Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Monk on May 01, 2003, 07:25:02 AM

Title: English longbows
Post by: Monk on May 01, 2003, 07:25:02 AM: I'm looking to buy a quality Bow. I've been searching the Net, there is a crap load out there.

Does anybody have one, or any experience with one and could stear me in the right direction.
Title: English longbows
Post by: Toad on May 01, 2003, 07:33:08 AM: There's probably some English "reenactor" groups like we have for the Civil War. I bet if you can find a link to one of those you can get something close to the "real thing" if that's what you are looking for..

Has to be some Agincourt Reenactor club..... ;)
Title: English longbows
Post by: Dowding on May 01, 2003, 07:43:52 AM: How do you re-enact getting an arrow in the eye like Richard the Lionheart did at the Battle of Agincourt, a small hamlet on the outskirts of Sevastapol? ;)
Title: English longbows
Post by: Mini D on May 01, 2003, 07:47:22 AM: http://www.oldbow.com/index.html
http://www.woodbows.com/elb.html

Or just type "English Lonbow" on an http://www.google.com search.

MiniD
Title: English longbows
Post by: Mini D on May 01, 2003, 07:49:50 AM: Ah.. missed the "quality" part.

I'd take Toad's advice on that one. Or try finding a British Archery club you could hound with questions.

MiniD
Title: English longbows
Post by: Monk on May 01, 2003, 07:49:53 AM: Thanks Toad, ya I'm looking around for a 100% reblica Longbow.
Dam expensive.

You do Civil War stuff, my dad still does a little. He started with the Revolution War, and moved on to the Civil War. He does some crazy 16th Cen. stuff.

I almost joined a hardcore unit here in Germany, the 14th Brooklyn. Problem though, Wife and $$.

Thanks Mini, ya I've been doing the Google thang.
Title: English longbows
Post by: Toad on May 01, 2003, 07:56:00 AM: Rubber arrows? ;)

C'mon Dowding.. help the guy out... knowing you Brits, you've got entire Longbow societies over there. Probably got a few thousand actual Agincourt bows stowed behind false walls in the Tower of London or something. Just in case.

Surely you can help Monk out?
Title: English longbows
Post by: Dowding on May 01, 2003, 08:05:43 AM: Those Longbows hidden in the Tower of London are all nickel and gold plated... ;)

I honestly have never seen or heard of a specifically English longbow club. Archery clubs definitely... and I have seen a guy on TV who used authentic Longbows. They did a study of his back muscles and bone structure while trying to work out what some corpse from the Middle Ages did for a living.

Anyways, maybe email the Royal Leeds Armoury. They do loads of re-enactments of every period - they must know someone in the business.

Leeds Royal Armories (http://www.armouries.org.uk/leeds/)

Here's the English Longbow Society headed by an Earl, no less:

English Longbow Society (http://www.askarts.co.uk/longbow.html)
Title: English longbows
Post by: Toad on May 01, 2003, 08:13:02 AM: There ya go.

Hands across the water and all that.

Well done!
Title: English longbows
Post by: Monk on May 01, 2003, 09:21:57 AM: Thanks Dowding, I'll try that.
Title: Jeez, now you got me interested!
Post by: Toad on May 01, 2003, 09:24:49 AM: The Craft Guild of Traditional Bowyers and Fletchers (http://www.askarts.co.uk/Guild.html)
Title: English longbows
Post by: Fatty on May 01, 2003, 09:35:55 AM: Are bows legal in England? :D
Title: English longbows
Post by: capt. apathy on May 01, 2003, 09:56:22 AM: probably just the long-bows.

not the easily concielable hand-bows or the rapid fire 'assualt-bows' with thier obviouse military intent.

people don't kill people, bows kill people.:p
Title: English longbows
Post by: Monk on May 01, 2003, 09:57:37 AM: Perfect, Thanks Toad.
Title: English longbows
Post by: Dinger on May 01, 2003, 12:13:58 PM: Quote

How do you re-enact getting an arrow in the eye like Richard the Lionheart did at the Battle of Agincourt, a small hamlet on the outskirts of Sevastapol?

