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How or why did the English become a bow culture?

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Dane:
Anyone have any theories, or is there historical documentation or theories about this? I've been moving in the direction of the Asiatic compsite bows, and it doesn't take a genious to figure out why nomadic peoples and peoples living in places like China, Mongolia, Egypt, Mespotamia, etc. would develop that kind of bow.

But how did the English become a bow culture, at least in war? I was just glancing through some materials about the Germanic (Germanii to the Romans) tribes that overran and settled in what we call England now (Anglii, Saxons, etc.). Did they bring the bow to the island? Did the Celts and other indigenous peoples of England not use the bow in hunting and war? Anglo Saxons certainly did not focus on the bow as a war weapon (I belive), and the Norse too had a different take on warfare, using the sword, shield, spear, and sometimes the axe. Probably far more Seaxs in use in England for long after the Germans arrived than any other kind of weapon.

So, all that said, how did the English evolve the war bow?

D. Tiller:
Hey Dane! Well from  what I read it was during the conquest of the Welsh that they were on the receiving end of massed volleys of arrows. Seeing this they soon discovered that it was an effective way of taking down their enemies since it was done to them so often by the Welsh. Then over a number of years they developed their own archers and further developed the English Warbow and tactics to meet their needs on the field.

About all I know on the subject!


David T

Loki:
Britons have a history of Archery dating back 6,000yrs,the Rottom bottom Bow and Ashcott/ Meare Heath Bows are hunting Bows from the late stone early metal Age.The Brythonic tribes are/were NOT 'Celts'! the Celtic migration theory was bollicks when it was written over a hundred years ago,DNA proves the so called 'Celts' on the west fringes of the Isles are descended from the Neolithic people who first settled here from Iberia (the ones who built the henges) when the ice retreated.
well anyway,when the Danes came to the North East they allready hasd a culture of using Bows for Wars,as you say it wasnt a wide spread use of the Saxon Army's (Like Roman's they prefered to fight as Infantry) but some Bowmen would of been present with the Saxon fyrd,village hunters and such,nothing special.
Saying that,the Hadrada was killed by a arrow at Stamford Bridge so the Hunters present cant have been all that bad!
After that lucky dog the Conqueror (cant believe he won that one!) defeated Godwinson at Hasting's and the Norman conquerors pushed into what is now Wales (Waelsh is a Saxon word meaning Foreignor,the bloody cheek!) they came up against the Wych elm Bows of the Brythonic Welsh,by all accounts these weapons were of a high draw weight,capable of killing armoured men,saddles horses etc,i'm sure you know the quote.
King Edward liked these Welsh lads and there Bows,he incorporated them into his Army's and changed the English laws to gain a supply of excellent Archers  ;D.The English archer's and Bowyer's developed the Bow into a WarBow of Yew,importing the best wood from all over Europe to make the best weapons possible for killing Scotsmen and the French.

Something like that  :D
 

SimonUK:
It's my understanding that most if not all of the groups in northern Europe used bows in war around that time. But the Welsh must have had particularly good bows and were skillful archers. An English king (?Edward 1st) adopted the bow as a major weapon of war after seeing what the Welsh could do with it against his own armies. In fact he recruited Welsh bowmen into the english army to fight against the Scots with great success at Falkirk.

Dane:

--- Quote from: Loki on May 25, 2007, 07:31:26 pm ---Britons have a history of Archery dating back 6,000yrs,the Rottom bottom Bow, Ashcott and Meare Heath Bows are hunting Bows from the Iron Age.The Brythonic tribes are/were NOT 'Celts'! the Celtic migration theory was bollicks when it was written over a hundred years ago,DNA proves the so called 'Celts' on the west fringes of the Isles are descended from the Neolithic people who first settled here from Iberia (the ones who built the henges).
well anyway,when the Danes came to the North East they allready hasd a culture of using Bows for Wars,as you say it wasnt a wide spread use of the Saxon Army's (Like Roman's they prefered to fight as Infantry) but some Bowmen would of been present with the Saxon fyrd,village hunters and such,nothing special.
Saying that,the Hadrada was killed by a arrow at Stamford Bridge so the Hunters present cant have been all that bad!
After that lucky dog the Conqueror (cant believe he won that one!) defeated Godwinson at Hasting's and the Norman conquerors pushed into what is now Wales (Waelsh is a Saxon word meaning Foreignor,the bloody cheek!) they came up against the Wych elm Bows of the Brythonic Welsh,by all accounts these weapons were of a high draw weight,capable of killing armoured men,saddles horses etc,i'm sure you know the quote.
King Edward liked these Welsh lads and there Bows,he incorporated them into his Army's and changed the English laws to gain a supply of excellent Archers  ;D.The English archer's and Bowyer's developed the Bow into a WarBow of Yew,importing the best wood from all over Europe to make the best weapons possible for killing Scotsmen and the French.

Something like that  :D
 

--- End quote ---

Egads, sorry about bringing in those Celts...they were fond of plaids, after all :)

Seriously, thanks, you guys...you have to look at the Welsh, eh?

You can thank those Norse for tiring out Harlod, and after all, if it wasn't for William, England would still maybe be a Germanic country.

So, can you take a stab at how the Welsh developed their bows? Or is that totally impossible thus far in archeology and history?

 

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