(_To the Editor_.)
No. 538, of _The Mirror_, contains a very interesting memoir on the
subject of the Cross-bow, but I do not find that the mode of bending the
steel bow has been described; which from its great strength it is evident
could not be accomplished without the assistance of some mechanical power.
This in the more modern bows is attained by the application of a piece of
steel, which lies along the front of the stem, and is moved forward on a
pivot until the string is caught by a hook, and a lever is thus obtained,
by means of which the bow is drawn to its proper extent. It seems to me
that this is the description of bow of which your correspondent has
furnished a drawing. Another mode, and which appears to have been applied
to the ancient bows, was by a sort of two-handed windlass, with ropes and
pulleys, called a _"moulinet_," which was temporarily attached to the
butt-end of the Cross-bow; of this a drawing is given in the illustrations
of Froissart's _Chronicles_, particularly in that one descriptive of the
Siege of Aubenton; in which two bowmen are shown, one in the act of
winding up the bow, and the other taking his aim, the _moulinet_, &c.
lying at his feet. Of this latter description, there are two specimens
preserved in the Tower of London, both of about the period of our Henry
the Sixth.