the art or exercise of shooting with a bow and arrow. The word is formed of arcus, a bow; whence arcarius, and even arquus and arquites, as they are also denominated in the corrupt state of the Latin tongue. The bow was anciently one of the principal implements of war, and the expertness of the archers often decided the fate of battles and of empires. In this island archery was greatly encouraged in former times, many statutes being made for its advancement; and the English archers became the best in Europe.

The Artillery Company of London, though they have long disused the weapon, are the remains of the ancient fraternity of bowmen or archers. Artillery (artillerie) is a French term signifying archery, as the king's bowyer is in that language styled artillier du roy; and from that nation the English seem to have learnt at least the cross-bow archery. We therefore find that William the Conqueror had a considerable number of bowmen in his army at the battle of Hastings, when no mention is made of such troops on the side of Harold; and it is supposed that these Norman archers shot with the arbalest or cross-bow, in which formerly the arrow, termed in French a quadrel, and in English a bolt, was placed in a groove.

Of the time when shooting with the long-bow first began among the English, at which exercise they afterwards became so expert, there appear no certain accounts. Their chronicles do not mention the use of archery as expressly applied to the cross-bow or the long-bow till the death of Richard I., who was killed by an arrow at the siege of Limoges in Guienne, which Hemmingford mentions as having issued from a cross-bow. After this event, which happened in 1199, there appear not upon record any notices of archery for nearly 150 years, when an order was issued by Edward III., in the 15th year of his reign, to the sheriffs of most of the English counties, for providing 500 white bows and 500 bundles of arrows, for the intended war against France. Similar orders are repeated in the following years; with this difference only, that the sheriff of Gloucestershire is directed to furnish 500 painted bows, as well as the same number of white. In the famous battle of Cressy, which was fought in the year 1346, our chroniclers state that we had 2800 archers, who were opposed to about the same number of the French. The statement that the bows of the French, or rather their strings, were damaged by a shower of rain which Archery fell a short time before the engagement, seems to prove that by this time we used the long-bow, while the French archers shot with the arbalet; for the long-bow, when unstrung, may be conveniently covered, so as to prevent the rain's injuring it; whereas, from the form of the arbalet it cannot be conveniently sheltered from the weather.

At the above-mentioned battle the English ascribed their victory chiefly to the archers. The battle of Poictiers was fought in 1356, and gained by the same means.

Sometimes the archers obtained great victories without even the least assistance from the men-at-arms; as particularly the decisive victory over the Scots at Homildon in 1402. In that bloody battle the men-at-arms did not strike a stroke, but were mere spectators of the valour and victory of the archers. The French historian, Philip de Comines, agrees with our own writers in asserting that the English archers excelled those of every other nation; and Sir John Fortescue says again and again, "that the might of the realm of England standeth upon archers." The superior dexterity of their archers gave the English a great advantage over both the French and the Scots. The French depended chiefly on their men-at-arms, and the Scots on their pikemen; but the ranks of both were often thinned and thrown into disorder by flights of arrows before they could reach their enemies.

James I of Scotland, who had seen and admired the dexterity of the English archers, and who was himself an excellent archer, endeavoured to revive the exercise of archery among his own subjects, by whom it had been too much neglected. With this view he procured the following law to be made in his first parliament, in 1424, immediately after his return to Scotland: "That all men might busk thame to be archares fra the be 12 years of age; and that at ilk ten pounds worth of land thair be made bow markes, and specciallie near paroche kirks, quhairon upon halie dayis men may cum, and at the leist schute thryse about, and have usage of archarie; and whasa usis not archarie, the laird of the land sal rais of him a wedder; and giff the laird raisis not the said pane, the king's sharef, or his ministers, sal rais it to the king." But his death prevented the effectual execution of this law.

