“And he was clad in coat and pode of grene;
A shefe of pecocke arrows bryght and shene
Under his belt he bare, ful threftely.
Well coude he dresse his tackle yomanly.
His arrows drouped not with feathers lowe,
And in his hande he bare a myghty bowe.”—Chaucer.
The skill of the English in archery was always very great. Our ancestors used the bow for a double purpose: in time of war, it was a far more dreadful instrument of destruction than our present soldier’s musket; while in the “piping times of peace,” it became an object of amusement. The victories the English obtained over their enemies in times of war were many, and what the world calls glorious; and they stand upon record in our history, where the young reader may peruse them with interest and advantage.
SAXON BOW AND ARROW.
The Anglo-Saxons and the Danes were certainly well acquainted with the use of the bow, which they used, not so much for war purposes, as in the sports of the field. But it is well known that the Normans used the bow as a military weapon, and under their government the practice of archery was not only much improved, but generally diffused throughout the kingdom. The long-bow was an instrument of Norman introduction, and there seems good reason to believe that the arbalist, or cross-bow, was used by these sturdy invaders.
THE LONG-BOW.
NORMAN-BOW.
The use of the English long-bow arrived at the highest perfection in the reign of Edward III.; and, notwithstanding the introduction of fire-arms, continued for a long time after to be successfully cultivated. Cressy, Poictiers, Agincourt, and many other victories, were obtained by its use; and Sir John Fortescue writes, “That mighte of the realme of Englande standyth upon her archers,”—as it will now upon our riflemen or sharpshooters, when our army shall get the right kind of gun.