ASCHAM AND THE BOW.

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135 vessels above 500 tons, above 40, 656 tons; seventeen of these first were worth 10007., or 3000 ducats, and the royal vessels were valued at double this.

The first soldiers used brown-bills, and pikes, and halberts; but the musket was rapidly superseding the bow, much to the regret of old men.

Old Roger Ascham's predilection for drawing the longbow, though not an unusual one with authors, produced as eccentric a book as Isaac Walton's equally quaint and honest, but less fresh and natural. There is a smell of the dust of old tomes about one, while the other is still altogether odorous of May bloom and new-cut hay.

Ascham earnestly advises the gentlemen and yeomen of England not to change their old and faithful weapon, that had stood them in such stead and in so many fields, for "any other thing, how good soever it seem to be," and exhorts them to learn to handle it in peace, so as to make it a sure defence in time of war. Other strong weapons, which experience had proved good, and the Royal Council approved, he considered should not supersede shooting, but only aid and help the archers to strengthen and defend the realm.

He eulogizes archery as drawing youth from idleness, vice, and unthrifty games; calls it an honest pastime for the mind, and wholesome exercise for the body; neither too

vulgar for great men, nor costly for poor men; not done in corners, but in open day, a sport fairly practised by Apollo, Darius, David, and Commodus, and fit to keep students in health. He concludes by failing not to mention Henry VIIIth's statute for encouraging archery, which was even with this aid beginning to decline.

The Elizabethan archers' fittings were not very different from those of the present day; they were, however, more carefully selected, and had less the air of implements used merely for amusement.

There was first the bracer or leather case for the arm, to prevents its being hurt by the bowstring, and also to assist the passage of the string, which the sleeves might have impeded.

The shooting glove, to save the fingers from rubbing, containing a small pocket, to hold linen cloth and wax.

The strings were of hemp, silk, and flax, and were thrown away directly they began to fret.

The best bows were of yew, but they were also made of Brazil wood, elm, wych, and ash; a good bow was known by its being small, long, heavy, straight, strong, without knots, and the grain long and fine. The archer kept it carefully in a case, and constantly rubbed it with a waxed cloth, abstaining from shooting on wet and on frosty

ARROWS AND FEATHERS.

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days. The smallest cracks and strains were watched and checked.

The best arrows were of ash, but always of a wood proportioned to the strength of the archer. Sometimes they were pieced with a heavier material, to make them balance better.

The best feathers were those of the grey goose, but there was much controversy as to the merits of the gander, the young goose, and the fen goose; and great skill in the fletcher or arrow maker was required in this branch of his trade. The shape of the head was also of much importance: blunt heads were good for length, sharp heads good in a wind, but silver spoon heads best of all for both qualities. The archer always carried with him a file to sharpen his arrows, as well as a whetstone, a fish skin, and a cloth.

As we enter into this detail, to show the mysteries that lie even in the simplest arts, we proceed to abridge the old student's amusing catalogue of bad habits into which archers fell.

Some pushed their head forward as the arrow left their string; others stared, put out their tongue, bit their lips, or held their necks awry.

A few, in drawing, shook their bows, or stood pointing at the mark; some twisted, as if they were pinched behind,

VOL. II.

or cowed down as if they were shooting at crows; one man would struggle as if he never could shoot again; another would shoot almost without taking aim.

There were other mistakes still more absurd: one man scraped his cheek with the bowstring; another lifted up his right leg at every shot; not a few ran after their shaft; others, who overshot, ran back as if to recall the arrow; some held a foot up till the arrow fell, and others writhed and struggled as if to correct the badness of their aim.

The good archer neither stooped nor stood too erect. He placed his arrow, with the cock feather up, drew easy and equally, did not hold, and loosed quick and hard; he took care to look at his mark stedfastly, and not on his arrow, and observed the fluctuations of wind and weather. Ascham also advises the bowman not to be angry, and to be neither too desponding nor too sanguine. If near the sea coast, the wind was to be studied, and not less so by the river side. By throwing up a feather or a little grass, the archer could ascertain the direction of the current, and its strength and extent. In those cases he varied his arrows, and selected them, heavier or lighter, as the need required. 250 yards was thought a moderate distance for a strong man's shot.*

* Ascham's Toxophilus.

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CHAP. XIV.

ELIZABETHAN COUNTRY LIFE.

Characteristics of the Elizabethan Age.

dalism. Complaints of the Age.- The Inclosures. - Country Gentleman's House. - Farmer's House. - Decline of Hospitality.— Rise in Prices. — Depreciation in Value of Money. — Remedy for the Evils. Grazing and Tillage. — Luxury. — Balance of Trade. -Religious Disputes. Social Dangers. Increase of Poor. Beggars and Thieves. — Lawyers. - Farmers and the Clergy.— Condition of Yeomen. - Merchant's and Yeomen's Tables. - Food. -Hours of Meals.—Decay of Cities.— General View of England. - Horses and Dogs. - Elizabethan Village. - Schoolmaster and Sketch Farmer. Homage of Wealth. - Farmer's Furniture. of Country Amusements.-Farmers' Annoyances.—Tusser and his Points. Labourers' Feasts. May-Day. Country Sports. Costume.-Country Pastor. -Ale-House.-Champaign and Woodland. Life of Farming Servant. - Farmer's Work for a Year.The Still-Room.- Cordials and Perfumes.-Remedies. - Simples. Receipts. - Antidotes. - Queen Elizabeth's Apothecary. Theory of Elizabethan Medicine. - Virtues of precious Stones. Simple and Simpletons. — Medicines of the Day.

Charms.

THE Elizabethan age was an age of fervent patriotism and strong religious feeling. Commercial enterprise had become a passion. The greater the claims upon the national mind, the more extraordinary became its efforts. For all kinds of ambition there was an ample field-for the poet,