Chapter III: Part 3

~Experiments as to glazing.~

~Glazing less hurtful to fine grains.~

The disadvantages of glazing consists in its polishing the surface, and thus depriving it of those angular projections which cause the ignition and combustion to be carried on with greater rapidity, by rendering the interstices smaller, the consequence of which is, that there is not so much gas produced previously to the projectile leaving the gun, and in large charges a portion will be blown out unfired. There must be a limit then to glazing, which it would not be proper to exceed. At an experiment with glazed and unglazed powder, the ranges on the eprouvette were 75 for glazed, and 98 for unglazed. This loss of power, consequent on glazing, has caused it to be done away with in France and Russia. With fine grain powder it is not of so much consequence, as it is, to a certain degree, corrected by the size of the grain.

~Size of grain determined by size of charge.~

~Tight ramming bad.~

The rapidity with which a charge of gunpowder is consumed will depend not only in a certain degree upon the size of the grain, but on the manner in which the charge is put together, for if a charge is closely pressed, the gases meeting resistance in their endeavours to escape between the interstices, will not propagate the ignition so rapidly. With large charges, there exists a positive advantage for the grains to be rather large, so that the most distant parts of the charge should be reached by the gases as quickly as possible; whilst with that of a rifle, the charge being small, the fineness of the grain does not interfere with the quantity of the gas developed. Whence it may rationally be concluded that the dimensions of the grains should increase in proportion to the quantity of the charges into which they are to enter, that is to say, in proportion to the interstices. Ramming down a charge tightly must therefore interfere with the velocity of combustion.

NOTE--The foregoing on the explosive force of gunpowder was taken from
Lieut-Colonel E. M. Boxer’s Treatise on Artillery.

FOULING.

~Produce of decomposed gunpowder.~

The produce obtained by the decomposition of gunpowder are the gaseous and the solid. The gaseous is chiefly nitrogen and carbonic acid. The solid is sulphur and potassium, mixed with a little charcoal, but the solid produce is nearly entirely volatilized at the moment of explosion through the high temperature.

~Fouling.~

Fouling is occasioned by the deposition inside the barrel of the solid residue proceeding from the combustion of the powder.

~Conditions of fouling depend on state of atmosphere~

One of the principal of these, namely, the sulphide of Potassa, is deliquescent, or attracts water from the atmosphere. Hence, on a clear day, when the air holds little moisture, the fouling does not attain that semi-fluid state it so speedily attains in a damp day, and it is not so easily removed, and tends to accumulate inside the barrel. Fouling may also be increased or diminished, according to the quality of the powder.

~Effects of Fouling.~

Fouling occasions loss of power from the increased friction, and causes inaccuracy in direction and elevation, by filling the grooves, and thus preventing the proper spiral motion being imparted to the projectile.

EFFECTS OF GUNPOWDER ON METALS.

~Difference of effect on brass and iron guns.~

The effect produced by Gunpowder on metals, in long continued and rapid firing, is very extraordinary. Several of the guns employed at the siege of San Sebastian were cut open, and the interior of some of the vent holes, which were originally cylindrical, and only two-tenths of an inch in diameter, were enlarged in a curious and irregular manner, from three to five inches in one direction, and from two to three inches in another, but the brass guns were much more affected than the iron. In December, 1855, there were lying in the arsenal at Woolwich several of the heaviest sea mortars, which had recently been used at the bombardment of Sweaborg, and the continuous firing on that occasion had split them into two nearly equal portions from muzzle to breech, a trunnion being with each half.

Heavy guns for garrisons, sieges, &c., are made of cast iron; guns for field purposes, where lightness is required, are made of gun metal.

~Difference of effect of brass and iron guns~

These guns are generally denominated brass guns. They can be loaded, properly pointed at an object, and fired about four times in three minutes, but they will not stand long continued rapid firing, or more than 120 rounds a day, as the metal, when heated, softens, and the shot then injures the bore. Heavy iron guns may be loaded, fired, &c., once in two minutes. They suffer more from the total number of rounds that have been fired from them, without reference to the intervals between each round, than from the rapidity of the firing. Four hundred and five hundred rounds per day have not rendered an iron gun unserviceable.

MISCELLANEOUS EXPERIMENTS.

The following experiments, extracted from Mr. Wilkinson’s “Engines of War,” serve to illustrate the capability of metals to resist the force of gunpowder, and may be of some practical utility, as well as prove interesting merely as matter of curiosity.

Experiment 1.--A piece about 5 inches long was cut off the breech-end of a common musket barrel. It was screwed at the part cut, and another plug fitted, so as to have two plugs, one at each end, leaving an internal space of about 3 inches. A percussion nipple was screwed into the end of one of these plugs. This being arranged, one of the plugs was turned out, and one drachm of gunpowder introduced. The plug was replaced, and the powder fired by putting a copper cap on the nipple, and striking it with a hammer. The whole force of the powder escaped at the hole in the nipple. Two, three, four, five, and six drachms were successively introduced, and fired in the same manner, without bursting or injuring the piece of barrel. At last, seven drachms forced out one end, in consequence of the screw having been carelessly fitted. This defect being repaired, Mr. Marsh, of Woolwich, repeatedly fired it with five drachms, merely holding it with a towel in his left hand, and firing it with a blow of a hammer. Six drachms of powder is the full service charge for a flint musket, and four drachms of a percussion musket; yet this immense pressure can be resisted by a cylinder of iron not more than one quarter of an inch thick, and not iron of the best quality.

