There is no record of the use of the bow in France until the reign of Charlemagne, in the beginning of the 8th century, although we have evidence that in England both the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes employed it in the chase, as well as in battle against the primitive inhabitants of England, many years before the Conquest. The probability is that it was first introduced as a military weapon into Britain by the Romans; but it was under the Norman rule that the practice of archery in this island was not only greatly improved, but generally diffused throughout the country, so that England soon became famous for its archery, and her archers took precedence of those of every other nation. To preserve this superiority by constant practice appears to have been the study of many of our monarchs; and numerous statutes for enforcing and regulating the use of the bow among the people were enacted from early times until after the invention of fire-arms. Many laws were also made for securing the presence in distant and obscure parts of the country of persons skilled in the manufacture of bows and all the apparatus appertaining to archery, for guarding against fraud by those artificers, and also for the procuring of a constant supply of bow-staves from abroad. These laws appear to have been absolutely necessary, for in the olden time the English chiefly depended for their success in battle upon the bravery and expertness of their archers, whose appearance in the field generally led to success. William the Conqueror is reputed to have been so admirable an archer that few could bend the bow he used, and his victory at Hastings was certainly due to the skill and intrepidity of his archers. Richard I. performed great exploits with his archers in the Holy Land, where, according to Gibbon, 300 archers and 17 knights, headed by the king, sustained the charge of the whole Turkish and Saracen army. It was in his reign that the renowned Robin Hood flourished in Sherwood Forest. Edward II. levied a company of “Northumbrian archers” in the year 1314, for the invasion of Scotland.

The battles of Cressy and Poitiers were gained by the English archers in the years 1346 and 1356 respectively. Edward III. was extremely jealous of the honour of the bow, and anxious that its glory should be maintained. In the early part of his reign it was ordered that most of the sheriffs of England should each provide 500 white bows and 500 bundles of arrows for the then pending war with France. In the following year this order was reissued, with the difference that the sheriff of Gloucester should furnish 500 painted bows in addition. This king embodied a company of soldiers, whom he called the “Archers of the Guard.” Edward III. also, in 1363, commanded the general practice of archery on Sundays and holidays by the people in lieu of the ordinary rural pastimes, which were forbidden on pain of imprisonment. In this reign the price of bows was regulated by Government ; a white bow was Is., a painted bow Is. 6d., a sheaf (24) of sharp arrows Is. 2d., and a sheaf of blunt arrows Is. Richard IL, in 1392, directed that none of his servants should ever be unfurnished with bows and arrows, and that they should avail themselves of every opportunity of practising archery. At the same date an Act of Parhament compelled all persons employed a.s servants to shoot with bows and arrows on Sundays and other holidays. In the year 1402 the English archers won the battle of Homildon; and in 1403, at the battle of Shrewsbury, where Hotspur was slain, the most terrible havoc was created by the archers on both sides. In the reign of Richard III., it was enacted that for every ton of Malmsey or Tyne wine brought into England, ten good bow-staves should also be imported, under penalty of 13s. 4d. for every deficient stave; and to encourage the import of bow-staves, those above 6∣ feet long Were freed from duty.

For the manufacture of bows yew was generally preferred to all other woods, but to prevent a too rapid consumption of yew, bowyers were ordered to make four wych-hazel, ash, or elm bows, to one of yew; and no person under 17 years of age, except those possessed of portable property worth 40 marks, or the sons of parents owning an estate of £10 per annum, was allowed to shoot with a yew bow, under penalty of 6s. 8d. for each offence. That distant counties might be properly supplied with bows and arrows, the king claimed and exercised the prerogative of sending, if necessary, all arrow-head, bow-string, and bow makers, not being freemen of the city of London, to any part of the realm that required the services of such artificers; and neglect of an order to visit a place after the receipt of instructions to repair thereto, was punishable by.a fine of 40s. for every day the workman remained away.

