Significance of Finsbury Fields

Archery contests are held each year at Finsbury Fields. At the end of the meadow stand booths covered in striped canvas for the archers. Different colored flags hang from high staffs to identify the archers and what village or town they come from. Attendants run in and out with ale and beer, and extra bow strings and sheaves of arrows. On each side of the meadow are wooden booths that are raised to very great heights. On the north side is a raised dias set for the King and Queen, and hung with great streamers of silken pennants of red, blue, green and white. The targets are set eighty yards from the archers.