venteenth century, records the following anecdote: Sir Thomas Jermin, going out with his fervants, and brooke hawkes one evening, at Bury, they were no fooner abroad, but fowle were found, and he called out 'to one of his falconers, off with your 'jerkin; the fellow being into the wind did not heare him; at which he 'ftormed, and still cried out, off with your jerkin, you knave, off with your jerkin. Now it fell out that there was, at that inftant, a plaine townf. 'man of Bury, in a freeze jerkin, ftood betwixt him and his falconer, who feeing Sir Thomas in fuch a rage, and thinking he had spoken to him, un"buttoned himself amaine, threw off his jerkin, and befought his worshippe "not to be offended, for he would off with his doublet too, to give him 'content'." P. 22. "Hawking was performed on horfeback, or on foot, as occafion required: on horseback, when in the fields and open country; and on foot when in the woods and coverts. In following the hawk on foot, it was ufual for the sportsman to have a ftout pole with him, to affift him in leaping over little rivulets and ditches, which might otherwife prevent him in his progrefs; and' this we learn from an hiftorical fact related by Hall; who informs us, that Henry VIII. pursuing his hawk on foot, at Hitchen, in Hertfordshire, attempted, with the affiftance of his pole, to jump over a ditch that was half full of muddy water; the pole broke, and the King fell with his head into the mud, where he would have been ftifled, had not a footman, named John Moody, who was near at hand, and feeing the accident, leaped into the ditch, and releafed his Majefty from his perilous fituation: and fo,' fays the honeft hiftorian, God of hys goodneffe pre'ferved him"." P. 23. HORSE-RACING. "TWO centuries back horfe-racing was confidered as a liberal paftime, practifed for pleasure rather than profit, without the leaft idea of reducing it to a fyftem of gambling. It is ranked with hunting and hawking, and oppofed to dice and card-playing by an old Scotch poet, who laments that the latter had in great measure fuperfeded the former. One of the puritanical writers, in the reign of Elizabeth, who, though he is very fevere againft cards, dice, vain plays, interludes, and other idle paftimes, allows of horse-racing as yielding good exercife,' which he certainly would not have done, had it been in the leaft degree obnoxious to the cenfure which at present it so juftly claims. "Burton, who wrote at the decline of the feventeenth century, fays farcaftically, Horfe-races are defports of great men, and good in themselves, though many gentlemen by fuch 'means gallop quite out of their for tunes,' which may be confidered as a plain indication, that they had begun to be productive of mifchief at the time he wrote; and fifty years afterwards, they were the occafion of a new and deftructive fpecies of gambling. The following lines are from a ballad, in D'Urfey's collection of fongs. It is called New Market,' which place was then famous for the exhibition of horse-races. Let cullies that lofe at a race, 'Go venture at hazard to win, 'Or he that is bubbled at dice 'Recover at cocking again; Let jades that are founder'd be bought, Let jockeys play crimp to make fport. Another makes racing a trade, And dreams of his projects to come; And many a crimp match has made, By bubbling another man's groom.' "From what has been said, it seems clear enough, that this paftime was originally practifed in England for the fake of exercife, or by way of emulation; and, generally fpeaking, the owners of the horses were the riders. These contefts, however, attracted the notice of the populace, and drew great crowds of people together to behold them; which induced the inhabitants of many towns and cities to affix certain times for the performance of fuch fports, and prizes were appointed as rewards for the fuccefsful candidates. "In the reign of James I. public races were eftablished in many parts of the kingdom; and it is faid, that the difcipline and modes of preparing the horfes upon fuch occafions, were much the fame as are practised in the present day, day. The races were then called bell courfes, because the prize was a filver bell. "At the latter end of the reign of Charles I. races were held in Hyde Park and at New Market. After the Reftoration, horfe-racing was revived and much encouraged by Charles II. who frequently honoured this pastime with his prefence; and for his own amufement, when he refided at Windfor, appointed races to be made in Datchet Mead. At New Market, where it is faid he entered horfes and run them in his name, he established a house for his better accommodation; and he also occafionally vifited other places where horse-races were inftituted." P. 35. "At this time, it seems that the bells were converted into cups, or bowls, or fome other pieces of plate, which were usually valued at one hundred guineas each; and upon these trophies of victory the exploits and pedigree of the fuccefsful horfes were moft commonly engraved. William III. was