Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
Evidence OTHER than MR Bows of 120+ bows?
adb:
I don't doubt it, but were does the 240 yard 'bow shot' distance come from?
Heffalump:
Hey Wills......wonder what our mate "Bip Pickerstaffe" would say to this.....
EXTRACTED FROM L’ART D’ARCHERIE
EDITED BY HENRI GALLICE CIRCA.1515 (translated 1901 from an old French manuscript for limited circulation)
FOURTH CHAPTER.
OF BOW STRINGS
________________________________________
“In the second part of this book, which will treat of bow strings, you will be told of the number of ways in which strings should be made, and of what the best are made. Bow strings are made of raw green silk and of hemp. Strings made of silk are good for flight shooting for three reasons, as Sexmodus tells us. The first is, that silk is so strong that it lasts longer without breaking than any other material. The second is, that the string can be made as thin as may be desired. The third is, that when properly made the string is so springy that it propels the arrow further and with greater force than when made of any other material The silk should be naturally green, and not burnt by dyeing, for it is spun green by silkworms. The other material of which strings are made is hemp, and this is of two kinds, male and female. The male is thick and coarse, and consequently is worthless for bow strings. The female sort is good, but it must be carefully picked and very well chosen. A good string should be gummed and not glued. The loop should be as small as possible, and well stretched with a stone weight (etendue fort a bonnes pierres de fais). And if you wish to know if a string is good, untwist the middle of it, and if the three strands are separate and distinct, it is a good one, provided always that when the string is twisted up again, it is hard and firm, for the harder it is, the better it will be”.
This, from a document compiled 100 years after Agincourt, from a series of even earlier essays. On balance, I tend to afford more credence to this information regarding historical accuracy on the capabilities of "stringfellowes" than Mr.B's somewhat more recent conclusions! LoL
John ;)
Heffalump:
Hmmm, “Bowshot”……(scratches head, acquires a splinter).....In my mind (not necessarily the most reliable resource) ::) this is firmly pegged at 240 yards.
The minimum practice distance laid down for men of 18 years and older in Henry VIII’s reign was 220 yards, whereas the specific “Shot in the Cloth of Gold”, which dates back to the shot that King Henry VIII demonstrated to King François I of France in the field by the same name between the French enclave of Ardres and the English enclave of Guines in Northern France. The measurement for the CoG shot is 12 score or 240 yards (220 metres). So maybe I'm getting my references mixed! LoL.
I’d be very interested to hear if anyone has located any firm documentary evidence to back up one distance or the other, it would be good to put this one to bed.
John :)
toomanyknots:
--- Quote from: Heffalump on November 06, 2013, 12:07:55 pm ---Hey Wills......wonder what our mate "Bip Pickerstaffe" would say to this.....
EXTRACTED FROM L’ART D’ARCHERIE
EDITED BY HENRI GALLICE CIRCA.1515 (translated 1901 from an old French manuscript for limited circulation)
FOURTH CHAPTER.
OF BOW STRINGS
________________________________________
“In the second part of this book, which will treat of bow strings, you will be told of the number of ways in which strings should be made, and of what the best are made. Bow strings are made of raw green silk and of hemp. Strings made of silk are good for flight shooting for three reasons, as Sexmodus tells us. The first is, that silk is so strong that it lasts longer without breaking than any other material. The second is, that the string can be made as thin as may be desired. The third is, that when properly made the string is so springy that it propels the arrow further and with greater force than when made of any other material The silk should be naturally green, and not burnt by dyeing, for it is spun green by silkworms. The other material of which strings are made is hemp, and this is of two kinds, male and female. The male is thick and coarse, and consequently is worthless for bow strings. The female sort is good, but it must be carefully picked and very well chosen. A good string should be gummed and not glued. The loop should be as small as possible, and well stretched with a stone weight (etendue fort a bonnes pierres de fais). And if you wish to know if a string is good, untwist the middle of it, and if the three strands are separate and distinct, it is a good one, provided always that when the string is twisted up again, it is hard and firm, for the harder it is, the better it will be”.
This, from a document compiled 100 years after Agincourt, from a series of even earlier essays. On balance, I tend to afford more credence to this information regarding historical accuracy on the capabilities of "stringfellowes" than Mr.B's somewhat more recent conclusions! LoL
John ;)
--- End quote ---
Very cool info! That is particularly interesting that they used 3 ply strings. I am totally stealing this quote to justify my 3 ply linen strings. :) Didn't know that the female hemp plant was preferred for strings as well. I wonder what "gummed" means? And I wonder about the construction of the hemp strings, if they spun a thread of used a different method for string construction. I would love to try to replicate a "gummed" nettle fiber string.
Del the cat:
I'd say the big problem is 'YARDS'
They didn't have good standardised weights and measures back then. So it's prob 240 paces...
And we all know, if you are pacing how far you can shoot there's a tendency to pace short to make it seem further... A bit like how a fisherman judges the length of his fish ::)
A big stride is maybe a yard, a normal walking pace is less.
Del
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