I have been asked to write the practical part of this article, though why I cannot imagine, for although I can sometimes pull off a good score with bow and arrow—when the wind does not blow and when my loose is good—I am of no use whatever with a pen, and never wrote an "article" on anything in my life. The Badminton book on Archery, with its valuable teaching, often stands me in good stead when I get into any of the innumerable tricks which beset the path of the archer, and which well nigh bring the beginner to despair of ever becoming a steady shot. How many beginners have I met who have had to learn by bitter experience that to shoot a good arrow is not so easy as appears at first sight, and that to make perhaps a very fine score of three hundred and odd, does not by any means prove that one has conquered all difficulties. There are so many things to think of at once, and though you may try to do this conscientiously you will find your performance often terribly inadequate. But after all the great fascination of archery consists in the continual battling against faults which creep upon the archer unawares. This we find to our cost on a windy day, for there is nothing like wind to prove that we do not get the real power out of bow and loose.
I always recommend to a beginner an inexpensive lancewood bow weighing about twenty-four to twenty-six pounds, the cost of which amounts to about twelve shillings, but when the archeress has practised sufficiently to understand what she requires and why, then I should advise a yew-backed yew of good quality as giving more cast and retaining it longer than other kinds. I should perhaps say that by cast is meant the rapidity and ease with which the arrow is delivered from the bow. Many shooters prefer to use a self yew bow, but it must be remembered that this is more delicate and requires to be drawn with great care. A three piece bow of yew, fustic and hickory, price about thirty shillings, will do good service, though the cast does not last so long if one practises constantly, as that of the yew-backed yew. There are many archers who have ruined their style and shooting with too heavy a bow, one weighing twenty-seven or twenty-eight pounds can do all that is necessary for the National Round of sixty and fifty yards if it is properly handled, and for the six dozen arrows at seventy yards, called the Hereford Round, I can use one of the same weight. For eighty yards, however, I prefer a bow of twenty-nine or thirty pounds, still my advice to all beginners is, "Do not shoot with a bow which is beyond your control."
Now to choose the bow. The first thing to see to is that the grain of the wood is straight, even, close, and free from knots or pins, more especially on the rounded part and within about six inches of each end. This applies to any sort of bow, but more especially to yew, as crysals are apt to develop wherever there is a pin. A crysal is a small crack in the wood, which at first is often difficult to detect, but which is a serious source of weakness and often ends in the breaking of the bow. The length of a lady's bow should be from 5 ft. 3 in. to 5 ft. 6 in.
To string the bow, place the lower horn against your right foot, the "back" or flat part of the bow towards the body, and taking the handle of the bow in your right hand, place the ball of your left thumb four inches from the top horn. Then while drawing it to you with the right hand, press it from you with the left and slip the upper loop of the string into the nock of the horn. The method of unstringing is precisely similar, except that the loop is slipped out instead of being passed in. When the bow is strung, the distance from the inside of the handle should be five-and-a-half inches to the string, which for one inch above and five inches below the handle should be neatly whipped with waxed thread or silk to prevent its being injured, should it strike the bracer. Then exactly opposite the top of the handle of the bow, the nocking point must be made, which should be sufficiently tight to retain the arrow when hanging downwards from the string. When strung the bow should be held, string uppermost, the lower horn resting on the ground, and on looking down the string, it should appear to cut the bow in the centre. In a good bow the centre sixteen inches should be rigid, and thence the bend should be regular and even. The string should be of the best hemp whipped with silk, and a nocking point neatly made exactly in the right spot. It is better looped at each end, as in the event of its being slack it can then be twisted up in a moment, thus avoiding all flurry of undoing in the old way of knotting the end. I have already said that it is better to have a string with loops spliced at each end, it is as well, however, to say how the loop can be made in a new string. The knot is a timber hitch, to make which take a turn of the lower end round the string and twist it three times round the loop. The string is whipped in the following manner: String the bow and find the exact spot where the nocking of the arrow will come, then wax the string for an inch and a half above, and five inches below the spot, and take some silk or carpet thread, also waxed, and lay half an inch of the thread along the string beginning at the upper portion. Then wrap the thread over that part of itself which has been laid down until the waxed portion is covered. In order to fasten off, take six or seven turns of the thread over the string in the reverse way, place the end of the thread against that part of the lapping that was last done, wrap the reverse turns of the thread over the end of the lapping of the string, then pull the end through and cut it off. The manner of putting on the knocking point is the same.
The weight of the arrow is mainly determined by that of the bow. Arrows are weighed against new silver, and when one talks of a 3/6 arrow, the allusion is to the weight, not to the price. For a beginner a 3/- or 3/3 arrow is about right for a 26 pounds bow, but all these little points are for the archer to work out for herself. If the experienced archer should find that she has to aim considerably below the target, she may increase the weight of the arrow with advantage, as the heavier the arrow, the lower will be the trajectory. It is bad economy to have any but the best arrows, and these should be made according to the archer's pattern, that is to say, as to the colours on them, and should have her name and the number painted on each. To prevent the paint from the target sticking to the arrows, it is well to wipe the ends of the latter with a little vaseline or sweet oil, and care should be taken to choose the arrows of as nearly as possible the same weight before shooting, as whatever they are marked, they are sure to vary slightly. The best arrows are footed as it is termed, i.e., they have a piece of hard wood dovetailed in at the pile end. The best shaped arrow for a beginner is the straight one, and care should be taken that it is stiff, and not weak at the feather end. There are two kinds of feathers, parabolic and straight, but there is very little difference in their flight. The best kind of feathers come from the wing of the peacock, turkey's wing feathers being the next best.