also a patronifer of this pastime, and established an academy for riding; and his Queen not only continued the bounty of her predeceffors, but added several plates to the former donations. George I. inftead of a piece of plate, gave an hundred guineas to be paid in fpecie." P. 37 ARCHERY. "AMONG the arts that have been carried to a high degree of perfection in this kingdom, there is no one more confpicuous than that of archery. Our anceftors used the bow for a double purpofe: in time of war, it was a dreadful inftrument of deftruction; and in peace it became an object of amufement. It will be needless to infift upon the skill of the English archers, or to mention their wonderful performances in the field of battle. The victories they obtained over their enemies are many and glorious; they are their beft eulogiums, and ftand upon record in the hiftories of this country, for the perufal, and for the admiration of pofterity." P. 38. "The Anglo-Saxons and the Danes were certainly well acquainted with the ufe of the bow; a knowledge they derived at an early period from their progenitors. The Scandinavian fcalds, fpeaking in praife of the heroes of their country, frequently add to the reft their acquirements a fuperiority of skill in handling of the bow. It does not, however, appear, that this fkill was extended beyond the purpose of procuring food or for paftime, either by the Saxons or by the Danes, in times anterior to the Conqueft." P. 39. "It is well known that the Normans ufed the bow as a military weapon; and, under their government, the practice of archery was not only much improved, but generally diffused throughout the kingdom." P. 39. "In the twenty-third year of the reign of Edward I. the Earl of Warwick had in his army a number of foldiers called Balliftarii; and this word is tranflated cross-bow men by our chronicle-writers; but certainly it may with equal propriety be rendered flingers, or cafters of stones, who frequently formed a part of the AngloNorman armies. "From this period we hear but little concerning the cross-bows, as military weapons, until the battle of Creffy; at which time they were used by a large body of Genoefe foldiers, who were particularly expert in the manage ment of thefe weapons, and affifted the French upon that memorable occafion; but their efforts were ineffectual when oppofed to the archery of the English. Previous to the commencement of the battle there fell a fharp fhower of rain, which wetted the ftrings of the crofs-bows; and, we are told, in great measure prevented the archers from doing their ufual execu tion; but the ftrings of the long-bows ufed by the Englishmen do not appear to have been damaged in the leaft by the rain; this might arife from their being made with different materials; or, more probably, from their being kept with the bows, in the bow-cafes, during the continuance of the fhower; for every man had a cafe of canvas, or of fome fuch material, to draw over his bow when he had done uting of it. "In the fucceeding annals the crossbow is continually fpoken of as a wea pon of war. The year after the cele brated victory was obtained at Creffy, Charles Earl of Blois, at the fiege of Le Roche de Rien, had no lefs than 2000 cross-bow men in his army. The cross-bow was ufed by the English foldiery chiefly at fieges of fortified places, and and on fhipboard, in battles upon the fea. But the great fame acquired by our countrymen in archery, was derived from their practice with the longbow; and to this inftrument they gave the preference." P. 41. "The length of the bow is not clearly afcertained; those used by the foldiery appear, in the manufcript drawings, to have been as tall, at leaft, as the bearers; agreeable to an ordinance made in the fifth year of Edward IV. commanding every man to have a bow his own height; and they might, upon the average, be fomething fhort of fix feet long. The arrows ufed by the English archers at the memorable battle of Agincourt were a full yard in length. Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, fays, The Cornifh archers for long fhooting, ufed · arrows a cloth yard long.' The old and more modern ballads of Chevy Chace fpeak of the arrow as being the length of a cloth yard; but fome of these poetical legends extend it an ell. the infertion of the following extracts from two old poetical legends, which convey, at leaft, fome idea of the prac tice of archery in times anterior to our own; the first is a ballad in eight fitter or parts, entitled, A mery Gefte of Robyn Hoode.' According to the ftory, the King thought proper to pay Robin Hood a vifit, difguifed in the habit of an abbot: and the outlaw, by way of entertaining his gueft, pro pofed a fhooting-match. Two wands were then fet up, but at fo great a dif tance from each other, that, By fyfty space our Kyng fayde, "His takyll he fhal tyne; Twyfe Robyn shot about, And ever he cleved the wande.