The 300th Recorded Meeting in the 336th year of The Society of Archers
ANTIENT SILVER ARROW
held at Scorton, North Yorkshire on Saturday 17th May 2008
The Rt Hon William Hague, M.P. (Richmond, Yorkshire) presents the Antient Silver Arrow to
Captain Elect, Guy Hair (Bowmen of St Mary’s Hull),
whilst 2008 Captain Drew Stapleton applauds in the background.
The Clerks Report
The 17th day of May 2008 dawned dull, wet and cold, the archers assembled for the historic 300th Recorded Meeting of the Antient Scorton Silver Arrow in the village of Scorton, North Yorkshire. The first such meeting was held in the same North Yorkshire village some 335 years ago in the year 1673.
Archers were called to assembly, under the flag of The Society, by the usual sounding of the Bugle. The usual greeting was given by the Captain, Drew Stapleton, welcoming archers to the 300th recorded meeting. The Clerk to the Society and Judges kept their announcements brief with the shoot commencing promptly at 10.30am.
No reds or black spot gold’s were scored at the first end so shooting continued. It wasn’t long before the word got around that there appeared to be one on target 15. This was soon confirmed with Guy Hair, from St. Mary’s Bowmen of Hull taking the honour of Captain elect. This wasn’t however, without competition with longbowman Peter Harling also hitting the black spot. The best red, and the Lieutenant elect went to past Captain Lewis Mitchell. A great sigh of relief sounded across the field as gentlemen congratulated Guy and Lewis on their achievements.
Shooting continued throughout the morning until 12.30 when the judges called the break for lunch. The lunch was taken in the marquee erected on the field especially for the occasion. A fine buffet meal was provided and ample wine to wash it down. Following the meal invited guests and those not having shot with the Captain in the morning were asked to leave to enable the Annual Meeting of the Society to take place. It was proposed at the meeting that as there was no pressing matters to discuss the day would continue without the usual open forum for discussion.
The afternoons shooting commenced again at 3.30pm and continued for a further 2 hours.
The Right Hon. William Hague, MP for Richmond, North Yorkshire together with his lady wife Mrs Hague, joined the field shortly after 4.30pm having been invited as the special guest of the Captain, Drew Stapleton. Mr Hague shared many a joke with the archers while mixing between the targets.
The presentation of the trophies was carried out jointly by The Right Hon. William Hague, MP for Richmond, North Yorkshire and the Captain’s Lady. The day was rounded off by a rousing speech from Mr Hague followed by the retiring Captain giving his thanks to all those involved in the organisation of the day.
TROPHY WINNERS 2008
Judges: Mr John Gilroy
| The Scorton Trophies | ||
| Captain of the Arrow | … | Guy Hair |
| Lieutenant of the Arrow | … | Lewis Mitchell |
| The Horn Spoon for Worst White | … | Bill Spencer & Steve Cook |
| The Ben Hird Sword for most Hits, Longbow | … | Alan Beaty |
| The Alain Holt Ladle for Highest Score, Longbow | … | John Geldard |
| The Thirsk Insignia for Yorkshiremen – born within the County | ||
| The Silver Arrow & Gold Quiver, for Highest Score | … | Adrian Hayes |
| The Thirsk Bugle for most Hits | … | David Nordoff |
| The Thirsk Silver Medal for Best Gold | … | Brian Maude |
| The Subscription Trophies | ||
| The Gold Medal for the Captain of Numbers | … | Adrian Hayes |
| The Gold Medal for the Highest Score | … | David Nordoff |
| The Phillips Cup for the Best Gold of the Meeting | … | Brian Maude |
| The Sweepstakes | ||
| Best Gold | … | Brian Maude |
| Second Best | … | Michael Dixon |
| Third Best | … | Guy Hair |
| Most Golds | … | Mark Farrow |
| Second Most | … | Paul Scudamore & David Nordoff |
| Third Most | … | Marc Grady, Albert Kiddy & Mick Winsett |
TOURNAMENT RESULTS 2008
144 Gentlemen entered the Competition of which 139 participated.
We also had the pleasure of the company of:
Adam Abbott, Nigel Bratton, Peter Croft, Pete Davies, Simon Elvidge, Geoff Gaunt,
Matt Garratt, Michael Hall, Paul Hepworth, Brian Hill, Ken Turner, Frank Lister,
John Owens and John Westcott
Together with Captain Drew Stapleton who retired to assist.
Alan Cowie, Colin Dawson, Michael Leach, Eddie Ryan and Danny Walsh
entered but did not shoot.
