24. ARROWS ?

These 'musquet arrowes' are perhaps the ammunition for an old Tudor weapon known asa Currier, which had been in frequent use with Elizabethan Militia, but which had become obsolete by the time of the Civil War. They were still evidently in use, perhaps with the artillery guard ?

Paul Sutton

Further to the pieces about Musquet Arrowes, I submit the following, taken from the memoirs of that likeable Montgomeryshire lad, John Gwynne. The passage deals with the siege of Devizes, held against Cromwell and Fairfax by Sir Charles LLoyd, another Montgomeryshire man:<'P>

"The enemy, with his incessant peales of muskets, great guns, and mortar pieces played upon us...I having the guard by the riverside, and standing by Sir Jacob Ashley, a bearded arrow stuck into the ground betwixt his legs. He pluckt it out with both hands and said "You rogues, you mist your aim"".

In his original notes Sir Walter Scott, who edited and published Gwynne's memoirs, remarked "this is perhaps the last mention of the use of the bow in England in actual battle". But was this so ? Historians may well ponder that had this "bearded arrow' done Sir Jacob some damage of a personal nature then Gwynne may have given us a far more detailed description of the projectile which shot over the siegeworks that day in Autumn 1645.

Dave Evans

Other Answers

16. Weights & Measures
24. Arrows
28. Colours

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