Main Discussion Area > English Warbow

New Year Shooting at the Medieval Butts

<< < (15/22) > >>

ChrisM:

--- Quote from: Horace Ford on December 31, 2009, 10:52:39 pm ---from EWBS website
"An archery butt was nothing special in itself; it consisted usually of an earth bank, about the height of a man and probably as wide and as deep again. These would be allowed to grass over and upon which a target of cloth or paint could be put.

If you advertise a shoot at medieval butts, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that you'd be shooting at something that resembles the description above, and not a hay bale, after all the description is taken from the EWBS website. The last time I looked there were no hay bales depicted in the Lutteral Psalter

--- End quote ---

"usually", a useful word. A straw stack seems to me like an excellent alternative - then, as now - for a shoot held out of town. All that damned earth with pointy bits in it is a bitch to carry around.

Rod:
So it's a bale and not an earthen butt.
Unless you wish to sue under the Trade Description Act, I suggest that having made the point we let it go.

If a  landowner could be found who allowed construction of the butts and regular access for shooting at them, then it would perhaps be worth the trouble of constructing some earthen butts to an agreed size.
It is something I have contemplated.

I say agreed size, since an accepted format might prove useful for the purposes of comparison, should the day arrive when that is considered acceptable.

I agree with Jeremy that in mediaeval times it is likely that there was local variation in practice, though laws were passed from time to time prohibiting shorter distances so as to encourage strong shooting.

Nonetheless, to call targets of a standard size and recording scores a Victorian obsession is perhaps more a reaction against lawn archery and its lineal descendents GNAS and FITA target shooting than a balanced comment on past practice.

Whilst it is true that hits were in the past considered the real criterion, the use of a target of a more or less standardised size is ancient, since it has long been understood that a hit on a given sized mark at the distance offers a truer basis for comparison than hits on targets of different sizes.

As for continuing comment on user names, that could become a sport in it's own right.  ;)
Better to let it rest.

Rod.

Dane:
Hello everyone.

Hopefully, someone here can answer a question I posted a while back, but didn't get any definative answers.

I have the opportunity to build a replica earthen butt on my club's grounds. What I need to understand is what a medieval earthern butt looked like. How big in diameter it was, how tall was it, did it have sloping sides or just one side flattened for target placement, what kinds of targets do we think were used and how were they attached? Was the butt covered in grass or sod? Do they take a lot of maintenance?

It seems there are few if any replica soil medieval butts in existance, in England or elsewhere. I'd like to be able to build one (the size of the field I will construct on will allow only one butt, but that is far better than none :) ). I have the earth moving equipment at my disposal, and the labor, but need to design the thing and get started. I'm stuck on the design.

Can anyone help?

Thank you,

Dane

Jaro:
Contact Hugh Soar.

Dane:
Does he hang out here, or does he have a website or email to contact him?

Dane

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page