134

can be, for fo fhal they be the leffe vnconftante. And
thus I haue knit vp in as fhorte a roume as I coulde,
the befl fethers fetheringe and coulinge of a fhafte.

^}jl. I thynke furelye you haue fo taken vp the
matter wyth you, yat you haue lefte nothynge be-
hinde you. Nowe you haue brought a fhafte to the
head, whiche if it were on, we had done as con-
cernyng all inftrumentes belongyng to fhootynge.

SCox. Neceffitie, the inuentour of all goodneffe (as
all authours in a maner, doo faye) amonges all other
thinges inuented a lhaft heed, firfte to faue the ende
from breakyng, then it made it fharpe to ftycke better,
after it made it of ftrong matter, to laft better: Lafl
of all experience and wyfedome of men, hathe brought
it to fuche a perfitneffe, that there is no one thing fo
profitable, belongyng to artillarie, either to ftryke a
mannes enemye forer in warre, or to fhoote nerer the
marke at home, then is a fitte heed for both purpofes.
For if a lhaft lacke a heed, it is worth nothynge for
neither vfe. Therfore feinge heedes be fo neceffary,
they muft of neceffitie, be wel looked vpon. Heedes
for warre, of longe tyme haue ben made, not onely
of diuers matters, but alfo of diuers fafhions. The
Troians had heedes of yron, as this verfe fpoken
of Pandarus, fheweth :

Vp to the papfe his firing did he pull, his fliaft to the harde
y™*' Ihados 4

The Grecians had heedes of braffe, as Vlyffes fhaftes
were heeded, when he flewe Antinous, and the other
wowers of Penelope.

Quite through a dore, flewe ajhafte with a brajfe head.

Odysse. ax.

It is playne in Homer, where Menelaus was
wounded of Pandarus fhafte, yat the heedes were not
glewed on, but tyed on with a firing, as
the commentaries in Greke playnelye tell. a °s' *

And therfore fhoters at that tyme to carry their Ihaftes
withoute heedes, vntill they occupyed them, and than