-' And fo did Gilbert, Little John, and Scathelocke, his companions; but, At the laft fhot, that Robyn fhot, For all his frendes fore, 'Yet he fayled of the garland, ''Three fyngers and more—' of courfe histakill' was forfeited, which he prefented to the King, faying, arrowe. "Hall mentions a company of archers, who met King Henry VIII. at Shooter's Hill, on a May-day morning, where they difcharged their bows in his prefence, and the arrows made a loud whifling in their flight, by crafte of the heade.' The ftrangeness of the noife, we are informed, furprised his Majefty, though at the fame time he was much pleafed with the contri-Syr Abbot, I deliver thee myne vance. A modern author affures us, this found was occafioned by holes being made in the arrow heads, and that fuch weapons were ufed upon military occafions, and especially as fignals; but not, I prefume, before the time mentioned by the hiftorian; for had not thofe arrows been newly introduced, there is no reason why the King, who was well acquainted with every branch of archery, fhould have been surprised at the found they made, or pleased at the fight of them. "If the metrical romances and bal lads of the former ages may be depended upon, the ftrength of our English archers in drawing of the bow, and their skill in directing the arrow to its mark, were juftly the objects of admiration. "The reader, I truft, will pardon "Honourable Daines Barrington. Archæologia, vol. vii. p. 58.” "The fecond poem is alfo of the ballad kind, and apparently as old as the former, wherein Adam Bell, Clym of the Cloughe, and William Cloudefle, are introduced to fhoot before the King. The butts, or dead marks fet up by the King's archers, were cenfured by Cloudefle, saying, 'I hold hym never no good archer, Cloudefle with a bearyng arowe Obfervations on the Practice of Archery. The "Carew, fpeaking of the Cornish archers two centuries back, fays, 'For long fhooting, their fhaft was a cloth The King being much surprised at the performance, told him he was the beft archer he ever faw. Cloudefle then proposed to show him a more extra-yard in length, and their prickes ordinary proof of his skill, and tied 'twenty-four fcore paces, equal to his eldest fon, a child only fseven years four hundred and eighty yards; and old, to a stake, and placed an apple for ftrength, they would pierce any upon his head; one hundred and twenty ordinary armour;' he then adds, yards were measured from the ftake, and one Robert Arundell, whom I and Cloudefle went to the end of the 'well knew, could fhoot twelve fcore measurement: he first entreated the paces with his right hand, with his fpectators to be filent, 'left, and from behind his head.' This puts me in mind of a curious anecdote related by Hall: There came to hys • Grace King Henry the Eighth, a cer And then drew out a fayre brode arrowe; Hys bow was great and longe, He fet that arrowe in his bowe "That was both styffe and stronge. Then Cloudelle cleft the apple in two, 'As many a man myght se, Over Gods forbode, fayde the Kynge, That thou fholde fhote at me.' "If we were to judge of the merits tayn man, with a bowe and arrowe, ' and he defyred his Grace to take the mufter of hym, and to fee him shoote; 'for that tyme hys Grace was contented; the man put hys one fote in hys 'bofome, and fo dyd shoote, and shote a very good fhote, and well towardes hys marke; whereof, not onely his Grace, but all others greatly mer warde, and for this curious feat he afterwards obtained the by-name of Fote in Bofome. of the ancient bowmen from the prac-veyled; fo the Kynge gave him a retice of archery as it is exercised in the prefent day, these poetical eulogiums would appear to be entirely fictitious. There are no fuch diftances now affigned for the marks as are mentioned above, nor fuch precision even at /hort lengths in the direction of the arrows. I believe few, if any, of the modern archers, in long fhooting, reach four hundred yards; or in fhooting at a mark, exceed the diftance of eighty or an hundred. I have seen the gentlemen who practife archery in the vicinity of London, repeatedly fhoot from end to end, and not touch the target with an arrow; and for the space of feveral hours, without lodging one in the circle of gold, about fix inches diameter in the centre of the target: this, indeed, is fo feldom done, that one is led to think, when it happens, it is rather the effect of chance than of skill; which proves what Afcham has afferted, that an archer thould be well taught early in life, and confirm the good teaching by continual practice afterwards. We may alfo recollect that archery is now followed for amufe ment only, and is to be commended as a manly and gentleman-like exercife." P. 49. "The fame monarch having appointed a great match of archery at Windfor, a citizen of London, named Barlow, an inhabitant of Shoreditch, joined the archers, and furpaffed them all in fkill; the King was fo much pleafed with his performance, that he jocofely gave him the title of Duke of Shoreditch; and this title the captain of the London archers retained for a confiderable time afterwards. In the reign of Elizabeth, a grand shootingmatch