226 Transactions of the [Sess. 



dained " that ilk man haveand the value of ane kow in gudes shall 

 have ane bow with ane schaife of arrows." The old Yew-trees on 

 Inch-Lonaig, or " the Island of Yews," in Loch Lomond, are tradi- 

 tionally said to have been planted at this period by the king's com- 

 mand, in order to supply wood for future bows ; but none of the 

 Yews now on the island can be so old, though most of them prob- 

 ably number centuries. Further, in the earliest Parliament of 

 King James I. (1424), it was enacted " that all men busk them to 

 be archers fra they be twelve zeirs of age." It was about this 

 time that the Scottish Archer - Guard of France, so graphically 

 described in Sir Walter Scott's novel of ' Quentin Durward,' was 

 formed. But archery never seems to have taken the firm hold in 

 Scotland that it possessed in the South ; for by the English bow- 

 men, — 



" Who drew, 

 And almost joined, the horns of the tough Yew," — 



the tide of battle was often turned, and many a victory won. The 

 early Scottish sovereigns launched frequent denunciations against 

 football and golf, which had usurped the place of archery in the 

 affections of the people.^ But the use of the bow as a weapon of 

 war was soon to cease. Its palmy days in our island extended 

 from the Norman Conquest to the period when artillery and fire- 

 arms became general in warfare. Thus in the reign of James V. 

 there is no mention of archery in the statute-book ; but in the 

 ' Book of Sports ' compiled by King James VI. it is said to be the 

 king's pleasure " that after the end of divine service, our good 

 people be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from any lawful 

 recreation, such as dancing, either men or women, archery for 

 men," &c. Shooting at the butts seems thus early to have become 

 the mere amusement which it still remains to the present day. In 

 connection with this subject, it may be mentioned that the Eoyal 

 Company of Archers, in our city, have in their possession two val- 

 uable Yew-bows, which they received in 1840 from Dr Thomas 

 Spens. One of these " belonged to Mr Wallace, a member of the 

 Company, admitted in 1776. On the occasion of the visit of Lord 

 Aylesford, his Lordship offered Mr Wallace fifty guineas for it, but 

 did not succeed in tempting him to part with it. . . . The second 

 bow, which is smaller, Dr Spens declared to be the most beautiful 

 piece of Yew he had ever seen. It had been presented to his 

 father, Dr Nathaniel Spens, by an old family in Fife, in whose pos- 



session it was."^ 



We would sum up our subject in the words of old Evelyn. 



^ " That fnte-bal and golfe be utterly cried down, and that bow-markes be 

 maid at ilk parish kirk." — Skene's Scottish Acts of Pari., James II., c. 65. 

 2 'Hist, of Royal Company of Archers,' p. 208. 



