ARCHERY REVIVED; OR, THE Bow-Man's EXCELLENCE. An HEROIC POEM: BEING A Description of the use and noble Virtues of the Longbow, in our last Age, so famous for the many great and admired Victories won by the English, and other Warlike Nations, over most part of the World.  
Exhorting all brave Spirits to the banishment of Vice, by the use of so Noble and Healthful an Exercise.  
Written by Robert Shotterel, and Thomas Durfey, Gent.  
LONDON, Printed by Thomas Roycroft, Ann. Dom. 1676.   

TO THEIR SACRED MAJESTY'S OF Great Britain, France, and Ireland, etc.  
May it please your Majesties,  
WERE not Archery a Noble and Heroic Exercise, and fit to be understood as well by Monarches as the Commonalty, our growing Ambition durst not have presumed to molest Your Majesties by the sight or perusual of so mean a Trifle as this Poem. But since it is an Art so worthy and excellent, that it has been esteemed by General, as well as Particular Understandings, though we tremble at our own Audacity, yet sheltering ourselves under the goodness of our Theme, and encouraged by the Innocence and Loyalty of our present Design, we (amidst our Fears) hope the Eyes of Your unvalued Understandings will perceive in this Work the meaning of our Hearts: And then (but not till then) we shall be cherished with a belief that our Loyal endeavours in this Poem, however meanly writ, and only happy in the Epistle bearing Your Majesty's Sacred Attributes, will in some part at one for the Crime of our Presumption.  
We therefore presume to hope that now (the Storms of Rebellion being blown over, and our happy Nation flourishing under the Peaceful Reign of so Great and Glorious an Augustus) we shall draw this Ancient and Commodious Exercise of Archery out of the poisonous Lake of Oblivion, and revive a Science, that will, if cherished and aptly followed, prove an Everlasting Pillar to support the Kingdom, and be again as undoubtedly famous as when esteemed an Exercised by our Forefathers.  
For the furthering of which, we (in all humble Duty and Loyal Obedience) appeal to Your Sacred Majesties, as to the Fountain from whence flows the Springs of Immaculate Virtue and Power, which makes the happy Land blest in her own Abundance. Be You the Sun, Dread Sovereign, by whose All-delighting and Powerful Influence the baleful Storms of Vice may be dispersed, Britain's Ancient Glory once more flourish, and we be honoured in the happy Success of our Endeavours on this Subject: The perseverance of whose Worth is (next our unfeigned Wishes and Prayers for Your Majesty's long Lives and happy Pro-Prosperities) the greatest Hopes and Desires of  
Your Majesty's Loyal, though unworthy, Servants, Robert Shotterel, and Thomas Durfey.   

TO THE READER.  
judicious Reader,  
WE presume to present thee here with a Poem declaring the use and Noble Virtues of Archery, which (although our Modern Authors have or'elooked the Theme, and forgotten to create Applauses equal to the Goodness and Excellency of the Subject) is undoubtedly worthy of a Noble Pen, and rather fit to be published and extolled by every one, than any way obscured by Oblivion. Besides, the multiplicity of Poems of natures far different from this (and indeed far different from any thing tending to the Nation's profit) still crowding into view, larded with bombast Notions, and stuffed with reiterated Hyperboles, or some more pitiful Passion, unfit to visit the World's light, much less the the Eyes of a Judicious Reader, hath emboldened us to present this Piece; which, however rudely compacted or dully rendered, is beautified with a Subject, that, maugre the barrenness of the Phrase, or the Envy indiscretion or ill nature of a sort of Critical Detractors, that only find fault with things for want of better Employment, will find favour with honoured Patriots, whose care for their Country is equal to that of their own safety, and whose Loyal Hearts, confiding in Virtue, cherish the Endeavours of those that employ themselves on a Work that is not only laudable, but every way beneficial and profitable to our English Nation.  
Archery (we mean) whose useful Art and Noble Science was approved and cherished by our Forefathers as their Summum Bonum, and whose Excellence is so renowned, that 'tis supposed, any one that arrives to the understanding of his Grammar has either read or heard of it: And those that have read of it, and do endeavour to practise it, will (we doubt not) honour our Endeavours with a favourable thought, it being an Art that we wish we had power or ability to improve, as well as to applaud: An Exercise in time of Peace fit to grace a Noble Spirit, and in War to oppose the worst of Dangers. The proof of whose Fame, and the Noble and Great Exploits achieved by the power of the Bow, are so common and so often declared in all our Ancient Chronicles, and other Histories, over most parts of the World, as well as in our Native Isle, that from us here it will prove rather a prolix Rehearsal, than an acute Description of what has been so universally famous.  
Yet as Rust by degrees penetrates our hardest Metals, and Oblivion of a Noble Art proves not only obstructive to a particular Person, but to the Nation in general; we have endeavoured to refresh the Memory of this forgetful Age, and emboldened by the Loyalty and Zeal we bear to our Sovereign and Country, have presumed to declare, That the want of this Noble Science hath weakened our Forces, and what would prove Invincible, if joined and commixed with our present Militia, proveth now not only void of that Success, but incapable of that Fame and Glory it might achieve, if assisted by this brave and magnanimous Exercise of Archery.  
Some perhaps that understand it not will be apt to term it a dull and laborious Pastime, and more fit for the capacity and natural strength of a Peasant, than to be a Recreation for a Gentleman. But did they understand the true worth of this Noble Exercise, whose use and virtue has in pristine Ages been sought and cherished by Princes, and acknowledged by the Learned and Judicious to be not only a Sport fit for the brawny Commonalty, but the generous Nobility, the Excellency of whose Nature is such, that it banishes growing Distempers from the Bodies of such whose destructive Idleness nourish their Diseases, and increases Health, begets Strength, and infuses Courage into the Breasts of all worthy Practitioners of this Science: Then undoubtedly those that through Ignorance depraved it, will with shame confess their causeless Detraction, and convert their critical Intentions into real Applauses. Nor is it our design to molest or displease any one, but to content and please every one, our chief intent being to publish the Virtues of this Noble Science in this Nation, and to incite our generous Countrymen to further and approve of what will be not only fit, noble, and successful, to be used in War, but pleasant and commodious in times of Peace, whose power we doubt not but, if raised and exercised successfully, will be a main Prop to support the Basis of this Kingdom, and a secure Guard against approaching Dangers.  
Let those whose Incredulity, as an Enemy to our present Endeavours, are so far from believing the Virtues of this Art, that they maliciously condemn it, spend an Afternoon in perusing the Chronicles of our Nations achievements by this Weapon, and the History of the Wars of the Romans, Persians, Scythians, Parthians, Grecians, and many other Warlike Nations, whose greatest Strength lay in their Bows and Shafts, whose noble and dangerous Enterprises and Victories have been often declared and published by several worthy and Judicious Authors, not difficult to be found of any Inquisitor, and then their Judgements (refined by so many ●nfallible Proofs of the ancient Excellency of this Art) will, we doubt not, acknowledge the malignity of their Inclinations, and the unparallelled worth and virtue of our present Theme. As for others, whose ●gnorance of its worth, and whose illiterate Capacities are so irreparably dull, that the Proof by History is far above the reach of their grovelling Understanding, we shall unconcerned sustain their harmless Censures, and rather pity their Imperfections, than blame their Licentious Tongues for want of Judgement.  
Therefore, as our present Design is Loyal and Virtuous, 'tis our hope the Success will be favourable and prosperous: And we doubt not, but there are some worthy Spirits in this Kingdom, whose love to this Heroic Exercise, and whose Loyalty and Faith to their King and Country will by their Actions express their Care and Fidelity, and by their Endeavours be a means to plant this wholesome, noble, and warlike Science in this Realm: The furthering and approving of which will be the greatest content that can arrive to us, whose Hopes, as well as Wishes, are continued to see the Art of Shooting prosper, and whose Abilities, were they equal to our Endeavours, should be the first to lay a Foundation, whereon the noble Structure of this Excellent Science should be built; but since Fortune hath dealt unkindly with us in depriving us of that Power, we hope it will be worthy of the General Care, whose sufficiency is far more capable of the performance, than any Particular Ability: The pursuance of which, and the happy Success of our present Endeavours, will not only bring us a particular content and happiness, but be a benefit fit to be chronicled by our Natives, and admired by succeeding Ages.  
Vale.   

To his Ingenious Friends, Mr. Robert Shotterel, and Mr. Thomas Durfey, on their Book of Archery.  
ALthough this Virtue of the Ancients long  
Lost in Oblivion's Grave, has suffered wrong:  
Although the Fame of Archery in Wars  
With the cold Dust of our Progenitors  
Hath lain an Age forgotten, in which time  
No Treatise past, nor no facetious Rhyme  
Was published to applaud its worth; yet now  
Methinks I see our happy Genius show  
From Heaven a splendid Face, whose Smiles presage  
Unmatched perfections from this latter Age:  
Whose Gratitude must yield Applauses due,  
Since it this Spring of Virtue has from you.  
Your Poem, Friends, hath added to their store,  
And they admire what they despised before.  
From your Instructions they have learned to know  
The worth, as well as profits of the Bow;  
And now not only like, but love each Line,  
Decking with Plaudits your unmatched Design.  
Apollo, whilst with Wit he you endows,  
Will with his much loved Laurel crown your Brows,  
And Fame's loud Trump resound in distant Skies  
Your happy Work, your Names and Loyalties.  
I to preserve my Friendship then entire,  
Whilst others pine with Envy, will admire  
At what I read, and in your Treatise find  
A perfect Copy of the Author's mind.  
Persevere then, and let your Fancies climb  
To what's more great, more splendid and sublime:  
Let your exalted Genius stist aspire,  
And give us fresh occasion to admire;  
Whilst I the Critics do presume to tell,  
Some perhaps better write, but few so well.   

In Laudem Authoris & Operis.  
ARma & arundineam Phaebei Numinis artem  
Dum numeris decoras, nobilitásque, tuis,  
Ipse 
* Apollo.  Deus miratur opus, gratúsque Poetae  
Sacrâ fronde premit tempora chara sui;  
Téque lyrâ celebrans clamat, punctum omne tulisti,  
Et te jam superi terrigenaeque canent:  
Dumque alios tantâ Arte doces attingere metam,  
Haud mirum est Calamo te tetigisse scopum.  R. Wright.  

To his good Friend Mr. Thomas Durfey on his Poem of Archery.  

THe more I looked upon thy Muse's pains,  
The more I did admire;  
The more I saw and read thy polished strains,  
The more I did desire:  
Nay, to that height my Fancy did aspire,  
That when I had read o'er thy blooming Wit,  
Methought I could not read too oft what thou so well (hadst writ.   

