THE SCHOOLE OF SHOOTYNGE 49
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ure matter. Nowe sir ye have hearde howe a fether mustbe had, and that a goose fether onely. It foloweth of ayong goose and an oulde, and the residue belonging to afether : which thing I wy 11 shortlye course over : wherof , whenyou knowe the properties, you maye fitte your shaf tes accord-yng to your shotyug, which rule you must observe in all otherthynges too, bycause no one fashion or quantitie can befitte for every man, no more than a shooe or a cote can be.The oulde goose fether is styffe and stronge, good for awynde, and fyttest for a dead shaft: the yonge goose fetheris weake and fyne, best for a swyf te shaft, and it must becouled at the first shering, somewhat hye, for with shoting,it wyll sattle and faule very moche. The same thing (al-though not so moche) is to be consydered in a goose and agander. A fenny goose, even as her flesh is blacker, stoorer,unholsomer, so is her fether for the same cause courserstoorer and rougher, and therfore I have heard very goodfletchers saye, that the seconde fether in some place is betterthen the pinion in other some. Betwixt the winges is lytlediflEerence, but that you must have diverse shaftes of oneflight, fethered with diverse winges, for diverse windes:for if the wynde and the fether go both one way the shaftwyll be caryed to moche. The pinion fethers as it hath thefirste place in the winge, so it hath the fyrst place in goodfetheringe. You maye knowe it afore it be pared, by abought whiche is in it, and agayne when it is colde, by thethinnesse above, and the thicknesse at the grounde, and alsoby the stifness and finesse which wyll cary a shaft better,faster and further, even as a fine sayle cloth doth a shyppe.The coulour of the fether is leste to be regarded, yetsommewhat to be looked on : for a good whyte, you havesometyme an yll greye. Yet surelye it standeth with goodreason to have the cocke fether black or greye, as it were togyve a man warning to nocke ryght. The cocke fether iscalled that which standeth above in ryght nocking, which ifyou do not observe the other fethers must nedes run on thebowe, and so marre your shote. And thus farre of theP>odnesse and choyse of your fether: now foloweth the set-ting on. Wherin you must looke that your fethers be not^wen for hastinesse, but pared even and streyghte with4 so ROGER ASCHAM diligence. The fletcher draweth a fether when he hath butone swappe at it with his knyf e, and then playneth it a lytle,with rubbynge it over his knyfe. He pareth it when hetaketh leysure and hede to make every parte of the ryb aptto stand streight, and even on upon the stele. This thingif a man take not heede on, he maye chaunce have cause tosaye so of his fletcher, as in dressinge of meate is com-munelye spoken of Cookes: and that is, that God sendethusgood fethers, but the devyll noughtie Fletchers. Yf anyfletchers heard me saye thus, they wolde not be angrye withme, excepte they were yll fletchers : and yet by reason, thosefletchers too, ought rather to amend them selves for doingyll, then be angry with me for saying truth. The ribbe ina styffe fether may be thinner, for so it wyll stande cleaneron : but in a weake fether you must leave a thicker ribbe, orels yf the ryb which is the foundacion and grounde, wherinnature hath set everye clefte of the fether, be taken to nerethe fether, it muste nedes folowe, that the fether shall faule,and droupe downe, even as any herbe doeth whyche hathhis roote to nere taken on with a spade. The lengthe andshortnesse of the fether, serveth for divers shaftes, as along fether for a long heavy, or byg shafte, the shortefether for the contrary. Agayne the shorte may stande far-ther, the longe nerer the nocke. Your fether muste standealmooste streyght on, but yet after that sorte, that it mayetume rounde in flyinge. And here I consider the wonder-full nature of shootynge, whiche standeth all togyther bythat fashion, which is moste apte for quicke movynge, andthat is by roundenesse. For firste the bo we must be gath-ered rounde, in drawyng it must come rounde compasse,the strynge must be rounde, the stele rounde, the best nockerounde, the feather shome somwhat rounde, the shafte inflyenge, must tume rounde, and if it flye far, it flyeth arounde compace. For eyther above or benethe a roundecompace, hyndereth the flyinge. Moreover both the fletcherin makynge your shafte, and you in nockynge your shafte,muste take heede that two fethers equallye runne on thebowe. For yf one fether runne alone on the bowe, it shalquickely be wome, and shall not be able to matche with theother fethers, and agayne at the lowse, yf the shafte be
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