Experiment 2.--A good musket barrel had a cylinder of brass, three inches long, turned to fit the muzzle, and soldered in, so as to close it air-tight. The plug, or breech-screw, was removed, and a felt wad was pushed in with a short piece of wood, marked to the exact depth the charge would occupy, to prevent the ball rolling forward. A musket ball was then dropped in, and a cartridge, containing three drachms of powder, was introduced. The breech being screwed in, left the barrel loaded. It was fired by a percussion tube, but there was no report. On removing the breech-screw, the ball was found to be flattened. A repetition of this experiment, with four drachms, produced a similar result, but the ball was rather more flattened. With five drachms, the ball was perfectly round and uninjured. Six drachms burst the barrel close under the bayonet stud; the ball escaped through the opening, disfigured, but fell close to the barrel. In these experiments the barrel always advanced, instead of recoiling, as usual.

Experiment 3.--Made at Woolwich Arsenal, with a Gomer mortar, the chamber being bored conically, so that the shell, when dropped in, fits closely all round, instead of being bored cylindrically, with a chamber in the centre. The mortar being laid at an angle of 45°, one drachm of powder was put into the bottom, and a 68-pounder iron shot over it. When fired, the ball was projected two feet clear of the mortar. A wooden ball, precisely the same diameter, but weighing only 5lbs., was scarcely moved by the same charge, and with two drachms of powder it was just lifted in the mortar, and fell into its place again. Here we find a weight of 68lbs. thrown to the distance of two feet by the same power which would not lift 5lbs., and the wooden ball scarcely moved by double the powder.

This proves that the firing of gunpowder under such circumstances is not instantaneous. In the first instance, the small quantity of powder had a large space to fill below the ball, and a heavy weight to move; therefore, could not stir it at all until the whole was ignited, when the force was sufficient to throw it forward two feet. In the second case, the first portion of gas that was generated by ignition of the powder, was sufficient to lift the lighter weight, just enough to allow all the force to escape round it before it had time to accumulate.

Experiment 4.--A cannon ball, weighing 24lbs., was placed exactly over the vent-hole of a loaded 32-pounder cannon, which was fired by a train of gunpowder, when the rush from the vent projected the 24-pounder ball to a very considerable height in the air, although the diameter of the hole was only two-tenths of an inch.

Experiment 5.--A most ingenious method of ascertaining the relative quickness of ignition of different qualities of gunpowder.

A gun-barrel mounted on a carriage with wheels, and moving on a perfectly horizontal railway, is placed at right angles to another short railway, at any convenient distance (suppose fifty feet, or yards); on the second railway a light carriage moves freely with any desired velocity, being drawn forward by means of a weight and pulleys: a cord is attached to the front of this carriage, which passes over a pulley at the end of the railroad, and is continued up a high pole or staff over another pulley at the top, at which end the weight is attached. A long rectangular frame covered with paper is fixed perpendicularly on the carriage, so that when it moves forward it passes across the direct line of the barrel, and forms a long target. A percussion lock is attached to the barrel, which is fired by a detent, or hair-trigger, and the wire which pulls it is disengaged at the same instant to admit of recoil. This wire is carried straight on to the target railroad, and fixed to a small lever, against which the front part of the target-carriage strikes as it is carried onwards by the weight. This constitutes the whole apparatus. When required to be used, the barrel is loaded with gunpowder accurately weighed, and a brass ball that fits the bore correctly: the weight is then disengaged, and the target moves quickly along, discharging the barrel as it passes, and the ball goes through it. With the same powder tried at the same time, the ball constantly goes through the same hole, or breaks into it. If the next powder tried be slower of ignition than the preceding, the ball will pass through another part of the target more in the rear; if quicker, more in advance; thus affording a means of ascertaining this important quality of gunpowder with considerable accuracy: the velocity of the target-carriage can be easily regulated by increasing or diminishing the weight which draws it forward. The differences in the distances between which the balls strike the target with different kinds of powder was frequently as much as ten or twelve inches; but it is not an apparatus commonly used, having been merely constructed for experimental purposes.

ON THE TIME REQUIRED FOR IGNITION OF GUNPOWDER.

Gunpowder like all other inflammable substances requires to be raised to a certain temperature, before it will ignite, viz., to a dull red heat, or about 600° Fahrenheit. If the heat passes with such rapidity through the powder, so as not to raise the temperature to the necessary degree, then the powder will not ignite, from the velocity of transit, so that it might be possible to calculate theoretically, the velocity that must be given to a red hot ball to enable it to pass through a barrel of gunpowder without causing explosion. The passage of electric fluid through gunpowder may be adduced in evidence of the ignition being dependent on the degree of velocity. The flame of all fulminating powders will pass through the centre of a box filled with gunpowder without igniting one grain of it. If a train of gunpowder be crossed at right angles by a train of fulminating mercury, laid on a sheet of paper or a table, and the powder be lighted with a red hot iron wire, the flame will run on until it meets the cross train of fulminating mercury, when the inflammation of the latter will be so instantaneous as to cut off all connection with the continuous train of powder, leaving the remaining portion of the gunpowder unignited. If on the contrary the fulminating powder be lighted first, it will go straight on and pass through the train of gunpowder so rapidly, as not to inflame it at all. Were a gun to be charged with gun-cotton and gunpowder, the latter would be fired out unignited.

EFFECTS OF ACCIDENTAL EXPLOSIONS OF GUNPOWDER.

Considering the combustible nature of the materials, accidents very seldom occur; when they do, it is more frequently in the process at the Mill while under the runners.