2.  
With care I pondered on thy brave design,  
And after did adore it:  
Nor did I taste the Fruits of such a Vine  
In all my life before it.  
This Boon from Heaven I therefore will implore,  
That men, before they Archery despise,  
May look upon that Noble Art with my impartial Eyes.   

3.  
The Sacred Monarch and blessed Martyr Charles  
Did Archery approve,  
And then not only the Poor, but Lords and Earls  
That manly Sport did love.  
Was Virtue only then reigned from above?  
Our Nation's still the same, as fertile and as good,  
Why should insulting Vice than brood o'er English blood?   

4.  
But to dispute of this would take up time,  
Which I now ill can spare:  
Let it suffice your Sense as well as Rhyme  
Does the Author's worth declare,  
Whose judgement is so splendid and so fair,  
That shouldst thou give me half thy Wreath of Bays,  
I only could deserve the Gift by penning of thy Praise.   T.L.  

ARCHERY REVIVED, OR THE Bow-Man's EXCELLENCE.  

IN Ancient times, when learned Homer writ  
Of Grecian Conquests, Valour, Weapons, Wit,  
The Age refined from Vice an Emblem showed  
Of all those Virtue's Heaven at first bestowed.  
And though gross ignorance did much deface  
The Souls of Men, whose want of Heavenly Grace  
Knew not that bliss, which Happy We embrace;  
Yet so much Moral Honesty did Crown  
Their faultless Deeds, that it was plainly shown,  
(Although Divinity was then disguised)  
They might be styled both Pious, Just, and Wise:  
Then was the Subject of this Story thought  
Brave and successful, and was used and sought  
By Spirits Noble, Glorious and Supreme,  
That loved and cherished my ensuing Theme.   

No Tragic History my Fancy moves  
To use my Pen; nor no disastrous Loves,  
Care-reaping Policies, or dire Mischance,  
My Early budding Genius does advance  
So soon to write: Nor has my Muse thought good  
Some Conquest to relate purchased with blood,  
Where mingling gore swelled high th'adjoining flood,  
describe their Troops and Orders, or to tell  
On heaps of breathless Foes how Princes fell.  
To that vast heigtht my Genius dares not climb,  
Nor change plain Verse for Loud Heroic Rhyme.  
Yet as th'aspiring Cedar, now grown high,  
Was once a small and tender shrub, So I  
Beginning Low, may rise the more secure:  
Well stands the Fabric whose Foundation's sure.   

The warlike Bow my Muse designs to praise,  
Whose Feathered Shaft, so famed in ancient days  
Before Hell's Sulphur made the trembling fruit  
Of Peasants valiant) durst Fame's cause dispute,  
And own him most renowned who best could Shoot.  
We than were ignorant of that murdering Smoke;  
Bright Honour flourished on a Manly Stroke;  
And daring Valour with a threatening brow  
Durst face the worst of dangers Fate could show,  
Well armed with Barbed Shafts and Parthian Bow.  
Famed Grecian Writers gloried oft to tell  
By what brave Weapons their Fierce Heroes fell;  
And in their lofty praises would enhance  
Stern Ajax Falchion, and Achilles' Lance;  
Enlarging Trophies with ingenious speed,  
Equal to th' merit of the haughty deed.   

And Shall I th'Archer's praise fail to rehearse,  
Because I want their unmatched skill in Verse?  
They but endeavoured well, and so do I,  
And to write well my utmost power I'll try,  
Although my Genius cannot soar so high.   

How Bows were first invented few have shown,  
Nor need we care, since their tried worth is known:  
The Wise and Famed 
* Claudianus,  Egyptian Poet sung,  
Through Nature the first use of Shooting sprung;  
Men imitating Porpentines that grow  
Armed with Sharp Pricks to shoot th'approaching foe:  
Others ascribe th'invention first to be  
Made perfect by the 
† Apol.  Delian Deity;  
Whose Arm with heavenly influence endued  
Life-conqu'ring Shafts in Python's blood imbrued:  
Whence that still loved and charming Soul of Rome,  
Silver-tongued Ovid, took this Fancy from.  
The God with numerous Shafts the Monster slew, 
Ovid. Metam.   
And through black wounds the Clotted poison drew.  
And in our first Age Lyra doth explain, 
Nich. de Lyra.   
'Twas with a Shaft that Lamech murdered Cain,  
This ancient and continued use doth raise  
Unto the Shooting Art no little praise;  
It's Virtue being most extolled by those  
That knew the worth and goodness of their Bows:  
Whose worth in war attended with success,  
And glorious palms, hereafter I'll express;  
Declaring to the girded Parthian's Fame,  
No Land unconquered lay, where Archers came.   

Cyaxares the Median Emperor, 
Herod. in Clio.   
Triumphant Cyrus'famed Progenitor,  
A sort of hardy Scythians kept to show  
And teach his Son the Virtues of the Bow;  
Thinking (so well he did good Shooting prize)  
He could not learn a Nobler Exercise,  
That might (if Fate ere cast him from the Throne)  
By valour raised obtain a second Crown.  

* Corn. Tacitus.  Nero, 'tis said, on th'Harp so cunning was,  
He all Rome's famed Musicians did surpass,  
And gave this Reason, That, if Destiny  
By War enforced him from his Realms to fly,  
He had that Art to get his Living by.  
If then such Trifles can such praise obtain,  
What glorious Characters may Shooting gain?  
Whose use the death-defying Romans prized  
As most successful in their Victories;  
And thought their Eagle no ill Fate could know,  
Guarded by him that drew the strongest Bow.  

* Tranq. Suct.  Domitian Shooting loved to that extent,  
And in the practice was so excellent,  
That 'tis recorded he from far could stand,  
And Shooting through the Fingers miss the Hand;  
Which Virtue by the Romans so desired  
(Maugre his shameful Vices) was admired.  
And Commodus, his Brother in all ill,  
Had in the Shooting Art such matchless Skill,  
No obvious mark to him too far did show,  
That lay within the Level of his Bow.  
Nor was this Virtue only practised by  
Men famous for their vicious Tyranny:  
In Ages past 'twas called bright honour's Beam,  
The Prince's Pastime, and the scholar's Theme:  
And those, that most loved virtue, most desired  
To learn that Virtue which the Age admired.  
'Twas then the Soldiers guard, the Coward's shame,  
The Monarch's Trumpet to divulge his fame,  
And swift-winged Herald of a glorious name.  
Such as had skill its worth did soon discern,  
And such as could not Shoot made haste to learn.  
None were esteemed but who that Art did own,  
And he that Shot best still had most Renown.  
Kings for their strongest guards did Archers claim,  
As most conducing to their growing Fame.   


* Leo de S●a. ●●●  Leo Rome's famed and valiant Emperor  
Did (in his Book entitled Sleights of War)  
Prescribe a Law; that Soldiers should resort  
In time of Peace, and daily use this Sport;  
By which good use, his well armed Troops did share  
Choice Skill to do, as well as hearts to dare;  
Omitting which decree, to th' Romans shame,  
Proves now chief cause of their declining fame.   

But more of this, when I the profits show  
Arising from the virtues of the Bow,  
Shall be declared: this only here is placed  
To show by whom brave Archery was graced;  
Whose worth not only by the vulgar sort  
Was made the glorious Mistress of Report,  
But whose loud fame great Monarches did create,  
Calling this Weapon, Guardian of the State:  
So prising it that in their strictest Laws,  
The Archer's Plea was voted with applause.  
This in our Native Clime has been allowed,  
When stubborn factions to the Mandate bowed;  
Witness that Statute that declares it plain,  
The Third of the Illustrious 
* Hen. VII. Stat  Henry's Reign:  
Where 'twas enacted every Subject should  
Keep ready Bow and Shafts for th' public Good.  
More proofs and large examples I could show  
Of Archers worth; but now 'tis fit you know  
Its virtue, and why th' Ancients loved this more  
Than that, which more stupendious Titles bore.  
And though from th' Rules of History I move,  
Whose use is to declare a thing, not prove  
The Cause, or why 'tis so admired; Yet I  
The place of some famed Nuntius will supply,  
And boldly thus divulge it, as a thing  
Fit for the Pastime of the greatest King:  
An Art, whose worth would prove to Honour's Son  
A Fertile Branch to graft his Glories on:  
An Exercise for Youth most fit and good  
To warm the slackened Nerves, and stir the Blood  
of Sloth infected Bodies, whose disease  
Springs from the Ills of Luxury and Ease;  
A Pastime Manly, whose health-saving Art  
Adds strength to th' Limbs, and courage to the Heart;  
Rouses distempered bodies from their Graves,  
And the death-wounded sick men often saves  
By their endeavours to this active Sport.  
Nor care I thought some forward Wits retort  
On my presuming thus; Since 'tis assured,  
Consumptive Archers have been oft times cured  
By practising to Shoot; and Maladies  
Remedied by this wholesome Exercise.  
Then, 'tis a Sport so Harmless, that therein  
Lurks not the smallest scruple of a Sin,  
Unless abused by Vicious Libertin;  
From whose Debauches Scripture is not free,  
Nor Pious Maxims of Morality.  
But if the Nature of the Sport may move  
The Undertaker's deeds obscene to prove;  
'Tis th' Archers Glory, that no Pastime shares  
So much of Godlike Innocence as Theirs.   

Methinks I see an Ordinary, where  
The Strutting Town-Huffs Revelling appear,  
Filled with Contagion, Noise, rank Indian Fume,  
And debauched Relics, that one might presume  
'Twere Pluto's Cave, or Hell's Withdrawing Room:  
Imagine then a Dozen Fops, or more,  
(Newly broke loose from Surgeon, or from Whore)  
At Hazard; and consider, at what cost  
Their deep mouthed Oaths, at every Piece was lost,  
Were ragingly surrendered, 'twould appear  
The Scene of Horror, and the seat of Fear:  
Here sits a Couple Venting new-coined Curses;  
Just opposite Two shaking Empty Purses,  
Blaspheming Heaven for their want of skill,  
And daring Hell, because the Dice ran ill.  
Another that calumnious breath defends,  
Telling him, Fate must sometimes make amends,  
But softly cries, these Fulhams were my Friends;  
And smiling with new Grimmace brought from France,  
Dammee, to Night I've had excelling Chance;  
Then mingling noises like Disorder's Court,  
They strait begin afresh the Hellish Sport.   

