Livery Arrows / Traditional Arrows Then to Now.. A look at Medieval Arrows and the journey to traditional arrows of today By Janyn Fletcher of Lancastreschire, Barony of Bright Hills, Kingdom of Atlantia 2/18/2017 1
LIVERY ARROW HISTORY: The term Lyvery Arrowe or Livery arrow means Army issued, as it is listed in the Anthony Roll 1 The Livery arrow which was contracted by the English War council to many fletchers had very specific requirements when being produced. Each fletcher would be held to those specific standards of production for these shafts. The picture below is from the English War Bow Society 1 The Anthony Roll is a record of ships of the English Tudor navy of the 1540s, named after its creator, Anthony Anthony. It originally consisted of three rolls of vellum, depicting 58 naval vessels along with information on their size, crew, armament, and basic equipment. 2
and comes directly from the livery plans used for fletchers throughout England. In addition these specifications are still in use today to produce faithful reproductions of what was actually found on the Mary Rose. The Mary Rose had what was thought to be over 9600 livery arrows on board according to the records for her passage. Only 2600 of them were recovered. However, in this instance there is another potential additional source of evidence in the shape of the Westminster Arrow which was found in 1878, lodged in a beam in Westminster Abbey above Henry V s tomb. Though this arrow has never been carbon dated it has been there is good provenance that it originates from the same time period. Made from ash or possibly poplar it is tapered at both head and tail with its maximum thickness achieved about three quarters the way along the shaft toward the head. As with the Mary rose shafts the arrow is stiff and made to stand in a heavy bow (an arrow shaft that is overly flexible will flex too much when shot and may shatter) and measures 30 inches in length. The livery arrow was itself perhaps the first example of a military specification, the earliest ordinance of the London Ministry of Fletchers dates to 1403 and was frequently revised as in the ordinance of 1432 to close any potential labor saving loop holes in arrow production. Clearly the quality of arrows was deemed paramount. Arrow shafts were made in many varieties of wood, the Elizabethan Archery Master, Roger Ashcam lists fifteen but the most populous among the Mary Rose shafts are Beech, Poplar and Birch. There are five distinctly different profile shapes for arrow shafts the purpose of which is not yet fully known but the most common would appear to be the barreled or tapered bobtail arrow similar to the Westminster arrow. This shape has the advantage of a streamlined shape, suited to good range and helps to correct for the offset that the arrow must overcome as it runs past the bow allowing the arrow to settle onto the direction the bow was aimed at sooner. The final piece of the jigsaw was the arrow shaft itself, finds on the Mary Rose have shown that certain woods were favored more than others poplar being chief among them. Shafts were fashioned from planks into thin battens which then had their corners shaved off repeatedly till they approached the shape of a cylindrical shaft before being sanded smooth. The shafts were then honed into profiled shapes of which four predominate; the straight or parallel shafted, the tapered bobtail, the breasted and the barreled. Though the parallel arrow shaft is undoubtedly easier to make, the other profiles offer advantages and improvement of the shot over a straight shaft. The barreled concentrates its thickness just forward of its mid-point damping out the inherent bending and wobble of the arrow as it leaves the bow, this preserves more energy in shaft and increases range. The bobtail, thicker at its head was perceived to fly better but most of all it allowed heavier arrowheads to be affixed. Among all the shafts found on the Mary Rose, this was the most common. The breasted, the opposite in profile to the bobtail was believed and certainly by Ascham, to adjust to its aimed course quicker making it better for close range shooting. When examining the worth of these arrow profiles it should be remembered that the shafts 3
themselves were 3/8 to 1/2 an inch thick and so very stiff even for a heavy weight bow. The benefits of profiling are at their best when this is taken into account, lighter and more supple arrows intended for light weight bows, though often barreled with great success for distance shooting, do not manifest the virtues of the other profiles well. Ultimately, issued livery arrow shafts are likely to have been a one size fits all affair, perhaps profiling was undertaken by the archers themselves to optimize a few of their issued arrows for their bow or for distinct and special purposes. There were a few different types of English arrows used for different applications: The Standard Arrow This style of arrow would have been used in recreational shooting and hunting. The Livery Arrow - This style of arrow would have been used in the military for war. The Quarter Pound Arrow This style of arrow was a heavier military arrow used to penetrate armor. These would have been the arrows used in the hundred year s war. Weight: The minimal acceptable weight of an arrow would be 980 grains (63.5g) Nock: A horn reinforced self-nock (reinforcement approximately 2 ) must be used. A slot depth of around ¼" is suggested. The nock does not need to be further reinforced with bindings but this may be advisable for longevity and safety. Shaft: Any shaft wood found on board the Mary Rose is acceptable. These include ash, birch, oak and most commonly aspen or poplar. Either a torpedo or bob-tailed shaft profile is acceptable. Minimum shaft diameter at the shoulder 1/2 4
