The story of the longbow
Dan Snow tells us the story of the longbow, attempts to fire the 'medieval machine gun' and then puts it to the test against a crossbow.
Watch Dan's film below.
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The longbow has had an influence wider than the battlefield. Many of the phrases we use today derive from archers.
Keep it under your hat
Refers to the practice of an archer keeping his bow strings dry by keeping them under his hat. Thought to originate at the Battle of Crecy, 1346 AD. Edward III of England and his archers defeated the French by keeping their flax bowstrings dry under their hats. Their forces kept their crossbows out in the rain resulting in their strings loosing tension.
Underhand
This refers to shooting a bow in the incorrect manner; with a view of the target under the hand holding the bow.
Highly strung
If the string on the bow it too short, the bow will break when you pull the string. ('highly' refers to the string height - the distance between the middle of the bow and the string).
Playing fast and loose
If someone wants you to stop firing arrows they shout "fast" when it's safe for you to continue they shout "loose".
Braced for action
When the bow is strung it's known as braced
More than one string to your bow
The string is the weak link in a bow, archers would replace the bow before they broke so they were not unarmed. Obviously they kept more than one string with them. When the Marie Rose was raised they found 250 longbows and 864 bow strings.
Parting Shot
Comes from "Parthian Shot", the Parthions were ancient warriors whose method of fighting was to gallop on their horse at great speed towards their enemy, then at the last minute to turn around and whilst doing this aim at their enemy.
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