cloth yard

a unit of measure for cloth, formerly 37 inches (0.93 meter), now the equivalent of the standard yard (0.91 meter); 36 inches; 3 feet.

Origin of cloth yard

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75

Very few fled, very few had the opportunity of flying; for the cloth-yard shaft never missed its aim.

The Eighteen Christian Centuries |James White
No answer came, for the English archers stood silent, holding each a cloth-yard arrow ready for the string.

With the Black Prince |William Osborn Stoddard
Know then that the sheath is one cloth-yard, in length, marked off according to feet and inches to serve me as a measuring wand.

The White Company |Arthur Conan Doyle
Fork-headed shafts of a cloth-yard in length, and these shot within the breadth of a French crown, are sting enough.

The Literary World Seventh Reader |Various

He was a mighty archer with those national weapons, the long-bow and the cloth-yard shaft.

From Chaucer to Tennyson |Henry A. Beers