1 30 Yew- Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



And every arrow an ell longe, 

 With peacoke well ydight, 

 And nocked they were with white silk, 

 It was a semely sight.' 



The maker of bows was termed a * bowyer ' ; of 

 arrows a 'fletcher' (fleche]. The frequent occur- 

 rence of these as surnames shows how prevalent 

 such occupations were at one time in England. 



In 1570 the art of bow-making had so much 

 declined that the bowyers and fletchers petitioned 

 Queen Elizabeth to enforce the Statute of Henry 

 vni. Grounds were marked out, and batteries 

 erected, and the people enjoined to practise at 

 Newington Butts. 



Bows were rubbed with wax, resin, and tallow, 

 and covered with waxcloth to resist the effects of 

 damp, heat, and frost. Each bow was supplied 

 with three good hempen strings well whipped with 

 fine thread.' 1 



One of the rules laid down by the founder of 

 Harrow School in 1592 ordained that the imple- 

 ments of archery should be supplied by the parents 

 of every boy entering the school. * You shall 

 allow your child,' it said, 'at all times, bow-shafts, 

 bow-strings, and a bracer.' 2 



An order in the Common Council Book of 

 Chester, directs : ' For the avoiding of idleness, 



1 Chambers's Book of Days, vol. i. p. 777 (1864). 



2 Jbid., vol. ii. p. 177. 



