BOW 



wuilTied from the Grecian boiu, as wtll as from ttiat of every 

 otlier nation, by the lintrular incurvation of its Ihape, which 

 was fo great as to form a half-moon or femicircle (Aimn. 

 Marci_-liinus, 1. xx.); whence the fhepherci, in Athcmns, 

 bciiitr to defcrihc the letters in Theftns's name, and ex- 

 prclfiug each of them by fonie appofitt refemblance, com- 

 pares the third to the Scythian bo.v, meaning not the more 

 modern charadter of 'H, bnt the ancient C, which ia fcmi- 

 circular, and bears the jd place in HHCeVC. 



Among the ancients, the bow-lliing, called rfix^'^'^ij 

 was ma Ir of horfe's liair, and thence called fcTrrrsii. ; though 

 Homer's Low-llrin ;s are fiequcnlly made of hides ci;t into 

 fniall thongs ; whence -ro^.--- Bo;ix. The iippcrmoll part of 

 the bo,v, to which the llring was falleiied, was called j-.o^ivn, 

 b^ing commonly made of gold, and t!ie lall thing towards 

 finiihing the bow. 



The Grecian bows were frequently beautified with gold 

 orfilver; whence we have inention oi aureus arcus ; and 

 Apollo is called afyvfoTofo,-. But the matter of which they 



BOW - 



the tenth cen'uiy, (MS. Cott. Claud. R. iv.) (hews it w.is 

 made very different from what one might cxpcd in a military 

 « eapon : the firing not being falleiied to tlic cxtrtmilics, 

 I'Ut fiiffercd to play at fome dillance from them. In fl/.e 

 too it was a mere toy, compared with t he lon^^-Uiu of fiiccced- 

 ing ages. (Strutt's Sports and I'allimes, p. 39.) 



The hillory of the hotia-tow lias been a!ri.->dy detailid, 

 under the head of Archkkv. We have here litile elfc to 

 add, than that a variety of afts of parliament, pafl'id in dif- 

 ferent reigns, tended much to the encouragement of thole 

 who ufed it. In ii^'ii (1: Ed. IV. c. ii.}, four bow-llavcs 

 wereo.-flercd to be imported, with every ton of nicicliandizt, 

 from Venice ; and by other acis, pafTed in the firft of 

 Richard III. the lixth of Henry VIII. and the thirteenth 

 of Elizabeth, ten bows for every butt of malmfey. Malm.- 

 ley or Tyre wine, at that time came chiefly from Crete, 

 which then belonged to the Venetians ; and the price of 

 bows, it appears, had rifen from 40s-. to SI. a hundred 

 ( Archa;ol. vol. vii.) In the ^Sth of Henry VIII. the price 



were ordinarily compofed, feems to have been wood ; though of a ye.v-bow was reduced to three fliiilings and four pence. 

 they were anciently, Scythian like, made of horn, as appears ( Ibid.) 



from that of Pandarus in Homer (Iliad, d'. v. ic;. Potter 

 Arch. Grtcc. torn. ii. cap. 4.) 



Till the iecond punic war the Romans had no bowmen in 

 their armies, but fuch as came with their auxiliary forces. 

 (See Potter, lit fupra). 



The bows of the Arabians, who attended Xerxes' expe- 

 dition, were long, flexible, and crooked, (Herodotus Polymn. 

 Ixix.) The Battrians alfo had their bows and arrovi-s (Ibid. 

 Ixiv.) : and among the Indians they are flill retained. 



In tli« ages of chivalry its ufe wa: confidcrcd as an cfi'en- 

 tial part of the education c;f a yuing ir.aii, who" wiflied to 

 make a figure in life : and even the ladies, as in later times, 

 partook of the amufeineiit. It is faid of Margaret the 

 daughter of Henry the VII. that when file was on htr way 

 to Scotland, a hunting party was made for her amufement 

 in Alnwick park, where Hie killed a buck with an arrow. 