was held in London, and the captain of the archers affuming his title of Duke of Shoreditch, fummoned a fuit of nominal nobility, under the titles of Marquis of Barlo, of Clerkenwell, of Iflington, of Hoxton, of Shacklewell, and Earl of Pancrass, &c. and these meeting together at the appointed time, with their different companies, proceeded in a pompous march from Merchant Taylors' Hall, confifting of 3000 archers, fumptuously ap parelled *; 942 of them having chains of gold about their necks. This fplendid company was guarded by 4000 whifflers and billmen, befides pages * "Strype says,odly habited :' every man had a long bow, and four arrows. With the Marquis of Barlo and the Marquis of Clerkenwell were Hunters who wound their horns.' Stow's Survey of London by Strype, vol. i, p. 250." and and footmen. They paffed through Broad Street, the refidence of their captain, and thence into Moorfields, by Finfbury, and fo on to Smithfield, where having performed feveral evolutions, they shot at a target for ho nour. "Another cavalcade of like kind was made by the London archers in the reign of Charles II. and the King himself was prefent; but being a wet day, his Majefty was obliged to leave the field foon after the arrival of the bowmen." P. 53. WRESTLING. "THE art of wrestling, which in thé prefent day is chiefly confined to the lower claffes of the people, was however highly esteemed by the ancients, and made a very confiderable figure among the Olympic games. In the ages of chivalry, to wrestle well was counted one of the accomplishments which an hero ought to poffefs. "Wrestling is a kind of exercise that, from its nature, is likely to have been practifed by every nation, and especially by thofe the leaft civilized. It was probably well known in this country long before the introduction of foreign manners. The inhabitants of Cornwall and Devon have, we are well affured, from time immemorial, been celebrated for their expertnefs in this paftime, and are univerfally faid to be the beft wrestlers in the kingdom*. They learned the art at an early period of life, for you fhall hardly find, lays Carew, an affembly of boys in Devon and Cornwall, where the moft untowardly among them will not as readily give you a mufter of this exercise as you are prone to require it. held their anniversary meeting for this purpose near the hofpital of St. Matilda, at St. Giles's in the fields, where they were met by the inhabitants of the city and fuburbs of Weftminster, and a ram was appointed for the prize: the Londoners were victorious, having greatly excelled their antagonists, which produced a challenge from the conquered party, to renew the conteft upon the Lammas day following at Weftminster: the citizens of London readily confented, and met them ac cordingly; but in the midft of the diverfion, the bailiff of Weftminfter and his affociates took occafion to quarrel with the Londoners; a battle enfued, and many of the latter were feverely wounded in making their retreat to the city. This unjustifiable petulance of the bailiff gave rife to a more ferious tumult, and it was feveral days before the peace could be restored †. "In old time, fays a very accurate hiftorian, wrestling was more used than it has been of later years. In the month of Auguft, adds he, about the feast of St. Bartholomew, there were divers days fpent in wrestling; the lord mayor, aldermen, and theriffs, being present in a large tent pitched for that purpose near Clerkenwell. Upon this occafion the officers of the city, namely, the fheriffs, fergeants, and yeomen, the porters of the King's beam or weighing-house, and others of the city, gave a general challenge to fuch of the inhabitants of the fuburbs as thought themselves expert in this exercife; but of late years, continues he, the wrestling is only practifed on the afternoon of St. Bartholomew's day. The latter ceremony is thus defcribed by a forcign writer, who was an eye-witnefs to the performance: "The citizens of London, in timesWhen,' fays he, the mayor goes out paft, are faid to have been expert in the art of wrestling, and annually upon St. James's day they were accuftomed to make a public trial of their kill. In the fixth year of Henry III. they of the precincts of the city, a fceptre, • a sword, and a cap, are borne before him, and he is followed by the prin'cipal aldermen in fcarlet gowns with golden chains; himself and they on "To give a Cornish hug is a proverbial expreffion. The Cornish, says Fuller, are mafters of the art of wrestling, so that if the Olympian games were now in fashion, they would come away with the victory. Their hug is a cunning close with their fellow combatants, the fruits whereof is his fair fall or foil at the leaft. Worthies of England, in Cornwall, p. 197." t "Matthew Paris. Hift. Ang. fub an. 1222. Stow informs us that in the thirty-firft year of Henry VI. A. D. 1453, at a wrestling match near Clerken well, another tumult was excited against the lord mayor; but he does not fay upon what occafion it arofe." • horfeback. |