"He had a bow bent in his hand,

Made of a trusty tree;
An arrow of a cloth-yard long,
Unto the head drew he.

Archery.

"Against Sir Hugh Montgomery

So right his shaft he set,

The grey goose wing that was thereon
In his heart blood was wet."

Chery Chase.

HE days of chivalry-when the mail-clad barons undertook great deeds of arms that sometimes changed the fate of nations, sometimes raised the doer to honour and fame, and sometimes brought his head to the block-when the Plantagenets reigned in England, and the brown-bill and cloth-yard shaft of the yeoman frequently decided the fate of a battlewhen, in the churchyards, yew trees were planted, that the English artisans and farmers might have tough bows to shoot their enemies withal; when, on every holiday, a trial of skill at the butts was an indispensable part of the sport these were the palmy days of the noble science of archery. Marvellous, indeed, are the tales told of the proficiency of certain English archers, after the bow had become the national weapon. Indeed, the stalwart strength, swift eye, and steady hand, characteristic of the Englishman of all times, were the very qualities necessary to make the bow the first of weapons in the rough-and-ready warfare of those times; and their terrible long-bow certainly did more than any other innovation to abolish the immunity from danger enjoyed by the mail-clad knights in their encounters with the leather-jerkined men-at-arms and yeomen. Whilst the knight, incased in a tower of steel, and armed with a long lance, had only a man to oppose him, whose defensive armour was of the most meagre description, if, indeed, it was not altogether wanting; while he could transfix his enemy with the said lance before the other could get a blow at his ponderous antagonist, the chances of victory were very greatly in favour of the mounted champion; but a cloth-yard shaft, launched by the stalwart arm of an AngloSaxon archer, was no respecter of persons, or, indeed, of iron or steel, and would come crushing through an iron cuirass or a steel helmet as readily as it would pierce a leathern jerkin or homespun doublet. Even as late as the battle of Flodden, the Scots were perfectly astonished at the tremendous power of the English arrows, and the length of the English bows. Scott, in his "Marmion," graphically describes how the Scots watched the English army defiling, the day before that fatal field, and tells how

"Envy with their wonder rose
To see such well-appointed foes;
Such length of shaft, such mighty bows,
So wondrous that at first they thought
But for a vaunt such weapons wrought;
And little deemed their force to feel
Through links of mail and triple steel,
When, rattling upon Flodden vale,

The cloth-yard arrows flew like hail."

The rifle has certainly ousted the long-bow from its place, and archery no longer holds its former pre-eminent position among our English sports. It is only natural that Englishmen should prefer to display their keen sight and steady hand with the more modern weapon, and that the rifle contest should have become the almost universal successor and substitute for the archery meeting; but, for many reasons, it is not desirable that our young friends should be intrusted with the modern dangerous weapon until they have-we will not say reached the years of discretion, but, at any rate, passed those of utter indiscretion. The long-bow is, for them, the best possible preparation for rifle-shooting later in life; the eye that can detect the exact spot at which the arrow is to be aimed, will serve its owner as truly when required to direct the course of a bullet. The arm that can hold the bow firmly and steadily, will with equal steadiness grasp the rifle; and he who learns to be

an accomplished archer, will find his marksmanship avail him greatly with whatever weapon he may be called upon to show his skill.

THE CROSS-BOW OR ARBALAST is a compound weapon, consisting of a bow fixed into the stock of a gun. It affords a very good practice in training the eye, and teaching the young marksman to judge of elevation according to distance, accustoming him to allow for the wind, &c., and giving him the habit of a steady grasp of the musket stock. Small arrows, called bolts, tipped with brass, are generally used with the cross-bow. It is an instrument which an ingenious boy may easily construct for himself. Tough yew, or walnut wood, is the best for the stock, and the bow is generally of iron, in several thicknesses, tapering towards the end like a spring. THE LONG-BOW is a much more delicate instrument to manufacture. It is generally made of Spanish, Italian, or English yew, and much care must be taken in its selection, if the young archer aspires to anything like accuracy of aim. The size of the bow must, in a great measure, depend upon the strength of the archer. The good old English regulation was, that each man should have a bow of his own height; but care should be taken to have the arrows in proportion to the bow. The outward flat part of the bow is called the back, and the inside, or rounded part, the belly. The ends of the bow are generally tipped with horn. The string should be made of hemp, whipped with silk where the arrow crosses it. Great care should be taken at once to replace a string that has become chafed, or which is not perfectly round, for a broken string frequently involves a snapped bow.

