Roger Ascham Toxophilus 1545

38.

thefe. But a gayne in ftringynge youre bowe, you
muft loke for muche bende or lytle bende for they be •
cleane contrarye.

The lytle bende hath but one commoditie, whyche*
is in Ihootyng fafter and farther fhoote, and ye caufe
therof is, bycaufe the ftrynge hath fo far a paffage, or it
parte wyth the lhafte. The greate bende hath many
commodities: for it maketh eafyer fhootynge the bowe:
beyng halfe drawen afore. It needeth no bracer, for'
the ftrynge ftoppeth before it come at the arme. It'
wyl not fo fone hit a mannes ileue or other geare, by-'
the fame reafon: It hurteth not the fhaft fedder, as.
the lowe bende doeth. It fuifereth a man better to *
efpye his marke. Therfore lette youre bowe haue
good byg bend, a lhaftemente and. ii. fyngers at the
leaft, for thefe which I haue fpoken of.

Pfjt, The brafer, gloue, and ftrynge, be done,
nowe you muile come to the bowe, the
chefe inftrument of all. Bowe',

3t0£, Dyuers countryes and tymes haue vfed alwayes *
dyuers bowes, and of dyuers famions.

Home bowes are vfed in fome places nowe, and
were vfed alfo in Homerus dayes, for Pan- '

darus bowe, the befl fhooter among al the ^ »4- s

Troianes, was made of two Goete homes ioyned to- *
gyther, the lengthe wherof fayth Homer, was. xvi hand-»
bredes, not far differing from the lengthe of our bowes.

Scripture maketh mention of braffe
bowes. Iron bowes, and ftyle bowes, haue m'*'*

bene of longe tyrae, and alfo nowe are vfed among'
the Turkes, but yet they muft. nedes be vnprofitable.
For yf braffe, yron or ftyle, haue theyr owne ftrength -
and pith in them, they be farre aboue mannes ftrength:
yf they be made meete for mannes ftrengthe, theyr
pithe is nothyng worth to fhoote any fhoote wyth all. ,

The Ethiopians had bowes of palme tre, whiche;
feemed to be very ftronge, but we haue
none experience of them. The lengthe of er°"m ** i
was. iiuVcubites, The men of Inde had theyr