The Setter. 289 



" minor bombarda " or a " scorpion " the latter a 

 name given to the first shoulder firearm used in this 

 country for the flesh would be considered more 

 or less contaminated by the influence of the missile 

 used, so rendered less fitted for the cook in the 

 kitchen to dress up for her noble master's repast. 



This appears to me a reasonable conjecture for the 

 slow progress made at this time in the popularisation 

 of the firearm as an implement for the sportsman. 

 Besides, the latter would be the more proficient with 

 the bow, for the " scorpion " was but a sorry article 

 with which to take aim, and the priming of the 

 guns was something of a job to do. There were no 

 flints then, and percussion caps had not even been 

 thought of. As a fact, so recently as the end of the 

 eighteenth century viz., in 1792, a match was made 

 and shot at Parton Green, in Cumberland, in which 

 the merits of a musket, a brown Bess, were tested at 

 a mark against a bow and arrow. The latter came 

 out victorious in the contest, scoring sixteen hits out 

 of twenty shots at 100 yards to twelve hits made 

 by the supposed to be deadlier firearm. Looking 

 back upon a match of this kind, one cannot help 

 forming an opinion that the result was not because 

 the bow and arrow were superior to the old brown 

 Bess, but was solely owing to the lack of skill 

 possessed by the handler of the musket. 



[VOL. I.] U 



