HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1972-01-20, Page 19BY G• MacL EOD ROSS several qualities which powder buttock'before he could tarn to ' whip' as of s gale In high trees.
What of the, Bow ? may seem did not attaiip for some years. see 'who shot the fists', Thus did 'The carnage; -the swift piercing
a fatuous enquiry today, iru this For example arrow .could be Roger' Ascharn write in his book ` of helm and armour; the pinning
)20th • century, of a weapon discharged' at a ^ rate of 20 a "Toxapl:iilus".'" of man to horse, the dying men
which went out of ;general use minute, a far higher rate of fire —kilo (yeti; Owen, Glyndwr's and shrieking horses; a, milling
• soon after the' invention of than , the muzzleloader could bard, spoke with more gruesome shambles :and all the time more,
arrows" +coming... -(Perhaps -one
should remark that the :shrapnel
ball of- old' has today been
replaced by the a"fle— he", that is
a mass of high carbon steel.
arrow •heads which inflict
wounds far worse "then :shra•,pner,
Who shall say. ! that archery is
dead?) The knights encased in
150 pounds of armour crashing
to the ground; unable to rise. At
'Agincourt the Duke of York was
found dead without • a mark'
upon hint. He had bee i
suffocated under,the press of the
dead.
- The longbow from the
Pyrenees was from 6 to 7 feet •
long, with a draw weight of 75
pounds; the clothyard shaft
about 33 inches long was drawn
to the ear and' not, as nowadays,
to the chin. Its pile for battle,:,a
while archers were to be found The true wood; the yew wood; monstrous chunk of wrought
in the armies of Egypt and of the tickle of goose fletchings in ° iron; 3 inches long•., of 1/2 inch
Mesopotamia,,anti the thousands the ears. Surely the fifty or more section and, with four barbs
of arrows dug up from the field thousand years that man has against which' no armour chain
ofMarathonbear witness to the •relied on the bow for survival or plate, was proof.
use of bows by the defeated have left us all with something Once the French learnt`not'to
Persians, the Greek phalanx° and of ,an acquired skill that is attack, but •to wait - to be
the Roman Legion depended less hereditary: You can still find the attacked, the crossbow .and later
the gun became the preferred
weapon of defenside warfare.
Yet bowmen were still used in•
- the old way as late as 1510 when
half the men who answered the
call to arms at the time of the
Armada were archers. After this,
in Europe, the bow became an
instrument of sport as indeed it
gunpowder, . - attain: '- It : was not until the relish:.'? Supposin 1 were on
yet what do. we g �'
find? . That this -year, for the .first ' one.piece cartridge -appeared, yonder hj ll oppoeite and i ''my
`-_ plus__ the 'imaprovements in hand a bow or red yew ready
° ,. tim�e:�sirtce• 190$,:�archery-:will- be � A . . .e�„_ .. ...
an Olympic. event; . that the powder effected.by the chemist bent, with a tough' string and'a
contemporary bow and a rrOw Lavoisier and manufactured byb . straight round. shaft with a well
• will be' as 'different :. from that ,du Font In 1802, that the greater rounded nock, having • long
used ; by ° Robin Hood as the range or,the gun, improved, rate slender feathers, of a green silk
•, arquebus is from the recoilless of fire and highter initial fastening and a sharp edged steel"
'gun- But most surprising of all, " velocities and . therefore of head, heavy and:. thick and an,
we find' the bow is the Weapon, penetration, gave the firearm inch wide, Oa green -blue temper
whether for war or the hunt pride of place in the armouries that would draw blood from a
which has had the' longest life of .of the civilised worYd. weathercock I would slot him
any other missile , projecting,. Th`e bow did not have things .such a shot, so strong, so, fax
weapon.•all its own way because tactics
The bow dates back to the were varied bythe discovery of
Paleolithic Period which ended such defensive adjuncts as
about 8000 ,B.C. and lasted armqur, which in turn
probably a million, years. Its popularised the shield, -which
birth was probably begat tie phalanx: Thus it was
contemporarwy with the that?the bow was overlooked by
discovery of fire, the wheel and some armies, at least
the inclined plane, yet it was temporarily, until they
preceded by one other missile discovered their mistake. So,
�'': throwing device: that of the
power of the arm to hurl stones, -
rocks ' bricks, javelins, spears,
bottles until today we find it
.still 'in use in Ulster hurling
Molotoff cocktails. So nothing
can beat the arm for longevity as
• a potential weapon and while
the range of the , missile it can on the bow `'and more on bow playing a vital part in the
hurl is limited, ' it . was ,Can
.close-quarter fighting. Later still, liberation of the most backward
invention of the boyo which put. the Cretan archers became ' Bushman of the Kalahari and
• paid to the effectiveness of close famous for their expertise in the certain South American tribes.
