The Bow would appear to have been in most ancient nations the principal
implement of war; and to keep alive this "mystery of murder," archery, or
the art of shooting with a bow and arrow, seems to have been a favourite
pastime in days of peace. In no country, however, has archery been more
encouraged than in this island; wherefore the English archers became the
best in Europe, and procured many signal victories. Tributary as have been
the bow and arrow to some of the brightest scenes in our history, it is
not surprising that its exercise should have become cherished among us as
an amusement. Strutt tells us that in the early ages of chivalry, the
usage of the bow was considered as an essential part of the education of a
young man who wished to make a figure in life. Hence the long-bow and
cross-bow have been and are playthings in the hands of youth; and would
that they had only been the toys of the playground instead of leading men
to slaughter each other for the costly toys of the game of life. It is
chiefly to the use of the cross-bow that we propose to confine ourselves
upon the present occasion.
The arbalest, or cross-bow, was not only much shorter than the long-bow,
but fastened also upon a stock, and discharged by means of a catch or
trigger, which Mr. Strutt reasonably enough thinks gave rise to the lock
on the modern musket. The old logicians illustrate the distinction in
their quaintest fashion. Bayle, explaining the difference between
testimony and argument, uses this laconic simile, "Testimony is like the
shot of a long-bow, which owes its efficacy to the force of the shooter;
argument is like the shot of the cross-bow, equally forcible, whether
discharged by a dwarf or a giant."
The arbalest is said by some writers to be of Italian origin. Verstegan
says it was introduced here by the Saxons, but was neglected till again
brought into use by William the Conqueror, at the battle of Hastings. No
mention is made of bowmen among the troops of Harold; but we read that the
Norman army was fronted by "footmen clothed in light armour, worn over a
gilted cassock, and bearing either long-bows or steel cross-bows." Harold
himself had his eye struck by an arrow, notwithstanding which he continued
to fight at the head of his army. Cross-bows were afterwards prohibited by
the second Lateran Council, anno 1139, as hateful to God, and unfit to be
used among Christians; in consequence whereof they were laid aside till
the reign of Richard the First, who again introduced them, and was himself
killed by an arrow or quarrel, discharged from a cross-bow at the siege of
the Castle of Chalus.[1]
Cross-bows shot darts called quarrels, or _quarreaux_, or _quadrels_, and
in English _bolts_: they were headed with solid, square pyramids of iron,
and sometimes trimmed with brass instead of feathers. According to Sir
John Smith a cross-bow would kill point blank 60 yards, and if elevated
above 160. There was an officer styled _Balistrarius Regius_; and several
estates were held by the service of delivering a cross-bow and thread to
make the string, when the king passed through certain districts. These you
will find in Blount's Tenures and Jacob's Law Dictionary.[2]
We find that the pay of a cross-bowman, in the reign of Edward II., was
sixpence _per diem_.[3] Few notices of archery are, however, upon record
till an order by Edward III. in the 15th year of his reign, to the
sheriffs of most of the English counties, to provide bows and arrows for
the intended war against France: these orders, however, relate to the
long-bow. In the famous battle of Crecy, fought in 1346, our chroniclers
state that we had 2,800 archers, who were opposed to about the same number
of the French; which, together with a circumstance to be immediately
mentioned, seems to prove that by this time we used the long-bow whilst
the French archers shot with the arbalest. The circumstance alluded to is
as follows:--Previously to the engagement there fell a heavy rain, which
is said to have much damaged the bows of the French, or rather the strings
of them. Now, the long-bow, when unstrung, may be conveniently covered, so
as to prevent the rain injuring it; nor is there scarcely any addition to
the weight from a case; whereas the arbalest is of a most inconvenient
form to be sheltered from the weather. It is also stated[4] that, at Crecy,
"the Genoese archers, fatigued by their heavy cross-bows, in a sultry and
tempestuous march, rushed forward with loud cries to attack the English
bowmen, who were the strength of Edward's army. These last stood still;
even on the second charge they stirred not one foot! When they got within
shot of their foes, they let fly their arrows so quickly that they came
like snow. The Genoese fled, and some of the heavy-armed troops were
involved in their confusion." At Crecy the English ascribed their victory
to their archers. The battle of Poictiers, fought in 1356, was gained by
the same means. In 1417, Henry V. attributed his splendid victory at
Agincourt to the archers, and directed the sheriffs of many counties to
pluck from every goose six wing-feathers for the purpose of improving
arrows, which were to be paid for by the King. In 1421, though the French
had been defeated at Crecy, Poictiers, and Agincourt, by the English
archers, yet they still continued the use of the cross-bow; for which
reason Henry V., as Duke of Normandy, confirms the charters and privileges
of the _balistarii_, who had been long established as a fraternity in his
city of Rouen.
We now meet with several enactments by Edward IV. for the appointment of
bowmen with the long-bow; but we pass over these and other records to the
19th year of the reign of Henry VII., who forbade the use of the cross-bow,
because "the long-bow had been much used in this realme, whereby honour
and victory had been gotten against outward enemies, the realm greatly
defended, and much more the dread of all Christian princes by reason of
the same." Statutes for the promotion of archery with the long-bow are now
very frequent; but the cross-bow is proscribed in the same proportion: and,
in the time of Henry VIII. a penalty of ten pounds was inflicted on every
one who kept a cross-bow in his house.
Though archery continued to be encouraged by the king and legislature for
more than two centuries after the first knowledge of the effects of
gunpowder, yet by the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII., it seems to
have been partly considered as a pastime.
