I was born in the summer of 1700. As a young yew sapling, I enjoyed the cool damp nights and warm summer days of England. As I grew, I learned of my ancestral history. I heard the stories of the swashbuckling lads of Sherwood. The merry chase they gave the Sheriff of Nottingham and the award winning archery tournaments. Robin Hood and the tales of his exploits run deep in my family.

My roots grew deep in the rich limestone soil of Staffordshire and nourished my spindly limbs till they too became strong. During this time I heard of the brave men at the Battle of Agincourt as they defeated the French army and brought glory to my homeland of England. Is it to this, why I'm here I wondered? But such was not to be.

I heard of a distant land full of great possibilities called "The Colonies" and their potential to bring riches and additional glory to England. However, there was restlessness across the Atlantic Ocean in this new land. They didn't like being a colony and were making noises of a revolution to bring about a separation from my England. I didn't understand. Then I learned about a certain document called "The Declaration of Independence". Why would they want to be independent?  I heard of a man named George Washington and how he led the Colonies in war against us. I didn't like the Colonies for this. There was another war called the War of 1812. In January of 1815, I heard of another man named Andrew Jackson that defeated our British Army in some distant place called New Orleans. I disliked the Americans even more.

I laughed in 1836 when I was told that a brash young Congressman named Davy Crockett in this new city called Washington D.C. was told to either "Go to hell or go to Texas". Not wanting to be called a coward, he chose to go to Texas. He was later killed at some place called The Alamo. I always wondered about this place called Texas.

I have lived through many wars and was never directly effected, but I wept when I heard that over 300,000 British soldiers were trapped at a place in France called Dunkirk. I was glad when they finally were able to evacuate back to England. I've heard German bombers fly over on their way to drop their bombs on London, then rejoiced when I heard those "Americans" were finally coming to help. I learned they are not so bad after all.

For over 300 years I grew and became stronger. My girth was nearly 15 feet in circumference. My middle became hollow but my outside growth rings were tight and strong. But I was not stronger than Nature. I watched as the dark storm clouds grew over the horizon. I'd seen thousands of storms before, but none like this. As the rain fell and soaked the soil around my roots, the wind blew harder and lightening danced around me. Harder and harder the wind blew. My limbs swayed to and fro and twisted in the swirling gale. The rain soaked soil began to pull away from my roots. I couldn't hold any longer and came crashing to the ground. Limbs broken and with exposed roots I could only lay there. Was this how it would end? Was I to lay here and decay?

Weeks and months passed before men arrived with their saws. I was cut up and removed to a mill. There I was cut into 2" X 10" X 8' boards and stacked on a pallet. I waited and waited and waited. Last May a man named Jim Belcher chose my best boards. He said he was taking me to the "states" to become a longbow. A longbow, that had been my family's history.  I too, would at last be able to walk in their steps and take my place in the yew tree family history.

We arrived in the Colonies at a place called Brighton, Michigan. Never heard of this place before now. Several months passed as I lay on a rack watching many longbows being made by Jim. Then a couple of weeks ago it was my turn. I was cut, ground, sanded and glued up with another piece of wood. I learned it was Macassar Ebony. More sanding and then several coats of something were sprayed all over me. That was yesterday. This morning I overheard Jim say that Tuesday I would be going to TEXAS! After wondering about that place for 174 years, I am finally going to TEXAS!!!!

Cool read!!  It would be nice if they really could talk.  There would probably alot more stories they could share.

woohoo !!!
cool story Mate ....
Danny ... i spoke with Jim the other day and my t/d is about to get shipped in a week or so !

I always did wonder if a piece of wood could talk, what story would it tell? Now I know! Thanks for sharing that. It will be good to see what that piece of Yew became. Look forward to the pics.      

Excellent story! Good luck with the new bow.

Not what I was expecting. What a cool story.

My bud has done it again. I knew what it was about and still found it to be a wonderful read. Can't wait to see the finished product. Course what I'm really looking forward to is hearing the conversation around the camp fire. That bow and Danny will entertain me for hours with their historical jibber jabber. That might just prove to be a multi-Shiner night. Congrats to a great guy and a good friend on a rare and, I expect, beautiful Belcher "UnionJack".      

Now there's an introduction of a bow! Very nice.

There have been many threads that started "my new Such & Such bow arrived and I've got pics!" There are many reasons why I didn't want to do that. Why? Because the history of this special tree, to me, is so unique.
The yew in this bow actually took life and started to grow before there was a United States of America. This tree was probably 15 to 20 years older than I am now when the Declaration of Independence was signed. It lived for centuries in England before any of us were even born. I feel extremely privileged to give this special longbow a place to live. Special not only in the age of the wood, but because of the bow it has so skillfully been crafted into. The Union Jack was originally designed by Jim Belcher's dad, who passed away last May. That's when Jim was in England and heard about this tree.
Jim brought back to his home in Michigan enough of this yew to make exactly two longbows. This bow is the first one crafted. Jim will make the next one for himself. Jim tells me that he plans on returning to England next May and will try to secure more of this wood. How much he doesn't know. It has been palletized  but shipping cost may be next to outrageous. For these reasons, I thought a special introduction was warranted.

BTW - The specs on this 300+ year old longbow is 66" digital scaled at 56.7# @ 28" and has Macassar Ebony riser and overlays.

Jim does have a good supply of very nice Pacific yew if anyone wants a Union Jack with wood from the Northwest. Otherwise, it will be sometime next year before any of the English Yew will be available.

thanks for sharing the details . It'll be a shooter for sure .

I guess you've figured out by now that you most likely have written one for the archives of "My All-time Favorite Threads".

All I can say is: Thank you for the bottom of my heart.

I hope I get to see a picture of you, your bow and maybe a Robin Hood hat.

God bless,Mudd

Great job.Got to see a picture of the bow.

Nice story. I'm sure the bow will be at least as good!

Great story.

good for you buddy! mark#78

Great Post Mr. Long

Stiks

Great story!

Well, the Union Jack is on its way to Texas. Jim Belcher has provided tracking information and delivery is scheduled for Tuesday, November 23rd. In time to have a seat at the Thanksgiving table.
 

Can't wait to see the finished product. Thanks for a great thread.

I could almost hear the Battle Hyme Of the Republic playing in the backround... Nice job and be sure to show it off