Due to my son’s fascination with longbows, he portrayed Robin Hood five years ago at our dialectic Medieval Feast, then he portrayed a longbowman from the Battle of Crecy at our rhetoric Medieval Feast last year.
LONGBOW EXHIBIT AT HISTORIC JAMESTOWNE
Last year during Lord De la Warre Day at Historic Jamestowne we visited many history demonstrations, including the longbow!
Longbows were distinctly English and decidedly effective, which we learned from the informative gent at the longbow exhibit at Jamestowne.
Letting us handle the longbow ourselves, he had us try to pull back the string, which was impossible for us but easy for him.
When he saw my son’s intense interest, he gave me his e-mail so I could send him my snail mail to receive information about future longbow events.
Cool!
Recognizing his email, I learned he was Jay Gaynor, director of historic trades at Colonial Williamsburg!
Colonial Williamsburg employees are always quick to teach from their massive knowledge base.
BRITISH LONGBOW SOCIETY OF WILLIAMSBURG
The following spring he snail mailed information on the British Longbow Society of Williamsburg, which meets annually for a tournament.
My son’s eyes glowed. My daughter and I even thought this would be great!
Saturday, we drove through tall thick trees, where we saw signage for the community of Sherwood Forest!
Further signs fittingly named Saxon, Robin Hood, Allen Dale, and Nottingham put us in the mood.
FIRST ARROWS
The tournament opened with First Arrows, where competitors lined up, properly raised their bows in a 45-degree angle to the sky, {{{I suddenly felt I was in a Branagh movie}}} then released them simultaneously to the sky amidst the sound of whistles.
The sound effects were incredible (and only used at the beginning of the tournament), adding to the drama of the arrows silently flying through the air, arching, then pointing towards a deathly landing on the earth.
Of course, the field was cleared of the enemy, so no carnage occurred.
THE COMPETITION BEGAN!
Targets were set 100 yards away for the men and 60 for the ladies.
While each competitor would shoot 30 arrows, men would shoot from 100, 80, 60, 50, and 40 yards whereas the women would shoot at 60, 50, 40, 30 and 20 yards.
Starting at their farthest points, each competitor used six arrows.
After all had been shot, the host blew the whistle giving the “all clear” to safely retrieve arrows and tally points.
This continued for several rounds, then the targets were advanced, and the sequence began again.
MEDIEVAL COSTUME
In costume was a husband dressed as a longbowman, while his wife was also properly attired, although she was an observer.
PHYSICALLY FIT
During break, several people came to talk to us to answer questions and explain the sport.
We learned that one must be physically fit with a strong inner core to keep balance, aim the bow and arrow, and pull on the tight string.
Light weight lifting is a must.
It’s not about bulk but about consistency in using small weights.
Most of the required muscles involved are not in the arms but in the back of the shoulders.
MY SON USES THE LONGBOW WITH HIS RIGHT HAND
During break my son talked to a man who makes bows, with a great reputation, and he said the cost isn’t any more than ordering on-line.
Wondering what weight bow my son could pull, he had my son try a 32# longbow.
Although my son is left-handed, he used his right hand and consistently hit the target at 20 yards.
TOASTING THE QUEEN
Soon it was time for some more rounds for the competitors, then a toast for which we and another homeschool family observing were asked to join.
We toasted everyone, including the Queen of England, with sparkling cider.
MY SON USES THE LONGBOW WITH HIS LEFT HAND
When everyone broke for lunch, Mr. Gaynor wanted to see how my son would do shooting the longbow with hid dominant left hand.
Again, he rather consistently shot the target at 20 yards, and even hit the bulls-eye a couple of times!
MY TURN
When my son said he wanted me to try, but I told him as much as I really want to, I thought they preferred the kids in on the action.
Undaunted, he asked someone if I could be set up with a bow and they did!
Handing me a 27# longbow, the gent coached me through the aim, arms straight, elbow up, etc, etc, etc.
Inside I tried not to think of my arrow going blip, into an embarrassing tumble on the ground.
With only three arrows to shoot, the first hit the target!
I overshot the other two but that was okay with me because I OVERSHOT them instead of tumbling them directly in front of me!
The gent guiding me found one on the ground beyond the target while my son removed the other I had shot from the target.
Looking for the last one, we couldn’t find it at all. Uh oh!
The gent kept saying it probably went where I least expect it.
When I said I expect it to be close to the target, he said it probably went much further than I thought.
No, that’s impossible. Perhaps it deflected off the side of the target and it’s on the far side.
He finally found it.
My son said that those two arrows which overshot the target were found at 40 and 60 yards!
Wow!
EPILOGUE 2024
In renewing this blog post for my new blog location, I sadly learned that Jay Gaynor passed away on July 31, 2014.
His obituary from the Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily Press reports exactly what I experienced:
Mr. Gaynor was director of Historic Trades at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation at the time of his passing. He was one of the most caring people you are likely to come across in life and was dearly loved by all family, friends and work colleagues. He had an insatiably enquiring mind and over his life, he developed probably the most comprehensive understanding that has ever been accomplished in the study of historic tools and trades.
Perhaps the most singular thing about Mr. Gaynor was that he shared that knowledge so generously and freely with anyone who showed an interest, whether they be academics, working tradespeople or just interested amateurs or collectors. Not only was he hugely knowledgeable and willing to share, he was also immensely interested in whatever his colleagues and friends were doing, sustaining that level of interest throughout his career.
