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Archery Pages
Search the internet and you’ll get a wide range of hits for longbows and
traditional archery, some stuff more accurate than others. There has been more
research on longbows in recent years driven to some extent by the archery finds
on the Mary Rose. Robert Hardy and others have produced some excellent
historical research on the history of the longbow, its construction, accuracy
and estimates of the strength and stamina of medieval archers
I had not intended to add any more internet pages until a chance discovery in a
second hand book shop. Whilst browsing in Greenwich market in October 2008 I
came across a book called ‘Old England (Her Story Mirrored in her
Scenes)’ dating from 1908 by W.Shaw.Sparrow. This eclectic and slightly
odd book ranges across English history through the Romans, Castles, Peasants,
Religion, Churches and to my great surprise a whole chapter on archery. I
couldn’t resist and bought the book on the spot for £10
There are no references to this specific book on the net, although I suspect Mr
Sparrow drew from other historical references…anyhow I decided to devote a
little bit of space to some of the interesting facts in this 100 year old book
On English Archers
History speaks of English archers as a whole and very few are mentioned by
name. Leland (unknown reference) tells a story of a Coventry archer John
Pearson , who had one of his legs shattered by a canon ball at the Battle of
Dixmude, yet managed to use his bow kneeling or sitting, when the French took
flight he turned to a comrade and said “Have these Arrows which remain and
continue thou chase for I may not’.
Thanks to Mark Hinsley of Beaufort's Companye, WOTRF, for emailing me with more
info on this battle. The Battle of Dixmude (also Dixmunde, Dixmue) was
fought on the 13th June 1489. Flemish rebels supported by the French, 6,000 to
8000 men were besieging the Burgundian town of Dixmude. The garrisson appealed
to Giles, Lord Daubeny, Captain of Calais for help. Henry VII (Henry Tudor)
despatched a force of 1,000 men under Henry Lovell, Lord Morley to reinforce
Daubeny. Daubeny with Morley's force, troops of the Calais Garrisson and the
Burgundian garrisson of Nieuport (~3,000 in total) infiltrated the French siege
lines and stormed their entrenched fortified camp, putting the French/insurgent
army to flight. Lord Morley, was killed in the battle provoking the english
forces to go on the rampage, killing many of the prisoners and looting the
camp. There is a good account of the battle in "The Early Tudors
1485-1558",by John Duncan Mackie.
Carew (the Cornish Historian) tells that Richard Arundle could shoot
“twelve score yards (240 yds) over his shoulder with the right hand or the
left”. and that the Cornish Archer Robert Bone “ shot at a little
bird sitting on his cow’s back and killed it”…that’s the
bird not the cow!
Sparrow references Shakespeare and others that many archers came from the
‘North Country’ with Cornwell, Lancashire and Cheshire providing many
of the very best.
On the emergence and cost of Archery
From around the reign of Edward I (early 14th Century) the bow came to be
looked upon as the emblem of England’s freedom and all able bodied men
were required to practice (on shooting butts) on Sundays and holidays.
Magistrates, mayors and bailiffs were responsible for ensure these acts were
observed on penalty of 20 shillings if they neglected their duties…wow
that was quite a sum of money back then!.
Mr Sparrow believes this was in effect an early form of national conscription,
I think he’s probably correct.
 Although many archers made their own
tackle many had to pay market process for a good bow. A good foreign Yew bow
would cost 6s 8d (a sum known as a Rose Noble), an inferior bow cost around 3s
4d and 2s would buy simple bow made from English woods. Prices varied across
the country and rose in London to such an extent that prices had to be fixed by
Statutes. A yew bow was priced at 3s 4d and a basic bow at around 1s. This was
still a lot of money and many men could not afford the best bows unless they
had spend some time fighting for their country (archers were quite well paid at
between 3d and 6d a day in the 14th and 15th century).
In brief the State did everything that it could to make archery popular despite
the expense of ‘archery tackle’.
The best wood for bows came from Italy and Spain, but the most ‘Wilful
difficulty that Parliament had to contend with year after year was the
commercial dishonesty of bowyers, fletchers and timber traders’. These men
had to import a given number of rough bow staves with every ton of merchandise
and with every barrel of ’Malmsly and Tyre wine’.
