The Longbow by Mike Loades;

Author:Mike Loades;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Longbow
ISBN: 9781782000877
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK (Trade)

Second bows

Bows can break in shooting and rough conditions on campaign might lead to further losses, but the enormous scale of military bow production (Strickland & Hardy 2005: 24–25) suggests a provision in excess of just having replacements for breakages. I think it is possible that archers on campaign might have carried at least two bows, of different weights. In a letter to Elizabeth I in 1589, one of her courtiers, Sir Thomas Heneage, remarked, ‘… nor seek ether ii strings to my bowe nor ii bowes for one marke’ (Cecil 1562–97: 3). It seems likely this was a saying in common use and the sense of the ‘two bows’ part is that he was steadfast in a single course of action, not ‘hedging his bets’ with alternative stratagems. Having two bows for shooting at the marks, however, could be a very useful stratagem – using the heavier bow for distant shots and the other for nearer targets. Equally, dropping down from a 130lb bow to a 100lb bow could be a valuable option as the hours of a battle progressed – and who would wish to stand in the front line without a second bow to hand? It is a detail the art does not reveal to us, but then it does not show us the essential supply chain of arrows either.

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