Definition of "fletcher"

This thing, if a man take not hede on, he may chaunce have cauſe to ſay ſo of his fletcher, as in dreſſinge of meate is commonlye ſayde of cookes: and that is, that God ſendeth us good feathers, but the devill noughtye fletchers.

1544 (date written; published 1571), Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions, of Shooting. […], London: […] Thomas Marshe; republished in The English Works of Roger Ascham, […], London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], and J[ohn] Newbery, […], 1761, book 2, page 148

In order that distant countries should be furnished with bowyers, fletchers, and arrow head makers, any of those workmen, not being freemen of London, might be sent by the appointment of the king's council, the lord chancellor, lord privy seal, or one of them, to inhabit the city, borough or town within the realm that was destitute of such artificers.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 38

Besides the bowyers and fletchers who made the bows and arrows, others were employed to keep them in repair: the pay of these men was sixpence a-day. Among the Tolls at Carlton Ride is the Account of the Clerk of the Privy Wardrobe, for armour, shot, &c., from 1372 to 1374; where, among many curious entries, occurs one “for the wages of two fletchers, each at vid. a-day, for going in the king's ships, and for the keeping and mending of bows and arrows in the said voyage".

1859, “The Arms, Armour and Military Usages of the Fourteenth Century”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, volume 206, page 14

An arrow maker is a fletcher, or, more exactly, one who feathers arrows.

1955, “Sticks and Strings (A pot-pourri on bow and arrows from an article in "Michigan Conservation")”, in The Bowhunter‎, number 5, page 29

I don't like using a fletcher, the single feather ones are too slow, and the three feather ones inaccurate.

1940, Archery News‎, volumes 19-27, page 35

A fletcher that mechanically takes care of gluing feathers to arrow shafts is a great help in either making or repairing arrows.

1941, School Shop‎, volume 1, page 12

Fletching jigs are available either as a single fletch unit or as a multi-fletcher, which can fletch up to six arrows at once.

2014, Brian J. Sorrells, Guide to the Longbow: Tips, Advice, and History for Target Shooting and Hunting‎

A fletcher is the tool that actually holds the arrow and sets the vane or feather in place while it is being glued.

1992, by Randolph J. Hempton, Michigan Out-of-doors‎, volume 46, page 72

Robert Frankham of Colchester, fletcher, or maker of bows and arrowy, did, by his will, dated the 20th of July, 1577, give a yearly rent-charge of thirteen shillings and four-pence out of a tenement and six acres of land in West Bergholt, for ever;

1810, The history and antiquities of the borough of Colchester, in the County of Essex‎

Very speedily the Fletcher arrived. It was his trade, the making of bows and arrows, and the marks of the various makers were as well known to him as the marks on his own.

1853, “A Narrative of Border Warfare”, in The United Service Magazine‎, page 402

[…] some of the best bows were made by Elven fletchers in the nearby woods to the east of the city.

2012, Shaun Robinson, A Knights Realm: Forsaken Rise‎, page 13

In the spring of 1415 Nicholas Mynot was ordered by an impatient Henry to take on another dozen fletchers at the Tower armoury workshop to step up production of the bows and arrows needed in France

2012, Nigel Jones, Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London‎, page 88