In the reign of Henry IV. it was enacted that all arrowheads should be well brased and hardened at the points with steel, and stamped with the name of the maker, under penalty of fine and imprisonment, and forfeiture of the arrows, &c., in default; and by another statute passed in the same reign, it was enacted that persons from places whence bow-staves were derived, should import four bowstaves for every ton of merchandise taken on board, under penalty of 6s. 8d. for every bow-stave deficient. In this reign the highest price permitted for a yew bow was 3s. 4d. In the reign of Edward IV. it was enacted that every Englishman, and every Irishman living with an Englishman, should have an English bow of his own height; and also that in every township shooting butts should be set up, at which the inhabitants were commanded to practise on holidays, under the penalty of one halfpenny for each neglect. In the same reign the king, in preparing for a war with France, directed all sheriffs to procure a supply of bows and arrows for the service of the state. In 1405, it was made penal to use bad materials in the manufacture of bowsand arrows. In 1417 the archers of the army of Henry V. won the battle of Agincourt. This king directed the sheriffs of counties to take six wing-feathers from every goose for the feathering of arrows. In 1478 archery was encouraged in Ireland by statute. In the year 1424 James I. of Scotland, who was himself an excellent bowman, revived the practice of archery among his subjects. Richard III. lent 1000 archers to the duke of Bretagne. The same troops afterwards fought at the battle of Bosworth. In 1485 Henry VII. instituted the yeomen of the guard, who were then all archers, and in the 19th year of his reign the use of the cross-bow was forbidden by Act of Parhament, because the long bow had been of so much greater benefit to the nation. In this reign archery occupied an important position in the fashionable pastimes of the kingdom, and upon the occasion of the marriage of Henry with the Princess Elizabeth it formed a great feature among the nuptial festivities, the king himself joining in the shooting with heartiness and glee.

Several Acts were passed in the reign of Henry VIII. for the encouragement and promotion of archery; one ordered that butts should be erected and kept in repair in all townships, and that the inhabitants should practise shooting at them on holidays. The same Act directed that every able-bodied man, not being an ecclesiastic or a judge, should practise shooting with the long bow; and the guardians and employers of youth were ordered to bring up the boys in their charge to the practice of archery, neglect being punishable by fine. In this reign the practice of archery was strongly advocated from the pulpit by Bishop Latimer; and so jealous were the English of rival nations· competing with them, that aliens were forbidden to use the long bow. The English victory at the battle of Floddeπ Field was due to the skill and courage of the archers. Edward VI. devoted much of his time to the practice of archery as an amusement, and his Journal, in which are many allusions to his successes and disappointments at matches, is still preserved in the British Museum.

Archery continued to be an object of attention and solicitude with the Legislature during the reign of Elizabeth, and the price of bows was again regulated by statute; also, bowyers were commanded to keep in hand always a sufficient stock of bows. Charles I. issued commissions to prevent the enclosure of fields near London, so “as to interrupt the necessary and profitable exercise of shooting with bows and arrows,” and also for the restoration of all shooting-marks that had been already removed. And the· earl of Essex, at the beginning of the civil war, raised a company of archers for the defence of the king. In the time of Charles II. archery was a highly fashionable and popular recreation with all classes of society, and the “Merrie Monarch” used frequently to take part with the ladies and gentlemen of his court in toxophilite meetings. Queen Catherine also showed deep interest in the fascinating pastime, and in the year 1676 she presented a silver badge to the “Marshal of the Fraternity of Archers.” Both the king and queen frequently reviewed the numerous associations of archers then existent. In the spring of 1682 a. grand fête was given by the London Artillery Company at the Artillery Grounds, at which there were present upwards, of 1000 archers, and it is said that the gala outshone anything of its kind that had previously been seen in England; but from that time until the beginning of the present century, the attractions of archery appear to have been overlooked, and its practice neglected. In the English Bowman, a small book published in the year 1801, we find the following reason given as the cause of its revival in London :— “About the year 1776, BIr Waring, who then lived with Sir Ashton Lever at Leicester House, and who may justly be styled the father of modem archery, having, by continual business, contracted an oppression upon his chest (arising principally from sitting too closely at his desk and pressing his breast too much against it, and which the most eminent in the faculty had in vain endeavoured to remove), resolved to try the effects of the bow in affording relief. He accordingly made it a regular exercise, and in a short time