On one occasion at Waltham Abbey Mills, when the powder exploded, after having been two hours under the runners, the doors and windows of the Mills on the opposite side of the stream, were forced open outwards, and the nails drawn. A similar effect took place when the Dartford Mills blew up, January 1833, in consequence of an accident in the packing house. A window which had been recently fitted up in Dartford Town, about a mile and a half distant from the works, was blown outwards into the street, and a considerable quantity of paper was carried as far as Eltham and Lewisham, distances of eight and ten miles. The sudden rarification of the air may account for this circumstance, the atmospheric pressure being removed in the vicinity of the doors and windows, they were forced open outwards by the expansive force of the air contained within the buildings.

ON ANCIENT ENGINES OF WAR.

~War a painful topic.~

~Advantages of war being destructive.~

The Utopian may shrink from the contemplation of so painful a subject as War, the Moralist may raise his voice against the justice of it, but the practical philosopher can see very little chance of its cessation, and actuated with the very best intentions, will endeavour to render War as terrible as possible, well knowing, that as soon as certain death awaits two rival armies, princes must fight their own battles, or war must cease.

~First missile weapons, sticks and stones.~

~Javelin.~

~Sling.~

~Bow.~

~Arbalest.~

Man’s first rude attempts at missile weapons were doubtless limited to throwing sticks and stones by the mere aid of his hands; acts in which the monkey, the bear, and even the seal are very successful emulators. A desire of more successful aggression, together with increased facilities for the destruction of game and wild animals, doubtless soon suggested to man the use of projectiles more efficient than these. By a very slight change of form, the simple stick would become a javelin, capable of being hurled with great force and precision. An aid would suggest itself for casting a stone, by means of a fillet or band, subsequently called a sling, and next would be invented the bow, which, in process of time by subsequent additions would become the arbalest or cross-bow.

~Axes used as projectiles.~

It appears that axes have been used as _projectiles_: for Procopius, describing the expedition of the Franks into Italy, in the sixth century, tells us:--Among the hundred thousand men that King Theodobert I. led into Italy, there were but few horsemen. The cavalry carried spears. The infantry had neither bow nor spear, all their arms being a sword, an axe, and a shield. The blade of the axe was large, its handle of wood, and very short. They _hurl_ their axes against the shields of the enemy, which by this means are broken; and then, springing on the foe, they complete his destruction with the sword.

~Tomahawk used as a projectile.~

A hatchet or tomahawk is used as a projectile weapon by the North American Indians. The difficulty of throwing such a weapon with effect, would of course consist in causing the edge to strike the object aimed at. Now, such a hatchet as they usually make use of, if thrown by its handle, will revolve in a perpendicular plane about once in every three yards, irrespective of the force with which it moves. An Indian judges his enemy to be distant from him any multiple of 3 yards as 15, 18, 21, and strikes him full with the edge of his weapon accordingly.

~“Chuckur” or disk used as a projectile.~

A circular disk or quoit is in use in India amongst the Sikhs, particularly that sect of them called Akali, as a weapon, and in their warlike exercises; the species used in war have a triangular section, those thrown for amusement are flat with a sharp edge. A skilful man will throw one of these chuckers or quoits to a distance of a hundred and thirty yards, or more, with very considerable accuracy, the quoit being at no period of its flight above six feet from the ground. The sharpness of edge, combined with the rotatory motion of these quoits, and the difficulty of avoiding them, renders them formidable weapons in skilled hands. The Akali wear them on their turbans, of several different sizes and weights; a small one is often worn as a bracelet on the arm. Many of these fanatics took part in the last Sikh war, and severe wounds made with these weapons were by no means uncommon.

~Armour and fortifications.~

By the time portable weapons would have been brought to some degree of perfection, man’s increasing sciences and civilization would have led him to make armour, to build cities, and enclose them with walls. Now would arise the necessity for other projectiles of greater force, inasmuch as in the event of war, the armour should be penetrated, and walls, &c., would have to be demolished.

~Improved projectiles.~

~Change to heavy projectiles.~

~Catapulta.~

~Balistæ.~

~Sling principles.~

The transition from portable projectiles to those of a heavier class was obvious enough. Enormous javelins and darts were hurled by cross-bows of corresponding size, termed Catapultæ, (plate x.), and stones, &c., were thrown by Balistæ (plate ix. and xii); and secondly, instruments formed on the principle of the sling.

~Projectiles used with Catapulta.~

These machines threw not only large darts and stones, but also the bodies of men and horses. Athenæus speaks of a Catapulta which was only one foot long, and threw an arrow to the distance of half a mile. Other engines, it is said, could throw javelins from one side of the Danube to the other. Balistæ threw great beams of wood, lances twelve cubits long, and stones that weighed three hundred pounds.

~Millstones, &c., used in England.~

Our forefathers used to cast forth mill-stones. Holinshead relates that when Edward I. besieged Stively Castle, he caused certain engines to be made, which shot off stones of two or three hundred weight.

~B. C. 1451.~

~B. C. 809.~

~First mention of Artillery.~

The first intimation of trees being cut down “to build bulwarks against the city till it be subdued,” occurs in Deut. xx., 19, 20, but the earliest precise mention of Artillery is in 2nd Chron., xxvi, 15, where we are told that Uzziah “made in Jerusalem engines invented by cunning men, to be upon the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal;” and Josephus relates that Uzziah “made many engines of war for besieging cities, such as hurl stones and darts with grapplers, and other instruments of that sort.” He must therefore be considered the inventor of them, and from that time they began to be employed in attacking and defending towns.

