the King of Spain should (out of revenge) send an emissary to attempt the
life of Queen Elizabeth, a number of noblemen of the Court formed
themselves into a body guard for the protection of her person, and under
the denomination of the 'Companie of Liege Bowmen of the Queene,' had many
privileges conferred upon them. The famous Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was
captain of this company, which was distinguished by the splendour of its
uniform and accoutrements. Upon the accession of James I. the company was
disbanded, although those who composed it retained the privileges which
had been conferred upon them by Elizabeth. Upon the breaking out of the
Civil wars Charles reorganized this bodyguard which attended him against
the Parliamentary forces, and afterwards emigrated with Charles II. At the
Restoration this company was maintained, and under the title of 'Royal
Company of Archers' received a new Charter, being the origin of the
present 'Royal Artillery Company' of London. About the time of the
institution of the Liege Bowmen of the Queen, a new kind of cross-bow was
constructed in Holland, by one Vander Foheman, having many advantages over
the old one. This he brought to England and it was purchased and adopted
by the Company.[6]

"An ARBALEST of Foheman's construction, bearing the date 1579, 3 feet 3
inches long, exquisitely carved out of black oak, is now in the possession
of A. Nossoc, Esq., the proprietor of a rare and valuable collection of
paintings by ancient masters. By this gentleman's kindness I have been
able to take a sketch of it, a copy of which I enclose. In these
instruments the impulse is not communicated to the arrow directly by the
string, but by means of a movable iron bridge, placed behind the string. I
subjoin outlines of the arrow used with this kind of bow, and also of its
lock.--(_See Cuts._)

"The end (_a_) of the arrow, Fig. 1., was placed against a small square