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ARCHERY. 437 |
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and the shaft, sufficiently speak for themselves; the bracer is used to save the arm from the stroke of the string ; the glove to prevent the excoriation of the fingers; the tassel to wipe off the dirt from the shaft when taken from the ground ; and the grease-pot to hold a composition of suet and white wax, to rub occasionally on the fingers of the glove to render them pliable.
The five points of archery as laid down by Asham, our most classical authority upon the use of the long bow, and to whose treatise we must refer our readers (for the instructions which want of space, in a work of the nature of the present, prevent our giving) are,
Standing — nocking — drawing — holding and loosing. When the learner has acquired ease and dexterity in all these, he may then proceed to fire at a mark. In modern archery the shortest distance is twenty yards. The archer then proceeds to sixty, which last is considered to be the key to all lengths. We rather prefer for practice the Oriental method, according to which the learner commences at ten yards, at which he becomes so expert a3 to hit the smallest mark at that range.
The next thing to be considered is the elevation,* which of course must depend on the strength of the arm of the archer, the distance, the power of the bow, &c, and which can only be acquired by practice. Thirty yards are considered a point-blank range; but if the bow be weak, a trifling elevation must be allowed. The direction and the force of the wind require the nicest consideration in order to calculate the allowance to be made for that element, and likewise your footing, by which
* The greatest elevation is 45 degrees, but when this should begin must depend upon distance, strength, and the spring of the bow,
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