But now exalt your long-fixed Eyes again,  
And view the verdant surface of yond Plain,  
Within whose clear and smooth dimensions lies  
A Plate, where Archers daily Exercise:  
See there a Troop of Youths with bended Bows  
(Whose unmatched worth no braver Weapon knows)  
Contending for a Prize, and mark what Grace  
Sits in each line of every Shooter's Face;  
And with what manly force the Shaft is sent,  
Of their choice skill to show a Precedent.  
Th' ensnared Eye to th' heart soft pleasure draws,  
And guides the Tongue to publish their applause.  
No Hellborn Oaths, nor Stygian Curses there,  
Like Poisonous fogs, infect the purer Air;  
Nor are their Betts or Pledges known so great,  
To ruin men by loss of an Estate.  
The noble Sport they prise far more than Wealth,  
And use it as protector to their Health,  
Not for their Gains. Then weigh the difference,  
One's cursed effects, and tother's innocence;  
One's noble Pastime, t'others idle Game;  
One ever getting Honour, t'other Shame:  
And then you loudly will confess the prize  
Belongs to th' Archers noble Exercise,  
As famed and wholesome, and most fitting for  
Those Martial Spirits, whose success in War  
Is mighty as their Valours, such as court  
The grand perfection of this Royal Sport,  
That own no worth beyond their Faith, nor know  
No manly Weapon equal to the Bow;  
Yet glory in that knowledge, proud to be  
Known Sons of War, bred up in Honesty.  
Virtue, as 
* Plat. in Phedro.  Plato Learnedly displays,  
Is to the World declared two several ways;  
Either by deeds of such as Knowledge prize,  
Or th' love they bear some Virtuous Exercise.  
Vice riots fearless in a glorious dress,  
Lulled with the present Joys it does possess,  
Not minding the Before-gone ills of Fate,  
Nor caring what comes after, till too late;  
This Scene, to one that can subdue his will,  
Declares which Exercise is good, which ill  
Gamesters thirst for, and present bliss pursue,  
Though with the draught they swallow poison too,  
Making the place by their disordered Game  
The House of Riot, and the Throne of Shame:  
Whilst Archers by their pleasant painful sport  
Make their abiding virtue's happy Court;  
Where men may learn to do well, not displease  
The Powers above by cursing a Disease  
Sprung from their Idleness, but to prevent  
A Fate which Heaven to Libertins has sent:   

Labour the Parent is of Shooting still,  
Nor can he own that Art, whose want of will  
Renders him dull, whose Nature (far from good)  
Serves but to nourish his corrupted Blood;  
But he whose Active Spirit does despise  
Soft ease to follow manly Exercise,  
And learn an Art that does not only show  
A choice delight, but is defensive too  
To guard his Country from th' insulting Foe.   

The first Inventor of famed Archery  
(As 
* Plat. in Zim.  Plato mentions) was a Deity;  
A God of worth and boundless Excellence,  
Patron of Music, Medicines, Eloquence,  
Wit's Paragon, and virtue's Quintessence.  
But Dicing, though it may 
† Plat. in Phedro.  Two Parent's claim,  
Yet both were so allied to Vice and Shame,  
That Ancient Poets blushed to have their Crimes  
Cloud the unblemished Lustre of their Rhimes  
By Mentioning those vicious sons of Scorn,  
One being a Grecian, t'other Lydian born;  
Which Nation still so dissolute appears,  
That it the slander of all people bears  
For wild unthrifty Courses, 
* Herod. in Clio.  Vanity,  
Debauches, and their scorn of Archery:  
Whose Virtue their rank Natures did displease,  
As being a Foe to their Luxurious Ease.  
We read how the too wild 
* Sardanapalus:  Assyrian King,  
Whose shameful vices did the Nation bring  
To Ruin, from his tender youth was trained  
To vice, which his immortal Honour stained,  
Soft ease and idleness, the spurious brood  
Of Hell's black Monster, the infectious food  
Of those accursed Libidinists, that know  
No power beyond what they to Nature owe.  
The Blooming Sons of Virtue Action love,  
Action, that from the Soul does Vice remove.  
Hell has no snares to catch their Innocence,  
Employed in harmless sports; Sin no pretence  
To draw them to extremes, nor blast their Wills  
With the consuming quintessence of ills.  
And those that think good Exercise a Crime,  
Live not like men, but slumber out their time  
Making their blood with too much sordid Ease  
The poisonous Fountain of uucured Disease.   

How many Noble Spirits in this Land  
Of Matchless Shape, and worthy to command  
An Host of Heroes, think 'twould better prove  
Their Honours to enjoy a vicious Love,  
Debauch their Country, Kinsmen, and advance  
Their deeds to th' height of all extravagance;  
Than to be seen i'th' Field like Archers trussed,  
Following a Pastime noble, wholesome, just,  
An Exercise less Impious than Divine,  
Where Manly force and Innocence combine?   

It might be granted, had our reason been  
Corrupt as th' Ancients, vicious and obscene;  
Had our unweeded knowledge known no odds  
In Piety, but as Immortal Gods  
Adored the Sun and Moon, pursuing Crimes,  
Like untaught Natives in remoter Climes;  
Bowed to the Earth thinking it did produce  
From its own power all things for humane use:  
Or were we ignorant of a Deity  
That gave us Souls, and rules mortality,  
Thinking our prayers to Idols better done  
Than to the Great Allseeing Three in One,  
Within whose Heaven a boundless Ocean lies  
Of Joys for Virtuous Men, and Plagues for Vice;  
We had some reason to prefer Lewd Games,  
(Though Harbingers to our Eternal shames)  
Before this Noble Pastime; nay to prove  
Our Vicious Sports were licenc'd from above,  
And that no good had there pre-eminence,  
Because we knew no greater God than Sense;  
But since Almighty Providence hath given  
Our Souls a Reason next the Blessed in Heaven,  
And unto Man Earth's Creature Vassals made,  
Why should a Bestial Lust our Souls invade,  
Polluting by some damned impiety  
The Image of the Glorious Trinity?  
Why should our Souls, that amongst Stars should shine,  
Swim to perdition through a Sea of Wine,  
A Sin that obtains nothing excellent  
But Oaths, infernal brawls and excrement;  
Obscures Men's heedless Errors, till too late,  
Leaving them little health, and less Estate?  
And to come nearer to our purpose, Why  
Should this brave Exercise of Archery  
(Admired by th' Ancients, wholesome for the Blood,  
A Manly Sport, and grounded on all good)  
Yield precedency to the Hellish Vice  
Of those two Twins of Horror, Cards and Dice?  
And by a practice Diabolical  
Deny our Souls were ever Rational.  
'Tis true, in shooting there is labour used;  
But 'tis a toil, if it be not abused,  
So pleasant, that the softest Pleasures are  
Laborious troubles, should we once compare;  
A Sport that brings us Profit, Honour, Wealth,  
Excelling Courage, heart-delighting Health.  
And if, as Ancient 
* Zenocia: de dict. & fact. Socr.  Epicharmus writ,  
(An owner of a matchless Knowledge, Wit)  
Heaven sells its Blessings to Mortality,  
As a return for painful Husbandry:  
Heaven unto Archers will choice Virtue sell,  
That shunning Vice eschew the path to Hell.   

Yet do I not so little Reason know,  
To think the painful Pastime of the Bow  
Fit for all Seasons: Rain or nipping Frost,  
More than delight, procures the Archers Cost.  
Besides, continual use of one Disport  
Dulls the nice Sense, and cuts the pleasure short.  
Fencing or Bowling may, if not abused,  
For change be by the bravest Archers used:  
Or if their tired spirits would essay  
Some gentler Exercise— To see a Play,  
And gaze on Nature in her best array,  
Best suits a noble Soul, whose worth's expressed  
In wisely weighing a Satiric Jest.  
There are some Plays, on whose well polished Scenes  
The quintessence of Art and Nature leans;  
Where Poesy is fluently expressed,  
And learning triumphs in a glorious Vest:  
Plays, that the horrid Rules of Vice controls,  
Teaching the moral Virtues of the Soul.  
And, as learned Randolph quotes, at first revives  
Our nauseous Crimes, then shows to mend our Lives  
By feeling Characters. To such as these  
I would our Archers good Opinions raise:  
On whose sweet Cates they may their senses feed,  
Cordials which Nectar of the Gods exceed.  
Love they a Tragic Scene? there may they see  
Indulgent Age and splendid Majesty  
Stoop to an abject Fate, Empires o'erturned,  
And Virtue by a Hellbred Treason spurned  
To unseen Atoms: whilst pale trembling Gild  
Brood's like a Serpent o'er the blood it spilt.  
If they in Comic History delight,  
There may they have presented to their sight  
Variety of Characters, whose Names  
Declare their Vices, and in Vices shames:  
There may they by the true Presentments shown  
Of others hateful Vices purge their own;  
And smile at what they think, not what they see,  
The worthless Subject, not the Effigy.  
To all Judicious Souls a Scene well writ,  
Garnished with reason, sense, ear-charming wit,  
Infuses secret pleasures through the Veins,  
Which the base froth of idle Vice disdains.  
'Tis Reason clothed in splendid Phrase that flies  
Into the heart, and robs the faculties  
Of grosser entertainment, shining there  
Like glittering Phebe in our Hemisphere.   