This bait I ain't taking.
Title: Re: English longbows
Post by: miko2d on May 01, 2003, 12:47:52 PM: I have a 64-pound longbow among my small collection. Not authentic but a lot of fun nevertheless.

I used to shoot it quite a lot when I could get to the range twice a week.

I suggest you buy a used longbow from someone for $100 bucks to see how you like it. It's a quite complex process involving manufacturing and tuning your own arrows to very precise specs, etc..

If you like it, you can manufacture a longbow yourself according to a "how to" manual.
A custom one would run you a few hundred dollars easy.

miko
Title: English longbows
Post by: blue1 on May 02, 2003, 12:36:04 PM: Hey did you know that in England it is still a legal requirement for all men to practice with the longbow at least once a week. The Law was brought in by some King to stop the buggers playing football every weekend instead of practising for the next war the French. Hasn't worked has it?

So not only is it not illegal it's compulsory. The original law was never repealed.

Dowding I hope you haven't been breaking the law now have you?
Title: English longbows
Post by: Swoop on May 02, 2003, 01:32:36 PM: Quote
Originally posted by Fatty
Are bows legal in England? :D

If you're within sight of Hereford Cathedral it's legal to shoot a Welshman with a longbow. Law from ages past never repealed.

Or if you dont want to stand around the Cathedral all day it's also legal all over the Isle of Wight just off the south coast......apparently the English dont like the Welsh.

(http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/640697.jpg)
Title: English longbows
Post by: blue1 on May 02, 2003, 01:53:09 PM: Not just the English, Swoop, no one likes the Welsh, not even Ann Robinson.
Title: English longbows
Post by: Swoop on May 02, 2003, 02:27:51 PM: Well she is English.

(http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/640697.jpg)
Title: English longbows
Post by: beet1e on May 02, 2003, 02:37:27 PM: Yes. I could get a crossbow, and sleep with it under my pillow. I think they're still legal! Bloody lethal too - not to be underestimated.

A piece of trivia - You know that in America, the hand signal for telling someone to piss off is to raise the back of the hand with the middle finger extended? The equivalent British signal is to raise both middle and index finger - and this originates from the longbow men who fought in the battles of Agincourt and Cressay. If a British longbowman was captured by the French, they would amputate his middle and index fingers so that he could never again launch an arrow from a longbow. (The Geneva Convention came later) So our longbowmen, to taunt the French, would raise their two fingers to show that they still had them, and could launch arrows against the French! The gesture still exists as a taunt, or to ask someone to F.O.
Title: English longbows
Post by: miko2d on May 02, 2003, 02:56:45 PM: beet1e: If a British longbowman was captured by the French, they would amputate his middle and index fingers so that he could never again launch an arrow from a longbow. (The Geneva Convention came later)

You sure about that? French considered war a noble's business and really disliked being so vulnerable to lowly british yeoman archers.
They took the british nobles prisoner and entertained them while awiting ransom, but as far as the captured archers were concerned, I thought they just amputated their heads.

miko
Title: English longbows
Post by: Swoop on May 02, 2003, 03:24:20 PM: He's sure. He was there.

(http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/640697.jpg)
Title: English longbows
Post by: Vulcan on May 02, 2003, 04:34:35 PM: Quote
Originally posted by beet1e
would raise their two fingers to show that they still had them, and could launch arrows against the French! The gesture still exists as a taunt, or to ask someone to F.O.

The Fingers is still common in NZ, Aussie etc too beet1e.
Title: English longbows
Post by: Replicant on May 02, 2003, 07:26:14 PM: Guess it depends if you want to use the Long Bow regularly or have it as an ornament. Most UK archery clubs use the Compound, Recurve and a small percentage use the Long Bow.

Try http://www.bownet.com/ and see if it can point you in the right direction. If you still can't find one then drop the webmaster an email and I'm sure they'll see you right.