DESCRIPTION OF CROSS-BOW.
Description.
The ancient cross-bow, which differed in many particulars from those of late times, is thus described by Father Daniel, who formed his description from one or more then before him.
The cross-bow was an offensive weapon, which consisted of a bow fixed to the top of a sort of staff, or stock of wood, which the string of the bow, when unbent, crossed at right angles.
Stock.
The handle or bed, which was called the stock of the cross-bow, had towards the middle a small opening or slit, of the length of two fingers, in which was a little moveable wheel of solid steel; through the centre of it passed a screw that served for an axis; this wheel projected a little beyond the surface of the stock, and had a notch, or catch, which stopped and held the string of the bow when bent. Trigger.In the opposite side of the circumference was a much smaller notch, by the means of which the spring of the trigger kept the wheel firmer, and in its place; this wheel is called the nut of the cross-bow. Under the stock, near the handle, was the key of the trigger, like that of the serpentine of a musket; by pressing this key with the hand, to the handle of the cross-bow, the spring released the wheel that held the string, and the string by its motion drove forward the dart.
Back-sight.
Upon the stock below the little wheel was a small plate of copper, which lifted up and shut down, and was fixed by its two legs, with two screws to the two sides of the stock; this was a back-sight; it was pierced above by two little holes, one over the other, and when the plate was raised, these two holes answered to a Fore-sight.globule, which was a small bead, no bigger than that of a chaplet, that was suspended at the end of the cross-bow by a fine wire, and fastened to two perpendicular columns of iron, one on the right, the other on the left, and this little globule, answering to the holes in the plate, served to direct the aim, whether for shooting horizontally, upwards, or downwards.
Cord.
The cord or string of the bow was double, each string separated by two little cylinders of iron, equi-distant from the extremities of the bow and the centre; to these two strings in the middle was fixed a ring of cord, which served to confine it in the notch previously mentioned when the bow was bent. Between the two cords in the centre of the string, and immediately before the ring, was a little square of cord, against which was placed the extremity of the arrow or dart, to be pushed forward by the cord.
Bent by hand.
The smaller cross-bows were bent with the hand; By footthe larger ones were at first bent by the soldier placing his foot in a stirrup, attached to the end of the bow; a cord was then fixed by one end to the butt of the stock, the other end being fastened to a waistbelt. By pulley.A pulley, running upon the cord, was hooked to the bowstring, and the bow was then bent by raising the body and keeping the leg firm.
By moulinet.
The cross-bow was afterwards furnished with the moulinet and pulleys, ([plate 13]) which after the bow had been bent, could be removed for the discharge; these consisted of an iron cylinder in a frame of the same metal, made to turn by two moveable handles in opposite directions, and having a cap likewise of iron to fit on the butt end of the stock. On each side of this cap was a small pulley, the wheel of which was one inch and a half in diameter, having attached to one of its arms a strong cord that passed thence round an equal sized wheel, returned over the first, and then went round one double in diameter, situated beyond the second, and so passed to the cylinder of the moulinet, by winding which, the power required to bend the bow was lessened to one fourth. Attached to the arms of the greater wheels was a double claw, made to slide on the plane of the stock, which, catching hold of the bowstring, drew it up to the nut. An improvement of the moulinet was, that the handles of the cylinder were both made in the same line, instead of being one up and the other down.
By windlass.
At a later period the cross-bow was bent by a windlass, which consisted of a bar of iron, shaped at its end into a claw, and having teeth the whole length of one edge. This slipped through an iron box, containing a wheel, the cogs of which fitted the teeth of the bar, and as a handle was fixed to the axle, on turning it the string was wound up. This apparatus was attached by a loop, which slipped over the stock, and was kept in its place by two iron pins, that projected from the side, and then, when bent, it could be easily removed.
By steel lever.
Another mode of bending the cross-bow was by means of a steel lever, called the goat’s-foot lever, which was moveable. This was formed of two legs, a catch and a handle, all acting on one pivot. The legs were applied to the projecting pieces of iron on each side the stock, and then the purchase was very great.
Latch.
There were two principal varieties of cross-bows, viz., the “Latch,” with grooved stock, for “quarrels,” Prodd.and the “Prodd,” for bullets. ([Plate 14], fig. 1 and 2.)
Dimensions and form of latch.
In the reign of Henry VI. the stocks of cross-bows were made of hard wood, ornamented with ivory. They were about three feet three inches long, the bow of steel, about two feet eight inches from end to end, weighing in all about fifteen pounds. The length of the groove for the quarrel about one foot four inches. Quarrels viretons.The arrows discharged were called both quarrels and viretons, ([plate 14], fig. 2 and 4,) some with feathers, others without. The vireton is a French name; the feathers being set on a little curved, made it spin round as it passed through the air.
It is stated by Captain Panôt, that the Arquebus was in use before the invention of powder, and was but an improvement on the arbalest, or cross-bow. Arquebus or barrelled cross-bow.The Arquebus, like the cross-bow, had a stock, upon which was fixed a tube, intended to receive the projectile. Slit in tube.This tube was split, for the passage of a cord, which was held back by a kind of sheave or pulley, which communicated motion to the projectile, on the trigger being pulled. Fired leaden balls.In general, leaden balls were fired from the arquebus. The barrelled cross-bow was suggested by the “balista grossa de arganellis,” which was furnished with tubes for ejecting Greek fire.
Repeating cross-bow.
In the United Service Museum, Whitehall, there is a cross-bow of Cingalese manufacture. It strings itself, and discharges two arrows each time in rapid succession, until the magazine is exhausted, which contains twelve arrows, and may be replenished in a moment.
Range in Henry V.
It is evident that the different sizes and various powers of cross-bows occasioned a great diversity in the distance of their range. Thus, in Henry 5th’s time the range of the cross-bow is stated to have been forty rods (220 yards), and it never appears to have been more powerful than at that period.
Range in Elizabeth’s.
M. de Bellay says that the cross-bowman will kill at 100 or 200 paces, which gives a great range to the arbalests of Elizabeth’s time.
Sir John Smith, however, in his observations, not long after this, very much contracts the distance of their shot, for he says that “a cross-bow will kill point-blank between 40 and 60 yards, and, if elevated, 120, 140, or 160 yards, or further.”
The former probably alluded to the prod, the latter to the latch.