Yet suit not Plays all tempers: Some there are  
That have choice strength, but little wit to spare;  
That through their want of Learning dam that part,  
That most ingenious seems to men of Art.  
But here perhaps the curious Reader may  
Retort, and cherished by Opinion, say,  
They little have, but I perhaps have less,  
Which by this barren Poem he may guests.  
And though I grant that Fortune was my Foe,  
And envious, not permitting me to know  
The precious depth of that Castalian Spring,  
Which on learned Themes makes our famed Poets sing:  
Yet I can glory, I from Nature own  
A good, which Art has not all Students shown;  
A budding Fancy, to invent and raise  
Some good designs, though writ in barren phrase.  
But to our Theme: Let him, I say, whose Fate  
Has made his better part unfortunate,  
Not tasting that most blessed and luscious Fruit  
Of Heaven-infusing Knowledge, Learn to shoot,  
And by that Noble Exercise prevent  
A Life luxurious and incontinent.  
For were a General Randezvous of Sports  
Mustered from Cities, Theatres, and Courts,  
The fame of Archery would soar above,  
And from its Throne all meaner Pastimes move;  
As being most delightful, manly, good  
To cherish Health and purify the Blood▪  
Let Princes therefore shoot for Exercise;  
Soldiers t'enlarge their Magnanimities;  
Let Nobles shoot, 'cause 'tis a Pastime fit;  
Let Scholars shoot to clarify their Wit;  
Let Citizens shoot to purge corrupted Blood;  
Let Yeomen shoot, for th' King's and Nation's good:  
Let all the Nation Archers prove, and then  
We without Lanterns may find virtuous men.  
But lest this praise ungrounded should appear,  
And perish in a proof-expecting Ear,  
The Archers Conquest next I will rehearse;  
Aid bright Thalia, and inspire my Verse,   

The Ancient Jews 
* Josephus c. 5 , as learned joseph writes,  
In all Domestic Wars and Foreign Fights,  
Where their brave Chieftain Macchabeus came  
To plead his country's 'Cause, and purchase Fame,  
Their chiefest Strength lay in their Archers thought,  
ne'er doubting any Conquest where they fought:  
The flying Gentiles sigh their silent woes,  
Chased by their dreadful Death-denouncing Bows,  
Inur'd to suffer Fates transcendent harms,  
Wanting wise Conduct and Success in Arms.  
The Power of Heaven i'th' Scripture is compared  
To shooting, mentioned as a fierce Reward  
For their Transgressions, and styled there 
* Vid. Psalm.  Bow;  
With which, 'tis said, his Might shall overthrow  
The Hosts of wicked men, men hating Good,  
And die his dreadful Shafts i'th' Gentiles Blood.  
This a redoubted Argument is known,  
Why all the Noble use o'th' Bow should own,  
Since Reason quotes that thing of great regard,  
To whom the Power of Heaven is compared.  
And one proof more, which from Diviner Phrase,  
Than now I write, my Genius first did raise;  
When Saul was slain (he that had first command  
O'er Israel's Hosts as King) by the base hand  
Of a perfidious Slave, with his brave Son,  
A man so truly valiant, that he won  
Even his Foes hearts, One that such proofs could show  
Of skill and unmatched knowledge in the Bow,  
That several worthy Authors do explain  
He ne'er was known to shoot a Shaft in vain:  
When he, I say, the peerless jonathan,  
O'er powered by Foes, Death's rugged race had run,  
And Iudah's 
† Regum 13. David:  best of Monarches straight was known  
To be chose next Successor to the Crown;  
The first Edict that issued from his hand,  
Was an entire and absolute Command  
That all the Israelites should learn to shoot:  
From whence proceeded that delightful fruit  
Of Peace and Plenty, Wealth and Blessings joined  
To grace that Realm where Arts and Arms combined.  
And thus we see that shooting was an use  
Renowned, and much esteemed by th' valiant Jews.   

The great 
* Herod. in Thalia.  Cambyses having battered down  
The Egyptian Power, and raised his glittering Throne  
Upon their humble Necks, sent certain Spies  
To Ethiopia's Monarch in disguise,  
To pry into his strength; But he, too wise  
To be beguiled, and finding th'flatterers  
Slaves, though in shape they were Ambassadors,  
Before them ordered to be brought his Bow,  
Whose hardened Steel, forced by his Arm to show  
A choice Obedience, plucked by yielding String,  
The Shaft obeys his power: Which done, the King  
Turns to the Persians, who with wonder look  
Upon the mighty Weapon, and thus spoke;  
Give to great Persia's Monarch this from me,  
And bid him, when his Magnanimity  
Into his nervous Arm such strength can yield  
To make the Shaft's head kiss the bending Steel,  
Then let his Pride o'er my Dominions soar,  
And yoke my Sunburnt Natives, not before,  
The Bow was after to Cambyses brought,  
And through his numerous Host a man was sought  
To bend it, but yet none such Strength could bring,  
Till Smerdis, valiant Brother to the King,  
By his great power two Inches stirred the String:  
Which Act Gambyses' Envy did create,  
Whose impious Rage soon ushered Smerdis' Fate.   

The proud 
* Sesostris.  Egyptian Monarch (he that road  
Through wealthy Memphis, honoured like a God,  
His Chariot drawn by Kings, whose overthrows  
Sprung from the terrors of his fatal Bows)  
So scourged the Eastern World, spreading his Fame,  
And winning Realms where ere his Archers came;  
That by his Foes he was accounted there  
Patron of Nature, Dignity and War:  
He Savage barbarous Nations brought to thrall,  
The Assyrians, Thracians, wild Arabians; all,  
That his well-guarded Archers durst repel,  
And slight his Power, in heaps before him fell.  
So numerous were his Conquests, that he made  
Statues of Brass, whose Effigies displayed  
His Person armed with mighty Bow and Shaft;  
Which 
* Diod. Sic. 2▪  Weapon made him Conqueror so oft,  
That 'twas his Glory, th' World should understand  
By what great Power he so enriched his Land.   

Like him brave 
† Herod. in Thalia.  Polycrates, Samos Prince,  
O'er the Greek Ocean bore pre-eminence,  
And his strong Foes vast power long withstood,  
Dying his Feathered Shafts in Persian blood;  
Whose fatal numbers by their overthrows,  
Declared the mighty power o'th' Archers Bows.  
Conquest and Honour flourished in that Age,  
Treasons slight Plots not daring to engage  
A glorious Nation echoing Wars Alarms,  
Where Valour gloried in triumphant Arms.  
A Sword and Spear were but additions then,  
And only served to grace the Valiant men,  
Or to be used at th' Barriers: 'Tis the Bow,  
To whose unimitable worth they owe  
Their numerous Conquests, fought and bravely won,  
When Shafts, like Storms, obscured the splendid Sun.  
The treacherous Cannon with its murdering breath  
Was then unknown, and shooting ushered Death  
With a more noble speed, where he that kills,  
Stands bravely facing him whose blood he spills,  
Acting it boldly. This great Cyrus knew,  
Whose flying Troops the 
* Herod. in Clio.  Massagetans slew  
With Bows and barbed Shafts, whose piercing Heads  
Death, crowned with Horror o'er his Army spreads.   

The valiant Scythians did such knowledge share  
In Archery and wise conduct in War,  
That divers Monarches hoping to atack  
Their too well guarded Realms, were beaten back:  
Amongst the rest, when great Darius there  
With a vast Power had watched above a year  
Some intervenes of Chance, that would express  
Some joyful Omens of a good success;  
At last, being wearied with so long a stay,  
And ready with his Power to march away,  
There from the Scythians a man was sent,  
That to Darius did four Gifts present,  
A 
† Herod. in Melpom.  Bird, a Frogg, a Mouse, and next to these,  
A Quiver full of Arrows. He, to ease  
His labouring thoughts, endeavours thus to sift  
The dubious meaning of so strange a Gift.  
And to his own advantage wrists the sense;  
Saying, The Scythians yield pre-eminence  
To my known Power, and by their Gifts declare  
They render up their Strength, Earth, Sea, and Air.  
This Vote undoubted passed; till Gobrias,  
A Man, whose natural Prudence did surpass  
A vulgar Genius, spoke, and nobly bold  
In's Country's Cause thus his Opinion told;  
Unless, O Persians, ye like Birds could fly  
With wings, and dauntless hover in the sky;  
Unless like Mice ye could in Caverns live;  
Or Frogg-like, in unsounded Waters dive,  
Whose vasty depth no slimy bottom knows,  
You never shall escape the Scythian Bows.  
This so serene and prudent did appear,  
And sank so deeply in Darius' ear,  
That raising th' Siege, he straight marched home again,  
Ashamed of an attempt so much in vain.   

The bold 
* Suidas.  Athenians did such trust impose  
In the known power of their Archers Bows,  
That glorying in their blessed Securities,  
They from their Walls would dare their Enemies,  
Whose ponderous Arms, the Legacies of Death,  
With an unthought of slowness did bequeath  
A sort of men, bold, valiant, noble, strong,  
Unapt to suffer, or receive a wrong;  
So practised in brave shooting, that 'tis said,  
Some there could draw a Shaft yard long to th' head;  
Bloody and rough in War, but soon appeased,  
Few bearing Envy, and as few diseased;  
A Nation famous both for Arts and Arms,  
Whose noble hearts the beams of Honour warms.   

Witness 
† Diod. Sic. 2.  Demosthenes, whose noble Soul  
Scorning the haughty Lacedemon's scroll,  
Sent him in bold Defiance, hating too  
In Honour any one should him outdo:  
First, with an Elegant Oration made,  
The glory of his Enterprise displayed  
To his brave Archers, then advancing on  
To a hot Charge, before the setting Sun  
Had from the clear Horizon snatched his Light,  
His Foes main Force had met Eternal Night;  
The rest a certain danger 'scaped by flight,  
And towards Pylos, Nestor's ancient Seat,  
To shun th'enraged Athenians, took retreat.  
Learned 
* Thucid. 4:  Thucydides writes, the Shafts that day  
Into the Air such darkness did convey,  
They wanted light to view their good Success,  
Shooting the Shafts (not aiming) but by guess,  
Like showers of Winter's Hail, amongst the press  
So strong, and so continued, that their Force  
Scattered whole Troops o'th' Foe's ill-governed Horse,  
Who oft by Shafts oppressed with deadly wound,  
O'erthrew their trembling Riders to the ground,  
Whose fate to an abased disaster bowed,  
Trampled to Death by the unruly crowd:  
So that of twenty thousand fight men,  
To tell their ill Success went home scarce ten.   

He that had seen the Glories of that War,  
The Archers valour, and their Chieftains care,  
The fatal Skirmish, when rough danger steeled  
Their hearts, and Death's pale Victims in the field  
Lie bathing in warm Gore, whose destinies  
Sent from the Shafts of their fierce Enemies  
Seemed far more dreadful, than Death's Sickle e'er  
Was agent in, more horrid, more severe,  
Would hide his wondering face, amazed to see  
The fatal Trophies of brave Archery.   

He that had been Eye-witness to that field,  
Where daring Valour dying scorned to yield;  
Where reeking Blood and Clouds of Arrows made  
The Sun-enlightned Sky appear a shade;  
Where liveless Trunks o'erspread the blushing Earth,  
Horror gained triumph, and Destruction birth;  
Would think Confusion's pristine Chaos come,  
As dreadful Usher to the day of Doom.  
Nor can I th' Bows brave Acts too highly show;  
My grovelling Genius rather creeps too low  
In the applause of what does so excel,  
This drowsy Age ne'er knew its parallel.  
What won the World's 
* Alex. Magn.  great Conqueror such fame  
But valiant Archers? What advanced his Name  
Above the reach of Envy, Calumny,  
Ear-charming Flattery, Malice, Treachery,  
But warlike Minds and matchless Archery?   