 (Leland's Colled, vol. iv. p. 2;t!.) And the life of the bow 

 was more th;m once praftifcd by queen Elii^abetli. The 



In drawing the bow, the primitive Grecians did not pull ladies, however, might probably have iifed the ciofs-bow 



back their hand towards their right ear, according to the James I. iflued one or two commiflions for the preven- 



fadiion of modern ages, and of the ancient Perfians (Proco- tion of enclofures in the grounds which had formerly 



pius de bello Perfico, 1. i.); but, placing their bows been ufed for the pradice of the bow : agreeably to which, 



diredly before them, returned their hand upon the right the archers' grounds in the immediate neighbourhood of 



brealt (Euftathius, Iliad. J. p. ,■344. &c.). This was like- London were reduced to the fame ilnte they were in in the 



wife the ciiftom of the Arna/.onian women, who are reported beginning of the reign of Henry VIII. (Strutt's Sports and 



to have cut off their right brtaits, left they fhould prove an Paflimes, p. 14.) 



impediment in fhooting. Among the ancient charters prefervcd in the Biitifh 



The moll barbarous nations often excel in the fabric of the Mufeum (Rol. ix. 8.), is a petition of the bowyers, flet- 



particular things which they have the greateft neceflity for, chers, arrow-head-makers, and ftring-makcrs, dated i'^.-;';, 



in the common offices of life. The Laplanders, who fnppOrt requefting the king to appoint Richard Adamcs and Jcflery 



themfelv.-s almoll entirely by hunting, have long had an art le Neve to put in force the ftatnte of the th'Vty-tliird of 



of making bows, which we, in thelc improved parts of the Henry VIII. It was referred by the kino- to the privy 



world, have never arrived at. council; and a eommiflion, the original of which, witli the 



Their bow is made of two pieces of tough and ftrong broad feal annexed, is in the fame coUedion (xii. 6S.), was 



)od fltaved down to the fame fize, and flatted on each afterwards direded to " Timothie Taylor, John Hobatt, 



fide ; the two flat fides of the pieces are brought clofely and 

 evenly together, and then joined by means of a glue made of 

 the fcales of perch, which they have in great plenty, and 

 of which they make a ghic fupcrior in flrength to any which 

 we have. 



The two pieces, when once united in this manner, will 

 never fcparate, and the bow is of much more force to cxptl 

 the arrow, than it could pofFibly have been under the lame 

 dimenfions, if made of only one piece. 



Henry Plobart, and Jefftry le Neve for the maintenance of 

 artillery, areherie, aui.]Jlioo/i-ris; in /oiij^-ioives, to enforce an 

 aft of the thirty-third of Henry VIII. that all perfons 

 under 60 years of age fliould vife and excicife in (hooting in 

 long-bowes ; and that men children, from 7 to 1 7 years of 

 age, fliould be inftrnfted in the fame." 



This, it feems, was one of the lalt ads by which public 

 encouragement was given to archery. The great body of 

 the people, from the iniprovements that had been made in 



Having thus traced the early hillory of the bow, and mihtary tadics, were not likely to fupport the c 



iffion 



evinced its general ufe, we now come to its hillory as 

 principally confined to England. The bows in ufe have 

 been of two kinds ; the common or loiig-boiu, and the crofs- 

 how : but as the Saxon ho\v appears to have differed from 

 them both, our readers may not be difpleafed to read tlie 

 defcription of it feparate. Its particular ufe among the 

 Anglo-Saxons and the Danes has been already mentioned : 



in what was now propofed : and the troubles which were 

 rifing turned the attention of the legifiature to more ferious 

 objcds. 



Afcham (Toxophilus. 157 1. 4to.) fays, it was neccffary for 

 the archer to have a bracer, or clofe fleeve, to lace upon the 

 left arm, that the bow ftring, when loofed from the hand, 

 might not be impeded : to this was to be added a /hool'mg 



their (l<ill, however, does not appear to have been extended glnve, for the protedion of the fingers. The bow, lie tell* 



beyond the purpofes of procuring food or paftinie : and the tis, fliould be made with well-lcal'med wood, and formed 



reprel'entation of a Saxon bow, as given in an ancient MS. of with great cxadnefs, tapering from the middle towards each 



I end 