There is no act of parliament of Henry V. in relation to archery, and all the orders of Rymer till the battle of Agincourt relate to great guns, from which he seems at first to have expected more considerable advantage than from the training of bowmen. This sort of artillery, however, from its unwieldiness, from bad and narrow roads, and from other causes, was as yet but of little use in military operations. This king therefore ascribes his victory at Agincourt to the archers, and directs the sheriffs of many counties to pluck from every goose six wing-feathers for the purpose of improving arrows, which are to be paid for by the king.

In 1421, though the French had been defeated both at Cressy, Poictiers, and Agincourt, by the English archers, yet they still continued the use of the cross-bow; for which reason Henry V., as duke of Normandy, confirms the charters and privileges of the ballistarii, who had been long established as a fraternity in his city of Rouen.

In the fifth of Edward IV. an act passed, that every Englishman, and Irishman dwelling with Englishmen, shall have an English bow of his own height, which is directed to be made of yew, wych, hazel, ash, or awburne, or any other reasonable tree, according to their power. The next chapter also directs that butts shall be made in every township, which the inhabitants are obliged to shoot up and down every feast day, under the penalty of a half-penny when they shall omit this exercise.

In the 14th year, however, of this same king, it appears by Rymer's Fœdera, that 1000 archers were to be sent to the duke of Burgundy, whose pay is settled at sixpence a day, which was a considerable sum in those times, when the value of money was so much higher than it is at present. This circumstance seems to prove very strongly the great estimation in which archers were still held. In the same year Edward, preparing for a war with France, directs the sheriffs to procure bows and arrows, "as most specially requisite and necessary."

On the war taking place with Scotland, eight years after this, Edward provides both ordnance and archers; so that though the use of artillery, as we now term it, was then gaining ground, yet that of the bow and arrow was not neglected.

Richard III., by his attention to archery, was able to send 1000 bowmen to the duke of Bretagne; and he availed himself of the same troops at the battle of Bosworth.

During the reign of Henry VII., however, there appears no order relative to gunpowder or artillery; while, on the other hand, in 1488, he directs a large levy of archers to be sent to Brittany, and that they shall be reviewed before they embark. In the 19th year of his reign, the same king forbids the use of the cross-bow, because "the long-bow had been much used in this realm, whereby honour and victory had been gotten against outward enemies, the realm greatly defended, and much more the dread of all Christian princes, by reason of the same."

During the reign of Henry VIII., several statutes were made for the promotion of archery. The 8th Eliz. c. 10, regulates the price of bows; and the 13th Eliz. c. 14, enacts that bow-staves shall be brought into the realm from the Hans Towns and the eastward; so that archery still continued to be an object of attention in the legislature.

In Rymer's Fœdera there is neither statute nor proclamation of James I. on this head; but it appears, by Dr Birch's life of his son (Prince Henry), that at eight years of age he learned to shoot both with the bow and gun, while at the same time this prince had in his establishment an officer who was styled bow-bearer. The king granted a second charter to the Artillery Company, by which the powers they had received from Henry VIII. were considerably extended.

Charles I. appears, from the dedication of a treatise entitled The Bowman's Glory, to have been himself an archer; and in the eighth year of his reign he issued a commission to the chancellor, lord mayor, and several of the privy council, to prevent the fields near London being so inclosed as to "interrupt the necessary and profitable exercise of shooting;" as also to lower the mounds where they prevented the view from one mark to another.

Catharine of Portugal, queen to Charles II., seems to have been much pleased with the sight at least of this exercise; for in 1676, by the contributions of Sir Edward Hungerford and others, a silver badge for the marshal of the fraternity was made, weighing 25 ounces, and representing an archer drawing the long-bow (in the proper manner) to his ear, with the following inscription: Regina Catharina Sagittaria. The supporters are two bowmen, with the arms of England and Portugal. In 1682 there was a most magnificent cavalcade and entertainment given by the Finsbury archers, when they bestowed the titles of "Duke of Shoreditch," "Marquis of Islington," &c., upon the most deserving. Charles II. was present upon this occasion.