~Balistæ at Regium, B. C. 388.~

~At Motya B. C. 370.~

The earliest instances of projectile machines in profane history appear to be at the siege of Regium and Motya by Dionysius, where, having battered the walls with his rams, he advanced towards them towers rolled on wheels, from whence he galled the besieged with continual volleys of stones and arrows, thrown from his Balistæ and Catapultæ.

~At Rhodes B. C. 303.~

The next memorable instance is the siege of Rhodes by Demetrius Polyorcetes, who brought forward a newly invented machine, called Helepolis, (taker of Cities), with a variety of other engines, and employed 30,000 men in the management of them.

~Balistæ at Cremona.~

Tacitus mentions an extraordinary engine, used by the 15th Legion at the battle of Cremona, against the troops of Vespasian. It was a Balista of enormous size, which discharged stones of weight sufficient to crush whole ranks at once. Inevitable ruin would have been the consequence, had not two soldiers, undiscovered, cut the ropes and springs. At length, after a vigorous assault from Antonius, the Vittelians, unable to resist the shock, rolled down the engine, and crushed numbers of their assailants, but the machine, in falling, drew after it a neighbouring tower, the parapet, and part of the wall, which afforded the besiegers easier access to the city.

~Balistæ at siege of Jotapata.~

~Dead men and horses projected.~

Josephus relates that at the siege of Jotapata, “a stone from one of the Roman engines carried the head of a soldier, who was standing by him, three furlongs off;” that “lances were thrown with great noise, and stones, weighing 114lbs. troy, “together with fire and a multitude of arrows.” The dead bodies of men and horses were also thrown at this siege, and at that of Jerusalem, A. D. 70, to inspire terror.

~Form of Balistæ.~

The earliest form of Balistæ appears to have been a very long beam, suspended in a frame on a centre of motion, one end being considerably longer than the other. To the short end was attached a great weight, such as a chest filled with earth or stones. To the longer end a sling was affixed, in which, after being drawn down, a stone was placed, and on being suddenly let go, the long end flew up, and discharged the stone with great violence.

~Form of Catapultæ.~

Catapultæ were sometimes constructed to discharge a flight of arrows at once, by placing them on a rack, and causing a strong plank, previously drawn back, to strike against their ends. The more perfect engines of the Romans were all dependent on the elasticity of twisted cords made of flax, hemp, the sinews or tendons of animals, from the neck of the bull, or legs of the deer species, and ropes formed of human hair were preferred to all others, as possessing greater strength and elasticity. Catapultæ were immensely powerful bows, drawn back by capstans, levers, or pulleys, having only a single cord for the arrow, (plate x.), but the Balistæ had a broad band, formed of several ropes to project the stone, which was placed in a kind of cradle, like a cross-bow. (plate xii.)

~Balistæ at battle of Hastings 1066~

The Normans appear to have introduced a kind of Field-Artillery, consisting of instruments or machines, from which darts and stones were thrown to a considerable distance, as they occur at the battle of Hastings. They also employed arrows, headed with combustible matter, for firing towns and shipping.

~Fiery darts, A. D. 64.~

We read in the Scriptures of “Fiery Darts.” Ephns. vi., 16.

~Fire from Balistæ.~

Our ancestors derived the knowledge of some composition from the Saracens, which resembled Greek-fire, and was often thrown in pots from the Balistæ.

~Fire by Arabs commencement of 13th century.~

From a treatise on the “Art of Fighting,” by Hassan Abrammah, we learn that the Arabs of the 13th century employed their incendiary compositions in four different ways. They cast them by hand; they fixed them to staves, with which they attacked their enemies; they poured forth fire through tubes; and they projected burning mixtures of various kinds by means of arrows, javelins, and the missiles of great engines.

~Bombs of glass, &c.~

~Fire-mace.~

Vessels of glass or pottery, discharged by hand or by machines, were so contrived, that on striking the object at which they were aimed, their contents spread around, and the fire, already communicated by a fusee, enveloped everything within its reach. A soldier, on whose head was broken a fire-mace, became suddenly soaked with a diabolic fluid, which covered him from head to foot with flame.

~Bombs from Balistæ.~

Bombs were also thrown from Balistæ. An engine was constructed at Gibraltar, under the direction of General Melville, at the desire of Lord Heathfield, for the purpose of throwing stones just over the edge of the rock, in a place where the Spaniards used to resort, and where shells thrown from mortars could not injure or annoy them.

~Onager.~

Of machines formed on the sling principle, that called Onager (plates vii. and viii.) may be regarded as typical of all the rest. Its force entirely depended upon the torsion of a short thick rope, acting upon a lever which described an arc of a vertical circle. The lever had attached to its free extremity a sling, or sometimes it merely terminated in a spoon-shaped cavity. When bent back, it was secured by a catch or trigger, and charged with a stone. On starting the catch by a blow with a mallet, the lever described its arc of a circle with great velocity, and projected the stone to a considerable distance.

I shall now briefly describe some of the portable missive weapons which have been used by different nations.

~Javelin.~

~Arms of the early Romans.~

~Aid to projection.~

The Javelin, or dart, variously modified, is known under several names. The ancients were well acquainted with it. In the Scriptures, we have frequent notice of it; and the ancients instituted javelin matches. It would appear that the javelin used on horseback was about five feet and a half long, and headed with steel, usually three-sided, but sometimes round. The Roman Cavalry, after the conquest of Greece, were armed much like the Infantry, carrying swords, shields, and javelins with points at both ends. Sometimes, in order to launch it with greater force, it was not propelled by the unaided arm, but by the assistance of a thong fastened to its butt end; and we are informed that the Greeks and Romans projected darts and javelins by the assistance of a sling or strap, girt round their middle.

