The Birth Of A Weapon - English longbow making

[Spalted Walt]

"This is a documentary movie uncovering making of a traditional English longbow from log to a shooting weapon."

(15 minutes)

[Electric Comet]

need arrows too but there should be suitable scrap for that

feathers also

and proper sinews

[G. Ross]

Required that I join. I'm not a joiner.

[Spalted Walt]

Join what??? What browser did you use to get that message?

Same vid, fullscreen:

[graham]

Except that the traditional English longbow was made from yew, not from what looked like ash. Graham

[Eli the Bearded]

I use a downloader ("youtube-dl", which despite the name is much more general) rather than view in browser.

Elijah

------ for youtube use, expect to be updating "youtube-dl" frequently

[Spalted Walt]

The preferred material to make the longbow was yew, although ash, elm and other woods were also used.

Gerald of Wales (1146 - 1223) speaking of the bows used by the Welsh men of Gwent, says: "They are made neither of horn, ash nor yew, but of elm; ugly unfinished-looking weapons, but astonishingly stiff, large and strong, and equally capable of use for long or short shooting".

[graham]

Apparently, they imported a lot of yew from Italy. No international arms treaties then! Graham