To maximise their profit the unscrupulous trader would import poor quality (and
cheap) wood, and sell brittle (and cheap!) arrow heads. The State got tired of
this ’trickery’ and Henry IV decreed that all arrow heads should be
made of the best materials and
 stamped with the makers name.
Failure to comply meant a fine and prison. However it seemed that dishonest
trading, bowmaking and fletching continued to be problem and in Mr Sparrows
view contributed to the decline of archery in war.
Hollinghead, writing in the time of Shakespeare (c 1580) asserts that English
Archers had so much declined that French Soldiers turned their backs at long
range and “bid the English to shoot” . He wryly observes; “ had
the archers been what they were wont to be these fellows would have had their
breeches nailed to their buttocks” . Henry VIII and his
Statutes
Henry himself an excellent archer opposed these 'downward tendencies and
tried to 'brace against the slackened sinews of the nation'. In 1511 when he
had been King for only two years he re-enacted the Statute of Winchester and
added new provisions. It starts...
" The Kings Highness calls to his gracious remembrance that by feats
and exercise of the shooting in long bows, there had continually grown and been
within the same great numbers and multitudes of good archers, which hath not
only defended this realm and the subjects thereof against the cruel malice and
dangers of their enemies in time hereto passed...."
It continued..."...yet nevertheless archery and shooting in long bows
are but little used, but daily do diminish and decay and abate more and more
.."
He specifically references Tennis, bowles, claish and other unlawful games
" prohibited by many and beneficent statutes, much impoverishment has
ensued..". 'Claish' was probably a form of skittles.
The core of the statute states ; "....that every man being the King's
subject, not lame, decrepit or maimed being within the age of 60 , except
spiritual men, justices of the one Bench and barons of the Exchequer, do use
and exercise bow shooting in long bows and also do have a bow and arrows ready
continually in his house to use himself in shooting. And after that every man
having a man child or men children in his house, shall provide for all such,
being of the age of seven years and above a bow and two shafts, to learn them
and bring them up to shooting ; and after such young men shall come to the age
of seventeen years shall provide and have a bow and four shafts continually for
himself, at his proper costs and charges..."
Thirty years later at the crisis of the Reformation Henry VIII had this
statute further strengthened ordering that each village was to have a pair of
butts and that no person above the age of twenty four should "... shoot
with a light flight arrow at a distance under 220 yards..".
 What effect did these statutes
have?...well its difficult to believe that would have had any immediate effect
on the quality of English archers, although they proved a key element in the
victory against the Scots at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. More information on
this battle ( thats it on the left!) can be found on the website of our MSS
friends in the House of Worcester
Writing in 1557 in his report on England the Venetian ambassador made a
number of references to archery. He notes with surprise the compulsory laws and
the care with which other exercises were suppressed, the English placing all
their strength and all their hope in archery..."They draw the bow with
such forces and dexterity at the same time, that some are said to pierce
corslets and body armour, and there are few among them, even those who are
moderately practiced, who will not undertake at a convenient distance or in the
air to hit within and inch and half of the mark...". This text infers that
Henry's statutes had (at least to some extent) the desired effect.
Elizabethan era
Some attempts were made in Elizabeth I's time to maintain this standard of
good shooting, but the statutes were not strictly observed and fine archers
became rare. Some Elizabethans were glad the war bow had been abandoned...
" they looked abroad for their ideals of practical knowledge in military
matters, forgetting that firearms on the Continent arose from the fact that
these weapons brought the strong and the weak to a new level, an advantage
which no military critic could ignore in countries where the physique of the
lower classes was not fostered by vigorous exercise in the open air..."
At a much later date in 1776 Benjamin Franlkin writing to general Lee
expressed a strong wish that bows and arrows might be used again. It is
probable that Franklin had read the 'Pallas Armeta' by Sir James Turner in
1670, he summed up the use of the bow in war ;
"The bow in Europe is now useless and why I cannot tell, since it is
certain that enough arrows would do more mischief than formerly they did ;
since neither men nor horses are so well armed no to resist them. There are
some who bring reasons for bringing the bow again into use, First arrows
exceedingly gall horses and consequently disorder their squadrons, secondly, a
bowman can shoot many more arrows than a musketeer bullets; thirdly all the
ranks of archers may shoot their arrows over their leaders heads with equal
mischief to the enemy..."
More to be added
Steve Shorey - December 2008
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