BOW 



^- n ,.,. ,,..,.. ,",. .:,, , ">ade of braril, elm, a(h, and 

 I . >ir yew, liad tlis laiiClion from 



at by llif archer* forpnilimc were 



., a,,^ i. .ivtTi." The I VII was a level mark, 



aiij ! (Irouft arrow with a broad fc.ither. The 



- f;," but ccrtai:i in its iliftance ; 



arrow, with a middling-lizL'd 

 i---^:\\.r, V - bi't I'lu.i. 1 I'.c ronvir wa* a " mark, of un- 

 certain Icn-lli." And thus were they ikillcd ir. the dilT^rent 

 kmdi of (hootins^. . 



The two e:uU or extremities of a bow, to which tite ftnng 

 IS faileucd, are called its horns, tornua. And tiie ftrength 

 of a bow may be calculated on this principle, that \\.sfpring, 

 i. e. the power whereby it relljres itlelf to its natural 

 pofition, is always proportionate to the diftance or fpace it 

 13 removed therefrom. 



The <-R.ojs-i.;-a', or Jria/et (from ailalffta, \.e.arculalijla, 

 a bow witli a (lii)i;\ conlilU ot a ftcel bow, faftcned upon a 

 rtock, and is difcharged by means of a catch or trigger, 

 whi'.-h probably gave rife to the lock upon the modern 

 mtilket. Caylc, explaining the difftrence between teflimony 

 3!iid aig'imcut ufes this fimile : " Telliinony is like the fnot 

 of a Ion y-bo'-jj, which owes its efficacy to the force of the 

 (liooter ; argument is like the ftot of a croj's-botv, equally 

 forcible whether difcharj-^ed by a dwarf or a giant." 



The invention of crofs-bows is faid by ancient writers to 

 have come from the Sicilians. Tliey made both great and 

 Imall bows. The great ones, drawn on wheels, as our can- 

 non are, threw darts three cubits long ; while tliofe of the 

 fmallcr kind were carried by foot-foldiers, the len^jth of whofe 

 quarrels was fcarce a cjbit and an half. The larger ones 

 wt're called ij/J/7<-, of which, as Livy informs us, there were 

 uo lefs than three and thirty at the fiege of Carthage, bcfide 

 fifty-two of a fmaller kind (fee Balista); and Jofephus 

 mentions" forty at the fiege of Jerufalem. Vegetius fays, 

 that the bali'la difcharged arrows with luch rapidity and 

 violence, tliat nothing could refill their fi)rce. And Athe- 

 nius tells us, that Agefiftratus made one of little more than 

 two feet in length, that (liot darts almoll five hundred pacts. 

 (RoUin's Arts and Sciences, vol. ii. p._^.J.) 



Crofs botvs were firll uftd in England by the Normans, 

 at the battle of Hallings ; and a quarrel, or bar-bolt, from 

 one of them, was the immediate caufe of Harohl's death. 

 That they were afterwards adopted among our military wea- 

 pons, is evident from the continual recurrence of laliflarius 

 in the Domefday Survey. In the reign of Stephen, 1139, 

 the fcoond council of I.atcran p'ohibited their ufe ; and 

 fome hillorians affert, that they were not again ufrd in this 

 country till the reign of Richard I., whofe death, occaficr.ed 

 by one, was confidercd as a judgment on his impiety : bat 

 Fitzllcphen, who wrote his Hilloryof London about 1 180, 

 in tlie reign of Henry II., fays, the fi<aiters of the metro- 

 polis moved faller than the pilum halijls ; which feems to im- 

 ply that both the crofs-bow and its ufe v/cre known. From 

 the death of Richard I. till the fplendid viftorjrs of Edward 

 III. we hear little of the crofs-bow as a military weapon. 

 Its ufe appears to have been principally coniincd to the 

 fieges of fortified places and to fca-fights. 



In 1346, at the battle of Crtffy, a large body of Cenoefe 

 foldiers, who were particulai'ly expert in the management of 

 the crofs-bow, were in the fervice of the French. At the 

 commencement of the aftion, a fuJdcn (hower wetted the 

 firings, and prevented the archers from doing their ufual 

 execution. 



