American Archery; a Vade Mecum of the Art of Shooting with the Long
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AMERICAN ARCHERY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with. funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/americanarcheryvOOelmerich 1 AMERICAN ARCHERY A Fade Mecum of the Art of Shooting with the Long Bow Compiled by DR. ROBERT P. ELMER Published under the auspices of the National Archery Association of the United States : : M C M X V 1 PREFACE This book was prepared as an act of the National Archery Association of the United States, and its publication authorized at the annual meeting of that body in 1916. It is made possible by the efforts of its prin- cipal author and its editor, both being Dr. Robert P. Elmer, present and for three years past Champion archer of the United States. American and other archers will be grateful to Dr. Elmer, not only for the filling of the great need for any current book at all on the sport, but for the excellence of his own con- tributions and for his diligence and discrim- ination in collecting the remainder of the chapters. Two of the chapters are substantially of matter once published in Forest and Stream. Permission has been given for its reprinting herein. We are grateful The format, the cover, the title page and other artistic requirements of the book have been made as they are by the advice and assistance of Mr. Arthur N. Hosking. We hope they are reasonably to his liking; and to him, also, we are grateful. 344520 4 Preface The medallion used on the cover and title page is from the medal designed by Mr. Cyrus E. Dallin. This beautiful work of art is pronounced by the Secretary of the Ameri- can Numismatic Society to be the best medal ever produced in America. Frequent refer- ence to awards of its replicas as prizes will be found in this book. Acknowledgement is made of the work of the remaining authors. The price of the book will be that necessary to support its publication. The wider cur- rency it is given, the lower the price may be made for succeeding editions. If a profit is made, it will be the property of the National Archery Association of the United States. That profit will be expended for the further- ance of the sport. Therefore all promotion of the sale of this book and the making of gifts of it will work in a pleasing and profitable circle to the good of archery and archers. Verbum sapienti. Samuel G. McMeen. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Author Page I. History of American Archery. Dr. Robert P. Elmer. 7 II. Study of Correct Archery. Dr. Robert P. Elmer 21 III. Equipment. Dr. Robert P. Elmer 33 IV. Hints to Beginners. Samuel G. McMeen 40 V. Constitution of the National Archery Association of the United States 47 VI. How to Form an Archery Club. Dr. Robert P. Elmer. 63 VII. Highest Official American Scores. Dr. Edward B. Weston 67 VIII. The Best English Scores. Dr. Edward B. Weston. ... 69 IX. Records of the National Archery Association of the United States. Dr. Edward B. Weston 73 X. The Thirty-eighth Annual Tournament of the National Archery Association of the United States. James Duff 85 XI. The Eastern Archery Association. Dr. Robert P. Elmer 103 XII. Best Scores of All Kinds and Feats of Skill. Dr. Robert P. Elmer 114 XIII. The Reddendo Arrows. J. Mark Mauser 152 XIV. Scoring by "Points." Dr. Robert P. Elmer 156 XV. Flight Shooting. Dr. Robert P. Elmer 160 XVI. An American Origin for the Point of Aim. Dr. Robert P. Elmer 171 XVII, Arrowhead, the Archers' Flower. Dr. Robert P. Elmer . 176 XVIII. French and Belgian Archery. Dr. Robert P. Elmer. 178 XIX. Choice of Woods for Bowmaking. James Duff 183 XX. Bows and How to Make Them. J. M. Challiss 192 XXI. Yew Bow Making. Dr. Harold G. Goldberg 220 XXII. How to Make a Bowstring. L. W. Maxson 244 XXIII. Notes on Arrow Making. Z. E. Jackson 247 XXIV. The Composite Bow. Samuel G. McMeen 280 XXV. Glossary, Dr. Robert P. Elmer 285 5 CHAPTER I History of American Archery By Dr. Robert P. Elmer IN THE minds of Americans the concepts relating to bows and arrows have two widely different deii nations and yet, in the development of the sport of archery in this country, these sources are so intermingled that it cannot be said which has had the more potent influence. From prehistoric times to the present day the American Indians, though in constantly decreasing numbers, have used bows and arrows as their chief means of procuring food and as valuable weapons in war. Filled with tales of the frontier, boys without number have fashioned primitive imitations of the redman's equipment and have endeavored to emulate his prowess in the hunt and on the war-path. On the other hand the white man