ROLL OUT THE BARREL

Of the five arrow profiles recovered from the Tudor warship Mary Rose, two are of particular note; those that taper from a thicker centre to both head and string nock, and those that taper from head and nock towards a central depression. They are known respectively as ‘barrelled’, and ‘saddled’ (alternatively ‘doubly barrelled'). The first has survived and the second has not. We will look at each in turn.

Although Roger Ascham, author of or is explicit on many aspects of equipment, and the barrelled arrow was almost certainly known to him, nowhere does he refer to it specifically, or in terms that we might understand. We are therefore denied a contemporary assessment of its qualities and perhaps its especial purpose. He refers instead to two other well used profiles: those which taper from head to string nock, which he terms ‘rush-grown’ but notes