derived great benefit from the use of it, and ascribed his cure, which was perfect, to the practice of archery. Sir Ashton Lever, perceiving the good effects which so engaging an amusement had upon the constitution, followed Mr Waring’s example, and took up the bow; he was soon joined by several of his friends who, in the year 1781, formed themselvee into a society, under the title of the Toxophilites, and met regularly at Leicester House, having butts erected in the gardens belonging to it.

That society was the parent of the numerous societies of archers known about that period (i.e., 1790). “The enthusiasm,” says Hansard, in his Book of Archery, “ can only be compared with that which animated the admirers of Shakspeare and the drama generally during the Garrick era.”

There is now no means of ascertaining precisely the period at which the bow was relinquished entirely in these kingdoms as a weapon of war. Grose informs us that it was commonly used by the English soldiery for more than two centuries after the introduction of fire-arms, and indeed, long subsequently to the adoption of guns, the bow remained the favourite weapon of the army,—a fact which is not surprising when we learn, on the authority of Neade, a celebrated archer of Charles I., that the ordinary range of the bow was from 16 to 20 score yards, and that so rapid was the shooting of the archers, or so slow the firing of the musketeers, that an archer could shoot six arrows in the time occupied in charging and discharging one musket.

But although the bow has long been disused as a military weapon, it has ever been cherished in Great Britain, and particularly among the upper classes of society, as an instrument of delightful and healthful recreation; and it would be impossible to overrate the physical and moral advantages accruing from the regular practice of archery —one of the few “out-door” amusements that are as suitable for delicate ladies as for strong men. “There is,” remarks Mr H. A. Ford, “no exercise more healthy or more rational, or which returns more true and genuine gratification to the man who practises it.” As an exercise for ladies it brings all the muscles generally into healthy action, and is, in Mr Ford’s opinion, admirably suited to meet the requirements of the fair sex,—“general and equal, without being violent—calling the faculties, both of mind and body, into gentle and healthy play, yet oppressing none—withal most elegant and graceful.”

