Roger Ascham Toxophilus 1545

Cfte £rl)ate of Ranting;. 129

fhoters wordes) or fadle backed, whether rounde, or
fquare fhorne ? And whether a ftiaft at any tyme ought
to be plucked, and how to be plucked.

pfji Surely Toxophile, I thynke manye fletchers
(although daylye they haue thefe thinges in vre) if
they were afked fodeynly, what they coulde faye of a
fether, they could not "faye fo rnoch. But I praye you
let me heare you more at large, expreffe thofe thynges
in a fether, the whiche you packed vp in fo narrowe a
rowme. And fyrft whether any other thyng may be
vfed for a fether or not.

5C0X, That was ye fyrfte poynte in dede, and
bycaufe there foloweth many after, I wyll hye apace
ouer them, as one that had manye a myle to ride.
Shaftes to haue had alwayes fethers Plinius PI re 3e.
in Latin, and lulius Pollux in Greke, do I. Pol i 10.
playnlye fhewe, yet onely the Lycians I Her Poiym.
reade in Herodotus to haue vfed ftiaftes without
fedders. Onelye a fedder is fit for a fhafte for. ii.
caufes, fyrfte bycaufe it is leatlie weake to giue
place to the bowe, than bycaufe it is of that
nature, that it wyll ftarte vp after ye bow. So, Plate,
wood or home can not feme, bycaufe the[y] wil
not gyue place. Againe, Cloth, Paper, or Parchment
can not ferue, bycaufe they wyll not ryfe after the
bowe, therfore a fedder is onely mete, bycaufe it onelye
wyl do bothe. Nowe to looke on the fedders of all maner
of birdes, you fhal fe fome fo lowe weke and ftiorte,
fome fo courfe, ftoore and harde, and the rib fo brickie,
thin and narrow, that it can nether be drawen, pared,
nor yet well fet on, that except it be a fwan for a dead
fliafte (as I knowe fome good Archers haue vfed) or a
ducke for a flyghte whiche laftes but one ihoote, there
is no fether but onelye of a goofe that hath all com-
modities in it. And trewelye at a mort but, which
fome man doth vfe, ye Pecock fether doth feldome
kepe vp ye ftiaft eyther ryght or leuel, it is fo roughe
and heuy, fo that many men which haue taken them
vp for gayeneffe, hathe layde them downe agayne for
i