It is well to have two targets, one at each end of your shooting ground; for then, when you have discharged your arrows, you have only to walk to the other end, and may collect them, and re-commence shooting at once. This will save you many journeys in the course of an hour or two. STRINGING THE BOW.-Hold the bow firmly in your right

hand by the handle, pressing your wrist to your side, and slip the string firmly and steadily over. When bent or strung, the bow should have the string five inches from the centre. If the arch is greater, the bow is too strongly bent, and may either snap or become weakened by too great tension. Let the small horn of the bow be placed in the hollow of your right foot, press the upper part of the bow with your left wrist, and, with the thumb and finger of the left hand, slide the string up to its proper place, taking care not to let your other fingers get under the string, or they will get severely pinched. Don't let an inexperienced person meddle with your bow, much less string it.

DRAWING THE BOW.-This, like most other operations, is best learnt by marking and imitating the motions of some experienced archer. An ounce of personal observation is better than a pound of descriptions in this, as in many other matters. In shooting, do not stand fronting the mark, but sideways, with your face looking over your left

DRAWING THE BOW.

shoulder. Draw the arrow well back to your right ear; but take care that the head is not drawn farther back than the body of the bow. The top of the left hand must be level with the top of the handle of the bow, and the left

arm quite straight, with the wrist turned inwards, holding the bow perpendicularly.

In drawing, bring the nock of your arrow up to your ear. Be particular, and do not hold out the forefinger of the left hand, or the arrow may unexpectedly penetrate it. Of course, every bow ought to be used with an arrow corresponding to its length, for if the arrow be too short it will not be sent with all the force of which the bow is capable; if, on the other hand, too long, it will put an unfair strain upon the bow, which may then snap unexpectedly at any moment.

In drawing the bow, too, let the young archer take particular care to keep the course perfectly clear before him; for the arrow may spring unexpectedly from his fingers, and, if any one be in the

way, he may hit a mark he had not bargained to strike, like the cobbler, in the famous nursery song, who aimed at the old carrion crow, and "hit his old sow right through the heart," to the great discomfiture and ultimate death of that useful domestic animal.

THE ARROWS.-The usual criterion for arrows is the weight; though, of course, they vary in length, according to the length of the bow from which they are to be shot. Silver money is usually employed as the standard of weight. An arrow for a full-sized and strong bow should be twenty-seven inches long and weigh down about four shillings, or four shillings and sixpence. For lighter bows, such as we should counsel our young friends to use in their first essays, lighter arrows, weighing about three shillings, or three and threepence, will be quite enough. In olden times, when the bow was a weapon of war, the arrows were much longer, a cloth-yard being the standard length, and likewise much heavier than those now in use. In these degenerate days of amateur archery, few archers would be found who could draw a cloth-yard shaft to the head. The arrows used on the Continent are much longer, and heavier in proportion to the bow, than ours; but it was an ancient, and not an unwarranted boast among our old English armies, that none but an Englishman could fairly draw a cloth-yard shaft, and discharge it with sufficient force to send it through a plate of wrought armour. The bows and arrows used by the Bashkirs and Tartars who accompanied the Emperor of Russia's army in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814, in Germany and France, against Napoleon I., are still preserved in many German towns, and shown as curiosities. The bows are short, and extremely flexible; the arrows, in many cases, tipped with flint instead of iron or steel, in a fashion as primitive as the practices of the Celtic inhabitants of Britain sixteen centuries ago.

The In lian tribes of North America depend more upon their skill and swiftness in discharging their arrows at close quarters, than upon the strength of their bows, or the distance to which they will carry the arrows. The Sioux and other tribes use the arrow in hunting the bison; but the animal is ridden down by the hunter on his swift horse, and the arrows discharged point-blank at his shaggy hide at only a few yards' distance. In South America the bows are still weaker, and the arrows mere toys; but the crafty savage knows a deadly secret; and anoints his tiny shaft with woorald, the poison of serpents

which he prepares with fiendish cunning; and a scratch from one of these arrows is fatal. Nay, so conversant are the barbarous tribes of Central America with the qualities of subtle poisons, that many of them have the power of killing their enemies with the mere scratch of the thumb-nail, which they allow to grow into a kind of claw, and then anoint it with some deadly preparation. To return to the arrow of more civilised life. It should have three feathers, two of which are alike, while the third is called the cockfeather. When the arrow is placed on the string the cock-feather must be uppermost, the other two being one on each side of the string, opposite the nick in the end of the arrow. These feathers should be kept quite smooth and perfect, and be equal in size; otherwise the flight of the arrow will be impeded or diverted from the straight line.

