bowsman

noun

1. A sailor who works in the bow of a vessel.

   “Being the savage's bowsman, that is, the person who pulled the bow-oar in his boat (the second one from forward), it was my cheerful duty to attend upon him while taking that hard-scrabble scramble upon the dead whale's back.”

2. An archer.

   “Whether from natural ailment, or disease engendered by the place he dwelt in, his strength had for many months past ebbed away, till at last he could no longer take his axe from the ingle nook, nor his bow from its crocks over the chimney. The best axeman and best bowsman on Avon side had become helpless as a puling infant.”

   “The Des Moines archery club returned from Chicago a few weeks ago laden with trophies won in a contest with the Chicago bowsmen and bowswomen.”

   “The annual meet of the National Archery Association will take place at the Soldiers’ Home next week, commencing on the 27th. It will be a merrie^([sic]) meet, and all the skilled bowsmen and bowswomen in the districts are expected to compete for the admirable prizes.”

   “But the bowsmen (and bowswomen, too) took off their shoes and socks and began pouring arrows into the 48-inch archery targets as the field rapidly dried.”

   “Gregg says: “There is hardly any more effective weapon than the bow and arrow in the hands of an expert archer. While the musketeer will load and fire once, the bowsman will discharge a dozen arrows, and that, at a distance under fifty yards, with an accuracy nearly equal to the rifle.[…]””