THE EOYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
303 
these guns have been when half a barrel of powder was sufficient for so many 
charges. On the 10 th May however, when the expedition was nearer to its 
complete organization, an additional quantity of powder was purchased and 
shipped. The king then sails, lands, and fights the battle of Creqy, and four 
days afterwards, when marching for Calais, he writes to order all his engines 
and guns, shot, barrels, saltpetre, sulphur, powder, and guns to be shipped 
for Calais at once, and again on the following day he writes again to the 
same effect. The result of this was that 10 guns, two of which are said to 
have been large, 5 barrels with saltpetre and sulphur and other powder for 
the said guns—(notice again this proportion of half a barrel of powder for 
each gun), 73 large leaden shot, 31 small shot, 6 pieces of lead for the 
same guns were sent to Calais; (again the same proportion of ten shot for 
each gun, and the same quantity of lead in reserve). The king has now 
therefore to our knowledge 20 guns at Calais, two of which appear to be of 
larger calibre than the others, and his ammunition seems to have lasted 
for three months or so; for it is not till the 25th November that he 
writes for more powder, and receives enough sulphur and saltpetre to make 
with charcoal added some 1200 or 1500 1b. of powder 60 or 701b. per 
gun; which lasted 10 months in a large siege. Clearly these guns must 
have been but small when 3 oz. or 4 oz. of powder per diem was sufficient 
for each gun. 
Froissart tells us that at this siege the King of England caused to be built 
on the shore a strong castle of wood, to cut off the communication between 
the town and the sea; “ et le fit pourvoir moult bien d'espringales, de 
bombardes, et d'arcs a tour, et d'autres instrumens.” 1 
A manuscript in the British Museum 2 tells us that Edward took with him 
“ Ingyners lvii. artellers vi. gonners vi.” This is in an account of house¬ 
hold expenses, and these men were paid in war time at the rate of 6d. each 
per diem. We find here again evidence of the very small size of the guns, 
for even supposing that this is only a portion of the gunners whom he may 
have taken, we find them very few in number as compared with the men to 
work the great engines; and it is highly probable that here, as at Bioule in 
1347, one man was able to w r ork two cannons. 
This is corroborated to some extent by the fact that in the later MSS., 
where cannon are depicted, the manipulation of each gun appears nearly 
always to be in the hands of one man unassisted. 
There is no mention of any but leaden projectiles, if we except the arrows; 
neither iron nor stone shot appear to have been supplied. The ingredients 
of the powder, as in other instances already found, were kept separate; at 
all events in the greater number of the cases mentioned. The telar’ with 
which these guns were supplied were probably the stocks or wooden supports 
of the guns. 3 The same word occurs in the same account clearly as the 
stocks of the crossbows. 
In these documents and in the contemporary chronicle of Villani we have 
met with the words “gunnis” and “bombarde” used for the first time. 
1 Liv. I, part 1, ch. 315. 
2 Harleian 782, fol. 63. 
3 See Mr Burtt’s note on this word in Archaeological Journal, vol. 19, p. 72. 
[VOL. IV.] 40 