So late as the year 1753 targets were erected in the Finsbury fields during the Easter and Whitsun holydays, when the best shooter was styled captain for the ensuing year, and the second lieutenant.

Before the introduction of fire-arms the enemy could only be struck at a distance by slings, the bow used by the ancients, or the cross-bow; to all which the English long-bow was infinitely superior. As for slings, they never have been used in the more northern parts of Eu- Archery. rope by armies in the field; nor does their use indeed seem to have been at all convenient or extensively practicable, for two principal reasons: in the first place, slingers cannot advance in a compact body, on account of the space to be occupied by this weapon in its rotary motion; in the next place, the weight of the stones to be carried must necessarily impede the slingers greatly in their movements. The bow of the ancients, again, as represented in all their reliefs, was a mere toy compared with that of our ancestors; it was therefore chiefly used by the Parthians, whose attacks, like those of the present Arabs, were desultory. As for the cross-bow, it is of a most inconvenient form for carriage, even with the modern improvements; and, in case of rain, could not easily be secured from the weather. After the first shot, moreover, it could not be recharged under a considerable time, whilst the bolts were also heavy and cumbersome. The English long-bow, on the other hand, together with the quiver of arrows, was easily carried by the archer, as easily secured from the rain, and recharged almost instantaneously. It is not therefore extraordinary, that troops who solely used this most effectual weapon should generally obtain the victory, even when opposed to much more numerous armies.

It may be urged, that these losses having been experienced by our enemies, must have induced them to practise the same mode of warfare. But it is thought that the long-bow was not commonly used even in England till the time of Edward III., when the victory at Cressy sufficiently proclaimed the superiority of that weapon. It required, however, so much training before the archer could be expert, that we must not be surprised if, soon afterwards, this military exercise was much neglected, as appears by the preambles of several ancient statutes. While the military tenures subsisted, the sovereign could only call upon his tenants during war, who therefore attended with the weapons they had been used to, and which required no previous practice. On the other hand, the English archers were obliged by acts of parliament, even in time of peace, to erect butts in every parish, and to shoot on every Sunday and holyday; after repairing perhaps to these butts from a considerable distance; while the expense of at least a yew bow is represented as being a charge to which they were scarcely equal. The kings and parliaments of this country having thus compelled the inhabitants to such training, the English armies had, it should seem, the same advantage over their enemies as the exclusive use of fire-arms would give us at present.

It appears, also, by what has been already stated, that the long-bow continued to be in estimation for more than two centuries after gunpowder was introduced, which probably arose from muskets being very cumbersome and unwieldy. It is well known that rapid movements are generally decisive of the campaign; and for such the archers were particularly adapted, because, as they could not be annoyed at the same distance by the weapons of the enemy, they had scarcely any occasion for armour. The flower of ancient armies likewise was the cavalry, against which the long-bow never failed to prevail; and hence the great number of French nobility who were prisoners at Cressy, Poictiers, and Agincourt; for being dismounted, if not wounded, whilst they were also clad in heavy armour, they could not make their escape. The same reason accounts for the English obtaining these signal victories with so inferior numbers; for the nobility and gentry thus becoming prisoners, the other parts of the French army made little or no resistance. No wonder, therefore, that in England the greatest anxiety was shown to promote the exercise of this most important weapon, and that so many statutes were made for that purpose.

In Scotland, also, little less attention, though apparently not with equal success, was shown to the encouragement of the art. In both kingdoms it was provided that the importers of merchandise should be obliged, along with their articles of commerce, to import a certain proportion of bows, bow-staves, and shafts for arrows. In both every person was enjoined to hold himself provided in bows and arrows, and was prescribed the frequent use of archery. In both a restraint was imposed upon the exercise of other games and sports, lest they should interfere with the use of the bow; for it was intended that people should be made expert in the use of it as a military weapon, by habituating them to the familiar exercise of it as an instrument of amusement. As there was no material difference between the activity and bodily strength of the two people, it might be supposed that the English and Scots wielded the bow with no unequal vigour and dexterity; but, from undoubted historical monuments, it appears that the former had the superiority, of which one instance has been already narrated. By the regulations prescribed in their statute-book for the practice of archery, we find that the English shot a very long bow, those who were arrived at their full growth and maturity being prohibited from shooting at any mark that was not distant upwards of 220 yards.