quarter weapons as well as service of Rome, yet it was not A Conquiktadores, The Cavalier
denting the efficacy of both until the 14th century and the St. George, found himself
# armour and the movement of rise of the foot soldier that the pinned to his horse by an arrow
force -by means of caval, bow really came into universal
y• from an Inca . bow. In 'South
How sad the details of the use, �_
gradual° development of the b'ow As far as England was Wales a Norman knight was
concerned someone in ° the War nailed .to his saddle through both "Was in America where the
• are' lost to humanity. The` search, hips; an ,arrow, on one side and a Indians were never great military
for the right kind of wood the . Office must have been more archers, -,but•' used the"bow
g alert than was the case pre -World second on the other. Giraidus primarily for hunting.. Three
string that would not fray ,and Cambrensis (1146-1223) a p y g•.
did not 'shrink or lengthen and War II, for thchose the. bow centuries after Agincourt, only
the discovery that feathered which, save its finest•hour when°
Norman -Welsh churchman," the obscuranticism of the War
• fletching on the"arrow aided the H rfleur was- battered and
Agincourt . won in .1415 This is
maintenance 'of its, straight why it..c'omesasNsomething of an
flight. All of which.'basics seem
• so barbaric today r when the • anti -climax to learn that today
rriodQrn..&ci .is • hini.t_up• Qf 'there are more men yin England
se eral kinds of wood and • -practising archery on Sa irMay
fib, lass; the -c rews arm t hula --aft ooh hao_ lh e�.v, _tJie
. ha few,which did affright
• and made of an alloy, while the happy '
• fletching - is plastic, with 'the air at Agincourt",, nor can
micrometer. bow -sights and 'a the 11,000 contemporary
' wealth of bizarre gadgets archers be regarded as the
complete the make-up.: All counterparts of those that" THE INFLUENCE OF THE BOW
available for $250.00 or more darkened the air with .: an Consider for a moment the
with many bows "Made ' in ' , intolerable number of piercing influence of the bow on the u
Ja • an" one of Yamaha's latest marrows flying across the sky to history of mankind., In Parthiane
pour on iiia"�e"n 'ltiiy"-"11k -"a"" nds-�i i turned -back the-Reman•-•---
• delid how.long now until 1 °con . Horse archers took
essmte_saho� "`he`t"
•we have the-radarguided ow cboud• la,, nay ith rain.", ,q.;ue.,st�-
currentinterest been dominating the worn brink of
It as no exagger. ion o say "
that the story, of the bow covers n dem nd. The short
the evolution of the world, for occasioned by the sophistication - Eastern bow of horn, wood and
..every_- 11n4yw,at; sometime ,qr,, of both bovc► and arrow to an ' sinew; propelled the Golden •
extent that-- er'1"ia s the romance ` H'oarde under Gehangis•Khan•on--
other tised the b f 't w p p
inions 'of small whole .Asian land mass, It was an
arrow which gave England a. '
Norman king. Whence the •
English long .bow? From the
Danes perhaps, though it was the--
Welsh who were the first to
•show how` to 'use it,,. Did it ever
strike you as meaningful that the
yew grows in so many English
churchyards? ,That it was the - •
practice to, shr'rpett the
'' arrow -heads on the stone portals
of the church door, thus to
ensure' they. -would fly straight. '
There ' •is a little ' church --in-
, Wensleydale ,wicks „bears these
marks . to this' day. The boyo
made . the`. nglish the'premier
power in Europe. .
At Bannockburn, the most.
lamentable 'defeat which their
army ever suffered, the English
did not use their archers; so that
became-. a shining victory in
A•, the long history of the "Scots
warfare against the Sassenach.
But thereafter at Dupplin; the
English archers herded the Scots
into a confused .and toiling'inass;
to be' hacked to pieces._Again at
Hill the archers
slaughtered 30,000 Scottish
knights and pikemen•for the loss
of only 15 men.- But the most
'recurrent losers to the bow were
the French in the Hundred Years-
War from 1337- until the virtual
' extinction of French chivalry° at '
Agincdurt.
Why were these victories, so
. tremendous and so
• -disproportionate? - For a - reas:o
drawn, so low and sharp, that it
would be no better there be
between him and me a
breast -plate and a Milan hauberk
than a wisp of fern, a kiln -rug, or
a herring net."
And why" is this, even to this
day, such a stirring passage? Db
bows .and arrows arouse some
instinct in the human breast?
records seeing the heads - of Office quashed a plan to use the
Welsh arrows protruding from ' 'bow •at Waterloo, but in 1940,
the inside of a four inch thick when Colonel , Peter Fleming
oak door at the , • siege ' of '
organised a guerilla force to
Abergavenny:•. In the eighteenth._ ..__
defeat an invasion of England,
century -,-in --the.--presence—of, a the bow was the chosen weapon
British - ' ambassador a 4bow
similar � '--1-because_it-micas--sileat�..and-.silent.-.,m
to those `used -by, death wnuld_-be•`;demoralising to
Gehangis Khari's hoardes, shot a •
an occupying
country.
Turkish arrow 900"yeards; a feat
that cannot be matched today.