Minutes of the 300th Meeting – 17th May 2008
The Captain, Andrew Stapleton, called upon the people present to stand for the Loyal Toast to Her Majesty The Queen. He then asked those who had not shot with him during the morning to leave the marquee, before the AGM could begin. The Gentlemen present stood as a matter of respect while the visitors moved out.
The Captain then called for the toasts to the Society and the Arrow, The Captian Elect and Lieutenant Elect. A further toast was made to absent friends.
The then asked the Clerk to conduct the rest of the meeting, with the consent of the Gentlemen present.
The Assistant Clerk read the minutes of the 299th meeting. This was at the request of the Lieutenant martin Jordan. These were accepted as a true record and the Record Book duly signed by the Captain.
There were 6 apologies for absence.
• It was reported that 130 Commemorative Badges had been ordered and handed over today. The volume ordered had resulted in a surplus of £150. It was agreed that this surplus should be used to cover the cost of insurance for the day. The excellent quality of the badge was commented upon.
• Questions were asked about subsequent production of badges and the ownership and whereabouts of the die. It was agreed the Clerk would make enquiries with the manufacturer about a further production run and the resulting costs. It was also agreed that anyone who had not ordered a badge, but would like to own one, would pay a £30 returnable deposit, until final costs were known. Only archers attending today should be entitled to own and wear the badge. The Clerk was requested to make enquiries about the die being passed over from the manufacturer to the Society. The future of the die was also discussed, the majority being in favour of the die being ultimately destroyed to prevent future copies being made.
• The Captain reported how pleased he was to see so many Gentlemen present, and particularly proud to see archers from Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands.
• The Clerk reported that the Loyal Message and Rose had been sent to Her Majesty. No reply had yet been received.
• A notification has been received of the death of Norman Edwards. It was Norman who had crafted the replica Captains Arrow, and the Captains, and Lieutenants’ Brooches
• The Clerk presented the accounts for the approval of the members. A balance of £3,558.05 was shown in the Reserve Account, and £1008.19 in the Administration Fund. As agreed in 2007, the Society had subsidised today’s event by £250. The Scorton Village Feast Committee had also undertaken substantial fundraising activities to sponsor the marquee and scorers tents for today. Thanks were expressed to them through the Captain.
• Thanks were expressed to Adrian Hayes, who had made and presented a Longbow to the Society. An independent raffle was being held with the bow as the only prize.
• Philip Rolls provided information about the activities of the website during the year. Of particular note was that the grandson and great grandson of Ben Hird had been in touch and were here today. Thanks were offered to Philip for the work done with the website.
• Noel Lawrence at this point proposed that as this was such an auspicious occasion of the 300th Recorded Meeting, that we should draw the meeting to an immediate close and recommence shooting. Any other business could surely wait until next year. This proposal received enthusiastic support.
• A comment was raised about the Guidance Leaflet issued to all archers entering this year. Issue was taken with the mention and explanation of etiquette. The Clerk explained this had been produced to assist the many new archers who were expected to enter this year, and was only guidance.
The Clerk then closed the meeting at 15:02.
Also in the year 2008
Monarchy: Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Gordon Brown – Labour Party
Hull City Football Club are promoted to the Premier Football League
for the first time in their 104 year history.
In a palm-hut encampment, members of a previously ‘un-contacted’ Amazon tribe shoot arrows at a surveillance helicopter above the rain forest borderlands of Peru and Brazil. The black dyed (female) and red dyed (male) covering their bodies are thought to be made from crushed seeds and are believed to signal aggression, native-rights experts say.
The photograph realised on 30th May 2008 is one of several taken by officials from Brazil’s National Indian Foundation and are said to be proof that yet un-contacted, semi-nomadic tribes still do exist in the increasingly threatened Amazon rain forest, according to Survival International, an international indigenous-rights group.
“We are very confident the photos are genuine,” said Miriam Ross, a spokesperson for Survival International, which estimates that half of the hundred or so still un-contacted tribes in the world live in the rain forests of Brazil and Peru.
Due to their vulnerable immune systems, these groups are highly susceptible to diseases borne by outsiders such as missionaries, loggers, or oil workers.
From an Archery perspective, here you have living evidence of just how important the Bow and Arrow have become to mans defence, protection and dominance over other species and of course his hunting – with a style of shooting that is still carried on by Longbow Archers in our ‘modern’ world.
(Editors note: “If they had an email address we could send them details about Scorton!”)
