How to Fence Part 6

THE USE OF THE BOW.

TO BEND AND STRING THE BOW properly, the following directions will be serviceable, and the young archer should pay particular attention to them, since a neglect of these cautions will often lead to a fracture of the bow by bending it the wrong way:

Take the bow by the _handle_, in the _right_ hand.

Place the bottom end upon the ground, resting against the hollow of the inside of the right foot, keeping the flat side of the bow (called the _back_) towards your person; the left foot should be advanced a little, and the right placed so that the bow cannot slip sideways.

Place the heel of the left hand upon the upper limb of the bow, below the eye of the string. Now, while the fingers and thumb of the left hand slide this eye towards the notch in the horn, and the heel _pushes_ the limb away from the body, the right hand _pulls_ the handle towards the person, and thus resists the action of the left, by which the bow is bent, and at the same time the string is slipped into the "nock," as the notch is termed.

Take care to keep the three outer fingers free from the string, for if the bow should slip from the hand, and the string catch them, they will be severely pinched. If shooting in frosty weather, warm the bow before a fire, or by friction with a woolen cloth. If the bow has been lying by for a long time, it should be well rubbed with boiled linseed oil before using.

TO UNSTRING THE BOW, hold it as in stringing; then press down the upper limb exactly as before, and as if you wished to place the eye of the string in a higher notch; this will loosen the string and liberate the eye, when it must be lifted out of the nock by the forefinger, and suffered to slip down the limb.

BEFORE USING THE BOW, hold it in a perpendicular direction, with the string towards you, and see if the line of the string cuts the middle of the bow; if not, s.h.i.+ft the eye and noose of the string to either side, so as to make the two lines coincide. This precaution prevents a very common cause of defective shooting, which is the result of an uneven string throwing the arrow on one side.

AFTER USING IT, unstring it; and if a large party is shooting, after every end it should be liberated from its state of tension; but in this respect there is a great difference in different bows, some good ones soon getting cast from their true shape, and others, though inferior bows, bearing any ordinary amount of tension without damage.

THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE BOW should be on the principle that damp injures it, and that any loose floating ends interfere with its shooting.

It should, therefore, be kept well varnished, and in a water-proof case, and it should be carefully dried after shooting in damp weather. If there are any ends hanging from the string cut them off pretty close, and see that the whipping in the middle of the string is close and well-fitting. The case should be hung up against a dry internal wall, not too near fire.

IN SELECTING THE BOW, be careful that it is not too strong for your power, and that you can draw the arrow to its head without any trembling of the hand. If this cannot be done after a little practice, the bow should be changed for a weaker one, for no arrow will go true if it is discharged by a trembling hand.

IN SELECTING ARROWS, be careful that they are not too long. For a bow of 5 feet 10 inches, the arrows should be about 2 feet 4 inches in length.

For a lady's bow of 4 feet 10 inches, the arrow should measure about 2 feet.

IN SHOOTING, keep the longer limb of the bow upwards, as the bow is liable to be broken if used the other way, and the wrapping of the string does not coincide with the upper part of the handle. Bows may be broken either from the above circ.u.mstance, or by overdrawing them, or by snapping the string without an arrow in it, or by the string breaking; and if a bow stands all these trials, it is to be prized as a sound and good bit of stuff.

After an arrow has been shot into the target or the ground, be particularly careful to withdraw it, by laying hold close to its head, and by twisting it round as it is withdrawn in the direction of its axis. Without this precaution it may be easily bent or broken.

IN SHOOTING AT THE TARGET, the first thing to be done is TO NOCK THE ARROW--that is, to place it properly on the string. In order to effect this, take the bow in the left hand, with the string towards you, the upper limb being towards the right. Hold it horizontally while you take the arrow by the middle, pa.s.s it on the _under_ side of the string and the _upper_ side of the bow, till the head reaches two or three inches past the left hand; hold it there with the forefinger or thumb while you remove the right hand down to the nock. Turn the arrow till the c.o.c.k-feather comes uppermost; then pa.s.s it down the bow, and fix it on the nocking point of the string. In doing this, all contact with the feathers should be avoided, unless they are rubbed out of place, when they may be smoothed down by pa.s.sing them through the hand from the point towards the nock.

THE ATt.i.tUDE for shooting should be graceful as well as serviceable. The body should be at right angles with the target; but the face must be turned over the left shoulder, so as to be opposed to it. The feet are to be flat on the ground, with the heels a little apart, the left foot turned towards the mark; the head and chest inclined a _little_ forward, so as to present a full bust, but not bent at all below the waist.

IN DRAWING THE BOW, proceed as follows:

_1st Method._--Take hold of the bow with the left hand, having the elbow straight; then, having placed the arrow as directed in the last paragraph, and having the finger-stalls or shooting-glove on, put a finger on each side of the arrow on the string and the thumb on the opposite side, so as to steady it; then raise all at the full length of the arm till the right hand reaches nearly to the level of the shoulder, and the left is opposite the target, when, by drawing the one to the ear, and the other towards the target, the arrow is brought to a direct line with the bull's-eye, and at that moment it is released.

