and there were particular stipulations as to its employment for sporting purposes.
The bolts discharged from the crossbow were of various kinds. Those used in war were about a foot long, the head being a plainly forged point of iron, pyramidal and very slightly leaf-shaped. Those used in sport were known as "vires" or "viroux," their iron heads being of manifold shape. Employed against the smaller game certain bolts had a broad flat head, which killed by the shock of impact, and were termed "bougons," or, in France, ciseaux; some were barbed, and some had heads of crescent formation, a shape specially designed for severing the hamstrings of quarry. We illustrate the various types (Fig. 946).
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Fig. 946. Bolt heads of various types, XVth and XVIth centuries
(a) Chisel-shaped head, for hamstringing game. Late XVIth century
(b) Fork-shaped head, for the same purpose. XVIth century
(c) Rectangular headed, of great strength for war purposes. XVth century
(d) Coronel headed, for stunning game. XVIth century
(e) Bayonet-shaped barbed head, for war purposes. XVth century
(f) Whistling head. Its passage through the air causes it to whistle, causing the prey to turn its head towards the discharger. Early XVIth century
(g) Ordinary bolt head, for war purposes. XVIth century
(h) Heavy barbed head, for big game. Early XVIth century
(i) Small bayonet-shaped barbed head, for small game. XVIth century
(j) Heavy fork-shaped head, for hamstringing game. Early XVIth century
(k) Common bolt head, for purposes of war. XVth century All from various private collections
The "empennes," or feathers for the bolts, were often made of leather, or even of the same wood as the bolt itself. If the feathers were placed spirally on the shaft, so as to give the bolt a twist in its flight, they were called "viretons."
To what we have already said about the long bow in an earlier chapter we have little to add: when we examine its XVth century form we find it still of the same construction. The long bow was essentially the weapon of the English. Creçy, we know, was won by British bowmen. At the conclusion of