In the use of the bow, great dexterity as well as strength seems to have been requisite. Though we hear of arrows at Chevy Chase which were a yard long, yet it is by no means to be supposed that the whole band made use of such, or could draw them to the head. The regulation of the Irish statute of Edward IV., viz. that the bow should not exceed the height of the man, is allowed by archers to have been well considered; and as the arrow should be half the length of the bow, this would give an arrow of a yard in length to those only who were six feet high. A strong man of this size in the present times cannot easily draw above 27 inches, if the bow is of a proper strength to do execution at a considerable distance. At the same time it must be admitted, that as our ancestors were obliged by some of the old statutes to begin shooting with the long-bow at the age of seven, they might have acquired a greater sleight in this exercise than their descendants, though the latter should be allowed to be of equal strength.

As the shooting with the long-bow was first introduced in England, and practised almost exclusively for nearly two centuries, so it has occasioned a peculiar method of drawing the arrow to the ear and not to the breast. That this is contrary to the usage of the ancients is very clear from their reliefs, and from the tradition of the Amazons cutting off one of their paps, as it occasioned an impediment to their shooting. The Finsbury archer is therefore represented in this attitude of drawing to the ear, both in the Bowman's Glory and in the silver badge given by Catharine to the Artillery Company.

As to the distance to which an arrow can be shot from a long-bow with the best elevation of 45 degrees, that must necessarily depend much both upon the strength and sleight of the archer; but in general the distance was reckoned from eleven to twelve score yards. The butts for exercise, as above noticed, were directed to be distant upwards of 220 yards. There is indeed a tradition, that an attorney of Wigan in Lancashire, named Leigh, shot a mile in three flights; but the same tradition states that he placed himself in a very particular attitude, which cannot be used commonly in this exercise. According to Neade, an archer might shoot six arrows in the time of charging and discharging one musket.

The archers consider an arrow of from 20 to 24 drop weight to be the best for flight or hitting a mark at a con- Archery. siderable distance, and that yew is the best material of which they can be made. As to the feathers, that of a goose is preferred; it is also wished that the bird should be two or three years old, and that the feather may drop off itself. Two out of three feathers in an arrow are commonly white, being plucked from the gander; but the third is generally brown or gray, being taken from the goose, and, from this difference in point of colour, informs the archer when the arrow is properly placed. From this most distinguished part, therefore, the whole arrow sometimes receives its name: and this, by the by, affords an explanation of the gray-goose wing in the ballad of Chevy Chase. Arrows were armed anciently with flint or metal heads, latterly with heads of iron: of these there were various forms and denominations. By an act of parliament made the 7th of Henry IV. it was enacted, That for the future all the heads for arrows and quarrels should be well boiled or brased, and hardened at the points with steel; and that every arrow-head or quarrel should have the mark of the maker: workmen disobeying this order were to be fined and imprisoned at the king's will, and the arrow-heads or quarrels to be forfeited to the crown.

Arrows were reckoned by sheaves, a sheaf consisting of 24 arrows. They were carried in a quiver, called also an arrow-case, which served for the magazine; arrows for immediate use were worn in the girdle. In ancient times phials of quicklime, or rather combustible matter, for burning houses or ships, were fixed on the heads of arrows, and shot from long-bows. This has been also practised since the use of gunpowder. Neade says he has known by experience that an archer may shoot an ounce of fireworks upon an arrow twelve score yards. Arrows with wildfire, and arrows for fireworks, are mentioned among the stores at Newhaven and Berwick in the 1st of Edward VI.

