Value of the Bow in English Wars 1 1 3 



Cceur de Lion at Limoges, or, as Grose asserts, at 

 Chaluz in Normandy. The latter was killed by an 

 arrow from a cross-bow, but this, Demmin shows,, 

 was made of yew, which was planted by order of 

 Charles vu. in all the churchyards and cemeteries 

 in Normandy, for that purpose. 



From the time of the Conquest onwards, the 

 bow became the national arm, in the use of which 

 the English acquired more proficiency than any 

 other nation, from whom they differed, apparently, 

 in their mode of shooting. The Englishman, says 

 Gilpin, 'did not keep his left hand steady, and 

 draw his bow with his right ; but keeping his right 

 at rest upon the nerve, he pressed the whole weight 

 of his body into the horns of his bow. Hence 

 probably arose the phrase of bending a bow, and 

 the French of drawing one.' * The command of 

 Richard in. at the battle which was fatal to him, was, 

 ' Draw, archers ; draw your arrows to the head/ 



Whether owing to their method of shooting, or 

 to the superiority of their weapon, the English 

 largely surpassed other nations in the use of the 

 bow, which in their hands was worked with terrible 

 effect. Gibbon, speaking of the dread with which 

 the English inspired their enemies in the Crusades, 

 says, * At one time Richard, with seventeen knights 

 and three hundred archers, sustained the charge of 

 the whole Turkish and Saracen army* (ch. lix.). 



1 Remarks on Forest Scenery, 1791. 

 H 