Take care that the arrows are kept dry; otherwise they will twist and warp, the feathers will fall off, and they will soon be utterly useless.

Always walk behind the rest of the party, if you have to change your position during the shooting; and when you have shot, always go off to the left, so that your neighbour may step into your place readily, and take his turn. It is scarcely necessary to caution all young archers to refrain from crossing between the target and the shooters, at any time while archery practice is going on.

The following apparatus will be required by the young archer :

A SHIELD-This is a broad leather guard, buckled round the inside of the left arm, between the elbow and wrist. Its use is that the string may strike against it when the arrow is discharged. The sharp twang of the bowstring against the unprotected arm or wrist will frequently produce such bruises as to prevent the practice of archery for some time afterwards.

A GLOVE, or rather finger-stalls for three fingers of the right hand, will be found almost indispensable. This prevents the fingers from being blistered from the friction of the string and arrow.

A BELT AND POUCH.-These are buckled round the waist. The belt is made of various designs, generally of leather, with a pouch to receive the pile of the arrows. The pouch is worn on the right side; the tassel and grease box being fixed on the left side.

A QUIVER, which is generally made of japanned tin, is used to preserve the arrows from damp, &c.; also for keeping the reserve arrows in, as only three are used when shooting in company. It is only worn when roving.

TARGETS are made of different sizes, varying from one foot to four feet three inches, consisting of five circles. The centre, gold, counts nine; red, seven; inner white or blue, five; black, three; and the outer white, one. There should always be a pair of targets in the field, to save time and trouble. The distance for target-shooting varies. Some gentlemen shoot at sixty yards; others at eighty to one hundred yards. Ladies generally fifty and sixty yards. The young archer should practise at a short distance, and lengthen it as he progresses, commencing at twenty yards, till he is able to hit the smallest mark, which will prove he has attained command over his bow.

A graceful attitude is always requisite in shooting, which the inexperienced archer would scarcely suppose of consequence. The position (or standing), holding, nocking, drawing, and loosing are the points which require great study.

ROVING is the most amusing of the various styles of shooting. A party go across country, selecting any object as a mark, at which they shoot with blunt arrows. He whose arrow is nearest to the mark is the winner.

FLIGHT-SHOOTING is practised to determine who can shoot furthest. Strength in drawing the bow, rather than skill, is here called into play. Care should be taken, or in your ardour to excel you may snap your bow.

CLOUT-SHOOTING is shooting at a piece of pasteboard or paper stuck in a stick and placed in the ground. In the good old days of archery, we hear of archers who could split in twain a willow wand, peeled, and stuck upright in the earth as a mark; but in these degenerate times we require something more tangible.

A RAINY DAY.

"The day is cold, and dark, and dreary,
It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary."-LONGFELLOW.

A RAINY HOLIDAY! what a dampness the very idea flings over many a young heart! A holiday when the rain comes steadily, perseveringly, obstinately down-drip, drip, drip !-without a chance of its holding up until the sun has gone down, and it's time to go back to school; when there's no chance of getting out for a stroll or a run, and all knowledge of out-door games is, for the time being, utterly useless and unprofitable; when perhaps you have half a dozen youngsters come to spend with you the holiday you have obtained to celebrate your birthday, or some other festive occasion; and each of you, under the necessity of keeping in-doors out of the rain, feels as much like a fish out of water, as a skate in a ball room, or a pike on a high road, or a plaice on the top of an omnibus, or a perch on the parapet of Waterloo Bridge. Then is the time when an acquaintance with playroom games becomes really valuable; and the person who can impart such knowledge appears as that most welcome of all benefactors, "a friend in need." In this character we, the editor of the present treatise, mean to appear; for do we not devote the following pages to playroom games, and ought we not thereby to be considered as having established a title to the permanent gratitude of our young readers, one and all? We should rather think so. Let us not be misunderstood, however. and amusements that we chronicle here. proper department further on in the work.

These are not Christmas games Those will be found in their own These are not round games, but