The force with which an arrow strikes an object at a moderate distance may be conceived from the account given by King Edward VI. in his journal; wherein he says, that 100 archers of his guard shot before him two arrows each, and afterwards altogether; and that they shot at an inch board, which some pierced quite through and struck into the other board; divers pierced it quite through with the heads of their arrows, the board being well-seasoned timber: their distance from the mark is not mentioned.

To protect our archers from the attacks of the enemy's horse, they carried long stakes pointed at both ends: these they planted in the earth, sloping before them. In the first of Edward VI., 350 of these were in the stores of the town of Berwick, under the article of archers' stakes: there were also at the same time eight bundles of archers' stakes in Pontefract castle.

To prevent the bowstring from striking the left arm, the arm is covered with a piece of smooth leather, fastened on the outside of the arm—this is called a bracer; and to guard the fingers from being cut by the bowstring, archers wore shooting gloves. Chaucer, in his prologue to the Canterbury Tales, thus describes an archer of his day:

And he was cladde in cote and hode of grene, A shefe of peacock arves bright and keen Under his belt he bare ful thriftily. Wel coude he drease his taked yemanly: His arves drooped not with fetheres lowe. And in his hand he bare a mighty bowe. A not-hed hadde he, with a browne visage. Of wood-craft coude he wel alle the usage. Upon his arme he bare a gale bracer, And by his side a sword and a bokeler, And on that other side a gale daggere, Harmesled wel, and sharpe as point of sperre: A Cristoffre on his breast of silver shene. An horne he bare, the bandrik was of grene. A forster was he soothely as I gesse.

Though archery continued to be encouraged by the king and legislature for more than two centuries after the first knowledge of the effects of gunpowder, yet by the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII., it seems to have been partly considered as a pastime. Arthur, the elder brother of Henry, is said to have been fond of this exercise, insomuch that a good shooter was styled Prince Arthur. We are also informed that he pitched his tent at Mile-End in order to be present at this recreation, and that Henry his brother also attended. When the latter afterwards became king, he gave a prize at Windsor to those who should excel in this exercise; and a capital shot having been made, Henry said to Barlow (one of his guards), "If you still win, you shall be duke over all archers." Barlow therefore having succeeded, and living in Shoreditch, was created duke thereof. Upon another occasion Henry and the queen were met by 200 archers on Shooter's hill, which probably took its name from their assembling near it to shoot at marks. This king likewise gave the first charter to the Artillery Company, in the 29th year of his reign, by which they are permitted to wear dresses of any colour except purple and scarlet—to shoot not only at marks, but birds, if not pheasants or herons, and within two miles of the royal palaces. They are also enjoined by the same charter not to wear furs of a greater price than those of the marten. The most material privilege, however, is that of indemnification for murder, if any person passing between the shooter and the mark is killed, provided the archers have first called out first.

The following description of an archer, his bow, and accoutrements, is given in a MS. written in the time of Queen Elizabeth. "Captains and officers should be skilful of that most noble weapon, and to see that their soldiers according to their draught and strength have good bowes, well nocked, well stringed, every stringe whipe in their nocke, and in the myddles rubbed with wax, braser and shuting glove, some spare stringes trymed as aforesaid, every man one shefe of arrows, with a case of leather defensible against the rayne, and in the same fower and twentie arrows, whereof eight of them should be lighter than the residue, to gall or astoyne the enemye with the hailshot of light arrows, before they shall come within the danger of the harquebuss shot. Let every man have a brigandine, or a little cote of plate, a skull or hulkyne, a mawle of leade of five foote in lengthe, and a pike, and the same hanging by his girdle, with a hook and a dagger; being thus furnished, teach them by musters to marche, shooe, and retire, keepeinge their faces upon the enemy's. Sumtyme put them into great nowmbers, as to battell aperteyneth, and thus use them often times practised, till they be perfecte; for those men in battel ne skirmish can not be spared. None other weapon maye compare with the same noble weapon."