_2nd Method._--Draw the arrow as before, but pause when the arrow is fully extended to the head, and take aim. This, however, requires a very strong arm, and also a strong bow, or there will be a quivering of the muscles, which is communicated to the arrow; beside the danger of breaking the bow. The loosing must be quick, and the string must leave the fingers smartly and steadily, the bow hand at that moment being held as firm as a vise, upon which the goodness of the flight mainly depends.

THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS should be attended to strictly, if good shooting is to be attained:--

1.--Fix the attention steadily upon the object, and disregard all external objects, which are liable otherwise to distract the eye at the moment of shooting.

2.--In drawing the bow, in order to secure the arrow in its place, turn the bow a little obliquely, so that the handle and your knuckles will together form a groove for the arrow to run in. When it falls off, it is from the string being held too far up by the fingers, which causes it to twist in the drawing, and the arrow is thereby thrown off from resting against the bow. The proper length is midway between the ends and the first joint of the fingers. Three fingers may be used, but the arrow should be between the first and second.

3.--In taking aim, two points must be attended to, viz: the LATERAL _direction_ and the _distance_, because there is no bow which will drive an arrow many yards perfectly _point-blank_, and, consequently, a slight elevation must in all cases be made, and for long distances, with weak bows, a very considerable one. It requires great experience to manage the elevation properly, and much must depend upon the exact strength of the bow, and the distance of the shot. With regard to the lateral direction, it is materially affected by the wind, and this must always be allowed for if there is any stirring; and if it is in the line of the targets, one end will require much less elevation than the other.

4.--Fix the eyes on the mark, and not on the arrow. Avoid all such expedients as putting a mark on the glove to aim by. Do not look from the mark to the arrow and back again. The proper plan is to keep both eyes open, and look steadily at the mark, while with the hands the bow is raised or lowered in accordance with what the _mind thinks_ is the proper direction.

5.--If an arrow falls off the string, and the archer can reach it with his bow, it is not shot: but if he cannot, it must be counted as such.

TARGET-SHOOTING.

THE TARGETS are fixed exactly opposite each other, at 60 yards or perhaps more apart. The stands, when properly placed, are each called "an end." The proper number of arrows, as fixed by the rules, are then shot from each end by all the party a.s.sembled, when all proceed to pick up or extract their arrows, the marker scoring for each before drawing them from the target, after which the party shoot back again to the other end, and so on until the whole number of ends have been shot.

b.u.t.t-SHOOTING.

b.u.t.tS are built of long sods of turf pressed together. The form of the base is an oblong square, being about 8 or 9 feet on the front side, and 5 feet wide at the ends. The height is generally about 7 feet, and the depth diminishes gradually from the bottom to the top. When more than two are wanted they are ranged in sets; each set consists of four, ranged at the distance of 30 yards apart, and forming a chain of lengths of 30, 60, 90, and 120 yards; but so disposed as not to stand in the way of the archers when shooting at any of the lengths. Against the front of the b.u.t.t is placed the mark, which is a circular piece of thin white pasteboard, fastened by a peg through the middle. The size of this, for 30 yards, is four inches in diameter; for 60 yards, 8 inches; and so on increasing in diameter in proportion to the distance. Shots in the b.u.t.t missing the mark are not scored; and he who makes the greatest number of hits is the winner. If two are alike, the nearest to the central peg is the successful one.

ROVING.

This is so called because the archers rove from place to place, and have no fixed target, but shoot at trees or any other object which presents itself. The winner of the first shot chooses the next, and so on; the distance being from 100 to 200 yards; and all arrows falling within five bow-lengths scoring, if nearer to the mark than the adversary's arrow.

FLIGHT-SHOOTING.

FLIGHT-SHOOTING is merely a trial of distance, and he who can shoot the furthest is the winner of the trial.

CLOUT-SHOOTING.

THE CLOUT is a small white target of pasteboard, about twelve inches in diameter, which is slipped into a cleft stick, and this is stuck into the ground obliquely, so as to bring the lower edge of the clout to the ground. The distance is generally from 8 to 10 score-yards, and the same rules apply as in roving.

CROSS-BOW SHOOTING.

CROSS-BOWS are bows set in a frame which receives the arrow or bolt, and they are set and discharged by a trigger after taking aim. They are, however, now seldom used except for rook-shooting; and even there the pea-rifle has almost entirely superseded them.

RULES OF ARCHERY MEETINGS.

THE RULES by which archery meetings are governed are partly the same as in all other similar societies, and partly peculiar to this craft. The former consist of those which regulate the election of members, providing for refreshments, &c., which vary according to circ.u.mstances, and need not here be specified. The latter are generally as follows:--

1.--That a "lady paramount" be annually elected.

2.--That there be -- meetings in each year, the gentleman at whose house the meeting takes place to be president; and that every member intending to shoot should be on the ground by -- o'clock. The shooting to commence at -- and to terminate at --.

3.--That all members intending to shoot shall appear in the uniform of the club; and that a silver badge be worn by every member of the society, or a forfeit will be enforced for such omission.

4.--That the secretary do send out cards at least a month before each day of meeting, acquainting the members with the day and place of meeting.

5.--That there shall be four prizes at each meeting, two for each s.e.x; the first for numbers, the second for hits, and that no person shall be allowed to have both on the same day. The sum of ---- dollars to be placed at the disposal of the "lady paramount" for prizes at each meeting.