Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1901-09-19
ARCHERY IN DAYS OF OLD.
Law Prescribing the Minimum Dis.
tance to Be Shot Over.

Law Prescribing the Minimum Dis.
tance to BE Shot Over.
In England shooting with the long
bow was for centuries the chief ma
tiOnal pastime, and it's practice was
enforced by several acts of parlia-
ment. Two kinds of arrows were
used-first, the fight arrow, long,
thin arrow, with plain iron point,
which was employed only for long
distance shooting; second, the sheaf
arrow, a heavier shaft than the for
mer, tipped with a jagged, barbed
iron head, two-pronged like a fork,
which was the weapon for short
ranges. By an act of Henry VIII, it
was forbidden for any man over "a
years old to shoot at a mark nearer
than 220 yards with flight arrow,
or 140 yards with a sheaf arrow. The
old French archers, however, justly
celebrated as they were for the long
range and precision of their Shots
could not accomplish more than GOO
yards. The greatest range which our
modern bowmen can attain is from
800 to 400 yards. In 1885 the Turkish
ambassador attended meeting of the
ToXopholite society in London, and
there shot against the wind Ais yards
and with the wind 463 yards. He had
a short Turkish bow, and very light
arrow % inches long, with small
feathers.
In bygone days, therefore. when our
ancestors were famous and formida-
BILE with the longbow, the shooting
grounds attached to every town, if not
also village, in the kingdom answered
to the volunteer rifle ranges of mod.
ern times. 1t would appear, however,
that the annual meetings of the Rifle
association had their counterpart in
the open competitions which were
frequently held in the neighborhood
of Finsbury. There is extant "a plan
of all the marks belonging to the Hon
orable artillery company in the fields
near Finsbury with the true dis
tances as they stood ammo 1897. for
the use of longbows, crossbows, hand
guns and artillery" Eight or 10
fields are included in the plan, and
the whole length of this early Bisley
appears to be one mile. by about 400
yards wide The longest distance be-
tween any two marks is 265 yards.
What may be termed the first inter-
national shooting competition was
held on the Field of the Cloth of
Gold" when the English crossbow-
men matched themselves in friendly
rivalry against the French. The range
was 12-score yards; and the English
team. which included Henry VIII. in
person, came off easy winners.
The bow for several centuries after
the invention of small arms was con-
sidered the more perfect weapon. and
did not disappear from the English
army until 1927. Charles H., on his
restoration, did much toward the re-
vival of archery. During that reign
important meetings were held at
Hampton Court and in Hyde Park,
and attracted as many as 1000 arch
ers and crossbowmen from all parts
of the country The crossbowmen
shot nearly 20-score yards, and to the
amazement of spectators made excel
lent shooting at that distance. At one
of these meetings in Hyde Park three
regiments of foot, which were being
drilled in the vicinity. threw down
their muskets in disgust and broke
their ranks to so and watch the old
national pastime. These displays gen.
orally concluded with showers of
whistling arrows, which are supposed
to have been used by the picket.
guards to give notice to the camp of
the enemy's approach during the
night. From that period until the
latter part of the 18th century, arch
cry appears to have been almost for
gotten, and then was revived as a
fashionable and pleasing amusement.
Inc Toxopholite society was founded
in 1880 by Sir Ashton Lever.-LondoD
Globe