Nocking points
A group of Society for Creative Anachronism archers in Washington state (USA) have been debating the following question:
Did anyone in the Middle Ages or before add a nocking point to their string?
In Hugh Soar's new book on page 158, he mentions that whipping/serving was done. The quote in the next paragraph indicates that whipping was done on the nock ends, but does not clearly say that it was done where the arrow is nocked.
Ascham, in Toxophilus (page 144, paragraph 3) says,
"To nock well is the easiest point of all, and therein is no cunning, but
only diligent heed-giving, to set his shaft neither too high nor too low,
but even straight overthwart his bow. Unconstant nocking maketh a man loose his length. And besides that, if the shaft hand be high, and the bow hand be low, or contrary, both the bow is in jeopardy of breaking, and the shaft, if it be little, will start; if it be great, it will hobble."
In "Chinese Archery", S Selby translates a section heading from The Archery Manual of Wang Ju (622 AD) as "Nocking the arrow at the middle of the serving" (page 207). This documents the use of a serving. It may also point out the obvious: you don't really need to add a nocking point. That is what the serving is for! If you make the serving small enough, you have the nocking point by default. In Selby's "Archery Traditions of Asia" he shows an illustration of a Chinese bow labeled with a Chinese character translated as "arrow nocking point". He also shows a Chinese bow with a very small serving. However, this may be a modern bow.
In "Arab Archery" translated by N. A. Faris and R. Elmer 1945, there is a discussion about making a string from the hide of a lean camel: "The string should be coarse in three places: namely the part whereon the arrow is nocked and the parts which make its two eyes." Arab Archery was contemporary with Ascham's "Toxophilus" written in the 1500's.
There is no indication that a separate nocking point of any additional material other then the serving is put on the string.
Is there any conclusive documentation that a serving was in some way marked or that a nocking point was put on the string to make it easy for the archer to find the proper nocking point quickly?
Did anyone in the Middle Ages or before add a nocking point to their string?
In Hugh Soar's new book on page 158, he mentions that whipping/serving was done. The quote in the next paragraph indicates that whipping was done on the nock ends, but does not clearly say that it was done where the arrow is nocked.
Ascham, in Toxophilus (page 144, paragraph 3) says,
"To nock well is the easiest point of all, and therein is no cunning, but
only diligent heed-giving, to set his shaft neither too high nor too low,
but even straight overthwart his bow. Unconstant nocking maketh a man loose his length. And besides that, if the shaft hand be high, and the bow hand be low, or contrary, both the bow is in jeopardy of breaking, and the shaft, if it be little, will start; if it be great, it will hobble."
In "Chinese Archery", S Selby translates a section heading from The Archery Manual of Wang Ju (622 AD) as "Nocking the arrow at the middle of the serving" (page 207). This documents the use of a serving. It may also point out the obvious: you don't really need to add a nocking point. That is what the serving is for! If you make the serving small enough, you have the nocking point by default. In Selby's "Archery Traditions of Asia" he shows an illustration of a Chinese bow labeled with a Chinese character translated as "arrow nocking point". He also shows a Chinese bow with a very small serving. However, this may be a modern bow.
In "Arab Archery" translated by N. A. Faris and R. Elmer 1945, there is a discussion about making a string from the hide of a lean camel: "The string should be coarse in three places: namely the part whereon the arrow is nocked and the parts which make its two eyes." Arab Archery was contemporary with Ascham's "Toxophilus" written in the 1500's.
There is no indication that a separate nocking point of any additional material other then the serving is put on the string.
Is there any conclusive documentation that a serving was in some way marked or that a nocking point was put on the string to make it easy for the archer to find the proper nocking point quickly?
As with so many archery questions spanning a huge area and period, there can not be a single answer. I know of the following practices:
- No nocking point. That is to say, with practice, the archer can judge by experience. Of the old bows I have collected which still have an original string, none has a physical nocking point.
- A fixed nocking point. This is usually an additional piece of material wound around the string over which the arrow is nocked. Occasionally, also a set point against which the arrow is nocked either from above or below. The Tibetans commonly do this.
- A thickening of the string over about two to three cm of the string length which makes it more comfortable to do a thumb draw without wearing a thumb ring (common in Mongolia).
For horseback archery in battle conditions, my feeling is that a fixed nocking point to stop the nock (either from above or below) should be much more secure. However, I have not seen written evidence that it was used.
S
- No nocking point. That is to say, with practice, the archer can judge by experience. Of the old bows I have collected which still have an original string, none has a physical nocking point.
- A fixed nocking point. This is usually an additional piece of material wound around the string over which the arrow is nocked. Occasionally, also a set point against which the arrow is nocked either from above or below. The Tibetans commonly do this.
- A thickening of the string over about two to three cm of the string length which makes it more comfortable to do a thumb draw without wearing a thumb ring (common in Mongolia).
For horseback archery in battle conditions, my feeling is that a fixed nocking point to stop the nock (either from above or below) should be much more secure. However, I have not seen written evidence that it was used.
S
The same question has puzzled newcomers to primitive archery (from modern archery circles) who don't understand why our Primitive Archery Club (covering archery from the Mesolithic up to 1800s and everything in between) does not allow nocking points on bowstrings. But, to our knowledge, there are no known examples of pre-1900 bowstrings with nocking points, and this from a group of people who have seen hundreds and hundreds of such bows(trings) in museums, collections and books.
There were nocking points in China pre-1900. They were usually formed by thickening the string with additional whipping.