold herself, as her father had done, to his destroyers.
Stealing cautiously behind him, with a sharp knife, as he was in the act of drawing his bow, she sud- denly cut the string, and left him defenceless. The rest is soon told. No longer kept at bay by the terror of his archery Boswell rushed in, and quickly seized and bound the unfortunate Lockwood. He was then led forth, and instantly put to death. Having so far furnished an abstract and brief chronicle of ex- ploits, where princes, nobles, or knights, alone figure as the chief performers, let us next glance at an inferior, but highly important class — I mean our yeomen archers, who drew their bowstrings at sixpence daily pay.
Here, however, much patient research has been ill rewarded ; and, where the amplest information was anticipated, nothing exists beyond a few meagre details. Oral traditions unquestionably abounded among the populace ; but those quali- fied by education to collect and record them, unconscious of their value to the men of other generations, felt no interest in the task: The wages above cited were given to our archers at least five centuries ago.
How highly, therefore, must the services of this force have been estimated, when a poor peasant was rewarded with an eighth of the stipend given to one of Edward the Third's most power- ful feudal lords. And in cases of pressing emergency, some additional bounty seems to have been added: Some dilemma of this nature gave rise to correspond- ence between Sir Roger L'Estraunge who had fought on King Edward's side, and his brother in arms Sir John Paston, in the reign of Henry the Seventh.
Wherefore, sir, I beseech you to do so much, as to have purveyed for me two or three such as ye think shall be for me. An aged woman of Dorsetshire once told me, as a tradition received from her grandmother, how, during the height of the quarrel between King Charles and his Parliament, the unusual event of a wayfarer passing through her village excited so much curiosity, that the whole population crowded to their doors, and remained watching until he disappeared.
It served as food for conversation long afterwards ; on such a day, said they, " we saw a man! As to children, my informant added that none below a certain age remembered their fathers, and, although familiar with the name, they knew not its meaning. Sir, I beseech you to take the pains for me this time, and I shall do you that service that lyeth in me, by the grace of Jesu — which preserve ye. They seem to have stood equal, in popular estimation, with Robin Hood and his co-mate John Little ; since, in Shakspeare's days — and no doubt long before and after — the name of one of them was used to compliment an expert archer.
He that hits me, let him be clapt on the shoulder and called Adam. To ryse the deare out of their den. Such sights hath oft been sene. As bye three men of the north countrie, By them it is I mene. Among the monuments in Clewer church are some memo- rials to the family of Hayes of Hollyport. One of these cele- brates, in indifferent poetry,' the exploits of Martin Expence, a famous archer, who shot a match against a hundred men, near Bray. In Glinton church, also, we have the effigies of a bow- man, wearing his bugle horn and other insignia of the craft.
Leland tells an interesting story of John Pearson, a Coventry archer, who, being at the battle of Dixemunde, had one of his legs shattered by a cannon ball: Wat was by profession a sutor, but by inclination and practice an archer and warrior. Upon one occasion, the captain of Bewcastle, military governor of that wild district of Cumberland, is said to have made an incursion into Scotland, in which he was defeated and forced to fly. Wat Tinlinn pursued him closely through a dangerous morass: It may be here remarked that Lancashire Rawson, who still lives in the remembrance of many of my seniors, the best among modern archers, was also a shoemaker.
Carew, the ancient historian of Cornwall, alludes to the dex- terity of one Richard Arundel, an intimate friend and country- man of his own, who, like a Parthian, could shoot twelve score from behind his head, with the right hand or the left. He, pre- sently afterwards, tells a quaint anecdote of another archer, in language equally quaint.
The first of these somewhat resembles Menelaus, mentioned by Zosimus, lib. These were the only adver- saries truly formidable to the Indians, who, also, chiefly depended on their archery, but laughed to scorn the confined range of a Spanish cross-bow. The arquebuses, indeed, might have been more formidable ; but these the Christians, having no iron, had been compelled to convert into " horse-shoe nails. At the same time, Don Gusman, one of the Spa- nish ofiicers, was struck by above fifty arrows in his head and shoulders, and expired in the arms of his associates as they bore him from that scene of slaughter.
The Greek philosopher considered that children should be taught to use both hands with equal dexterity, and attributes it to the im- prudence of mothers and nurses that there is any difference ; for among the Scythians, he says, men draw the bow equally with both hands. I repeat, however, that it has a very contemptible appearance, and is unpardonable, because any one may cure himself of the bad habit in a week.