Another era in the annals of the art may be dated from the year 1844, when a national meeting of the archers of Great Britain and Ireland was held at York, since which time archery has assumed much importance as a national pastime, and year after year the wider competition which such assemblages have secured has brought forward bowmen and bowwomen, who, by their persistent efforts in carrying off honours, and that by the most remarkable achievements, have carried the art as nearly as possible to perfection. Under the auspicee of the “Grand National Society” archery has been conducted through all the stages of actual revival and establishment as a favourite British pastime. Rapid progress has, in every respect, marked its modern career. It was only in the year 1845 that ladies began to compete publicly with men for the prizes offered at “The National,” but at some of the matches, which have, without interruption, annually taken place since then, as many as 130 archeresses have participated in match-shooting, whilst at least an equal number of gentlemen have competed with them on some occasions, with a guaranteed prize list of about £400. These anniversaries have been held four times at Leamington and at Cheltenham; thrice at York and at Derby; twice at Shrewsbury, at Exeter, and at Bath; once at Edinburgh, Liverpool, Worcester, Oxford, the Alexandra Park (London), Clifton, Norwich, Birmingham, Hereford, Brighton, and Winchester. After the establishment of the Grand National meeting it was found necessary to fix an order of shooting; hence the origin of “The York round,” on which all public competitions by archers are now conducted, and which, for gentlemen, consists of 6 dozen arrows at 100 yards, 4 dozen at 80 yards, and 2 dozen at 60 yards; and for ladies, 4 dozen arrows at 60 yards, and 2 dozen at 50 yards. By this arrangement archers living in various parts of the three kingdoms can ascertain their relative proficiency. It is upon two days’ shooting, or the result of a “double round,” that the Grand National prizes are awarded on “value” alone, as the best criterion of good and central shooting. The principal of these prizes are the champion’s gold medal for gentlemen, and the challenge silver bracer and brooch for ladies. These much coveted honours are awarded by a majority of points only; and the points for the champion’s medal are reckoned as follows :—Two for the gross score, two for the gross hits, one for best score at 100 yards, and one for the best hits at ditto, and the same at 80 and 60 yards—making ten points in all. The ladies’ challenge bracer (presented by the West Norfolk Bowmen) is awarded on the same principle, namely, for the greatest number of points—eight in all. The highest score ever made by a champion was 1251, with 245 hits, at Cheltenham in 1857, by Mr Horace A. Ford, the author of The Theory and Practice of Archery, who won the medal of Great Britain as many as eleven times, and is, without doubt, the finest shot England has seen since the days to which legends and distance lend a somewhat doubtful glory, his scores being absolutely without parallel. He has now retired from public life as an archer. The nearest approach to any of his victories has been made by Major Hawkins Fisher, who carried off the medal in 1871 with 955, and has been champion in the years 1871-72-73-74. Mr Peter Muir, the greatest archer, probably, that Scotland has produced, at any rate in modern days, was the champion in 1863, scoring 845. Mrs Horniblow became the possessor of the lady champion’s bracer no less than ten times, and the highest score she ever made in obtaining it was 764, at Leamington, in the year 1873. To this lady is due the honour of having signally demonstrated that the bow really was a weapon adapted to woman’s use, and capable of evidencing, in their hands, not the perfection of grace only, but that of skill and talent also. To the Grand National Society, in the first instance, is this great increase of skill mainly owing, but beyond this, increased skill has led to increased taste and liking for the amusement, till, in an ever widening circle, nearly every county of England has become included within it. This has led to the establishment of other great meetings, till, at the time the present article is written, besides numberless meetings of private clubs, there are several public matches open to all, where formerly there were none. Thus we have the Grand National itself, the Leamington and Crystal Palace meetings, the Grand Western (where two handsome challenge prizes reward the shooting both of the champion and championess of the west of England), and a Scotch national meeting, where a champion gold medal, presented by Mr T. Macfarlane of New Zealand, and exclusively confined to Scotland, is annually shot for, being awarded to the successful bowman, according to the rules for the champion medal of Great Britain.

There are several societies of archers in the three kingdoms, but the most noted of the kind now existing are the following :—

The Royal Company of Archers.

The king’s body guard for Scotland was first constituted in its present form in the year 1676, by an Act of t.ho privy council of Scotland. An earlier origin has been claimed for the company, it being said by some that it was originally formed by the commissioners for enforcing the exercise of archery appointed by James I. of Scotland, who picked out the most expert bowmen in the various counties, and constituted them into a body of guards to defend the king’s person, in which distinguished station they displayed great devotion and bravery at the battle of Flodden, the body of the king being afterwards found surrounded by those of his attached archers’ guard. This, however, is mere tradition, no authentic record of their existence being found until the above-mentioned year 1676, when the minutes of the Royal Company begin by stating, that owing to “the noble and usefull recreation of archery being for many years much neglected, several noblemen and gentlemen did associate themselves in a company for encouragement thereof and did apply to the privy council for their approbation, and after several meetings, did adjust and concert several articles and regulations of the said company, and ,did further apply to the privy council for their approbation, which was granted.” The minutes of the company have been kept with great regularity from that time down to the present, with the exception of a period of about twenty years at the end of the 17th century, during which time there are no records. It is not supposed that the company was extinct at that time from what can be gathered from the succeeding minutes. It is probable, however, that during the Revolution the Royal Company was principally Composed of upholders of the house of Stuart, and that on this account their existence was for a time suspended. This may be true, as we find that the company was subsequently a strong Jacobite body; but whether it is the case or not, it is certain that the records recommence...