CHAP.- cxii. taxa'ce^'e. ta'xus. 2087 



waxe or o-olde, having a fine longe grayne even from one end of the bowe to 

 the other ; the short grayne, although such prove well sometimes, are for the 

 most parte brittle." (p. 6.) " Of the makinge of the bowe" he continues, "^I 

 wyll not greatly meddle, leste I shoulde seeme to enter in another manne's 

 occupation, whych I can no skill of." Though Ascham does not enter into 

 particulars respecting the making of the bow, it is clear, from other authors, 

 that in his time it consisted of a single piece of wood, commonly yew, from 

 4 ft. to 6 ft. long, without any felt wrapped round the middle of it to stay the 

 hand, as is done at present. ' There were, however, two pieces of horn, one 

 at each end, to retain the string, which resembled those now in use. The 

 string was made of the sinews or entrails of animals ; and the shaft or arrow 

 of illi^ht and yet strong wood, headed with iron, and trimmed with feathers. 

 (Se« Oldfield's Anecdotes of Archei-y, p. 20.) The best wood for the arrows 

 is ash, and the next best birch or hornbeam. Willow is too light, and is apt 

 to make a quavering uncertain flight; as are arrows of deal, and also of the 

 different kinds of poplar, except the aspen and the abele. There are twenty- 

 four arrows in a sheaf or quiver. The manufacturers of bows were called 

 bowyers, and the arrow-makers fletchers. These trades, with the stringers 

 and arrow-head makers, petitioned Queen Elizabeth in 1370, to enforce in 

 their favour a statute of Henry VIII., enjoining every man to have a bow in 

 his house. She did so, and butts were erected in different places, such as 

 Newington Butts, &c., at which every able-bodied man was enjoined to prac- 

 tise the art. Foreign yew, however, began to grow scarce ; and it was thought 

 so superior to English yew, that a bow of it sold for Gs. bd., when the bow of 

 English yew cost only" 2s. The Venetians, who were the chief importers, 

 having exhausted the stock in Italy and Turkey, procured yew staves from 

 Spain ; till at last the Spanish government disliking the trade, ordered all 

 their yew trees to be cut down. When yew could no longer be obtained of 

 sufficient size to make an entire bow, it struck a bowyer of Manchester of 

 the name of Kelsal, about the end of the Itith century, that he might make 

 the back of the bow of another kind of wood, retaining the belly of yew. 

 Ash, elm, and several other woods, were used for this purpose ; and at last 

 backed bows became so common as almost to supersede the use of self bows, 

 as those were called, which were made of a single piece. Sometimes they 

 were made of three, and sometimes even of four pieces of wood ; but the best 

 are of two. Gradually also yew came to be disused ; and ornamental 

 foreign woods, particularly fustick, lancewood, and partridge-wood were em- 

 ployed. For the best account of archery, and every thing relating to bows, 

 up to the commencement of the present century, we may refer to Roberts's 

 English Boumian, or Tracts on Archery, published in 1801 ; and for able his- 

 torical researches on the subject, to INIoseley's Essay on Archery, and Grose's 

 Treatise on Ancient Arms and Armour. Mr. Waring, the first bow-manufac- 

 turer in England, and perhaps in Europe, informs us that the common 3 ew with 

 sufficiently clear and knobless trunks is no longer to be found, either in Eng- 

 land, or in any other part of Europe; and though English yew is occasionally 

 used by manufacturers, yet that bows are now almost entirely made of dif- 

 ferent kinds of wood from South America. He showed us, indeed, one or 

 two bows, in which the belly was made of English yew, anil the back of 

 hickory, but these he considered of a very inferior description. Perhaps if 

 yew trees were planted in masses, and drawn up to the height of 10 ft., 

 with clear trunks, and cut down when they were of 6 in. or 8 in., in diameter, 

 they might still be used for this manufacture. 



The Iruit of the yew is applied to no use in Britain, though the kernel of 

 the nut may be eaten; and it is said to afford, by expression, an oil which is 

 good for fattening poultry. The dried leaves have been given to children for 

 killing worms; but it is "a dangerous medicine, and has often proved fatal. 

 An infusion of the leaves is said to be used, in some parts of Hampshire, 

 for sponging the bodies of the dead, under the idea of its retarding putre- 

 faction. Mr. Knight, finding that wasps prefer the iruit of the yew to that 