Search 
† Arianus 2.  Arianus' Works, and see the cause  
Of his eternised Conquests; read th'applause  
Paid his industrious Bowmen, whose brave Arms,  
Equalled with Valour, had such potent Charms,  
That Asia's barbarous Ignorants, that knew  
No greater Power than what i'th' Skies they view,  
With trembling heart, bowed knee, and Arms displayed,  
To the victorious Archers offerings made.  
And though upon this Theme no dulcet Pen,  
Though guided by the wisest amongst men,  
Can write sufficient praise, a Theme that is  
So much above unlearned Emphasis,  
That to the World its true applause to bring  
Requires a Quill plucked from an Angel's wing;  
A Genius filled with heavenly influence,  
To praise an Art surpassing Excellence;  
Yet this advertisement of Plinius may  
Th'undoubted worth of Archery display.   


† Plin. l. 6. c. 3●.  He that the honour of the valiant Greeks,  
Or the tried fate of potent Kingdoms seeks,  
Their dangerous Adventures, Quarrels, Fights,  
Care-reaping Stratagems, well-grounded sleights,  
And last, their famous Victories would know,  
Will find the Ancient, noble, useful Bow,  
To be famed Honour's guide, King's noblest aid,  
The bravest Weapon Mankind e'er essayed.   

Scipio, 
Scipio, vid. Cor. Dac.  the Numantines in Spain had long  
Sought to o'ercome in War, but they too strong  
In their undaunted aids, his Force repelled,  
Whose fresh Supplies still forced them from the field;  
But when at last a Band of Archers spread  
Their piercing Shafts, the frighted Spaniard fled,  
Too well foreseeing the destructive woes  
Attending Death from mighty Roman Bows.   

Tiberius' 
† Corn. Tac. 2.  fight with the Germane Twins;  
A brace of wild and impious Libertines,  
Though mighty in their power, won such fame  
By his brave Archers Bows, that where they came,  
The closest Ranks were broke, and th'Foe too late  
Feared an invisible, though certain fate.  
The Romans than were worthy of Applause,  
Trained up in War, and skilled in Honour's Laws;  
So Martial and so Generous, they thought  
Honour achieved by Death too slightly bought;  
A Nation famed for warlike Policies,  
Admired Triumphs, dangerous Victories,  
So loving Archerie's famed Excellence,  
They thought the warlike Bow their chief defence;  
And mighty 
* Leo 6. ●.  Leo's Treatise oft surveyed,  
Whose wise Directions were by all obeyed,  
Till that Hell-searching Imp of Pluto's brood  
Invented Guns to wrack the general good.  
But more of this hereafter, when the state  
Of England's pristine Conquests I relate,  
Shall be enlarged: and since my wearied Muse  
Is tired with showing the true noble use  
Of Bows in Foreign Climes, I'll now essay  
The Fame of English Bowmen to display,  
Since none were ever more renowned than they.   

How first to England Archery was brought  
Historiographers long in vain have sought  
To understand, and those that nearest guess,  
Farr from the truth perhaps their minds express.  
The plainest proofs Sir Thomas eliot writ,  
A man of boundless Knowledge, Learning, Wit,  
Who in his Treatise writes 
* De Rebus memor. Angl.  in th'ancient time,  
When Ignorance was England's greatest Crime;  
When Vortigern the Saxon Monarch first  
●n British Blood allayed his brutish thirst,  
Nothing so much did terrify his Foes  
As the dread terrors of his Archers Bows▪  
By which I gather Vortigern was he  
That into England first brought Archery.  
An Art most dreadful to the French, whose power  
Would ne'er admit of a Competitour,  
Till the brave use of Bows and feathered Shafts  
Scattered their Forces, and outdid their Crafts:  
Which is confirmed by th' immortal fame  
Of 
* Vid. Hen. 3. Cressie.  Henry, the third Monarch of that Name,  
Who, with his valiant Archers, overcame  
The Chivalry of France: Their Monarch too,  
Proud Philip, who before had scorned to do  
Great Henry's just Decrees, in Prison tried  
Too soon the rough reward for too much Pride:  
A glorious Fight; the potent power of France,  
Proud of their Strength, and certain of their Chance,  
As being thrice their number, charged the Foe,  
But met at last a fatal overthrow.   

Like him, john King of France hoping t'attack  
The English men, Prince Edward styled the Black  
Near to the walls of Poitiers met his Force,  
Being a mighty Power of Foot and Horse.  
But he that never knew the wretched state  
Of those that fear, resolved to try his fate;  
And aided by his Archers, who enlarged  
Their Courages by his, their Battles charged,  
And e'er the Sun had journied half his way,  
Routed the Power of France, and won the Day.   

Nor can I overpass the famed report  
Sprung from that glorious Fight at Agincourt, 
Speed. Chron.   
Where that brave Hero, Henry the Fifth,  
A Prince dropped down from Heaven as a Gift  
To cherish Piety, achieved such Fame,  
That Ages yet to come will speak his Name  
(With reverence and admiration crowned)  
With joy to read a Story so renowned,  
As the rehearsal of his glorious Deeds,  
And his famed Archers Acts: But farther needs  
My Pen not rove, since they that e'er have read  
The living Works of Speed, Stow, Holling shed,  
And other Modern Authors, there may see  
The noble Conquests sprung from Archery  
In a compendious method, which relates  
Those Themes at large my Pen abbreviates.  
As also in the contumelious Jar  
Between the Houses York and Lancaster,  
Where thousands perished by a Civil War,  
Great use was made of Bows and Shafts to quell  
Insulting Vice in Natives that rebel.   

Nor is that true, though vulgar, Story less  
To be esteemed, the Fight at 
* Speed. Chron.  Chevy-Chase  
Has amongst tried Judgements admiration gained,  
However by a Fifth-rate Genius stained  
In dull Lampoon: He that had seen that Day  
Stout Douglas and the Northern Earl display  
Their more than mortal Valours, would appear  
More scared with looking, than with fight they were:  
He that o'th' Battle had Spectator been,  
And the bold Scots by English Archers seen  
Sent breathless to Death's Icy bed of Rest,  
Each with a Shaft stuck fast in bleeding breast,  
Would soon forget to praise a Sword and Spear,  
And call the Bow Death's fatal Harbinger:  
Whose worth most excellent and powerful too,  
May well a just precedency pursue,  
Since nothing is more brave, nor nothing more  
In War successful, or of greater power.  
This found the 
† Speed. Chron.  Scots, of whose two thousand men  
Went home to tell the News scarce five times ten:  
The rest by Shafts from Bows of bending Yew,  
In streams of Crimson Gore paid Nature's due:  
The Peasant with the Peer Death's lodging shared,  
To quell whose power they were alike prepared,  
And their weak-founded Strength did vainly show,  
When Fate sat frowning on each Archer's Bow.   

Many Examples more might be expressed  
To prove the worth and powerful interest  
Of this brave Art of shooting; but to them  
That throughly search a Fact ere they condemn  
Men knowing and judicious, these few Rules  
May satisfy, though lost in th' Ears of Fools:  
The wise may easily discern the good  
Arising from a Virtue understood  
And taught in Persian Colleges, where those  
That best could shoot and drew the strongest Bows  
Were most esteemed, and best deserved to prove  
The dulcet Blessing of the Prince's Love;  
When such, whose minds that rank Corruption bred,  
Whose poison got by too much Ease does spread  
Too fast o'er pampered Bodies, rot, and die  
The nauseous Heirs to Vice and Calumny.   

'Twas Plato's Counsel that th' Athenians should  
Hire Stipendaries with choice skill endued,  
To teach the Youth to shoot, they knowing well,  
No Weapon with the Bow could Parallel.  
Nor was his Vote the noblest Theme of Fame's:  
England's blest Monarch, prudent, learned 
* Johan. Major 6. Hist. Scot  james,  
Amidst his Noble Peers i' th' Parliament  
Voted an Act— a glorious Precedent  
For this dull Age to Copy, every Scot  
Should learn to shoot: blessed noble Patriot  
How I adore thy memory! yet they  
That knew no worse Hell than to obey,  
Neglecting his Decrees, their Foes defied,  
And slighting Archers oft by Archers died.   

The valiant English then were most renowned:  
Where was that City, or that Plate of Ground,  
Where Britain's honour grew not? where that Clime,  
Where her brave Archers Acts shone not sublime,  
And loudly published by the Trump of Fame?  
Or where that Nation, that, when Bowmen came  
Graced by the English Cross, feared not too late  
The dreadful Omens of ensuing Fate?  
'Twas then a Nation full of pleasing Charms,  
England, famed Mistress both of Arts and Arms,  
Was Europe's Treasure styled, the Heavenly Seat,  
Where Honour and Immac'late Virtue met.  
No Exercise like shooting was then prized,  
The prudent Father would his Son advise  
To use the Bow, assured no Weapon should  
Prove half so useful for the Public Good  
As that, being light, and easy to reverse,  
In Action brave, in Execution fierce:  
Whose Force had, like the uncontrolled will  
Of Heaven, the power who e'er it struck to kill.  
Or as the dreadful Thunder from above,  
Thrown by the Death-commanding hand of jove,  
Kills where it touches, whose dread source divides  
Sky-kissing Cedars, rends the Marble sides  
Of some great Rock, whose strength has long withstood  
The raging Winds and Deluge-threatning Flood,  
ne'er ceasing till it shrowded its dreadful head  
Ten Fathoms deep in Nature's Earthy bed:  
So flies a Shaft as swiftly to bequeath  
The fatal Legacy of conquering Death  
To the two bold Opposer, whose proud Power  
Sinks with his liveless Trunk, and is no more.  
The use of Guns ('tis granted) has of late  
Been thought and proved chief Minister of Fate.  
The murdering Cannon with its thundering breath  
In many dreadful fights has ushered Death  
With speed and violence; and Muskets have  
Pregnant with shot sent thousands to the Grave;  
Within whose noble hearts fear never bred,  
Yet fell as Victims to the fatal Lead:  
And though it be successful and secure,  
Dreadful in War, and able to endure  
The strongest charge; yet if compared to th'Bow,  
It's high exalted Fame will nothing show.  
Not but Death flies as certain from that Fire,  
As from the Bow and Shaft we so admire:  
But 'tis impossible it e'er should own  
By its weak single power a Famed renown,  
So nobly splendid as our Archery  
Could gain commixed with Magnanimity.  
But if with shooting used, 'twould nobly show  
A power, which never any could outdo  
By fight or single Force; a dear-bought prize  
Which the succeeding Age would canonize.   