~Djereed.~

~Pilum.~

~Australian mode.~

~Harpoon.~

At the present time, a javelin, termed Djereed, is used with considerable effect by certain oriental nations, who invariably employ it on horseback. The Roman infantry possessed a weapon of the javelin kind, termed Pilum, every man of the legionary soldiers carrying two. The point of this weapon being very long and small, was usually so bent at the first discharge as to be rendered useless afterwards. With every improvement that the javelin was susceptible of, it never could acquire a long range; hence we find, that as Archery became developed, the use of the weapon declined. Amongst savage nations, the use of the javelin is very common, but the inhabitants of Australia have a manner of throwing it altogether peculiar to themselves, not throwing it while poised at the balance, but projecting it by means of a stick applied at the butt end. This contrivance accomplishes a great increase of range, but does not contribute to accuracy of direction. At short distances, the penetrating force of the javelin is considerable, as is learned from the act of harpooning a whale, a harpoon being merely a javelin.

THE SLING.

~Slings mentioned in Judges. B. C. 1406.~

~Slings used B. C. 1406.~

Means by which stones would be thrown by greater force than the hand, would naturally be resorted to; accordingly we find the sling ranks amongst the first of ancient offensive weapons. Numerous examples are mentioned in Scripture, as in Judges xx., 16, “Among all this people, there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling stones at a hair breadth and not miss;” and also that of David and Goliath, &c.

~Siege of Troy between 800 and 900 B. C.~

~Battle of the Granicus B. C. 334.~

~First Punic war 241 to 263 B. C.~

At the siege of Troy, the masses were organized into two kinds of infantry: one light and irregular, carrying horn bows, short darts, and slings; the other regular and heavy, armed with spears. At the battle of the Granicus, B. C. 334, Alexander the Great had in his army light infantry, consisting of slingers, bow-men, and javelin-men. The Carthagenians had slingers in their pay before the first Punic War.

~Slings common in Greece.~

~Slingers in Roman armies.~

The Sling was very common in Greece, and used by the light armed soldiers. Arrows, stones, and leaden plummets, were thrown from them, some of which weighed no less than an Attic pound. Seneca reports that its motion was so vehement that the leaden plummets were frequently melted!!! The Romans had slingers in their armies, for the most part inhabitants of the Islands of Majorca, Minorca and Ivica.

~Invention ascribed to Phœnicians and also to inhabitants of Balearic
islands.~

Pliny ascribes the invention of slings to the Phœnicians, but Vegetius to the inhabitants of the Balearic Islands, who were famous in antiquity for using them. It is said, those people bore three kinds of slings, some longer and others shorter, to be used as their enemies were nearer or more remote; the first served them for a head band, the second for a girdle, and the third they always carried in their hands. In fight they threw large stones with such violence, that they seemed to be projected from some machine, and with such exactness, as rarely to miss their aim; being constantly exercised from their infancy, their mothers not allowing them to have any food, until they struck it down from the top of a pole with stones thrown from their slings.

~Materials of slings.~

~Slings with cup.~

~Staff-sling.~

The Latin for our English word farm is _fundus_, which originally signifies a “stone’s-throw of land,” or as much land as could be included within the range of a stone thrown from a sling. The materials of which slings were composed, were either flax, hair or leather, woven into bands or cut into thongs, broad in the centre to receive the load, and tapering off to the extremities. Slings have been made with three strings, with a cup let into the leather to hold the bullet or stone, and were called “Fronde à culôt.” In plate xiii, fig. 3, there is a representation of a slinger of the early part of the thirteenth century, whose weapon differs from that of the Anglo-Saxon or common sling, in having a cup for the reception of the projectile. Slings were sometimes attached to sticks to increase their power, as, besides the ancient cord sling, there appears in the manuscripts of the thirteenth century a variety of this arm; the “Staff Sling.” (plate xiii, fig. 2.) It seems to have been in vogue for naval warfare, or in the conflicts of siege operations.

~Force of slings.~

~Used for the English, A. D. 1342.~

~Bullets out of slings.~

The slings projected their missiles with such force that no armour could resist their stroke. Slings never appear to have been much used by the English, although Froissart mentions an instance of their having been used for them by the people of Brittany, in a battle fought in that province during the reign of Philip de Valois, between the troops of Walter de Manin, an English knight, and Louis d’Espagne, who commanded six thousand men on behalf of Charles de Blois, then competitor with the Earl of Montford for the Duchy of Brittany. Froissart says, that what made Louis lose the battle was, that during the engagement the country people came unexpectedly and assaulted his army with _bullets_ and slings.

~Slings at the siege of Sancere, 1572.~

~Range.~

~Slings last used, 1814.~

According to the same author, slings were used in naval combats, when stones were also sometimes thrown by hand.[2] Slings were used in 1572, at the siege of Sancere by the Huguenots, in order to save their powder. They were also used by the people of Brittany to such an extent against the Roman Catholic party, that the war was called “Guerre de Fronde.” With respect to the range of this projectile, it is said, that a good slinger could project a stone 600 yards. This seems doubtful. The most recent instance of slings being used in war, occurs in “Straith on Fortification,” page 121, and which contains an extract from the siege journal of Serjeant St. Jacques of the French Corps de Genie, who was most successfully employed with a small French garrison in the defence of the Castles of Monzowin, Arragon, against the Spaniards, 1814.

