What of the bow?
The bow was made in England:
Of true wood, of yew-wood,
The wood of English bows;
So men who are free
Love the old yew-tree
And the land where the yew-tree grows.
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
The English (or Welsh) longbow gained renown as a formidable weapon of war in spite of the fact that the majority of archers were not in any formal or standing army.
The success of the long bow is partly due to a number of laws that at various times:
- Made it a crime for any man to not own a bow and arrows
- Required bow practice on any holiday (eg Sunday)
- Restricted sport (eg football) not involving bow and arrow
- Made it an offense to not supply any son older than 7 years old with a bow and arrows and teaching them to use it.
(#87 of 100)