But in England, after the rei^^n of Henry III., its ufe 

 feems to have been ftudioufly difcouraged. The Englifh 



BOW 



found tbe'long-bow a more effcaual weapon ; though the 

 Fr-nch, even in the reign of Henry V., after the Englilh 

 bow had fo often proved fuperior in cxccutio:;, to the gr;,at 

 coil of their countrymen, were ftiil attached to the crofs- 

 bow ; and Henry V. as duke of Normandy, confirmed thi 

 charter and privileges of the iaiijurii, who had long btea 

 ellabhlhed as a fraternity at Rouen. 



Their ufe, under our two lad Henrys, has been already no- 

 ticed as frequently forbidden ; and by the ftatute of the 2 -iIj, 

 of Henry VIII.' a penalty of ten pounds was inflided on 

 every one in whofe lioui'e a crofi-bow might be fo'.:iid. 

 From this time they feem to have been chiefly ufed for killing 

 deer (fee Shakfpeare's Henry Vi.), till, in 1627, they 

 were again ufed by the EngliHi as a military weapon, in the 

 expedition to the ille of Rhee. (Gent. Mag. vol. liv. 

 p. 269.) 



The crofs-bow is of a moft inconrenicnt forai for carriage, 

 even with the modem improvements; and in cafe of rani 

 could not be eafily fecured from the weather. After the 

 firll (liot, moreover, it couhl not be re-charged under a confi- 

 derabk time, whilll the bolts are alfo heavy and cumber- 

 fome. The Englifli long-bow, on the other hand, together 

 with the quiver of arrows, was eafily carried by the archer, 

 as eafily fecured from rain, and re-charged aimed inllauta- 

 neoufly. It is not therefore estraordiuaiy, that troops, wi.o 

 folely ufed tliis moft effeftual weapon, fliould generally ob- 

 tain the viftory, even when oppofed to much more nume- 

 rous armies. (Barrington's Obi. on Archery, Archaeol. 

 vol. viii.) The reach of the crofs-bow was confined ; that 

 of the long bow more extenfive : although when the armies 

 were oppofed at no confidcrable didance, the quarrels of the 

 former might poflibly be poured in vr.ti\ the moil regular 

 cffeft. 



Bovv', or Stratford-le-Bow, in Geography, i$ a vil- 

 lage of Middlefex, in England, fe.ited on the river I.,ea, at 

 the diftance of about two miles tall from London. The vil- 

 lage has no particular claims to public notice, but from its 

 ancient bridge, which crofles the river Lea at this place. 

 This ftruclure is faid to have been the (ir(l arr-W bridge 

 erefted in England. Stowe, Leland, and fome other anti- 

 quaries, concur in afcribing its fird^uilding to Maud, or 

 Matilda, the queen of Henry I. ; and thence fome writers 

 coincide in the current tradition of its being the moft ancient 

 arched Jlone bridge of this country. Tlie fiiithfui Stowe re- 

 lates, that Matilda hnd bei.-n " walhed in the water, in paffing 

 this dangerous forde ;" and to provide agamft fuch accidents 

 in future, caufcd this, and anoth r fmsUer bridge to be- 

 ereifled, " archtd like a bow," which, he farther obfcrves, 

 "was 41 rare piece of worke ; for before that time the !il:i 

 had never been Jeen in England." An old bridge of three 

 arches ftill occupies t'le place of the original llructure. 

 Through this place, and over tl'.is ford, palled the ancient 

 Roman road, called WatHng-llreet, from Lo:idinum (Lon- 

 don) to Camtlodiiniim (Colthcfttr). From this arched 

 bridge, and the nam; S.reet-fard, this place evidently derivts 

 its name. , 



At a fhort diftanre northward, are the Temple-Mills, 

 which anciently belonged to tlie kn-ghts- Templars, and af- 

 terwards to' t.ie knigiits of St. John of Jerufalem. In the 

 year 1720, they were ufed for biafs work?, but are now ap- 

 propriated to the manufafture of Iheet lead. (Ly foil's Euvt- 

 rons of London, vol. iii. P.4S9.) 



Bow, a fmall markrt town of Devonflnre, in England, feat- 

 edon the banks oior.e of the branches of the livcr Taw. Le- 

 prived of the advantages of manufacture, and iituated at a di- 

 llance from the great turnpike road, this place is fad finkuig 

 into decay, and at prcfent conlifts of only 162 hotfes, molt of 

 J which 



