Bow And Arrow

Looking at the Olympic archery on TV, I wondered just how well the modern archer would have fared in times past, what with all the paraphernalia attached to the modern bow. It has so many bits on it that had it been used at Agincourt, the battle would have been unfavourably over before the poor archer had assembled the device – referring frequently to the diagrams on page 57 of his manual, where the bodkin (G) is laterally inserted into the knocking-stop (J), located just below the fretted flange (Z). By the time they were ready and peering into the mist, seeking large round straw cylinders adorned with painted circles, the enemy would have been back in their coaches drinking to their success and singing martial songs – "'Ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go."

Had Robin Hood possessed such a bow, he would have missed that gold medal-winning tournament appearance, as Maid Marian would have had him holding the bow horizontally while she popped a skein of wool over the balancing bits sticking out at either end. By the time she'd rolled up eight balls of Lincoln green, Little John, the only merry man who could hit a tree at two paces, would have scooped the prize.