their necks. This splendid company was guarded by four thousand whifflers and billmen, besides pages and footmen. They passed through Broad-street, the residence of their captain, and thence into Moorfields, by Finsbury, and so on to Smithfield, where having performed several evolutions, they shot at a target for honour.'

Another cavalcade of like kind was made by the London archers in 1682, the reign of Charles II., and the king himself was present; but being a wet day, his majesty was obliged to leave the field soon after the arrival of the bowmen.2

XIX.-ROYAL SPORT-A GOOD ARCHER WHY CALLED ARTHUR.

Kings and princes have been celebrated for their skill in archery, and among those of our own country may be placed king Henry VII, who in his youth was partial to this exercise, and therefore it is said of him in an old poem, written in praise of the princess Elizabeth, afterwards queen to Henry VII.3

See where he shoteth at the butts,
And with hym are lordes three ;

He weareth a gowne of velvette blacke,

And it is coted above the knee.

He also amused himself with the bow after he had obtained the crown, as we find from an account of his expenditures, where the following memorandums occur: "Lost to my lord Morging at buttes, six shillings and eightpence:" and again, "Paid to sir Edward Boroughe thirteen shillings and fourpence, which the kynge lost at buttes with his cross-bowe." Both the sons of king Henry followed his example, and were excellent archers; and especially the eldest, prince Arthur, who used frequently to visit the society of London bowmen at Mile-end, where they usually met, and practised with them. From his expertness in handling of the bow, every good shooter was called by his name. The captain also of the fraternity was honoured with the title of Prince Arthur, and the other archers were styled his knights." The title of Prince Arthur seems to have been superseded by the creation of the "Duke of Shoreditch."

After the death of prince Arthur, his brother Henry continued

1 Strype's London, vol. i. p. 250.

MS. Harl. 365, fol. 96.

· Archæologia, vol. vii.

An. 7 et 9 Hen. VII. MS. in the Remembrancer's Office. See also Appendix to

Dr. Henry s Hist. Brit. vol. vi.

Archæologia, vol. vii.

to honour the meeting at Mile-end with his presence. We have seen already, that he was exceedingly fond of archery, and if Hall may be credited, at the time of his coming to the crown, "he shotte as strong, and as greate a lengthe as any of his garde."

King Edward VI., though not so conspicuous as his father or his uncle, was nevertheless an encourager of archery, and frequently amused himself with the bow. This appears from his own diary."

1

Charles I. was an archer, as appears from the dedication of a treatise, called the "Bowman's Glory;" and Catherine of Portugal, queen to Charles II., was probably much pleased with seeing the pastime of archery practised; for in compliment to her, a badge of silver, weighing twenty-two ounces, was made for the marshal of the fraternity of bowmen, having upon it the representation of an archer with his bow drawn in the action of shooting, and inscribed with her name, "Regine Catharina Sagittarii." This badge was made in the year 1676, by the contribution of sir Edward Hungerford and others.3

XX. PRIZES FOR ARCHERY.

I find but little said respecting the rewards bestowed upon the best bowmen; the London fraternity are said to have shot for pastime or for honour; however, I make no doubt, upon particular trials of skill, rewards sufficient to excite the emulation of the archers were proposed; they might sometimes consist of money, and perhaps more frequently of some other valuable article, as the following lines may testify, extracted from the Mery Geste of Robyn Hode, and the prize is judiciously appropriated to the purpose. The poet tells us, that the sherif of Notyngham,

A ryght good arrowe he shal have,
The shaft of sylver whyte,

The head, and fethers of riche red gold,
In England is none lyke.-

And when they came to Notyngham,

The buttes were fayre and longe.

Thrise Robin shot about

And alway he cleft the wand.

It is added, that to him was delivered the "goode ariowe, fo

best worthie was he."

CHAPTER II.

I. Slinging of Stones an ancient Art.-II. Known to the Saxons.-III. And the Normans.-IV. How practised of late Years.-V. Throwing of Weights and Stones with the Hand.-VI. By the Londoners.-VII. Casting of the Bar and Hammer.-VIII. Of Spears.-IX. Of Quoits.-X. Swinging of Dumb Bells.— XI. Foot Races.-XII. The Game of Base.-XIII. Wrestling much practised formerly.—XIV. Prizes for.-XV. How performed.—XVI. Swimming.-—XVII. Sliding.-XVIII. Skating.-XIX. Rowing.-XX. Sailing.

1.-SLINGING OF STONES.

THE art of slinging, or casting of stones with a sling, is of high antiquity, and probably antecedent to that of archery, though not so generally known nor so universally practised. The tribe of Benjamin among the Israelites is celebrated in holy writ for the excellency of its slingers. In the time of the judges there were seven hundred Benjamites who all of them used their left hands, and in the figurative language of the Scripture it is said, they "could sling stones at an hair-breadth and not miss,"1 that is, with exceedingly great precision. Again we are told, that when David fled to Ziklag, he was joined by a party of valiant men of the tribe of Benjamin, who could use both the right and the left in slinging of stones and shooting arrows out of a bow.2 David himself was also an excellent marksman, as the destruction of Goliath by the means of his sling sufficiently testifies. It was, perhaps, an instrument much used by the shepherds in ancient times, to protect their flocks from the attacks of ferocious animals: if so, we shall not wonder that David, who kept his father's sheep, was so expert in the management of this weapon.3 In Barclay's Eclogues an English shepherd boasts of his skill in using of the sling.

II.-SLINGING BY THE ANGLO-SAXONS.

The art of slinging of stones was well known and practised at a very early period in Europe, but we have no authority to prove that it was carried to so high a pitch of perfection in this part of the globe, as it appears to have been among the Asiatic It is altogether uncertain, whether the ancient inha

nations.

Judges, chap. xx. ver. 16.
1 Samuel, chap. xvii. and xviii.

21 Chron. chap. xii. ver. 2.

bitants of Britain were acquainted with the use of the sling or not; if the negative be granted, which hardly seems reasonable, we must admit the probability of their being taught the properties of such an instrument by the Romans, who certainly used it as a military weapon. We can speak more decidedly on the part of our ancestors the Saxons, who seem to have been skilful in the management of the sling; its form is preserved in several of their paintings, and the manner in which it was used by them, as far back as the eighth century, may be seen below, from a manuscript of that age in the Cotton Library. It is there represented with one of the ends unloosened from the hand and the stone discharged. In the original the figure is throwing the stone at a bird upon the wing, which is represented at some distance from him.

14. SLINGING-VIII. CENTURY.

In other instances we see it depicted with both the ends held in the hand, the figure being placed in the action of taking his aim, and a bird is generally the object of his exertion, as in the following engraving from a parchment roll in the Royal Library, containing a genealogical account of the kings of England, to the time of Henry III.