SARACEN ARCHERY AND SPEED SHOOTING

I have been reading Saracen Archery, which is freely available as a PDF here. I was led to this by Lars Andersen's viral Youtube video on the subject of speed shooting.

I became interested in finding evidence of speed shooting in the past and its application in military warfare. With the fad in speed shooting engendered by Lars Andersen's video, I became intrigued by the concept, particularly given my doubts regarding Andersen's historical claims. Indeed, some things said in the narration of the video are false, and are proven to be so by the very historical texts he cites (Arab Archery and Saracen Archery). 

For example, how he could say that target archery was unknown in the past and that the back quiver is a Hollywood myth when both are mentioned in those texts is beyond me. 

But I was also curious to know whether the impressive speed shooting which Andersen demonstrates so accurately was possible with bows which ancient archers would have used for warfare. It is clear from both archaeological and literary sources that war archers of East and West would shoot bows with draw weights of 100 - 150 ibs. Is it really possible to shoot 3 arrows in less than 2 seconds with a bow requiring such strength and still consistently hit one's target? 

Enter Saracen Archery, and two passages (from pages 141 and 142 in the text linked above) which describe both the speed at which the average Saracen war archer was expected to shoot (3 arrows in 1.5 seconds) and the practice of getting a good grouping from 75 yards (the desired diameter of the grouping was 3 feet). 

The poundage of the bow and the flight speed of the arrows are not mentioned. I only know from my own experience that arrows shot at a target 80 yards away with a 30 ib bow take about 3 seconds to land in the desired spot. If we put the following two passages regarding grouping and speed together, it is possible to conclude - though with no certainty - that Saracen archers would shoot 3 arrows before the first arrow even landed, and they no doubt did so with bows weighing over 100 ibs!

In the literature and legends of many countries there are stories of almost incredible shots achieved by archers, and in modern times some remarkable shots have indeed been made. Such feats, however, may be regarded as isolated cases representing the perfect shot out of many thousands made. In our text, on the other hand, we have a rare and important guide to the standard of accuracy expected of every archer. He is required to group his arrows within a circle roughly 3 feet in diameter at 75 yards. The ability to do this with wooden shafts and without the aid of a sighting device such as can be fitted to a bow by the modern archer demands a very high standard of accuracy and bespeaks a well-trained and experienced bowman. It is nevertheless within the reach of anyone who will practise with diligence. 

In terms intelligible to the modern reader the standard of rapidity the author sets for the archer is the ability to discharge 3 arrows in about 1/5 seconds. This is a fast time and one's first reaction is surprise that such a high standard, which few, if any, Western bowmen of today could attain, should be expected of the general run of Mameluke archers. It is nevertheless an attainable standard as is evident from the achievement in modern times of Saxton Pope who did succeed on a number of occasions in shooting 7 arrows in 8 seconds (Elmer, Target Archery, pp. 428-30). Accuracy naturally diminishes with increased speed, and field trials suggest that it is difficult to exceed 8 well-aimed shots per minute. Nevertheless, it cannot be doubted that Muslim archers could shoot at high speed and, given a large enough target, hit with all shots. During the Second Crusade William of Tyre, who must have been conversant with the performance of his own bowmen, remarked more than once on the dexterity of the enemy archer, 'The Saracen cavalry... began to shoot thicker and faster than one could believe possible' is a fairly typical comment of the period (Smail, Crusading Warfare, pp. 76-77 and nn. 8, 9). In contemporary military science the rate of projection of missiles, when multiplied by their weight or explosive force, gives what is termed 'fire-power'. If we may be excused an anachronistic and, in the context an admittedly incongruous, use of words for a nevertheless legitimate purpose, the fire-power of a crossbow shooting 2 x 800 gr. missiles per min. would be 1,600 gr. per min. and might be compared with that of a hand bow shooting 8 x 400 gr., or 3,200 gr., per min. Fire-power combined with mobility is a point upon which modern military teaching lays great stress, and it is this combination that undoubtedly contributed to the effectiveness of Muslim horse-archers in their heyday. That 3 arrows could in fact be regularly shot in about 1.5 seconds we do not question; we only regret that we are not told exactly how the arrows should be held in order to shoot with such elacrity.