inherits legends of the bow from mediaeval Europe, with Robin Hood standing first in his imagination and behind him the archers of Crecy, Agincourt, the Wars of the Roses and the Norman Con- '8" ' American Archery quest, with hosts of others whom his reading of history and romance have furnished. More distant still are the classic bowmen of Greece and of the vanished empires of Africa and Asia. These two streams of inspiration flowed together in the formation of the first archery club in America of which we have any record. "The United Bowmen of Philadelphia" was founded in 1828 by Titian Ramsey Peale. This young man, born in 1800, was a member of the famous family of artists of that name, and to secure drawings of the wild life of our West* he had accompanied, as assistant naturalist, the United States expedition under Major Long which explored the region from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains in 1819. From the Indians he had learned a love for the bow which he cherished until, a few years later, it led him to gather together five friends and start the club. To harmonize the sport with the conditions of civilization they were obliged to take as patterns the organizations already existing in England. That "The United Bowmen" was prosper- ous is well proven. Its membership was limited to 25 and, in all the years of its History of American Archery 9 existence a total of 57 had joined. They must have presented a brave appearance as they stood in line, for they shot from under a long pavilion which was supported by 25 poles, from each of which flew the flag of the archer beside it, and they were dressed in frock coats of Lincoln green, ornamented with gold braid, broad straw hats covered with green cloth and turned up with three black ostrich plumes, black belts and white panta- loons. The club published a little book called "The Archer's Manual," copies of which may still be found in public libraries. Its annual competitions were attended by as many as two thousand spectators, and not until 1858 did it stage its last contest. In 1888 the surviving members met for the last time and deposited their trophies and archives with the Pennsylvania Historical Society, where they may now be seen. The trophies are in a showcase which can be opened only by breaking the glass. Chief among them is a superb punch bowl, awarded annually to the champion. His name was engraved on a tag suspended from the rim and he was expected to embellish the outside with a heavy, silver acanthus leaf. Other IO American Archery trophies are a silver goblet for the second man, a smaller goblet for the man who made the hit nearest the center and a brooch for the sixth man. Strangely enough the third, fourth and fifth men received nothing. In 1859 the secretary wrote: "No grounds, no shooting." After that came the stirring events preceding the onset of the Civil War and archery suddenly ceased, to remain in desuetude for twenty years. Its revival then was very similar to its origin, for again a young man hunted among the Indians and afterward introduced the sport to civilization. Maurice Thompson, a young Confederate veteran who, in the closing days of the war, had been wounded in the chest, returned to his home in Georgia only to find it in ruins. Ordered by his doctor to an open air life in a still warmer climate, and too reduced in circumstances to live by other than his own efforts, he and his brother Will H. Thompson journeyed to Florida and there encamped with an Indian guide. Fire-arms were forbidden them because of their recent belligerency, so they made crude bows and arrows. With practice they became excellent shots, game was superabundant, and as their History of American Archery n skill in hunting increased they also learned to fashion better weapons. Fortunately Maurice Thompson was "a writer as well as a fighter" and a few years later, in 1877 and 1878, he published a series of articles in Scribner's Magazine which related, in exquisite prose, his experiences in the woods and which, soon afterwards, were collected in a volume named "The Witchery of Archery." People at that time had no other lawn sport than croquet and they eagerly welcomed this more active exercise. Archery clubs sprang into existence as though by magic all over the United States, armed with anything from Indian weapons to the finest imported English goods. The Chicago Archery Association conceived the idea of coordinating all this energy and so they issued a call for a convention of archery societies to meet at Crawfordsville, Indiana, where Maurice Thompson was then living, to consider the propriety of creating a National Archery Association for the United States of America.