RICHMOND:
database file source="h:/!Genuki/RecordTranscriptions/NRY/RichmondGuide.txt"
Robinson's Guide to Richmond (1833)
Part 12
Archery
Archery
BEFORE the English nation attained the
naval superiority of which she now so justly boasts, the main
defence of the kingdom lay in the stout arms and sturdy hearts
of the yeoman-archers; and however the prowess of individual knights
might be extolled, the archers, as a body, were the main agents
in gaining those victories which, though productive of no direct
benefical consequences, gave England a temporary advance in the
scale of nations. The use of fire-arms banished from the field
both the lance of the knight and the bow of his vassals; but the
use of the latter is still preserved "as a wholesome exercise
for the health and strength of mens' bodies,"-and has been
zealously kept up for a number of years by the inhabitants of
Richmond and the neighbourhood.
The earliest record of the Richmond archers, is a body of regulations
drawn up in the year 1673: they award, as the captain's prize,
a Silver Arrow, which still continues to be shot for every year.
It is supposed to have been the gift of Henry Calverley, Esq.,
by whom it was won at the first contest after the regulations
were established. In addition to this, a subscription Silver Cup
has been annually contested for, ever since the year 1818; and
is given to the archer who pierces the target nearest to its centre:-
this prize, moreover, is renewed yearly, and becomes the property
of the winner; whilst the arrow gives but an honorary possession
until won by another; there are, also, several minor prizes shot
for at the same time.
Data transcribed from:
Robinson's Guide to Richmond (1833)
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