New Year Shooting at the Medieval Butts

[Marc St Louis]

 Cant really respect the opinion of someone who has the screen name 'Horace Ford' in a Warbow section.

What's in a name, (outcast, ratty,)

[Phil Rees]

My point is ....
The shoot is advertised as "Shooting at the Medieval Butts" ... this implies that someone has found existing remains of actual medieval butts and permission has been granted to use them ..... not shooting at bales of hay wrapped in hessian, I can do that any day of the week on my own farm

[triton]

Going to poke my oar in.  Define "Butts".  Butts is plural for Butt which means end, hence clout shooters refer to each round as an "end" "I shot 12 ends yesterday".  These days to say "I shot 12 butts yesterday" would sound like you've shot 12 arses, as opposed to 12 diminutive donkeys (asses).
Water butt, A container for collecting water at the END of a drain or soak away.
Cigarette butt.  The END of a cigarette, the finish.
It's perfectly good English from the Anglo-Saxon. 
Therefore it makes NO difference what the butt is made from.

[ratty]

 Cant really respect the opinion of someone who has the screen name 'Horace Ford' in a Warbow section.

What's in a name, (outcast, ratty,)

hey don't drag me into it Marc St Louis  !

[Marc St Louis]

No offense ratty or outcast, just using both you're usernames as an example. 

Nobody knows why we use the names we pick but ourselves so discounting the words of another based on nothing more than their usernames doesn't make sense.

[Ian.]

I suppose you know who Horace Ford is, If anyone liked the man so much as to use his name then they will also
be very much a target archer and will not understand the medieval bow, which is obviously why he has to pick at the
Medieval Butts name.

[Marc St Louis]

I suppose you know who Horace Ford is, If anyone liked the man so much as to use his name then they will also
be very much a target archer and will not understand the medieval bow, which is obviously why he has to pick at the
Medieval Butts name.

Perhaps

[Phil Rees]

which is obviously why he has to pick at the Medieval Butts name.

Not at all .... I'm merely pointing out that your advertising shooting at medieval butts when actualy your shooting at hay bales. I'd of thought historical accuracy would be important to The EWBS

[Yewboy]

which is obviously why he has to pick at the Medieval Butts name.

Not at all .... I'm merely pointing out that your advertising shooting at medieval butts when actualy your shooting at hay bales. I'd of thought historical accuracy would be important to The EWBS

why is it some people have to be argumentative for no good reason, what Alistair and Jeremy are doing is a fun shoot meant to challenge the archers, the fact that a hesian covered hay bail is being used is irrelevent, what is relevent is the distance of 220 yards.
Also if we want to get picky about stuff you could also say that all the test data in the great warbow book by Hardy and Strickland is worthless as the bows being shot are all American yew and to us here in England, America did not exist at that time (no offence to all our American cousins). As we do know this is very relevent info but is not stickly accurate.
Anyway well done for what you are both doing Al & Jez.

[Marc St Louis]

which is obviously why he has to pick at the Medieval Butts name.

Not at all .... I'm merely pointing out that your advertising shooting at medieval butts when actualy your shooting at hay bales. I'd of thought historical accuracy would be important to The EWBS

why is it some people have to be argumentative for no good reason, what Alistair and Jeremy are doing is a fun shoot meant to challenge the archers, the fact that a hesian covered hay bail is being used is irrelevent, what is relevent is the distance of 220 yards.
Also if we want to get picky about stuff you could also say that all the test data in the great warbow book by Hardy and Strickland is worthless as the bows being shot are all American yew and to us here in England, America did not exist at that time (no offence to all our American cousins). As we do know this is very relevent info but is not stickly accurate.
Anyway well done for what you are both doing Al & Jez.

No doubt about it.  It is well done

[Rod]

Absolutely. Rather than carp about the construction of the "butt" I would be more concerned that they accurately represent the size of a mediaeval butt and have had some correspondence with Alistair on this point.

As for the uninformed view that the only application of the heavy bow was to shoot volleys at large groups people, this is foolish.

True it is a primary battlefield application, but if Ian thinks that the mediaeval archer never poached a deer or fought in a running skirmish or a wide variety of tactical situations requiring individual accuracy then I would suggest that he think again.

And who was it that said that for a mediaeval archer, shooting accurately at 220 yards would be "just like" i.e. no more difficult than shooting at 30 yards?
Reading such a statement one cannot help but be curious about the judgement of the writer. 

"Just like" no doubt in terms of experience of both distances, but "just like" in terms of the pragmatically achievable shot distribution, chalk and cheese...
At 220 yards one would hope to hold the length and have an acceptable spread, the latter being far less important than the former, but at 30 yards I would expect a competent archer to hit his man most of the time using only one arrow.

It is probably worth noting that the 11 score distance was not always a compulsory mimimum and was most likely intended to encourage a holding of the distance and a degree of lateral accuracy for barrage fire using a heavy shaft.

The Lutrell Psalter image might lead one to assume that it was not uncommon at other times to shoot at the butts at shorter distances, given the angle of the pricking shafts as shown.
Informed comment on this point would be appreciated, possibly as a separate topic.

As for "Horace Ford", it may be that the selection of the handle reflects his interests, but speaking only for myself, I would not be so presumptious as to adopt the name and might be inclined to mischievously enquire as to this gentleman's name and scores for the York round. 

But this would perhaps be going too far....

Rod.

[Phil Rees]

Gentleman
I wish this event every possible success, and hope that it grows and introduces many many more people to shooting bigger bows at longer, more challenging distances.
Sadly it would be difficult to arrange a flight to attend this event at such short notice.
As for the name ... well ... who cares
Rod ... best two way York round score 504

[Rod]

Gentleman
I wish this event every possible success, and hope that it grows and introduces many many more people to shooting bigger bows at longer, more challenging distances.
Sadly it would be difficult to arrange a flight to attend this event at such short notice.
As for the name ... well ... who cares
Rod ... best two way York round score 504

A creditable score in anyone's book. Certainly sufficient that those who cannot match it should not carp at your choice of name.

Rod.

[Ian.]

How do you know if I cant match it,

   I don't agree with you Rod so lets leave it there, I not going to argue with you.

[mullet]

 Jeez, I bet ya'll wish the Sun came out more over there?