Draw out a Band of Archers to the Field,  
Brave Spirits trained in War, with courage steeled,  
Whose influence was bred, and nourished grows  
In 〈◊〉 brute bosoms, whose well tempered Bows  
Dismiss the Steel-tipt Messengers, whilst Fame  
By Shouts applauds the Shooter's skilful aim;  
And see with wonder that undaunted force,  
Which the dread rage of Death could ne'er divorce:  
See those that at pale Terrors face scorn e'er to shrink,  
That still encouraged boldly stand on danger's brink  
With daring Breasts, six't Eyes, and Arms displayed,  
Drawing out Shafts three quarters long to th' head:  
Mark with a curious Eye the wretchedness  
And fears a Coward's caution doth express;  
And next the Archers noble Actions Eye,  
Each Face this Motto bearing, We defy:  
And then declare the most unequal wrong  
Done to the Bow, its Praise deferred so long.  
The Archers power above all in War  
Is never to be questioned, since they are  
A sort of skilful Undertakers, young, '  
wedded to Arms and Honour, Valiant, Strong:  
The Art of shooting was their Infant sport,  
By which in Troops they daily did resort;  
By which they gained health, strength, fame, courage, skill,  
Hearts to love virtuous deeds, and banish ill.  
No Impotents diseased can ever know  
The worth and matchless virtues of the Bow.  
Archers must strong and healthful prove, and Just,  
Not weakened with bad Wine, soft Ease and Lust,  
But always fit to entertain a Foe,  
And by brave Deeds the worth of shooting show.   

Had that too studious 
* Bertholdus' Swart first Inventor of Guns.  Chemist that first brought  
Into the World his fatal Guns, but sought  
The use of Bows to grace what he designed  
Should be a matchless Weapon for Mankind;  
It might be granted that united Power  
Treason, nor Rust of Time, could ne'er devour.  
But since it is abused and common grown,  
The glorious Palm to Archers must be thrown,  
Whose noble hearts all panic fears disown.   

Yet must not my affection to the Bow,  
Like a great Torrent, Reason overflow:  
There doubtless are some men that fight with Guns  
Of an approved valour, th' noble Sons  
Of Heaven born Honour, that dare stake their Blood  
And dearest Vitals for their country's good,  
And in that Cause think it a bliss to bleed,  
Else 'twere a miserable Age indeed.  
But with a general Eye survey a Troop,  
Each smiling face with th' many there that droop,  
And amongst five hundred fifty scarce shall bear  
A Martial Spirit bold and fit for Warr.  
But in a Band of Noble Archers all  
The matchless Sons of Valour I dare call,  
And prove it true, since still inur'd to shoot;  
Which Manly Pastime the weak trembling fruit  
Of Cowards ne'er durst follow, but possessed  
By sturdy Bowmen, whose famed strength increased  
By daily Exercise; nay 't has been found  
By such whose Intellects have been unsound,  
Using the healthful Art, Distempers fled,  
And Strength and Courage through the Body spread,  
A flowing lively warmth possessed each Vein,  
And sprightly Health banished Disease and Pain.  
A wholesome Pastime which all Sports exceeds,  
And he that shooting loves no Physic needs;  
A noble Archer his own Doctor is,  
And soars above the reach of rank Disease.  
Agues or lazy Fevers are for those  
That cherish the repute of Guns, not Bows.   

England was once the Seat of Archery,  
Parent of Honour, Magnanimity,  
And o'er all Nations bore Supremacy  
For Arts and Arms; her daring Archers than  
Durst charge a numerous Host of Warlike men,  
Without respect to numbers, death, or fate,  
Cherished with hopes of being fortunate  
By their precedent Conquests, which did grow  
As if they were entailed to grace the Bow,  
That Weapon being easy to be born,  
Of excellent Nature, and by Valour worn.  
Besides the speed with which brave Archers make,  
Their fame is such, that I dare undertake  
To shoot ten Shafts well aimed and carried on  
In Battle, ere you twice can charge a Gun.  
What then can be inserted to proclaim  
That Weapon's worth before the Bow? what Fame  
Can be allowed to that, which Archers have  
Not by their Valours won? If to be brave,  
Valiant and fortunate, be a blessing proved  
By those that War and Acts of Honour loved;  
The Bow may make as great and powerful claim,  
As any Weapon incident to Fame.  
Why then should that, which only has of late  
Been used in England's Battles, now create  
Oblivion in the best of Weapons use,  
That in our pristine Ages did produce  
Such glorious Spoils? Or why should Guns, that owe  
No worth but what's adherent to the Bow,  
Be more esteemed? It only does express  
This Age's Vices more, it's Virtue less,  
Than what by th' honoured Ancient was possessed.   

Great 
* Vid. Baker. Chron.  Charles of blessed eternised memory,  
Celestial Heaven's unmatched Epitome,  
So loved this Art of shooting, that even he  
The charms of other Sports would oft resist.  
To be a Partner in the Archers List.  
And can we soar at greater Excellence,  
Then prising Arts loved by so wise a Prince,  
Whose greatest Crime was too much Clemency?  
Can England ere forget her Archery,  
And give t'an upstart power precedency?  
No, like the Phoenix from old ashes sprung,  
we'll give the Bow new life, once more make young  
This Art, and once more be renowned and strong.  
we'll once more tear Hell's dreadful Banner down,  
And bravely armed the Front of Virtue crown,  
Our conquest win by Valour, not relate  
Our good or ill Success the Gifts of Fate,  
But by our Deeds, which must be fortunate,  
Gained and achieved, since trembling Destiny  
In Archers meets too strong an Enemy.   

Therefore if England would victorious prove,  
The Spawn of Vice and Cowardice remove:  
If, as it heretofore has been the Seat  
Of Fame, it would those Glories past repeat,  
And like a Taper late extinct Connive  
At Vices past, and from a Spark revive  
A precious Fire that outshines the Sun,  
And proves a Phoebus in Fame's Horizon,  
To light the wand'ring Hero to a place  
Where th'Souls of Archers Heaven's bright Palace grace▪  
If, as some Jewel of unvalued worth,  
We once more would give glorious Lustre birth,  
And Dignify with its past proper stile  
The World's Exchequer, this most happy Isle:  
Let us call back lost Archery again,  
And with its matchless worth possess our men:  
Let Gunners with our Archers now join hands,  
And both in Power combining share Commands;  
And then the Land invincible will be  
From all Attempts or Foreign policy.  
Rash Undertakers may return with loss,  
And curse that Fortune that complies with us;  
Whilst we triumphant o'er the World may spread,  
Well armed with fatal Bows and hissing Lead,  
Our vast united powers the World will awe,  
And to our aid fresh numbers daily draw.  
The ambitious French, and stubborn Turk will fear  
Afresh that fatal power that did appear  
In our last Age so dreadful, who o'ercome  
With panic doubts, scarce think they're safe at home.  
Regions remote our Forces will admire,  
And with large Sums our Archers strive to hire.  
Honour will triumph, Valour walk in state,  
And Wealth with Piety participate.  
Soft-fingered Peace and bounteous Plenty here  
Will bless and smile upon us all the year:  
Nor can we ever fear our Foreign Foes,  
Our Frontiers guarded well with Guns and Bows,  
Whose strong contracted Power would dare Alarms,  
And Conquest win, though Hell rose up in Arms.  
The 
* Bow and Pike  Bow and Pike hath also been approved  
By such as Arms and Acts of Honour loved,  
And often has been found most excellent  
Either to act a purpose, or prevent.  
From far use Bows, but Pikes, when near at hand,  
The beguiled Horsinens thoughts may countermand;  
And many that long idle stood may be  
Employed, and prove main helps to Victory.  
Bow fixed to th' Pike will execution do  
As well as single, and as bravely too;  
The Shaft being no way hindered, nor its power  
Opposed, but rather is augmented more.  
My Genius is to barren too express  
A benefit, which prudent Heads might guests  
Better than I relate: and though the Fame  
Attending Archery deserves a Name  
Greater than Wit can attribute to grace  
An art that doth all other Arts surpass;  
Yet this, to call it the illustrious prize  
Of an eternised Honour, shall suffice;  
And writ in lasting leaves of Brass, remain  
Till this vast Globe to Chaos turns again.  
The Golden Age shall once more be renewed,  
And the accursed Brood of Vice subdued,  
Whilst Virtue triumphs as the chiefest good.  
Treason her blunted Weapon shall lay by,  
And bright Astrea once more leave the Sky  
To take her dwelling amongst the Sons of Men.  
Our bedrid Power shall grow strong again,  
And armed with fierce and double Power, despise  
The Plots of our ambitious Enemies.  
In vain remote Possessors shall design  
To suck the sweetness of our English Vine,  
Whilst our Hesperia's precious golden Fruit  
Is watched by Dragons, (viz.) brave Men that shoot;  
Let 'em revive Alcides, and then know  
The use and matchless power of his Bow,  
Ere they gain hopes of England's overthrow;  
And then perhaps as Impotent as ere,  
Assaulting Warriors that ne'er knew to fear,  
Each Archer proving an Alcides here.   

Therefore to you, most honoured Patriots, now  
Prostrate to Earth my Muse does humbly bow;  
You that your Nations famed Militia sway,  
And your known Valours o'er the World display  
By glorious Deeds, whose Magnanimity,  
Guarded by Honour from your Infancy,  
Gave early hopes of future Gallantry:  
You, whose brave thirst of Glory has been known  
In Foreign Climes, and to Opposers shown  
Bateless and noble: You, whose Valours have  
Dared Death to's Face, courted a gloomy Grave,  
Your Country's Fame immaculate to save,  
And, like obstreperous Thunder, terrified  
With your dread Fames the rash Insulter's pride:  
To you, the Souls of Honour, I appeal  
To further my Intentions, and reveal  
A Good to this forgetful Age, that may  
Flourish when we lie mixed with common Clay:  
You that have power to do things great and good,  
Whose Actions should be Noble as your Blood,  
Cannot advance the Nation's profit more,  
Than England's best of Weapons to restore  
To its first Dignity; nor act a thing  
More bravely beneficial to the King,  
Than the reviving of old Archery  
To its pristine Estate, Posterity  
Will bless your Memories, when they shall read,  
Your noble Wills that benefit decreed  
For th' Nations good, whose powerful interest  
The nearest Mansions of your hearts possessed,  
And crowned with Loyalty and Faith recalled  
a Virtue long by scorching Vice exhaled  
From th' English hearts, but now revived again,  
Sent from above t'encourage valiant men.  
And next to you, blind Fortune's wealthy Heirs,  
That fenced about with Riches banish cares  
For the Realm's good, that never could express  
A harm you felt, till too much idleness  
Ushered a fierce Disease, first learn to shoot,  
And on this Theme of Archery dispute;  
And doing so, you will not only bind  
All generous Spirits to applaud, but find  
A dulcet Health, and growing Courage seize  
Your Nerves infected late through too much Ease:  
The Bow renewed once more in England raise,  
And merit by that Act a Wreath of Bays,  
Styled Patrons of your Country, live adored  
By faithful Subjects, that can ne'er afford  
Applause to more Deservings, nor partake  
Of greater Blessings than that Grant can make  
To fertile Britain, lend your potent aid  
To plant an Art, through want of use decayed,  
Amongst our Natives, though of greater worth,  
Than that which first gave glorious Conquest birth:  
And Fame (when dead) your Monuments will crown  
With everlasting Trophies, your renown  
Will charm each Breast, whilst every gazer on  
Pays watery Tribute to the Marble Stone  
For loss of those, whose virtues did create  
A Blessing known so useful to the State:  
And, whilst you hear inhabit, daily Prayers  
For your long Life will still assault your Ears.  
The Virtuous and the Loyal will allow  
No Wreath, but what shall flourish on your Brow,  
Which to their Benefactors paid must prove  
Th' undoubted sign of their united love.  
Think what a precious benefit 'twill bring  
To happy England, from whose use will spring  
Honour and Honesty, the glorious Twins  
Of Excellence-infusing Cherubins.   

