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War bow string theory

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nickf:
yew as a fencepost. Such a WASTE! ;)

without oxigen, there's very little to decay eh :p Keep that in mind :)

D. Tiller:
Problem with Linen strings when wet is that they mildew and rot! Think of the heat of battle and your string snaps because it rotted away after getting wet a week before in the rain. Hear come the French! There go the archers!!!  ;)

ChrisD:

--- Quote from: ratty on May 30, 2009, 03:15:41 pm ---
--- Quote from: bow-toxo on May 30, 2009, 02:30:55 pm ---
--- Quote from: staveshaver on May 30, 2009, 01:56:38 am ---Why then would Hemp, or Linen decay any faster than wood? ( such as on the Mary Rose) it is all cellulose.

--- End quote ---


The bows were not just any wood, but yew, which used to be used for fence posts because it was so resistant to decay. I guess the next question would be: "Then why didn't the arrows decay" Maybe someone has an answer to that. Maybe the varnish ?

--- End quote ---



half the hull of the ship survived and that was made of oak.

i must admit, ive never hered of yew being used as fence posts? :-\

--- End quote ---

There is a quote which I read long ago but stayed with me - 'A post of yew will outlast a post of iron'. No idea where I read it but it was written in the vernacular and iron was spelt 'yrn' I think.

I had a fence problem in my garden where the laths on top had rotted so as an experiment, I used a piece of yew sapwood about an inch thick bandsawed to the correct width and left untreated. 2 years have passed and there is no sign of decay at all!

C

staveshaver:
Is it possible that strings were not yet purchased or supplied for the bows? even as I ask that question it sounds unlikely. I think there were 138 bows found on the M.R.( correct me if I'm wrong) there had to have been at least 300 strings on board.  it is hard to believe not one would survive. As far as yew being resistant to decay , even if we allowed for yew outlasting iron; you're still only talking about 50 to 70 years at most. I don't know the exact number but I think it was 400 years under the sea.  Maybe the strings were not stored along with the bows .Though I admit I'm speaking through ignorance, the absence of bowstrings on the M.R. is to me a mystery. It seems to me that what ever preserved the bows and arrows would preserve the strings as well.

nickf:
since even leathergoods have been recovered, your theory probably makes sence.

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