For many centuries, bows and arrows were used to kill and to make war. Famous people such as Robin Hood and William Tell are also associated with the art of archery. Through the years, it became an exercise of skill. In 15th-century France, it is considered a religious ritual. In some Brotherhoods, the bow symbolized the Father, the rope the Holy Spirit, and the arrow the Son. The target represented Jesus’ tortured body. So before shooting the arrow, the archer had to bow before its target.
Ever since I was very young I've liked bows and arrows. Perhaps it was growing up with the plethora of Cowboy and Indian films and TV series' and of course the UK TV classic series Robin Hood with Richard Greene that kept the bow in my mind. Maybe it's the spirit of the Agincourt bowmen in some deep Jungian collective memory pool. Whatever.
I used to make my own bows from long branches cut from the large privet hedges in my garden (Yew being rather scarce!)I would also make and fletch my own arrows, carefully splitting the ends of the shafts with a penknife, sliding in bits of feather and binding them tightly with thin nylon twine. I even waxed the bowstring with a candle!
