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Article KILWINNING, AND THE KILWINNING ARCHERS. ← Page 4 of 4 Article WINGED WORDS OF ANCIENT ARCHERS. Page 1 of 2 →
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Kilwinning, And The Kilwinning Archers.
Captain of the Archers then shot an arrow far and hi gh over the church roof , in token that his turn of office was expired , and the archers once more proceeded to parade the streets of Old Mother Kilwinning , till they arrived at the Cross : where , according to ancient use and wont , a ring was formed , and dancing commenced , the Ayrshire lassies nothing loth or daunted by the wetness of the ground from a recent thunder
shower . The old natives were heard to say in the gladness of their hearts , " It ' s juist the auld way ! " There was a moral in the spectacle , indeed , during the whole day . All ranks and classes , ancl even sexes , seemed to feel a congenial interest in the pastime , which must have had a still stronger social influence and importance in the days of the " Weaponschawings . " The reader will probably recollect the picture in the " Tales of My Landlord " of these re-unions .
Winged Words Of Ancient Archers.
WINGED WORDS OF ANCIENT ARCHERS .
HEBREW . THE earliest reference to the practice of Archery that occurs in the Old Testament is in Genesis , chap , xxi , where Hagar is described as sitting clown to watch her son Ishmael , " a good way off , as it were , a bow-shot . " And again , in the same chapter , where it is said that Ishmael " dwelt in the wilderness , and became an archer . " The chosen people , however , do not seem to have been so expert in
the use of the bow , as many of the nations with which they were surrounded . The Philistines in particular appear to have excelled them , and to have owed their victory over Saul chiefly to the use of that weapon— " And the battle went sore against Saul , and the archers hit him , and he was sore wounded by the archers . " Jonathan , Saul ' s son , nevertheless , was an accomplished archer , and the bow which he bore he gave to David as one of the special pledges of faith and of regard— " And , Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him , and gave it to David , and his garments , even to his sword
and to his bow , and to his girdle . " In the beautiful episode of these two friends , when the father of Jonathan sought David ' s life , we learn that the practice of shooting at a mark was familiar with the archers of those days , and was used as a princely pastime . The little lad who ran for the arrow presents an interesting feature in the picture . And it is an incident worthy of remark to the toxophilite , that Jonathan carried three arrows to the field—the same number that is still in use in shooting . The stone "Ezel" whereor near whichDavid lay concealed b -
, , , y agree ment with Jonathan , and beside which the latter was to shoot , * signified ] , according to marginal annotation , " that pointeth the way . " But it would be unreasonable to suppose this to have been a public road sign , as such a situation would never have been chosen by the sworn friend for the place of their stealthy meeting . Possibly Ezel meant one of those stone marks , known in modern times to have marked the shoot-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Kilwinning, And The Kilwinning Archers.
Captain of the Archers then shot an arrow far and hi gh over the church roof , in token that his turn of office was expired , and the archers once more proceeded to parade the streets of Old Mother Kilwinning , till they arrived at the Cross : where , according to ancient use and wont , a ring was formed , and dancing commenced , the Ayrshire lassies nothing loth or daunted by the wetness of the ground from a recent thunder
shower . The old natives were heard to say in the gladness of their hearts , " It ' s juist the auld way ! " There was a moral in the spectacle , indeed , during the whole day . All ranks and classes , ancl even sexes , seemed to feel a congenial interest in the pastime , which must have had a still stronger social influence and importance in the days of the " Weaponschawings . " The reader will probably recollect the picture in the " Tales of My Landlord " of these re-unions .
Winged Words Of Ancient Archers.
WINGED WORDS OF ANCIENT ARCHERS .
HEBREW . THE earliest reference to the practice of Archery that occurs in the Old Testament is in Genesis , chap , xxi , where Hagar is described as sitting clown to watch her son Ishmael , " a good way off , as it were , a bow-shot . " And again , in the same chapter , where it is said that Ishmael " dwelt in the wilderness , and became an archer . " The chosen people , however , do not seem to have been so expert in
the use of the bow , as many of the nations with which they were surrounded . The Philistines in particular appear to have excelled them , and to have owed their victory over Saul chiefly to the use of that weapon— " And the battle went sore against Saul , and the archers hit him , and he was sore wounded by the archers . " Jonathan , Saul ' s son , nevertheless , was an accomplished archer , and the bow which he bore he gave to David as one of the special pledges of faith and of regard— " And , Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him , and gave it to David , and his garments , even to his sword
and to his bow , and to his girdle . " In the beautiful episode of these two friends , when the father of Jonathan sought David ' s life , we learn that the practice of shooting at a mark was familiar with the archers of those days , and was used as a princely pastime . The little lad who ran for the arrow presents an interesting feature in the picture . And it is an incident worthy of remark to the toxophilite , that Jonathan carried three arrows to the field—the same number that is still in use in shooting . The stone "Ezel" whereor near whichDavid lay concealed b -
, , , y agree ment with Jonathan , and beside which the latter was to shoot , * signified ] , according to marginal annotation , " that pointeth the way . " But it would be unreasonable to suppose this to have been a public road sign , as such a situation would never have been chosen by the sworn friend for the place of their stealthy meeting . Possibly Ezel meant one of those stone marks , known in modern times to have marked the shoot-