English warbow, by 'Poitiers warbows' bowyer, Denis Mairine, documentary 2005

[gaminghero47]

Couldnt imagine how many workers it took to make thousands of these for an army

[jabara83]

if only the process to making an english longbow was in english i might be able to make one myself

[95jjs]

i'd be so devastated if it cracked or snaped whilst tillering it :L

[naterDmaster44]

is there yew in Canada?

[nidrinr]

@naterDmaster44

Yepp. On your west coast there should be quite a lot.

[thomasthearcher1415]

What kind of shaving horse is that? I could really use something like that for my bow making. Do you have any plans for it?

[thomasthearcher1415]

What kind of shaving horse is that? i could really use such a shaving horse like that for my bow-building. how do the clamps work and are there any plans for this online or do you have any plans. Thanks.

[firglenchainsaws]

Quite fitting that it was filmed in France...

[phumsquacken]

Am I the only person who knows what 'yew' is because of RuneScape?

[HowToHistory]

I enjoyed this video. I only wish my French was stronger so I could fully appreciate it.

[PsykoOps]

I would absolutely love to see this in HD and/or with english subtitles. There's tons of videos about longbow making but they always use modern tools and methods. This is exactly what I was always interested in, how it was made back in the day. *likes*

[nachoman184]

a nice video i already was a big warbow fan just like any one in my family but watching how it is made is verry interesting.

[Isalys555]

Superbe vidéo

[kerbouchard73]

The reason that the English switched to imported Yew was that they used all the good old growth wood in their own country. Long have I wanted to travel to the Land of the LongBow and shoot arrows in Sherwood forest, maybe harvest a deer or 2 from the king's herd. Too bad they outlawed bowhunting in the land of Robin Hood!

[MartinRVUK]

@kerbouchard73 you wouldnt have been allowed to take deer even in the days of Robin Hood mate, unless you were in the Kings good lads club.

Apart from growing scarcity of good yew in England, continental yew was prized because of faster straighter growing trees because of more sunlight, and it was so prized traders with Europe were taxed to bring yew staves with their imports. Or somthing like that. I think. Correct me if Im wrong

[longbowman2010]

well done Denis what an awesome video

the bow you made was extraordinary i would love to get a copy of the full documentary

[Poitierswarbows]

no...it was recorded in France.

[xtremeflyer334]

is ther any vids of this in english

[Poitierswarbows]

To have dense straight yew wood it needs to grow in the right conditions i.e. mountain or hilly regions with poor rocky soil.

To say 'spanish yew' is correct although really you should say the Pyrenées in general, either French or Spanish sides. Don't forget that Gascony was for a long time part of the English throne, so there was obviously no problem in obtaining yew from the Pyrenées. There was a lot of trade and connections between Gascony and England.

[Poitierswarbows]

Yes, these bows were made using italian, portugese, or spanish yew. That is not to say English or Welsh yew wasn't used, it's just that the quantity and quality prefered is, and was, very difficult to find there.

[Antiks72]

katanas ftw

[TYKKETYKKE]

A masterpiece of woodworking indeed.

[lakotadak]

yeah I love longbows

[thomasthearcher1415]

Awsome video! and English Warbows were made out of italian, portugese, or spanish yew not english yew.

[000000AEA000000]

@thomasthearcher1415 thats not fully true. Italian yew was said to be the preferred yew, but in germany for instance, the yew got exportet in so big quantity. That it was almost extinctet in 1500.

[Poitierswarbows]

@000000AEA000000 yes, but as you said, yew from Germany also was used, the only important factor is to use good yew. obviously they used the best yew that was available to them at any given time. Good quality yew is good quality yew where ever it's from !

[000000AEA000000]

@Poitierswarbows true. Great video btw. 

[xxsoulcaliburxx1]

I think the Welsh used wych elm wood for the longbow.And when they were fighting for the English they were made from yew tree both English and Welsh were great at using the longbow.

[Serbiannation]

Best video about making war longbow.Nice!!!! Thank you for posting.

[nevanovna]

The WELSH were the better Archers, not the English

[consistentbass]

Cette documentarie est excellent!

[poomn2008]

i like the background music. haha~

[85throwbackandback85]

Is that english yew?

[Silentkill666]

Probably not. English yew is not a good variety for making longbows. Italian yew was preferred.

[JemmetGK]

English yew was used to make the greatest warbows in history!

Leave it to an italian to make such an erroneous statement.

[dutchwarbow]

jemmetGK, the preferred bows were made from imported spanish, portugese or italian yew. today the yew in spain and portugal has almost become extinct, and the yew is usually imported from italy.

Nick

[ConCon75]

your not very bright are you?

english yew was rubbish for making bows spanish portugese and italian was used.

atleast it was used on the Mary Rose bows

[JemmetGK]

I'M not very bright?

Let's look at your half witted statement there, dumbass:

You'RE spelling is atrocious.

You'RE grammatical sketch is pathetic.

And you obviously have no knowledge of punctuation.

Obviously you'RE a moron.

Spanish or Italian may have been used in, say, the 100 Years War because it was redily available when we conquered those pathetic little nations. But any Welsh and English Bowyer worth his mettle, when given a choice of woods, would pick English, hands down

[JemmetGK]

So, stay in school, you idiot, Con...

[ConCon75]

lol! very predictable, you are idiot, i didnt use any punctuation because i didnt take the time to reply to your idiotic statment properly.

so please do some research i was at the medieval reenactmen societys do in Carrick Castle and a Bower himself told me that only the poorest would use english yew as it was not up to the job.

[TYKKETYKKE]

You seriously have no idea of what you're blabbering about.

[thomasthearcher1415]

yes i do even ask the experts english warbows were made out of italian, portugese, or spanish yew

[drahcirdier]

Excellent video!

I just wish two things:

(1) I could make a bow like that

(2) I COULD UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS BEING SAID! lol

[legolaslover34]

you should mkae a video of you fletching arrows. Do you have a website?

[Poitierswarbows]

glad you like it... yes they are tillered but for timing reasons it wasn't included in the doc.

[legolaslover34]

I just can't stop watching this video!! Do you actually tiller the bow or do you just florr tiller it?

[legolaslover34]

I just can't stop watching this video!! Do you actually tiller the bow or do you just florr tiller it?