The rise of firearms signalled the decline of the great warbow, and its demise was mourned by contemporaries who sensed that the replacement of a weapon that took the whole of a man's youth to master in favour of something which could be taught in a few days was indicative of the weakening of the fabric of the nation. As Charles Aleyn morosely observed in 1631:
We to the
greygoose wing more conquests ow,
Than to the Monks invention; for then
We cull'd out mighty armes to draw the bow,
Striplings oft serve us now, then only men.
For these hot engines equall mischiefe can,
Discharged by a boy, or by a man.
The Battaile Of Crescey
Than to the Monks invention; for then
We cull'd out mighty armes to draw the bow,
Striplings oft serve us now, then only men.
For these hot engines equall mischiefe can,
Discharged by a boy, or by a man.
The Battaile Of Crescey
A familiar refrain even now.
Perhaps it is no surprise that the decline of military archery coincided with the beginnings of archery clubs and societies as we know them. Of course archery competitions were nothing new. The "Litell Geste of Robyn Hood" features the famous shoot for a silver arrow that Robin enters in disguise and wins.
Indeed, competition was the natural result for men who were required by law to practise at the butts instead of - the horror - playing football on a Sunday after church.
But in the sixteenth century, societies began to coalesce out of these archery meetings. The Finsbury Archers had their origins in the practices at Finsbury fields outside London and today we still have the "Papingo" shoot at Kilwinning in Ayrshire for which records go back to 1483. Then there are the Royal Toxophilites (f. 1781), the Woodmen of Arden (f. 1785) and the Royal Company of Archers (f. 1676) in Scotland. All are still in existence.
Today there are several different disciplines within the sport of archery.
Target archery
This is what most people associate with archery. It consists of shooting at a target of concentric coloured circles at known distances. It is an essential part of learning the discipline necessary to be a good archer. A wonderful and probably unique aspect of target archery is the opportunity for competitors of any ability to compete on equal terms.
The Grand National Archery Society (f. 1861) is now the recognised Governing Body for all forms of archery in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the International Archery Federation (FITA) and is a member of the British Olympic Association.
Grand
National Archery meeting - Tunbridge Wells 10th of August 1878.
As depicted in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.
Field Archery
This discipline is possibly the fastest growing area of the sport. Field archery consists of shooting at targets at various unknown distances over uneven terrain, usually in woodland. Targets are predominantly 3D or paper representations of animals.
The National Field Archery Society exists to foster and promote Field Archery as a sport.
Flight Archery
A logical test of an archer's skill, as well as hitting a target, is his or her ability to shoot an arrow as far as possible. This is flight archery. Windrush Bowmen is proud to have as its Chairman Barry Groves who holds eleven international gold medals and five world records at this discipline and has been British champion since 1992.
Clout
Clout is a form of target shooting where the target is laid flat on the ground and archers attempt to hit it at a distance by shooting arrows high in the air. Once again our own Barry Groves has been British Clout champion 1987-1992 and 1994 and British record holder for compound bow 1988-1992.
Popinjay
This is the least pursued discipline, mainly due to the difficulty setting it up. Blunted arrows are shot vertically at the "popinjay" - a wooden bird on top of a 90' mast. The Kilwinning Papingo shoot is of this type.
But perhaps the last word on Archery should be left to Bishop Latimer. Writing in 1549 he observed:
"The art of shooting hath been in times past much esteemed in this realm. It is a gift of God that He hath given to us to excel all other nations."
So there...