The long-bow, as already observed, maintained its place in our armies long after the invention of fire-arms; nor have there been wanting experienced soldiers who were advocates for its continuance, and who in many cases even preferred it to the harquebus or musket. King Charles I. twice granted special commissions under the great seal for enforcing the use of the long-bow. The first was in the 4th year of his reign; but this was revoked by proclamation four years afterwards, on account of divers extortions and abuses committed under sanction thereof. The second, anno 1633, in the ninth year of his reign, to William Neade and his son, also named William, wherein the former is styled an ancient archer, who had presented to the king a warlike invention for uniting the use of the pike and bow, seen and approved by him and his council of war; whereof his majesty had granted them Archery, a commission to teach and exercise his loving subjects in the said invention, which he particularly recommended the chief officers of his trained bands to learn and practise; and the justices and other chief magistrates throughout England are therein enjoined to use every means in their power to assist Neade, his son, and all persons authorized by them, in the furtherance, propagation, and practice of this useful invention. Both the commissions and proclamation are printed at large in Rymer. At the breaking out of the civil war, the earl of Essex issued a precept, dated in November 1643, for stirring up all well-affected people towards the raising of a company of archers for the service of the king and parliament.

There are several societies of archers in England; but the most noted society of this kind now existing is The Royal Company of Archers, the King's Body Guard for Scotland. The ancient records of this company having been destroyed by fire about the end of the 16th century, no authentic traces of its institution now remain; but, from entries found in some of the old national records, this company must be of great antiquity. It is believed that the Royal Company owes its origin to the commissioners appointed in the reign of James I. of Scotland for enforcing and overseeing the exercise of archery in different counties. These commissioners, who were men of rank and power, picked out from among the better classes under their cognizance, the most expert bowmen, formed them into a company, and upon perilous occasions they attended the king as his chief body guard; and in that situation they always distinguished themselves for their loyalty, courage, and skill in archery. The rank of King's Body Guard for Scotland was from tradition understood to be vested in the Royal Company, and they accordingly claimed the honour of acting as body guard to his majesty King George IV. on the occasion of his visit to Scotland in 1822. His majesty was graciously pleased to recognise their claim, and the Royal Company were thus established as the King's Body Guard for Scotland. They attended his majesty at court and on all state occasions during his residence in Scotland, and accompanied him on his visit to Hopetoun House, from whence he embarked for London. The captain-general has since been appointed gold stick for Scotland, and the Royal Company now forms part of the household.

It appears from the minutes of the Royal Company now extant, that an act of the privy council of Scotland was passed in 1677, conferring on them the name and title of "His Majesty's Company of Archers," and granting a sum of money for a piece of plate to be shot for in that year as a prize; but no permanent king's prize was established until 1788, when his majesty George III., as a mark of his royal patronage and favour, was pleased to grant a sum of money to be shot for annually, to be named the king's prize, and to become the property of the winner. The gainer is bound to purchase a piece of plate, on which must be inscribed the king's arms, and the date when the prize was gained.

During the revolution in 1688 the Royal Company were opposed to the principles then espoused; and for many years they had to forego their public parades, and the company in consequence had nearly been annihilated. On the accession of Queen Anne, however, their former splendour was revived; and in the year 1703 a royal charter was granted, confirming all their former rights and privileges, and conferring others upon them.

Thus the Royal Company continued to flourish for a number of years; but their attachment to the family of Stuart was the cause at various times of a temporary prosperity and decline. These unhappy differences having long since terminated, the Royal Company, which consists of the principal nobility and gentry of Scotland, are now more prosperous, and perhaps more dexterous in the art of archery, than at any former period in their history.

