William Justice Ford

“ It was in 1865 that he first took an active part in first-class cricket, being then 6 ft. in height, and 11 stone in weight, and playing twice for the Gentlemen v. the Players, but his selection was mainly due to his bowling powers, the best exposition of which was his aggregate of 13 wickets for 84 runs for the Gentlemen of the South v. the Players of the South. His highest score was 400 not out, made in July 1876 against twenty-two of Grimsby; but on three occasions he was twice dismissed without scoring in matches against odds, a fate that never befell him in important cricket. ”

“ In the main, the nations whose migrations altered the face of Europe were not archers. Only with the Welsh, the Scandinavians, and the peoples in touch with the Eastern empire was the bow a favourite weapon. ”

“ Self-bows are even more apt to lose their shape than backed-bows, as there is no hard wood to counteract the natural grain. A bow that is strongly reflexed at the ends is known as a “Cupid’s bow.” To form the handle the wood of the bow is left thick in the centre, and braid, leather or indiarubber is wound round it to give a better grip. ”

“ At fifty-three he scored nearly 1300 runs in first-class cricket, made 100 runs and over on three different occasions and could claim an average of 42 runs. Moreover, his greatest triumphs were achieved when only the very best cricket grounds received serious attention; when, as some consider, bowling was maintained at a higher standard and when all hits had to be run out. ”

“ For the longer ranges lighter arrows are used. The Scottish clout was a piece of canvas, stretched on a frame; the range 180 or 200 yds.; all arrows counted one that were within 24 ft. of the target, the clout counting two. Modern archers have paid scant attention to mere distance-shooting, which is an art of its own, but their experiments prove that with a fairly heavy bow, say 60 ℔ or 63 ℔, and a long light arrow, known as a “flight arrow,” a good archer should be able to reach 300 or 310 yds. With a heavier bow, properly under control, 50 or 60 yds. might be added to this by a strong man. ”

“ The targets are set up in pairs, facing each other, the distances for men being 100, 80 and 60 yds.; for ladies, 60 and 50; for convenience, 5 yds. are added to allow for a shooting-line that distance in front of each target. The centre of the gold should be 4 ft. from the ground. Each archer shoots three arrows—an “end”—at one target; they then cross over and mark the scores. If an arrow cuts two rings, the archer is credited with the value of the higher one. ”

“ He never captured 200 wickets in a season, his highest record being 192 in 1875. Playing against Oxford University in 1886, he took all the wickets in the first innings, at a cost of 49 runs. In 1895 he not only made his hundredth century, but actually scored 1000 runs in the month of May alone, his chief scores in that month being 103, 288, 256, 73 and 169, he being then forty-seven years old. He also made during that year scores of 125, 119, 118, 104 and 103 not out, his aggregate for the year being 2346 and his average 51 ”

“ Similarly a lady’s bow on the average measures about 5 ft. 6 in. and her arrows 25 in. Modern bows are either made entirely of yew (occasionally of other woods) , when they are called “self-bows,” or of a combination of woods, when they are called “backed-bows.” Self-bows are rarely or never made in a single stave, owing to the difficulty of obtaining true and flawless wood of the necessary length; hence two staves joined by a double fish-joint, which forms the centre of the bow, are used, tested and adjusted so that they may be as equally elastic as possible. ”

“ The introduction of hand-firearms was naturally fatal to the bow as a warlike weapon, but the conservatism of the English, and the non-professional character of wars waged by them, added to the technical deficiencies of early firearms, made the process of change in England Decline as weapon.very gradual. The mercenary or professional element was naturally the first to adopt the new weapons. ”

“ One York Round only is shot on a day; a double York Round is shot, one on each day, at the more important meetings. Ladies usually shoot the “National Round” of 48 arrows at 60 yds. and 24 at 50 yds. At most meetings the prizes are awarded on the gross scores; at others, including the Championship meeting, on points, two points for the highest score on the round and two for most hits on the round, one point each for highest score and most hits at each of the three ranges, ten points in all. ”

“ The weight of an arrow is its weight in new English silver; a five-shilling arrow is heavy for a man’s bow, while four-shillings is light. A 28-in. arrow for a 50-℔ bow may weigh four-and-ninepence; a 27-in. ”

“ Better methods are (1) to deduct a percentage from the gross score of successful shooters, (2) to handicap by points, as in other pastimes, or (3) to rate a shooter according to the average of his last year’s performances, re-rating him monthly, or at convenient intervals, the system being to add his average of the current year to his average of last year, and divide the sum by two to form his new rating. ”

“ In team matches ladies shoot 96 arrows at 50 yds., gentlemen 96 at 60.
The Bow.—As used in the pastime of archery the length of the bows does not vary much, though it bears some relation to the length of the arrow and the length of the arrow to the strength of the archer, to which the weight of the bow has to be adapted. The proper weight of a bow is the number of ℔ which, attached to the string, will draw a full-length arrow to its head. For men’s bows the drawing-power varies from 40 to 60 ℔, anything above this being extreme ”

“ When this ground became unavailable, the shooting probably took place at Highbury, and later in 1820, on Lord’s cricket ground, the present ground in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park, near the Botanical Gardens, not being acquired till 1833. The society may be regarded as the most important body connected with archery, most of the leading archers belonging to it, though the Grand National Archery Society controls the public meetings. Among its more important events is the shooting of 144 arrows at 100 yds. ”