And you industrious Yeomen, who with toil  
Manure the bosom of your fertile Soil,  
Cherished with growing hopes of future gains,  
When you shall reap the Harvest of your pains,  
Forsake your loved Olympian Games a while,  
With which the tedious Minutes you beguile,  
And give the Bow, so useful to the Nation  
When bravely exercised, your approbation:  
Leave Quoits and Ninepins, those Bear-garden Sports,  
And follow shooting often used in Courts;  
An Exercise that rather adds to Fame,  
Than any way 'tis incident to shame;  
The worth of your Progenitors pursue,  
Whose Loyal Valours often did subdue  
With their dread Bows and Shafts fierce Enemies,  
Though strengthened with fresh Legions, or Surprise:  
No rash intruding bold Antagonist  
The force of their brave Weapons durst resist,  
But hush't as Midnight Dreams deliberate  
The potent sway of their Superior Fate.  
If then that Ignorant Age such Knowledge shared,  
And of their Archers had such choice regard,  
Knowing no Weapon could such Trophies bring,  
Such Profit to the Land, Fame to the King;  
Why should not you, Successors to their Fate,  
New Precedents in th' shooting Art create,  
And by your brave Example animate  
The noble Spirits of your Countrymen,  
To rouse and bring up Archery again?  
By Action all base slothful Ease debarr,  
That creeping Poison, Vice irregular.  
Let every Village prove the Seat of War,  
Whose small Dimensions than need never fear,  
When manly Archers once inhabit there.  
Enriched with Peace, you may possess your own,  
And reap with Joy the Fruit your care has sown,  
Free from Commotions or Dissensions base,  
Whose cursed effects do English hearts disgrace,  
And for your pains procure a rich Reward,  
You also still may stand on your own Guard,  
Despising those that Peace and Virtue shun,  
Though Law not suffers you to use a Gun:  
Or if your dwellings e'er molested are  
By Foreign Insolents, or Civil War,  
Each man that bears a Bow may guard his own,  
And see his rash invader overthrown.  
But such Contentions may I never see:  
Our Bows against an Outland Enemy  
Would bravest be employed: should Archers join  
With our thrice-famed Militia, and combine  
United to o'ercome some neighbouring Land,  
What Potent Nation could our Force withstand,  
Our men well armed with Guns, fierce Bows and Darts,  
Led on by Heaven, and steeled with English hearts?  
Or were our Noble Warriors Excellence  
Only enacted in our own defence,  
Were our joint Forces called, not to command  
On some brave purpose, but to guard the Land;  
Thus aided, Female breasts their fear might cease,  
And we in spite of Danger sleep in Peace:  
Peace, whose delightful branch would firmly grow,  
Watered by Plenty's stream, whose Wealth would flow  
About our Land, and pearly Treafures heap,  
When the delighted Swains the Grain should reap:  
Still free you'll live from Mischiefs brooding Vice,  
Treading the narrow Path to Paradise,  
Employed by this brave Pastime; and achieve  
What Virtue craves, or Piety can give:  
Your sporting hours pleasantly will fly,  
Refined from Ill or cursed Impiety:  
Whilst active Vice in Cities usher's harms,  
Couching Perdition in her softest Charms.  
There may you by the Art of shooting prove  
A matchless Courage sent you from above:  
And when at Targets striving you essay  
Each with a Shaft to bear the Prize away,  
Piercing it oft, endeavouring to hold  
Your Fortune's high, and hit the wished for Gold,  
You may imagine then what you could do,  
If that six't Object were a living Foe.  
But on this Theme I have too long digressed,  
And th' Profits of the Bow too oft expressed  
By this prolix Relation, yet excuse  
The now Abortive Issue of my Muse,  
And her affection to this honest Sport,  
Whose worth and innocency seems to court  
Th' unnerved juventus thus to exercise  
An Art, sworn Foe to Infamy and Vice.  
My Zeal to th' Nations good enforces me  
T' unfold the precious worth of Archery,  
Prompted by England's Genius to declare  
A thing so sweet in Peace, so fierce in War,  
As Manly Shooting, th' Ancients chiefest good,  
Whose Virtue then was better understood  
Than in this drowsy Age, where nauseous Ease  
Our too much pampered Nature's best does please:  
This by instinct infused into my heart,  
And next my knowledge of this Noble Art,  
Flattered my daring Muse to take in hand  
Shooting's applause, whose Virtue may command  
A second Virgil's Fancy to proclaim  
The Bow's well merited and matchless Fame:  
And upon this, as others have of late  
Essayed their Wits and benefits of Fate,  
I, though the meanest of a thousand men,  
Something have writ, though with a ruder Pen.   

Thou then, the happy Genius of this Age,  
Break through these gloomy Clouds, that do presage  
Ill to the Realm; and let thy Influence  
Infuse in all the useful Excellence  
Of Bows and Shafts, rouse thy refulgent head,  
And its famed Virtue through the Nation spread;  
Search with thy All-discerning Eye the Cave,  
Where Treason brood's destruction to the Brave;  
And then declare the Bow can best defend  
The barbarous deeds proud Rebels did intend:  
Display its worth, and like distilling Dews,  
Into their Souls its influence infuse.  
That charmed with knowledge of so brave an Art,  
They may to all its unmatched worth impart;  
Style it a Good, useful in Peace and War,  
In Pastime prized, in Battle singular;  
It ushers Health, and struggling Vice confines,  
Whose Smiles Eternal Misery designs,  
Drawing a Model, whereby all may Scan  
The blessed Effigies of a Vertuousman,  
Pure and Immaculate, as when at first  
His Infancy in Innocence was nursed.   

Rise from your hateful Couches therefore you,  
That in a Sea of Vice your Souls imbrue,  
That destitute of Reason to prevent  
A nauseous Destiny, too evident  
Run headlong to Perdition; now take hold  
Of my untwisted Clew, and be not sold  
For a short pleasing Dream to endless Woes,  
Learn to be good, and Exercise with Bows  
Your happy Strength, and by that use create  
A Blessing useful, just, and fortunate:  
Let the Infectious that have long been nursed  
In black and horrid Vice, whose Souls accursed  
By Heaven for some Enormance, first repair  
Their vicious Life by uncorrupted prayer;  
And next confine themselves to shooting well,  
So may they stifle Passions that rebel;  
Since 'tis an Art allied to Honesty,  
Where Virtue, Fame, and Magnanimity  
Combine to show its precious Excellence,  
Unbounded Worth, and heavenly Innocence,  
The Weeds of Vice thereby are rooted out:  
Nor need the generous Undertaker doubt  
The Justice of his Actions, since this Art  
Nothing but Worth and Virtue can impart.  
No Execrations forged in gloomy Styx  
Shall here have vent, nor any Heretics  
Wedded to Sin with Archers ere combine,  
Nor taste the dulcet Pleasures of their Vine,  
Unless unblinded by blessed Heaven to see  
The loathed Scene of their Impiety.  
The Ancients used it both for Exercise,  
And a Defence against their Enemies;  
For Sport in Peace, but for great Deeds in War,  
Whose then prized worth was known so singular,  
That Children, taught by Nature to suppose  
The worth of Archery, would cry for Bows:  
And though the dull and drowsy World has since  
That blooming Age obscured the Excellence  
Of this so noble Pastime, trampling down  
That Power, which with success their deeds would crown;  
Let us, the Heirs of Fame, not Ignominy,  
The enthralled Art of Archery set free,  
And glorying in our Loyalties advance  
A Jewel's worth, long lost by th' ignorance  
Of this Luxurious Age, a Gem, whose price  
The wealth of Kingdoms cannot compromise.  
Were it a thing obnoxious to the Land,  
A baleful ill, where Vice had most command;  
Were it a sport unfitting for a Man  
That had the glorious race of Virtue ran,  
And from his Cradle had that bliss possessed,  
With which Allseeing Heaven rewards the blest;  
Or did it cherish Vice, raise Calumny,  
Or slain pure minds with blots of Infamy,  
And by his nauseous Rules reduce the Nation  
From innocent to vicious Conversation;  
It were an act of Justice to deprave  
This Art my Genius does declare so brave.  
But as Judicious Souls do shooting prize  
Only as healthful, and known Foe to Vice  
As it displays the Theme of Piety;  
Procures us Fame, Health, Courage, Honesty,  
Brave wills to do, and power those Deeds to own;  
And from our Heart's roots out what Vice has sown;  
It must by prudent Souls acknowledged prove  
The choicest Blessing sent us from above,  
Either for our disport in times of Peace,  
Or guard in War when we expect success.  
Join therefore all ye Noble Souls that have  
Hearts to encourage and reward the Brave,  
Where the Decrees of Virtue gain applause:  
You that met danger in your Country's Cause  
With joy and resolution, once more try  
The blessed effects of Noble Archery;  
Do you but plant, it of itself will grow,  
Then shall ye reap the Blessings that ye sow  
With treble gains, commixed with bliss to see  
Your brave endeavours thrive so fruitfully:  
Then shall this happy Land once more proclaim  
Its brave defence, and it's precedent Fame,  
Whose ancient Laurel Wreaths will withered show,  
Compared to th' glorious Virdure of our new;  
Heaven with continued blessings will possess  
Our Natives, and the Land with Plenty bless,  
Whilst here enriched by th' Virtues of the Bow  
And noble Deeds, Astrea rules below  
Impartially o'er all, from whence shall spring  
Peace to the Realm, and Honour to the King,  
Wealth to th' Inhabitants, Glory unto those  
Whose Valours dare reprove insulting Foes:  
The world immaculate will be and good.  
As when first purged by the o'rewhelming Flood  
Mankind learned Innocence and Virtue: so  
Shall we, unfound by Sin, its Blessings know,  
And this last Age by Archery possessed,  
Maugre its brooding Vices, prove the best.    

