357 



On a Dirk or Dagger found at Rothhury, July, 1S88. By 

 D. D. Dixon. 



This dagger, a relic of those savage lawless days in Coquet- 

 dale, when all men seemed 



" To follow still the good old plan, 

 That they should take who have the power, 

 And they should keep who can," 



was found by some workmen a few feet beneath 

 the surface while digging a foundation for a 

 house on the ** Borough Butts," at Eothbury, 

 a piece of ground known by that name lying 

 on the north side of the river Coquet, between 

 the church and the County Hotel, which in 

 olden times would be the practice ground of 

 the village bowmen. 



The Butts, according to law, were erected 

 and kept in repair by each township. From 

 the time of Edward II., many Acts of Parlia- 

 ment were passed to encourage the practice of 

 archery ; and during the reign of Henry YIII., 

 the law was very stringent that every boy over 

 seven years of age, and every man under sixty, 

 should provide himself or be provided by his 

 friends with long-bow and shafts ; and that on 

 Sundays and holidays all able-bodied men 

 should appear in the field to employ their lei- 

 sure hours, " as valyant Englishmen ought to 

 do," in the noble exercise of shooting. The 

 vill of "Eouthbery," as well as other town- 

 ships, would be required to furnish in time of 

 war a band of archers for the king's service ; 

 and doubtless Eothbury bowmen would num- 

 ber amongst the English Archers at the field of 

 Flodden, where 



" Fell England's arrow-flight like rain." 



In 1458, John Cartington of Cartington Castle, near Eothbury, 

 was one of the Commissioners appointed by King Henry VI. 

 to raise archers in the County of Northumberland; and the 

 adjacent township of Eothbury would be a portion of his district, 

 where he would levy for men. 