From this period we pass to the date of the annexed CUTS, for which we are
indebted to the research of an ingenious Correspondent, with the
antiquarian subscription of "JONATHAN OLDBUCK,"[5] who appends to his
sketches the following historical notice:
"After the destruction of the Spanish Armada, fears being entertained lest
the King of Spain should (out of revenge) send an emissary to attempt the
life of Queen Elizabeth, a number of noblemen of the Court formed
themselves into a body guard for the protection of her person, and under
the denomination of the 'Companie of Liege Bowmen of the Queene,' had many
privileges conferred upon them. The famous Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was
captain of this company, which was distinguished by the splendour of its
uniform and accoutrements. Upon the accession of James I. the company was
disbanded, although those who composed it retained the privileges which
had been conferred upon them by Elizabeth. Upon the breaking out of the
Civil wars Charles reorganized this bodyguard which attended him against
the Parliamentary forces, and afterwards emigrated with Charles II. At the
Restoration this company was maintained, and under the title of 'Royal
Company of Archers' received a new Charter, being the origin of the
present 'Royal Artillery Company' of London. About the time of the
institution of the Liege Bowmen of the Queen, a new kind of cross-bow was
constructed in Holland, by one Vander Foheman, having many advantages over
the old one. This he brought to England and it was purchased and adopted
by the Company.[6]
"An ARBALEST of Foheman's construction, bearing the date 1579, 3 feet 3
inches long, exquisitely carved out of black oak, is now in the possession
of A. Nossoc, Esq., the proprietor of a rare and valuable collection of
paintings by ancient masters. By this gentleman's kindness I have been
able to take a sketch of it, a copy of which I enclose. In these
instruments the impulse is not communicated to the arrow directly by the
string, but by means of a movable iron bridge, placed behind the string. I
subjoin outlines of the arrow used with this kind of bow, and also of its
lock.--(_See Cuts._)
"The end (_a_) of the arrow, Fig. 1., was placed against a small square
plate of metal (_a_) of the bridge, and the other end of the arrow rested
on the steel bow. The string pulled upon the hook, (_d_) Fig. 2, and the
end (_c_) acting with a lever advantage communicated its impulse to the
bridge, (_b_) against which was placed the arrow. The figure 3 will
explain the rest of the contrivance, (_f_) being a spring to keep the
trigger down.
"The wooden part of the arbalest is beautifully carved with figures; its
front extremity is a lion's head holding in its mouth an acorn originally
of gold, for which a wooden one is substituted, as is the round stock at
the other extremity which was of silver; its lower side has a figure of
Bellona, a terminus, &c., carved out of it; its upper, a sphynx, head of
Medusa, leaves, and numerous other ornaments upon it; the sides are also
beautifully carved, and two steel escutcheons on its sides before the
bridge have engraved on them a trophy, and two roses.
"As these cross-bows are now extremely rare, I should feel gratified if
any correspondent could inform me whether an arbalest of this description
is preserved in the Tower, or in any public or private collection of
ancient armour; and whether it was used by the Company of Archers after
the Restoration."
The _Steel Bow_ is of the shape annexed, _Fig. 5_, being a resting-place
for the fore end of the arrow.
We may here add that the _Cross-bow_ was also called a _Steel-bow_,
because the horns were usually made with steel; and others were called
_Stone-bows_ because they were modified to the purpose of discharging
stones. The cross-bow makers used to exercise themselves in shooting at
the popinjay, or artificial parrot, in a field called Tassal Close in
London, from the number of thistles growing there, now called the Old
Artillery Ground.[7]
The following description of an archer, his bow, and accoutrements, is
given in a MS. written in the time of Queen Elizabeth. "Captains and
officers should be skilful of that most noble weapon, and to see that
their soldiers according to their draught and strength have good bowes,
well nocked, well strynged, every strynge whippe in their nocke, and in
the myddes rubbed with wax, braser, and shuting glove, some spare strynges
trymed as aforesaid, every man one shefe of arrows, with a case of leather
defensible against the rayne, and in the same fower and twentie arrowes,
whereof eight of them should be lighter than the residue, to gall or
astoyne the enemye with the hail-shot of light arrows, before they shall
come within the danger of the harquebuss shot. Let every man have a
brigandine, or a little cote of plate, a skull or hufkyn, a mawle of leade
of five foote in lengthe, and a pike, and the same hanging by his girdle,
with a hook and a dagger; being thus furnished, teach them by musters to
marche, shoote, and retire, keepinge their faces upon the enemy's. Sumtyme
put them into great nowmbers, as to battell apparteyneth, and thus use
them often times practised, till they be perfecte; ffor those men in
battel ne skirmish can not be spared. None other weapon maye compare with
the same noble weapon."
Even in Elizabeth's reign the bow was thought to be more advantageous than
the musket; because the latter was at that period very cumbrous, and
unskilful in contrivance, while archery had been carried to the highest
perfection. Mr. Grose tells us that an archer could formerly shoot six
arrows in the time necessary to charge and discharge a musket; and, as a
specimen of the aim to be taken, even in modern days, a practised bowman
has been known to shoot twelve arrows in a minute, into a circle not
larger than the circumference of a man's hat, at the distance of forty
yards.
[1] Notes by Mr. Grose, the antiquarian, in _Selections from Gentleman's
Magazine_, vol. i. In the _Archaeologia_. vol. vi. we find it stated
that "Artillery (_artillérie_) is a French term signifying _Archery_,
as the king's _bowyer_ is in that language styled _artillier du roy;_
and from that nation the English seem to have learnt at least the
cross-bow archery."
[2] Grose.
[3] Grose.
[4] Hist. England, by Sir James Mackintosh, vol. i.
[5] Dated from Clarence-terrace, Regent's-park.
[6] Vide Grose on Ancient Armour. D'Alembert, Encyclopedie. Art. Arbalette.
[7] Maitland's London.
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