Postscript.  
HAving spoken so liberally in the Applause of this Noble Exercise in the precedent Poem, perhaps it will be expected that we should instruct Persons in the Practic Part of it, as well as delight them with the Theoric. And though 'tis confessed there is a large portion of Skill to be used in the exact managing of this Weapon; yet it is sooner to be learned by Ocular Observance and daily Practice, than by Verbal Demonstration, Affection to it, and often endeavouring to do like those that are Masters of this Science, being a greater and readier means to make any One perfect, than the Description of it by the Pen can be. Yet, to let the Ingenious perceive we are not Ignorant of the Use and Nature of that Science which we so much applaud, and which is indeed so worthy to be applauded, we have inserted these following Rules, thereby briefly relating the Implements, and the Knowledge that an Archer must be possessed of, before he can attain to a perfect form of Shooting.  
First, I shall have relation to the Implements that are necessary, and to be used by all Archers, which are these; 

A Bracer,  
A Shooting Glove,  
A String,  
A Bow,  
A Shaft,  
A Bow-Case, and  
A Pouch.    
The Bracer, although first mentioned, is of no great use, except to some Persons whose clothes hinder the passage of the String; or such whose Bows are not bend accordingly. It is commonly used for these two Causes: First, to keep the Arm or Wrist from being hurt by the String, and the sleeve from being damaged. And secondly, that by gliding or slipping quickly off the Bracer, the Shaft may have the more vigour to perform your will; for, wanting this Bracer, if the String should light upon your Sleeve it would hinder the force of the Shoot, and so cause you to miss of your intended purpose.  
A Shooting Glove is only used to save a man's fingers from hurting, that he may be able to draw the String to the utmost of his strength; and therefore his Glove must be lined at the fingers with thick Leather, fit for that purpose.  
A String of a Bow, though little in itself, aught to be much regarded, for great Judgement is required in choosing of good Strings: for an ill String breaketh many a good Bow. They have formerly, as many Greek 
* Fav●rinus.  Authors write, been made diversely; as of Flax, of Silk, of Hair; but in our last Age new Hemp was thought best for a String. In stringing a Bow there must be great care taken, that the String be not too short, nor too long, but equal to the length and temper of the Bow: and take heed the Bow be well Nocked, lest the sharpness of the Horn, by wearing the String out, endanger your Bow: For if the String begin to fret or wear, trust it not, but take another; for you had better lose a String than a Bow.  
As to the Bow, the Ancients used to make them diversely; as of Brass, Iron, Steel. 
* Hiad. 4  Pandarus, the best and most famous Archer amongst the Trojans (as Homer writes) had his Bow made of two Goat's-horns joined together, which was proved to be of great power. Herodotus 
* In Thalia  writes that the Indians used to make Bows of a certain Reed; and several others have used Brasile, Elm, Wych, Ash, all which are very unfit to be used in this Age if considered rightly, Yew being most suitable now to our strength and abilities. And indeed it is of that excellent Nature, that nothing can excel it, in making a good, quick, and well tempered Bow.  
A Shaft must be made according to your Bow, and equally weighed: ill Shafts oft make an ill Archer. Therefore there ought some Judgement and Care to be used in having your Shafts made by some skilful Fletcher, that can both see a defect and mend it.  
A Bow-case is to preserve a Bow from the Wether, and it ought not to be too wide or too narrow, but indifferent. A Bow-case of Leather is not good by reason of its dampness; Woollen being most fit for that use, by reason of its warmth. If you keep Bows at your House, a Quiver of Wood is good to preserve them in; but take heed it stand not too near a Stone-wall, for the moisture of that will make your Bows weak; nor too near a Fire, lest the heat make them brittle.  
A Pouch serveth only to contain necessaries, as your Glove, Bracer, Silk for your String, and wax to rub it with. And though a man may shoot without it, yet a good Archer will find it necessary.  
Next, in breaking a Bow there are several ways; either by the String, by the Shaft drawing too far, or by frets; if the String be either too short or too long, not well put on, or damaged, the Bow being ill Nockt, or being too old. Therefore an Archer should take a great deal of care in keeping all things fit, that his good Bow may not be in danger.  
These are the Implements generally used in shooting: But now we shall say something relating to their use and management; viz.  

Standing,  
Nocking,  
Drawing,  
Holding,  
Losing.   
First, when an Archer is about to shoot, he should always be sure to take such footing or standing as shall be both graceful to the Eyes of Spectators, and profitable for his own use, framing his Countenance and his other parts so decently, that all his strength may be employed to his advantage, and other men's delight. He must not be too hasty, nor too tedious in taking Aim; for the one will be accounted Temerity, the other an affected Curiosity. His Body must be straight, his Legs not straddling, nor too far distant, but in such a Posture as may declare to the slander by his Judgement, by his deportment and management of his Weapon.  
To knock your Shaft well is easily done if any care be taken; the only diligence being in placing your Shaft well and equally cross your Bow: for unconstant nocking makes a man often miss of his Aim, and sometimes maketh the Bow to be in danger of breaking, for if nockt too high or too low, the Shaft, if it be little, will start; if great, hobble. Always knock the Cock-feather of your Arrow uppermost, and take heed the String slip not out of the Nock, for then all is in danger of breaking.  
To draw a Bow well is the best and most graceful part of shooting. The Ancients used to draw their Bow to their Breasts, as Homer demonstrates in his description of Pandarus shooting: 

* Iliad. 4.  Up to his Pap the String he did pull, his Shaft to the hard Iron—  The Warlike Women of Scythia used also the same manner of shooting low at the Breast: and for that reason in their Infancy, Penthesilea caused the right Paps of her Amazons to be feared away. But this manner of shooting is not used now; the drawing to the right Ear being certainly the best and most graceful way: for a man hath not only freedom to use all his strength, and aim right, but it is a posture so comely and graceful, that it will exceedingly delight the Spectators.  
You must not hold your Bow too long when it is drawn; for if it be not of exceeding good temper it will break: The performance of this can better be imagined then described; only there must be an equal measure of Time between drawing and holding, or else 'tis ten to one but your shot is spoiled.  
Losing is much of the same nature; it must be quick and hard that it may be without girds: and take heed of letting any of your clothes touch the String. Leo the Emperor would have his Soldier's heads polled, and the beards shaved, for fear lest the hair of their Heads should hinder their Aspect, or their Beards obstruct the force of the String. These Precepts truly observed and followed, will doubtless instruct a Lover of this Art in its greatest mystery.  
Two other things there are which are general to all Archers; which is 

Wether, and  
Mark.    
Of the Wether as thus: He must observe how the Wind is, whether with him, against him, side-wind, full side-wind, fide-wind quarter with him, side-wind quarter against him, or the like, that thereby he may shoot freely without being at all obstructed by the badness of the Wether. Frost is the only Enemy to a Bow, for without good rubbing and care it will be apt to grow brittle and break.  
In shooting at a Mark observe this, to fix your standing, to shoot compass, to draw always alike, to knock even, and to lose always alike. Then to consider the nature of the Prick on Hills, in Valleys, straight Plains, or winding Places, and to keep a just Decorum equal to the length or shortness of the Mark.  
This heedfully understood and followed, will I doubt not instruct a Beginner how to shoot, especially being daily taught by seeing the practice of others skilful in this Art, whose worth I hope will finish the Documents I have here epitomised, and make the Practitioner's Knowledge equal to our Hopes and wishes.   

Orders and Observations touching the Noble Exercise of Shooting in the Longbow, to be observed by those which practise that Noble Art.  
1. INprimis, For the finding of your Mark, it must be within every man's reach, and truly named, for prevention of cavil.  
2. For Whites, you may have as many as you please, so that they be all forwards: and if a loose White be sticken out of sight, it is no Mark.  
3. For the highest Stakes, if there be a Pin, you must measure to it, though the wood be higher, for the Pin was put in for that purpose.  
4. If you shoot at a Bush, or Black, or whatsoever else, you are to take the highest part thereof, for your place to measure at.  
5. For all Trees, you are to measure at Foot and Pole, except in the naming of it you say, At the Nail, or, At the Hole, in such a Tree: or if you can reach the top with half your Bow, than you are to take the highest to measure at; but for Foot and Pole, you must measure a foot above the highest ground which joins to the Tree.  
6. If in measuring a Shoot, the difference be so small that it cannot be decided, than that Competitor shall win the Shoot, which is best at the next Mark.  
7. If in measuring a Shoot, the Mark be stirred out of its place, he loseth the Shoot that removed it.  
8. If at first coming to your Mark you claim two or more, and the opposite side draw their Arrows, you can have no more than you first claimed, although your Partner when he comes challengeth more.  
9 If you name one Mark, and Shoot at another, you are to lose your Shoot, and the other are to follow at the Mark named.  
10. If your Arrow break, you may measure to the nearest piece which hath wood and head, or wood and feather.  
11. If you have any mishap, as in nocking amiss, etc. if you can reach your Arrow with your Bow, you may shoot again; if it fly further, it is a Shoot.  
12. In shooting at Rovers, you must stand no further from your Mark than you can reach with half your Bow; but at Pricks you are permitted to stand two Bows before your Mark, and as much behind it as you please.   

In laudem Sagittariorum.  
WHen English Archers first in War's appeared,  
England was honoured; Honoured? nay, 'twas feared:  
jows still claim credit, and first merited fame,  
When great Duke Will. that Norman Conqueror came:  
With him came Bows; and since, with warlike chance,  
Proved terrible weapons still, against Foes in France:  
Witness those Battles (where we Laurel wore)  
Cressie, Poitiers, strong Again, many more;  
In which, by valour of our Archers stout,  
Some slain, some ta'en, but ALL were put to rout:  
From which then grew that French Proverbial Saw,  
Run, Run! for English Archers begin to draw.  
Then came that thwick-thwack thundering Instrument,  
First hatched in Hell, and from the Devil sent;  
In all which time, what Battles have we won,  
Since we laid by our Bow, to bounce a Gun?  
Tell but one brave Battle ever fought,  
And won (since then) if not, account them nought:  
And, like brave English Archers, still extol the Bow,  
And then be Conquerors wheresoever ye go.  
FINIS.