_OF BRACING, OR STRINGING, AND NOCKING_
In the previous chapters such plain directions have been given
concerning the various implements of archery as will enable each archer
to provide himself with the best of the kind that his inclinations or
means may lead him to adopt, and to enable him to avoid such as are in
themselves radically bad, or likely to add to the difficulties he is
sure to meet with before arriving at any great or satisfactory
proficiency in the art. Having been thus enabled to form a choice as to
his weapons, he must now be guided in their use; and, in the first
place, there are a few minor matters that cannot be altogether passed
over in silence. The first of these is the _bracing_ or _stringing_ of a
bow, which may be considered as the first preliminary operation to
actual shooting. This is the act of _bending_ the bow, when unstrung,
sufficiently to enable the archer to slip the upper _eye_ of the string
into the _nock_ of the upper horn. To effect this, the usual method is
to set the lower horn of the bow (its back being turned towards the
archer) on the ground, against the inside of the right foot, this being
turned a little inward so as to prevent the horn from slipping out of
place. Then, the handle being firmly grasped with the right hand, and
the lower or wrist-part of the left hand being rested upon the upper
limb of the bow a few inches below the upper eye of the string, a strong
steady pull must be applied with the right hand at the handle (the left
hand and right foot forming the _points d'appui_) so that the bow may be
bent, whilst the thumb and second joint of the first finger, or
preferably the tips of the first and second fingers of the left hand,
carry the eye of the string into the nock. Novices must be particularly
careful that they do not get either of the fingers entangled between the
string and the bow.
In stringing the bow, it is quite unimportant whether it be held in the
right or left hand; but if the finger-tips be worn on the right hand, it
is better to use this hand for the purpose of grasping the bow, rather
than for helping the eye of the string into its place.
To unstring the bow, the action is the same as in the final position of
stringing it, except that the eye of the string is slipped out of the
horn.
To string and unstring a bow gracefully and without apparent effort is
an affair rather of knack than of much strength or force, and is
therefore only to be learnt with a certain amount of practice. The
archer must keep, as far as possible, an upright position, as to crouch
over the operation is ungainly, and interferes with the satisfactory
application of the necessary amount of effort.
The bow being now strung, two things must be carefully noted: first,
that the bend of the bow be neither too much nor too little; and
secondly, that the string starts from both horns exactly at the centre
of each--i.e. no atom either to the right or left, but dividing the bow
precisely in half from end to end. If this latter caution be not
observed the grain of the bow runs considerable risk of being
unnaturally strained, and the bow itself of being pulled away and out of
its proper shape, and sooner or later breaking in consequence. It is
even possible that the correct cast itself may be more or less
disadvantageously affected by any carelessness on this point. This is
one of the many minutiæ of archery, which is of more importance than may
at first sight appear, and should always be attended to before the bow
is allowed to discharge a single arrow. During the shooting, too,
attention should be occasionally directed to the string, to observe
whether the loop may not have slipped a little away, as it may sometimes
unavoidably do. If a second eye has been added to the string in the
place of the loop, the string will be much more easily adjusted, and
then there will be no fear of its getting away during the shooting. As
regards the first point--namely, the amount of bend in a bow when
strung--it has been already stated that in a man's bow the distance of
the inside of the handle from the string should scarcely ever be less
than six inches. The advantages of having the bow low-strung are that
the bow casts quicker and farther (owing to the greater length the arrow
is acted upon by the string), and that the bow, and also the string, are
less strained, and consequently in less danger of breaking; but to be
balanced against these advantages is the fact that the danger of
striking the armguard before the extreme point of the string's recoil
(already shown to be fatal to accurate shooting) is greater, and the
cast may be somewhat less steady.
It has been immemorially customary to ascertain the amount of the bend
of the bow when strung, by placing the fist upright upon the inside of
the handle (at the centre of the bow), at the same time raising up the
thumb towards the string; if the string then just touches the extremity
of the thumb the bracing is supposed to be tolerably correct. This is
not, however, an infallible test, as the size of hands of different
individuals varies considerably; but each archer can ascertain how far
his own hand, placed in the above way, varies from the old-fashioned
measure of six inches, known as a _fistmele_, and, bearing this
constantly in mind, may ascertain the bracing of his bow as accurately
as if his own fistmele were the exact six inches.
The _nocking_ of the arrow must now be considered. This is the
application of the nock of the arrow to its proper place on the string.
Simple as this operation may at first sight appear, yet there is a right
way and a wrong way of doing it; and as the wrong way leads to the
injury and disfigurement of the bow, let the beginner acquire the right
method at first, as follows:--
The bow being held somewhat downwards by the handle with the left hand,
with the string upwards, let the arrow be placed with the right hand
_over_ the string (not on any account _under_ the string, as this latter
method of nocking is sure to lead sooner or later to the disfigurement
of the belly of the bow, by numerous stabs inflicted upon it by the
sharp point of the arrow) upon that part of the bow (close to the
forefinger of the left hand) upon which it is to lie; the thumb of the
left hand (not the forefinger) being then gently placed over it will
serve to hold it perfectly under command, whilst the forefinger and
thumb of the right hand take hold of the nock end of the arrow, and
manipulate with perfect ease the application of the _nock_ to the proper
_nocking-place_ on the string. Five minutes' practice will suffice to
render this method of nocking easy and familiar. But if the archer be
afraid of unsteadying his hold upon the handle of the bow by shifting
his left thumb on to the arrow, as above described, let him hold the
arrow with his right hand just above the feathers, and so apply the nock
to the string without assistance from the left thumb. This method is,
however, somewhat more awkward-looking.
The centre of the nocking-place should be exactly upon that point of the
string which is opposite to the spot on the bow over which the arrow
will pass when shot--i.e. the arrow when nocked must be precisely
perpendicular to the string. If the arrow be nocked at a lower point, it
will beat itself against the forefinger of the left hand, and thereby
waste some of the energy that should be applied to its flight. On the
other hand, if the arrow be nocked at a higher point, the drawing will
be commenced from a point not contemplated in the manufacture of the bow
when the compensated strength of the upper and lower limbs is arranged
for a fulcrum not exactly central. Care must be taken that the
nocking-part of the string exactly fits or fills the nock of the arrow.
The hold of the nock upon the string must be neither too tight nor too
loose; if the first, the nock may, and probably will, be split; and if
the second, the shaft is apt to slip whilst in the act of being drawn,
and the nock will be broken, or the correct elevation and proper flight
of the arrow will be lost.
A word of warning must be added for the young archer against attempting
to alter the range of his arrow by varying the nocking-place. For the
reasons above given, a worse system could not be adopted.