61
force 'in
.Thus it . is that the bob!
refuses to die and .continues to
confirm :,t -hat /Online
Thmpson wrote 100' years moo:
"So !Ong as. the : now • spoon
returns to cne neavens, a 'bent
'"4„, sand beautifUl.bow, so long will •
hose
the fascination of .archery keep.
the hearts of inen". :
_
Town of GODER
MINOR HOCKEY WEEK IN CA
WHEREAS, the week of January 22nd is being observed throughout Canada' as a period to
focus public attention on the physical, character -building and other benefits of hockey
for our youth, and, °
WHEREAS, the game of hockey is recognized as Canada''s National Game which teaches our
youth 'to develop a competitive spirit, co-operation with 'others, body-building, and
•
respect for authority, and -
HERE iicS;
nd-HEREtS; it is the hope of every .'unicipalrty: to develop one or more players capable of
repfesenting Canada as a ,member of Canada's National Team, and
INHERED:. the Minor Hockey Association in this community has earned the commendation
and support of every citizen, and
WHEREAS ,vi•nor Hockey is the foundation from which accomplished hockey players
develop,`
B d
NOW 'THEREFORE, �I, as Mayor of Goderich do hereby declare the week commencing,:
January22nd be observed as --
"MINOR :HOCKEY WEEK IN CANADA"
•> p and request that, all parents and, others support this observance by •attending games during
Minor Hockey Week and. thereafter until the minor hockey season ends.
�'fr
HARRY,WORSELL„ Mayor.
°,f
rt .,DON'T ' SEND TAKE YOUR BOY 'TO THE ,ARENA
.�.
-Arid STAY 1`O SE PJLAy
o er use a ow, for. 1 as. their horses to Conquer the
item number one in any survival-: -Qf archery is to be found only in q
kit whether 'fob hunting for food the hearts. of m
or for' defence against. enemies, boys to whom a couple of sticks
• And :if we believe that the and a piece of string conjure up
,English bowman was the Sherwood. , or Agincourt,
paragon, ,• the most feared of its Archeryos, Golden Age, the 350.
4 exponents, it is possibly because - years , following `the Norman
the story, of the bow in other conquest to Agincourt, has
hands • was never recorded undoubtedly passed into the
because that- society was too limbo yet, `P> here was a time
primitive. While it is true that • When the English ' • bowman
gunpowder spelled the decline of could, with two 'shafts; clip the
archery, it did` •not happen two ears fro'm'a Frenchman and
overnight because, the bow had with a third pin his breech to his
Improve,
ur
me
•
A•
Between now and Spring is the time to
'renovate; to recondition and decorate
your home. Let Victoria and Grey help
you finish the rec room, take advdritage-
of furnishing sales, rnove-tip to better
living. Have fun improving your ,home,
in the grey months ahead -- adding to
r,.
its capital value, too -- with an
t a b
easy -to -get, easy.- o -p yack loan from
-
Victoria .& Grey Trust • the• people
who have been helping people like you
since 1889. "
'The senior Trust Company
devoted entirely to serving -
the people of Ontario.
whichinstill alive and to which it
appears' every army is prone. The
failure to learn from the past.
The - arrogance of rank blanks
out reasoniing and analysis. In
the case of the French it was the
-eventual realisation that the
despised 'comm'on foot soldier,
• armed with a bow, could kill a
French knight even more easily
than could an •English knight;
That the idea that knights only
fought knights . was . , tank
snobbery; that to attack
bowmen with cavalry was
suicide. Lack' �f this snobbery
won -battles for the English until
AO French begail'`to realise. that
• Jacques and Alphonse -Could kill
'.just As,u: ell, if nqt abetter than
the Duc de Navarre. French:
refusal to learnfrom the past
and
TRUST- -0:trivtPANY- 1-884.
A y
..
0:00 to t;00' Monday to"f hursday,
0:00' 6:00' 'Friday►.
Hili,, Manager
Eiii0 awl: Rifle
'5x4+43431
•.. Gotkiticit
was just as good an ally for the.
English as thinflexilrfity of the
, American army staff to employ
guerilla tactics. has been a good
ally for Hanoi.
The sound of the first 'loose'
was bloud•eurdlingLa hoi ri *ridiC
•
1
Tax reform legislation has been approved :by
*Parliament and is now law, :. ,
What does tax reform mean to 'you? How will
it affect. you, .. '4 •
To 'answer these questions, the Department is
conducting a massive national mailing prograin.
Booklets are now being printed and mailed to all tax-
payers as quickly as they come off the press.
The complete mailing will be finished in about
four weeks. r •
All ,taxpayerswill receive at least two booklets—
°
"Highlights for Individuals" and "Valuation Day".
These should provide answers to most of your
questions. t
Sorge .taxpayers will receive additional "informa-
tion, according to• their specific needs.
Read your booklets. Afterwards, if you shave
questions, ask us. Well be glad to help.
You will find 'that your booklets will make it
easier t� file your income tax return in 1973, -because'
they will help;you to prdpare now.
6
National ' Revenu
Revenue, national,
11:* Taxation Impot
•