Many centuries ago, the barons of Berkeley Castle were at feud with Lord de Lisle. Having come to a resolution of putting their irreconcileable differences to the arbitrament of the sword, both parties met near Nibley Green, Gloucestershire, where the Berkeleys came attended by a large reinforcement from Bristol, whose citizens, at that period, were as famed for a turbulent martial spirit as for commercial enterprise.
To these were added a band of archers from Dean Forest, who, secure in their native fastnesses, like the Kent woldsmen, owned vassalage to none, although they usually maintained an alliance, for mutual protection, with the neighbouring barons of Berkeley. There is a circumstantial narrative of the battle of Nibley Green among the castle archives, from which it appears that their leader. Black Will, marked the Lord Lisle, when he lifted the visor of his helmet for fresh air, and loosing against him an arrow, it pierced his brain, and he fell dead from his horse.
Du Carell's poem of De Wyrale makes this redoubt- able personage confess and glory in the feats of arms he per- formed during that sanguinary fray. And note, advancing through the tall trees' shade, A stranger bold and armed, a bow who bare Some six feet long, of toughest yew-tree made. A goodly sheaf of arrows bright and keen, Were deftly stuck beneath his baldric green. Thus accoutred, he falls in company with the " chief forester in fee. Drawn to my ear, the unerring cloth yard shaft j Nor know I fear — nor crouch to sword or lance, As many a daring deed might testify. He too, the Lord of Lisle, who dared to prance, — At his life's cost, in an ill-omened day.
Joining with Berkeley's earl in deadly fray: Rankling long time within his bosom pent ; Nor proved the cherish'd hope of vengeance vain. A petition, presented to the king by his widow, states that the arrow entered his left temple, for, like Caesar's soldiers at the battle of Pharsalia, our English yeomen were prone to strike at the visage, although from very different motives. Strong mail protected the person of knights and men-at-arms, over and above which a triangular shield, fenced with steel plates, and suspended by a strap round the neck, gave additional protection to the vital parts.
Around is sculptured the following legend: Few who ventured to do so ever lived to close them again ; and this favourite manoeuvre with archers of our own and other countries, is repeatedly adverted to in the chro- nicles. At Towton, the most fatal battle in all that long quarrel of the Roses, when the Lord de Clifford, fainting with pain, heat, and thirst, took off his gorget, instantly an arrow — tradition says a headless one — passed through his neck ; " and thus," adds the chronicle, " he rendered up his spirit.
Enter the Prince of Wales wou7ided. Come, my lord, I '11 lead you to your tent.
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Lead me, my lord! I do not need your help. Some pirates, from the Orcades, once entered the port of Anglesea in their longVessels ; and the Earl of Chester, apprised of their approach, boldly met them, rushing into the waves upon a spirited horse. Magnus, the commander of the expedition, standing upon the prow of the foremost ship, aimed at him an arrow: Arise up, Jact, and goe with me, And more of my privitie Thou shalt see somethinge. Into a chamber he him led: The kynge saw about the hermyt's bed Broad arrowes hang. There's no archere may shoote this That's with my lord the kynge. But it should spill his shale, f f Jack sith thou can of fletcher crafte.
Thou mayst me ese with a shafte. Hoare's elegant translation of Giraldus. I Frire, brother; i. From this and many similar passages, which occur in old books, it would appear that the class of " lazy, lozel, roystering monks," of whom Tuck, Robin Hood's celebrated confessor, may be considered a type, abounded in England from the Con- quest to the Reformation. Indeed it could hardly be otherwise. However unfitted for the sacred office, the cowl was the most obvious resource of the junior branches of our ancient country gentlemen. They could not dig, and were ashamed to beg.
As English- men, an ardent love of field-sports was inherent in their nature: The Curtail friar of Fountain's Abbey, Well can a good bowe draw. He '11 beat you and your yeomen, Set them all on a row, says Scadlocke to his master, Robin Hood. The earliest recorded incident in the life of the famous Thomas a Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, is his being put in the stocks for getting drunk, and fighting with his quarter-staff" at a village fair. Whilst going his rounds, he convicted him of "stable stand;" or in the act of shooting at the king's deer.
Too ignorant to understand, or too cunning to believe, the man insisted on bringing him before the lord warden ; whereupon his holiness showed fight, disarmed the keeper, and belaboured him stoutly with his own bow. Alban's" than in his breviary. The most renowned chase in England was near at hand, where many " a stag of ten" fell beneath his arrows. At length these depredations became so notorious that the king, whose veneration for monks seems not to have been very profound f, ordered his convent to be searched, and fined him heavily for every bow discovered there.: 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.