[2] It is stated by Sir Robert Wilson that at the battle of Alexandria
the French and English threw stones at each other, during a temporary
want of ammunition, with such effect that a Serjeant of the 28th
Regiment was killed, and several of the men were wounded. Stones were
thrown by the English Guards at the battle of Inkerman.

THE BOW.

~The bow almost universal.~

This weapon under some shape or other was employed by most nations of antiquity, but not always as a warlike instrument. Scarcely any two nations made their bows exactly alike. The Scythian bow we are told, was very much curved, as are the Turkish, Persian, and Chinese bows (plate iv. figs. 1 & 2) at the present day, whilst the celebrated weapon of our ancestors when unstrung was nearly straight.

It is now used among those savage tribes of Africa and America, to which fire-arms have not yet reached.

~Bows in Scripture.~

~Bows B. C. 1892.~

~B. C. 1760.~

~B. C. 1058.~

~Manner of drawing the bow.~

~First used by Romans.~

We frequently read of the bow in Scripture, and the first passage in which the use of the bow is inferred, is in Gen. xxi. 20, where it is said of Ishmael, “And God was with the lad, and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.” But in the 16th verse it is said that Hagar his mother, “sat her down over against him, a good way off, as it were a _bow shot_; for she said let me not see the death of the child”:--this verse implies an earlier practice with the bow than can be adduced by any profane historian. In Gen. xxvii. 3, Isaac directs his son Esau: “Now therefore take I pray thee thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; and make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die.” The overthrow of Saul was particularly owing to the Philistine archers; and “David bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow.” The companies that came to David at Ziklag were armed with bows, and “could use the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows.” (I. Chron. xii. 2.) The bow is of very high antiquity among the Greeks, whose bows were usually made of wood, but sometimes of horn, and frequently in either case beautifully ornamented with gold and silver; the string generally made of twisted hair, but sometimes of hide. The ancient Persians drew the strings towards their ears, as is the practice still with the English. The ancient Greeks, however, drew the bowstring towards their breast, and represented the fabled Amazons as doing the same, and hence the tradition of these people cutting off their right breasts, in order to give facility for drawing the bow. Until the second Punic war, the Romans had no archers in their armies, except those who came with their auxiliary forces. Subsequently they became more employed, although as far as we can learn, not by native troops, but by Orientals in their pay.

~Bows of Britons.~

~Bows of Welsh.~

~Bows of Anglo-Saxons.~

The early Britons had merely bows and arrows of reed, with flint or bone heads. Arrows were used by the Welch in Norman reigns, who were famous archers; their bows were made of wild elm, but stout, and not calculated to shoot a great distance, but their arrows would inflict very severe wounds in close fight. Their arrows would pierce oaken boards four inches thick. The bow was also a weapon of war among the Anglo-Saxons. The Salic law shows that both the sling and the bow were used by the contemporary Franks; and they even used poisoned arrows. The Anglo-Saxon bow was of the form of the Grecian, but it was only under the Normans that the bow became a master weapon; the Saxons principally using it, like the people of Tahiti of the present day, for killing birds.

~No bows in France A. D. 514.~

During the reign of Clovis, the French made no use of the bow in their armies, but it was employed during the reign of Charlemagne, who flourished in the end of the eighth century; as a Count is mentioned, who was directed on conducting soldiers to the army, to see they had their proper arms; that is a lance, a buckler, a bow, two strings, and twelve arrows.

~A. D. 1066. Harold shot with an arrow~

~Known by Danes and Saxons.~

~As a military weapon at the battle of Hastings.~

~Archery encouraged by statute.~

~Long bow in conquest of Ireland 1172.~

William the Conqueror was a skilful archer, and the battle of Hastings was decided by the bow, and we hear that Harold was shot with an arrow. Although the Anglo-Saxons and Danes were well acquainted with the bow from the earliest period, it appears to have been only employed for obtaining food, or for pastime, and we are perhaps indebted to the Norman Conquest for its introduction as a military weapon. The Normans at the battle of Hastings are said to have used the arbalest or cross-bow as well as the long bow. Ever after this, the bow became a favourite weapon. During the reign of Henry II., archery was much cultivated, and great numbers of bowmen were constantly brought into the field; and to encourage its practice, a law was passed, which freed from the charge of murder any one who in practising with arrows or darts, should kill a person standing near. This appears to be the first regulation to be found in our annals, and was probably founded on the old law of Rome. The English conquests in Ireland during the reign of Henry II. were principally owing to the use of the long bow in battle, which the Irish wanted. The Invasion of Ireland was headed by Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, surnamed “Strong-bow.” His force was numerically very small, consisting chiefly of archers, and it is stated that such was the advantage their superior arms and military skill gave the invaders, that 10 knights and 70 archers defeated a body of 3000 Irish opposed to them, on their landing near Waterford.

~A. D. 1199.~

The exact time when shooting with the long-bow began in England is unsettled, our chroniclers do not mention archery till the death of Richard I.

During the reign of Henry III. there were among the English infantry, slingers, archers, and cross-bow men.

~Cressy 1346.~

~Poictiers 1356.~

It seems that the long-bow was at its zenith in the reign of Edward III., who appears to have taken great pains to increase its efficacy, and to extend its use. The terrible execution effected by the English archers at Cressy, and at Poictiers ten years after, was occasioned by British archers.

