Chapter XXXIII
The Sixteenth Century Stonebow, with a Light Steel
Bow which was Bent by Manual Power Only
ARBALETE A JALET - STONEBOW - PRODD - LATCH
Fig. 100. - A Sixteenth Century Stonebow which was
Bent by Hand.
This was a sporting crossbow with a steel bow which was fitted with
a double string. In the centre of the double string, a little pocket of
interlaced twine - called the cradle - was fixed to hold the pebble the
crossbow discharged.1
With our ancestors, the stonebow, to some extent, took the place of
the small rifle we now use for rooks and rabbits.
1 The stonebow was used in sport and never
in warfare. Many of the stonebows which were made for the nobles and princes
of the sixteenth century were splendidly decorated, the metalwork, engraving,
carving and inlaying to be seen on their stocks being often of lavish beauty.
To such an extent was this embellishment carried, that the stonebow was
sometimes even fitted with a bowstring formed of chased steel links, instead
of the usual cord. |