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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: 2 bears on February 20, 2009, 08:19:00 AM

Title: Flemish strings
Post by: 2 bears on February 20, 2009, 08:19:00 AM

I have a question that so far no one has come up with the answer.  What is the meaning of Flemish? Where did the term come from?   Can anybody help.

Title: Re: Flemish strings
Post by: razorback on February 20, 2009, 09:41:00 AM

Flemish is a language that is spoken in the Netherlands and is almost the same as Dutch. Maybe these strings came from that region and adopted the name jm2cw.

Title: Re: Flemish strings
Post by: Falk on February 20, 2009, 09:51:00 AM

... its the English transcription of "Flanders" - and describes first of all the origin of strings as being made in Flanders or Vlaanderen or Flandern, which is mostly the north west part of Belgium.

  (http://www.bruessel-gui.de/bruessel/belgien_karte.jpg)

 (http://www.bezregarnsberg.nrw.de/dieBezirksregierung/aufbau/abteilungen/abteilung5/dezernat51/images/landschaft.gif)


Good quality hemp was grown here and also in Germany, it had specially long fibres and was thus used for strings. And the mediaeval* (ELB) archer got his first class strings from accross the channel. They were made "flemish style" and found superior in quality and make. Nowadays the term is used synonymous for strings made like the original was supposed to be ...

* I was not allowed to write the word 'mediaeval' directly followed by a bracket - for some reason - so I put in the asterics  :confused:

Title: Re: Flemish strings
Post by: razorback on February 20, 2009, 11:37:00 AM

Nice info Falk. Is the area of the Netherlands just north of there, the area that speaks Flemish. My initial answer was working on a little general knowledge and some intuitive guess work. Was just wondering how close I might have been. the borders back in them days were different to today.

Title: Re: Flemish strings
Post by: Falk on February 20, 2009, 01:13:00 PM

Well, we call the people "Flamen" and they speak flämisch (engl.: flemish) - which makes for "flämisch gespleißte Sehne" in German (engl.: flemish spliced string). As far as I know it is indeed a different language thing. Flemish, as language, is more or less a sort of Dutch. Belgium is split in the Dutch (Flemish) and French speaking part, as indicated from my first graphic above. In former times Flandern (Flandria) reached more to the west as well - into todays France and I suppose it went and still goes into the Netherlands as well ...

Maybe V-Archer can clear all the linguistic and ethnic problems should he read this?!

Title: Re: Flemish strings
Post by: 2 bears on February 20, 2009, 01:15:00 PM

Very interesting.  Now I know what to say when people ask me what a Flemish twist string is.  Thanks guys for your input.