~Homelden 1403.~

The decisive victory over the Scots at Homelden was entirely achieved by them, and the Earl of Douglas found the English arrows were so swift and strong, that no armour could repel them; though his own was of the most perfect temper, he was wounded in five places. The English men-at-arms, knights and squires, never drew sword or couched lance, the whole affair being decided by the archers.

~Shrewsbury 1403.~

~Agincourt 1415.~

They again did terrible execution at the battle of Shrewsbury, in 1403, where Hotspur was slain, and the battle of Agincourt was their undivided conquest.

~20,000 bow-men 1455.~

~Bow preferred to fire-arms.~

~Bows at Isle of Ré, 1627.~

~Bows against Scots, 1644 to 1647.~

~Bows in William 3rd’s time.~

During the reign of Henry VI., the Parliament voted an army of 20,000 bow-men for service in France. The battle of St. Albans, 1455, seems to have been entirely won by the archers. Although fire-arms had attained no inconsiderable degree of perfection in the reign of Henry VIII., yet the long-bow was still the favourite weapon. Indeed, in the reign of Elizabeth, the musket was so unwieldy, and slow to charge and discharge, that the bow was considered superior by many. We find that Queen Elizabeth, 1572, engaged to furnish Charles IX. of France with 6,000 men, part to be armed with long, and part with cross-bows; and in the attack made by the English on the Isle of Ré, 1627, it is said some cross-bow-men were in the army. In 1643 a company of archers was raised for the service of Charles I.; and in a pamphlet printed in 1664, there is an account of the successes of the Marquis of Montrose against the Scots; and bow-men are repeatedly mentioned as in the battle. The Grenadiers of the Highland Regiments, in the time of William III., when recruiting, wore the old red bonnet, and carried bows and arrows with them.

The Highland bow was very short, and by no means powerful.

MERITS OF THE LONG BOW.

~Range of long-bow.~

~Accuracy of long-bow.~

The English could not accomplish more than 600 yards, except on a few extraordinary occasions; our modern archers not more than from 300 to 500 yards. The Turkish ambassador when in England in 1795, sent an arrow upwards of 480 yards; and there are two or three instances on record since archery has been merely a pastime, which have exceeded it by twenty or thirty yards. It is said of Domitian, that he would cause one of his slaves to stand at a great distance with his hands spread as a mark, and would shoot his arrows so correctly as to drive them between his fingers. Commodus, with an arrow headed with a semi-circular cutting edge, could cut or sever the neck of a bird. The story of William Tell, who struck an apple placed upon his child’s head, is well known, and generally regarded in the light of an historical fact. It is stated that Robin Hood could split a hazel wand.

~Penetration of long-bow.~

In a journal of Edward VI., His Majesty relates that 100 archers of his guard shot before him two arrows each, and afterwards altogether. The object aimed at was a well-seasoned deal board, one inch thick. Many pierced it quite through, and some struck in a board on the other side. The distance is not mentioned, but we know that Henry VIII. prohibited any one above the age of 25 to shoot at a mark at a less distance than 200 yards.

~Advantages of the long-bow.~

The long-bow was light, inexpensive, and unaffected by weather, as the strings could be removed. Moreover, 12 arrows could be fired with accuracy in one minute. Two feathers in an arrow were to be white, and one brown or grey, and this difference in colour informed the archer in an instant how to place the arrow.

~Disadvantages of the long-bow.~

Although arrows could be shot from a bow with far greater rapidity and precision than balls from a musket, yet in damp weather the bow and string might become so much relaxed that the efficacy of the instrument became much impaired. A side wind deflected the arrow exceedingly in its flight, and even against a moderate wind, it was difficult to shoot at all.

_Our Forefathers encouraged to acquire skill in archery by legal enactments, and by the founders of our public schools._

1ST. BY LEGAL ENACTMENTS.

~Henry 2nd from 1154 to 1189.~

We have previously stated that the first law encouraging the practice of archery was passed in the reign of Henry II.

~Richard 2nd from 1377 to 1399.~

An Act of Parliament was passed in the reign of Richard II., to compel all servants to shoot on Sundays and holidays.

~Edward 4th from 1461 to 1483.~

~Every man to have a bow.~

In the reign of Edward IV., an act was passed, ordaining every Englishman to have a bow of his own height, and during the same reign butts were ordered to be put up in every township for the inhabitants to shoot at on feast days, and if any neglected, the penalty of one halfpenny was incurred. The same monarch also passed an act, that bows were to be sold for 5s. 4d.

~Cross-bows prohibited by Henry 7th & Henry 8th.~

Henry VII. prohibited the use of the cross-bow, and Henry VIII., less than twenty years after, renewed the prohibition. He forbad the use of cross-bows and hand guns, and passed a statute which inflicted a fine of £10 for keeping a cross-bow in the house. Every man, being the King’s subject, was obliged to exercise himself in shooting with the long bow, and also to keep a bow with arrows continually in his house. Fathers and guardians were also commanded to teach their male children the use of the long bow.

~Encouraged by Philip and Mary.~

A statute of Philip and Mary mentions the quantity and kind of armour and weapons, to be kept by persons of different estates, viz:--“Temporal persons having £5 and under £10 per annum, one coat of plate furnished, one black bill or halbert, one long bow, one sheaf of arrows, and one steel cap or skull.”

~Prices fixed by Elizabeth.~

An act of Elizabeth, fixed the prices for long bows, at 6s. 8d., 3s. 4d., and a third sort at 2s. each bow.

