The Longbow
Although these days the longbow is generally thought of as an English weapon, it was the Welsh who employed the longbow in battle long before the English adopted it or Wales was conquered by England. While bows and arrows have been around since Paleolithic times, the first confirmed use of the Welsh longbow was in 633 AD, in a battle between the King of Gwynedd, Cadwallon ap Cadfan, and the Northumbrians. An arrow shot from a Welsh bow killed Ofrid, son of Edwin of Northumbria. During this time, Saxons were not known for their archery in battle. Ralph, the Earl of Hereford, describes an expedition he led against the Welsh king, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. His horsemen, who’d ridden into the Welsh mountains, were ambushed by archers shooting so accurately and strongly that, according to the Abingdon Chronicle, ‘the Read more…
The Welsh Longbow
The Welsh employed the longbow long before any of their conquerors and used to great effect against their enemies for centuries. Bows and arrows have been around since Paleolithic times, with evidence of them as early as 8000-9000 BC in Germany. http://www.newarchaeology.com/articles/history_bow_and_arrows.php Kennewick man, the controversial skeleton found in the banks of the Columbia River inKennewick,Washington dates to roughly 7500 BC. A CT scan revealed a stone, projectile point embedded in his hip. Oetzi the Iceman was found with a quiver of arrows with flint heads and an unfinished yew longbow–taller than he was–in his pack. He dates to 3300 BC. A new find in Norway revealed 4500 year old bows and arrows that are very similar in form and function to those found in the Yukon dating to the same time period. The confirmed first use of the longbow was in 633 AD, in a Read more…
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