474 



mSTOUY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



such a sort of ra3cals, to be faint and fail now at 

 most need.' " A storm tlien ensues, which, and 

 its passing away, are described in Froissart's own 

 singular style. lie then continues thus: "When 

 the Genoese were assembled together, and began 

 to approach, they made a great leap and cry 

 to abash the Englishmen; but they stood still, 

 and stirred not for all that. Then the Genoese 

 again the second time made another leap and a 

 fell cry, and stepped forward a little; and the 

 Englishmen removed not one foot. Thirdly, 

 again they leapt and cried, and went forth till 

 they came within shot. They then shot fiercely 

 with their cross-bows. Then the English archers 

 stept forth one pace, and let fly their arrows so 

 ■wholly, and so thick, that it seemed snow. When 

 the Genoese felt the arrows piercing through 

 heads, arms, and breasts, many of them cast 

 down their cross-bows, and did cut their strings, 

 and returned discomfitted. When the French 

 king saw them fly away, he said, 'Slay these 

 rascals, for they shall lett and trouble us without 

 reason.' Then ye should have seen the men of 

 arms dash in among them, and killed a great 

 number of them; and ever still the Englishmen 

 shot where as they saw thickest press. The sharp 

 arrows ran into the men of arms, and into their 

 horses; and many fell, horee and men, in the 

 midst of the Genoese; and when they were down, 

 they could not relieve again, the press was so 

 thick that one overthrew another." 



At Poitiers — "Then the battle began on all 

 parts, and the battles of the marshals of France 

 approached, and they setforth that were appointed 

 to break the array of the archers. They entered 

 a horseback into the way where the great hedges 

 were on both sides, set full of archers. As soon 

 as the men of arms entered, the archers began 

 to shoot on both sides, and did slay and hurt 

 horses and knights; so that the horses, when 

 they felt the sharp aiTows, they would in no 

 wise go forward, but drew aback, and flang, and 

 took on so fiercely, that many of thera fell on 

 their masters, so that for press they could not 

 rise again, in so much that the marshals' battle 

 could never come at the prince. , . . True 

 to say, the archers did their company that day 

 great advantage; for they shot so thick that the 

 Frenchmen wist not on what side to take heed." 



At the battle of Aljabarota, in Portugal, fought 

 in the early part of Richard the Second's reign, 

 between the kings of Portugal and Spain, the 

 former aided by John of Gaunt, with an English 

 force, and the latter by volunteers from France 

 and Beam, the English archers distinguished 

 themselves greatly ; indeed they chiefly contri- 

 buted to win the battle, one of the bloodiest even 

 of that time, by the total impossibility of bring- 

 ing the horses to advance, or even stand fast 

 under the arrows. Thus Froissart describes the 

 encounter : — 



" The same Saturday was a fair da}% and the 

 sun was turned towards even-song. Then the 

 first battle (of the Spaniards) came before Alja- 

 barota, where the king of Portugal and his men 

 were ready to receive them. Of these French 

 knights there were a two thousand spears, as 

 fresh and well ordered men as could be devised ; 

 and as soon as they saw their enemies, they 

 joined together like men of war, and approached 

 in good order till they came within a bow-shot; 

 and at their first coming there was a hard ren- 

 counter, for such as desired to assail, to win grace 

 and praise, witcred into the strait way, where 

 the Englishmen by their policy had fortified 

 them. And because the entry was so narrow, 

 there was great press, and great mischief to the 

 assailants; for such English archers as were there 

 shot so wholly together that thoir arrows pierced 

 men and horses, and when the horses were full 

 of arrows they fell upon one another. . . . 

 There were many of the lords and knights of 

 France and Beam taken and slain, and all their 

 companies that were entered within the strait. 

 Their horses were so hurt with the archers that 

 they fell on their masters, and one upon another. 

 There these Frenchmen were in great danger, for 

 they could not help one another, for they had no 

 room to enlarge themselves or to fight at their 

 will." 



It is to be observed, that long after the intro- 

 duction of fire-arms in the fourteenth centur3'-, 

 the bow continued to be a principal instrument 

 of war. The bow was used at Agincourt and at 

 Flodden. 



The use of the bow as a weapon of war, or of 

 the chase, has ceased in this country; but archery 

 is still followed as an amusement ; and though 

 some of the foreign woods have more elasticity, 

 the best bows of native growth are certainly 

 those made of the yew tree. 



The yew has often attained a very great size 

 in each of the three kingdoms, though the speci- 

 mens now remaining in Scotland and Ireland be 

 but few. In the first of those countries. Queen 

 Mary's yew at Crookstone was much celebrated, 

 though probably more on account of the princess 

 with whose history it was connected, than any 

 peculiarity in its own magnitude. The trunk 

 of a large yew, found by Pennant in the church- 

 yard of Fortingal, in Perthshire, though wasted 

 to the outside shell, and with only a few leaves 

 at one point, is quoted by him as being fifty-six 

 feet and a half in circumference, or about eigh- 

 teen feet in diameter. 



The yew tree at Mucruss abbey, in Ireland, 

 has a trunk about six feet and a half in circum- 

 ference, and fourteen feet high, which terminates 

 in a head that fills the area of the cloisters. 



In England and Wales some very large speci- 

 mens are mentioned. According to Evelyn, the 

 Crowhurst yew was thirty feet in circumference; 



