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Why white fletchings?

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youngbowyer:
When one thinks of or makes a medieval arrow one usually thinks of white fletchings. Most people on the forum that post pics of arrows have fletchings that are white but why? in poems and documents you often hear,"the grey goose of england" or "the grey goose fletchings" etc... So wouldn't an arrow with grey goose feathers be more accurate?

Tom.

Loki:
Goose feathers are not commercially available so we use Turkey feathers,if you want to use Goose you have to collect them yourself from the molting birds.Same goes for Swan feathers,you can use them if your prepared to do the work :) .
Turkey feathers come in all colours,i've used Brown,Green,Black and white for my arrows.

Scowler:
Perhaps it is because that white fletchings are easier to see when they are in the target.  White fletchings are easy to see when/if you have to look for arrows in the grass.  Not so easy to see in the snow, however. 

Rhinegold:

--- Quote from: youngbowyer on November 02, 2009, 07:48:09 pm ---When one thinks of or makes a medieval arrow one usually thinks of white fletchings. Most people on the forum that post pics of arrows have fletchings that are white but why? in poems and documents you often hear,"the grey goose of england" or "the grey goose fletchings" etc... So wouldn't an arrow with grey goose feathers be more accurate?

--- End quote ---
I know why I'd prefer white feathers...they are cheaper.

From Hugh Soar's book:

England were but a fling
But for the crooked stick and the gray goose wing

Rod:
In contemporaneous illustrations the fletches shown on livery shafts are usually white.

This is also the predominant colour of the domesticated goose from which feathers were taken.
It was the custom before the advent of the railways to tar the feet of flocks of geese and drive them slowly to market over quite long distances.

It would be interesting to trace the genesis of the "gray goose wing" which as far as I am aware seems to owe it's use to the romantic literature of a later period.

Rod.

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