Minimum shaft diameter at the nock 3/8 Minimum Shaft length (bottom of nock to shoulder) 30 ½ Fletchings: Fletchings must be cut in a triangular pattern. The rear edge must be cut at an angle of (or near) 90 degrees to the shaft. The corner may be radiused. Turkey is acceptable. Minimum length 7 3/8 Minimum height 5/8 Bindings: The fletchings must be bound on at a minimum of 4 turns per inch. Red silk is preferred but linen is acceptable. Verdigris compound is not required over the bindings but may be used. The picture below shows what an arrow with verdigris applied would look like. Head or Point: There were many documented types of arrow heads used throughout history but one of the most common was the Tudor Bodkin which was hand forged just like the other styles. The picture below shows what that type of head would look like. My methods of construction: Much like the fletchers of the past, I first make square stock typically 1 square of either ash or poplar stock. These 1 squares are then worked to shave the sharp edges off forming them into a round shaft. I generally make parallel shafts but have also constructed some bob tail shafts as well. This picture below shows my rough shafts after being hand planed and turned using sand paper to round them down. Obviously power tools were not used in period times but it helps aid me in speeding the process along with the rough process of the shaft material. I use a homemade curved plane that I made a blade shaped like a U that I can shave the square stock with. This works quite well and quickly planes down the sharp edges of the shafts to a more round shape for the final arrow. In period times a straight plane or knife were used to plane down the shafts into the final round shape of the shaft. 5
I followed traditional methods of construction from the English Warbow Society Guidelines and constructed a welsh arrow with tied on feathers. I adhered to the 9 turns per inch for the fletching and I used the traditional cloth material vise red silk for this example arrow. I did not use Verdigris on the bindings because I am still in the process of growing my own and it was not ready in time for this showing. TRADITIONAL ARROWS: Unlike their medieval counterparts, the traditional arrow is not designed for the purpose of war. Its more utilitarian purposes are more widespread but still very capable of killing if required. Many of the same techniques are employed by fletchers today as they were in historical times, but with more tools and aids to assist the fletcher in mass production and more accurate arrows. The traditional arrows of today are much more ornate than the livery arrow was. Traditional arrows are typically bright with many colors of stain, paint and cresting. 2 Feathers of today are also stained in many different colors and patterns which is very different than the plain white or grey that the birds of medieval times provided. 2 Cresting a process painting the shafts with rings of paint to identify the shafts of the archer. 6
This picture below shows what a typical traditional arrow might look like. Livery arrows would have never been this ornate, because they were built for war and were not designed to be reused or a lot of time spent on them in the building process. There are examples of arrows from African tribes dated back to the 900 s of markings made by pigmentation from earth borne ingredients, but they were minimal markings. This is a necessity today to help identify who s arrows are who s to each archer in a specific target. Another very noticeable difference in arrows of now versus then is the diameter and size of them. Livery arrows were designed to be shot out of bows that were at least 100 pounds of draw or more and they were 5/8 to 1 thick and weighed around 1300-1500 grams depending on the style and type of point installed on them. A traditional arrow today is typically 11/32 in diameter and made to shoot out of bows ranging from 35 75 pounds. A typical arrow today weighs roughly 450 650 grams with hunting arrows typically weighing a bit more. Traditional arrows of now use field points that are designed specifically for target shooting and don t destroy the targets in a quick time period. References: 1 Hildred, A (Edit) Weapons of Warre, The Mary Rose Trust 2010, p. 665. 2 Stirland, A Raising the Dead: The Skeleton Crew of Henry VIII's Great Ship, the Mary Rose, Wiley 2000, p.122 3 Soar, H Straight and True, a Select History of the Arrow, Westholme Publishing 2012, p.100 7
4 Grew, F & De Neergaard, M., Shoes and Pattens: Finds from Medieval Excavations in London, Paul Meekins Military & History Books 2004, p99 5 Hildred, Ibid. p. 686 6 Soar, Ibid, p.101 7 Roberts, T & Wood, W The English Bowman: Or, Tracts on Archery, C. Rowworth, 1801,p. 29 8 Ascham, Ibid, P. 181 9 Ascham, R The English Works of Roger Ascham: Preceptor to Queen Elizabeth, White, Cochrane and Co., 1815, p.140 10 Hildred, Ibid. p. 686 8