Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
Evidence OTHER than MR Bows of 120+ bows?
Del the cat:
--- Quote from: WillS on November 25, 2013, 08:41:49 pm ---Finding clear, straight yew probably wasn't an issue as much as finding yew dense enough to make huge numbers of high poundage artillery bows. ...
--- End quote ---
???!!!
I'd have though exactly the opposite.
AFIK there is no evidence to support the theory that the actual wood isn't good enough for bows.
If that were the case the bows wouldn't have evolved here!
We hadn't always imported Yew, we imported it because our supply was dwindling.
It's about supply and convenience.
If we can get the Italians to chuck a load of staves in every time they bring over a ship full of wine then we'd have been daft not to. It doesn't mean the wood was any better ... it was just convenience.
Two little tests.
a) Where do you get apples? Most people prob get 'em from the supermarket, even Mrs Cat gets 'em from there, yet for a good portion of the year they are free on the trees on public land in Harlow (I collect 'em and make cider ;D). Convenience!
b) If your employer said you had to bring two bags of soil into work each week else you would loose your job. Would you go and select the finest quality high altitude soil, or would you shovel up two bags from the most convenient point in your garden, possibly incorporating any cat crap that was lying about? Convenience.
Del
Del the cat:
From what I've seen of our Yew, you need to manage it or grow it in fairly dense thickets maximise the clean straight growth.
The places I've seen most staves per tree have been fallen trunks which have then sprouted with a line of tightly packed straight poles, and Pollarded Yews where the poles grow long and straight. These are both forms of management (the fallen Yew could have been simulated by being partly cut and bent down like laying a hedge. A perfectly normal technique)
Managing a copse or plantation of Yew doesn't take much time or effort, but it would take a lot of elapsed time. (prob just walk through twice a year rubbing off any buds, side shoots etc)
Woodland management needs planning and long term committment. If we suddenly wanted to ramp up production for war effort, we may well need to import (or outsource, to use the curent jargon ;) )
I don't know anything about how they grow at high altitude in Italy.
Del
WillS:
As far as I'm aware, the stuff growing oop high in the mountains is very different to ours. I guess that's why Stratton and Poletti guard it with their lives and you just can't get hold of it. At least, you couldn't for a long time.
One problem is that you can get hold of poor quality "Italian" yew which is the pale, wide-ringed timber you can find on eBay, or through a couple of notorious online bow makers. It doesn't make stunning bows and is very different to the really high-altitude Italian yew that I assume was used for the warbows.
Del the cat:
--- Quote from: WillS on November 26, 2013, 06:08:10 am ---As far as I'm aware, the stuff growing oop high in the mountains is very different to ours. I guess that's why Stratton and Poletti guard it with their lives and you just can't get hold of it. At least, you couldn't for a long time.
One problem is that you can get hold of poor quality "Italian" yew which is the pale, wide-ringed timber you can find on eBay, or through a couple of notorious online bow makers. It doesn't make stunning bows and is very different to the really high-altitude Italian yew that I assume was used for the warbows.
--- End quote ---
I think you have been indoctrinated... resistance is futile...you will be assimilated...
Del
WillS:
'Ere,'ang on. Aren't you basing your opinion on having seen one poor quality "seconds" bow made from coarse Italian yew?
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