The prizes belonging to this Royal Company, and which are annually shot for, are, 1st, A silver arrow, given by the town of Musselburgh, which appears to have been shot for as early as the year 1603. The victor in this, as in the other prizes, except the king's prize, has the custody of it for a year, then returns it with a medal appended, on which are engraved any motto and device which the gainer's fancy dictates. 2d, A silver arrow, given by the town of Peebles A.D. 1626. 3d, A silver arrow, given by the city of Edinburgh A.D. 1709. 4th, A silver arrow, given by the town of Selkirk, which was shot for in 1819, after an interval of 144 years. 5th, A silver punch bowl, made of Scottish silver, at the expense of the company, A.D. 1720, to which a gold medal has annually been attached. This prize can only be gained by three consecutive ends; and if not won during the summer, it is shot for as an ordinary prize at the end of the season. 6th, A gold medal, made of pagodas, being part of the money paid by Tippoo Sultan at the treaty of Serignapatam, and presented to the Royal Company by Major James Spens. 7th, An elegant silver vase and gold medal, presented by General John Earl of Hopetoun, in commemoration of the visit of George IV. to Scotland in 1822, called the royal commemoration prize, and which is shot for on the king's birth-day annually. These prizes are all shot for at the distance of 180 yards. There is another prize, which was given by Sir George Mackenzie of Coul, Bart., to the Royal Company, to be shot for at the distance of 200 yards, and is called the "Saint Andrew prize." These prizes are shot for at rovers, and, with the exception of the silver bowl, are gained by the person who counts the greatest number of points in a given number of ends.

Besides the above, there is another prize shot for, at the distance of 100 yards, being an elegant silver bugle-horn, presented to the Royal Company by one of the general officers, Sir Henry Jardine, Knt., and was shot for on 9th April 1830 for the first time.

There are also two prizes contended for at butts, or point blank distance, being 100 feet. The first is called the goose. The ancient manner of shooting for this prize was, by building a living goose in a turf-butt, having the head only exposed to view; and the archer who first hit the head was entitled to have the goose as his reward, and bore the title of Captain Goose for the season. This barbarous custom has long since been laid aside; and in place of the goose's head a small glass globe is put into the butt, of about an inch in diameter, and the archer who breaks this is declared victor, and is entertained by the company at dinner. He wears a medal which was presented by Major Spens, also made of Tippoo Sultan's pagodas. The other butt prize is a gold medal, which is shot for on the last Saturday of January, February, and March, annually, and is gained by him who counts the greatest number of points in the three days shooting.

The affairs of the Royal Company are managed by a council, consisting of seven, who are chosen annually at a general meeting of the members. The council is vested with the power of receiving or rejecting candidates for admission, and of appointing the officers of the company, civil and military.

The Royal Company consists of about 500 members. There are weekly meetings of members at Edinburgh, in the Meadows, when they exercise themselves in shooting at butts and rovers; and in the adjoining ground they have a handsome building called Archer's Hall, erected within these 50 years, where they dine, and hold their elections and other meetings relative to the business of the company. The field uniform of the Royal Company is of dark-green cloth, faced with black braiding, with a narrow stripe of crimson velvet in the centre. The hat is of the same colour, with a handsome medallion in front, and a plume of black feathers.

The Royal Company have two standards, which are very old. The first of these bears on one side Mars and Venus, encircled in a wreath of thistles, with this motto, "In peace and war." On the other side is a yew-tree, with two men dressed and equipped as archers, encircled as the former; motto, "Dat gloria vires." The other standard displays on one side a lion rampant, gules on a field or, encircled with a wreath; on the top a thistle and crown; motto, "Nemo me impune lacessit." On the reverse side St Andrew on the Cross, on a field argent; at the top a crown; motto, "Dulce pro patria periculum."

His late Majesty King William IV. presented the Royal Company of Archers, his Body Guard for Scotland, with new colours. The one combines both the old ones, with the words, "The Royal Company of Archers;" and the other bears the Royal Arms of Scotland, with the words, "King's Body Guard for Scotland." His Majesty also expressly confirmed the appointment of the Royal Company to be "the King's Body Guard for Scotland."