~Encouraged by monarchs from Henry 8th to Charles 1st.~

~Proclamation by Charles 1st.~

Numerous statutes were passed to encourage archery in the reigns of Henry VIII., Elizabeth, James I. and Charles I. in whose reign the legislature interfered for the last time in 1633, when Charles I. issued a commission for preventing the fields near London being so enclosed, “as to interrupt the necessary and profitable exercise of “shooting,” and also a proclamation for the use of the bow and pike together:--“A. D. 1633.--Whereas in former tyme bowes and arrowes have been found serviceable weapons for wars, whereby great victories and conquests have been gotten, and by sundry statutes the use thereof hath been enjoined, &c. &c.--and we expect that our loving subjects should conform themselves thereunto, knowing the exercise of shooting to be a means to preserve health, strength and agility of body, and to avoid idleness, unlawfull disports, drunkenness, and such like enormities and disorders, which are too frequent among our people.”

2ND.--BY THE FOUNDERS OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

~Estimation of archery by founders of schools.~

The founders of our Grammar Schools appear to have considered that the acquirement of skill in archery by their scholars was no less worthy of attention than their moral and intellectual improvement. They provided by their statutes sound learning and a religious education for all, but secured the removal of such as shewed no aptitude or disposition to learn. They also prescribed the amusements and exercises of the scholars, and prohibited such as were calculated to lead to idle and vicious habits. In fact, as true patriots, they understood how the sons of free men ought to be educated in youth, and that “a complete and generous education is that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously, all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war.”

~Harrow School, founded 1571.~

The founder of Harrow School, Mr. John Lyon, prepared a body of statutes to be observed in the management of the School. By one of these he limited the amusements of the Scholars “to driving a top, tossing a hand-ball, running, shooting, and no other.” By another he ordered:--“You shall allow your child at all times, bow-shafts, bow-strings, and a bracer, to exercise shooting.” On the entrance-porch to the Master’s house are two shields, the one bearing the Lion rampant, the other, two arrows crossed, an ancient device which had its origin in the design of the founder. This device is also impressed on the exterior of all books which are presented by the Head-Master as prizes to those scholars, whose improvement entitled them to such rewards. The practice of archery was coeval with the foundation of the School, and was continued for nearly two centuries. Every year there was a public exhibition of archery, when the scholars shot for a silver arrow. The last silver arrow was contended for in 1771.

~St. Albans School.~

At St. Alban’s Grammar School, one of the articles to be recited to such as offered their children to be taught in the School was,--“Ye shall allow your child at all times, a bow, three arrows, bow-strings, a shooting glove, and a bracer, to exercise shooting.”

~Wilton School.~

Sir John Dean, who founded, in 1558, the Grammar School of Wilton, in Cheshire, framed a body of statutes for the School. One of them provides:--“That upon Thursdays and Saturdays, in the afternoons, and upon holidays, the scholars refresh themselves, and that as well in the vacations as in the days aforesaid, they use their bows and arrows only, and eschew all bowling, carding, dicing, cocking, and all other unlawful games, upon pain of extreme punishment to be done by the Schoolmaster.”

~Dedham School in Essex.~

The Free Grammar School of Dedham, in Essex, was endowed in 1571, and confirmed by a Charter of Queen Elizabeth in 1574. Her Majesty’s injunctions to the parents of the boys who should attend the school at Dedham were:--“That they should furnish their sons with bows, shafts, bracers and gloves, in order to train them to arms.”

~St. Saviour’s School in Southwark.~

One of the statutes at the Grammar School of St. Saviour, in Southwark, decrees that “the plays of the scholars shall be shooting in long-bows, chess, running, wrestling, and leaping:--players for money, or betters, shall be severely punished and expulsed.”

~Camberwell School.~

A statute in the same words is found in the rules and orders framed for the government of Camberwell Grammar School, which was founded in 1615, by letters patent.

MEANS BY WHICH SKILL IN ARCHERY WAS ACQUIRED.

~An archer made by long training, &c.~

A successful archer could only be constituted by long training, strength, and address, we need not therefore wonder that the practice of the long-bow was not more copied by our neighbours, as the French pertinaciously adhered to the use of the cross-bow.

~Every man had arms.~

Etienne di Perlin, a Frenchman who wrote an account of a tour in England in 1558, says:--“The husbandmen leave their bucklers and swords, or sometimes their bow, in the corner of the field, so that every one in this land bears arms;” and it is also stated that all the youth and manhood of the yeomanry of England were engaged in the practice of the long-bow.

~Public matches.~

Public exhibitions of shooting with the bow continued during the reigns of Charles II. and James II., and an archer’s division, at least till within these few years, formed a branch of the Artillery Company. The most important society of this kind now existing is “The Royal Company of Archers, the King’s body-guard of Scotland.” The exact time of its institution is unknown, but it is referred by the Scottish antiquarians to the reign of their James I.

~Causes of bad shooting.~

Roger Ascham, in “Toxophilos,” states that the main difficulty in learning to shoot, arises from having acquired and become confirmed in previous bad habits; so that, “use is the onlye cause of all faultes in it, and therefore children more easelye and soner may be taught to shoote excellently then men, because children may be taught to shoote well at the first, menne have more paine to unlearne their ill uses than they have labour afterwarde to come to good shootinge;” and after having enumerated a long list of faults ordinarily committed, he thus proceeds to describe the secret of shooting straight with the long-bow.

~Shooting depends on the eye.~

~The hand obeys the eye.~