We walked into the English Heritage gift shop by the inner castle drawbridge of Dover Castle.
“In my nightmares,” Phil muttered at my shoulder, “I win a huge cash prize which can only be spent here.”
It was filled with wares which are strangely puzzling to me: because whilst being beautiful, cultured and well researched, each gift is indefinably useless to grown ups such as he and I.
Jewellery, replica armour, needlework, mugs, metalwork; and a selection of luxury English Heritage preserves and pickles.
At the end of the shop nearest the till is the weaponry. Wooden swords, daggers, knives, bows and sucker-arrows: Felix, one by one, has added them all to his arsenal.
For three years, though, he has been eyeing up the crossbow.
A pricey item, the crossbow is a gorgeous replica of the weapons of yore, complete with two padded bolts. Felix has often cast longing eyes on it: today was finally to be the day of its purchase.
But what does one really want with a crossbow? A brand-new model of a long-defunct piece of weaponry?
Once upon a time, it would have been the difference between life and death.
Image via Wikipedia
The crossbow: a crack-fighting weapon dating back to at least the fifth century BC, it is a bow mounted on a stick with a release mechanism which launches the bolt- or “quarrel”- with lightning velocity. Its string made of whipcord, hemp, sinew or occasionally twisted mulberry, it has been depicted in art again and again, from the Pictish stone-slab pictures from sixth century Scotland (St Vigeans, Glenferness, Shandwick and Meigle) to Leonardo Da Vinci’s gorgeous sketches(above).
Felix walked straight to the crossbow counter and began evaluating his purchase with the grim levity of some mediaeval mercenary.
“Is it possible to buy replacement bolts?” I asked the affable shopkeeper.
He winced. “No, I’m afraid you only get these two which come with the bow, ” he said.
What English Heritage do not know about little boys is a lot.
Felix’s arrows disappear often, and if they ever do materialise it is in the strangest places: the garden shed, the bread bin, the dolly box.
Our purchase made, we headed out. Felix was eager to test his purchase. We selected for the firing range the iron age mound where the Roman lighthouse perches on the cliff. It is a wide steeply sloping stretch of perfect English Heritage lawn.
Felix began at the bottom of the slope. He fired a bolt: and it disappointed him mightily. For travelling uphill a bolt will not go far at all.
And then he hit on going to the top of the hill.
Hey presto: fired from such a vantage point the bolt flew down the hill, vanquishing some imaginary mediaeval knight-agressor. He grinned.
And like Felix’s bolt, like a bolt from the blue, I realised something.
That used to be a lesson taught in dusty classrooms: ancient armies always looked for high ground: it was the ultimate advantage over your enemies. This since the iron age, man has sought to live in high places to defend himself.
But Felix found this out at ten years old, another way.
Through doing it. With a reconstruction crossbow which was probably made this year.
And suddenly, all my sniffy snobbiness about reconstructions and re-enactments disappeared in a puff of smoke. The age is not always the thing. Sometimes – like The Globe on the Thames – we make it anew so we can stand in the shoes of a person who is no longer here, and see through their eyes.
And learn why, and how, man did these things.
It makes me want to eschew schools and their dusty rooms where education is a commodity, and send children back to their families to learn. Really learn. Like this: through experiment.
Written for Side View’s weekend theme, Education, which you can find here
Kate Shrewsday 
Thank you Kate, going where I was heading with this. (Now I’ll have to replace the thinking cap with a fresh one)
You and I are accustomed to thinking along the same lines, Sidey 🙂
I just need to get mine down faster
Kate, it would be wonderful if all kids could be educated like this.
Wouldn’t it? Its enough to make me consider educating mine at home…
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Kate, but so far man has not improved himself greatly with his knowledge of or desire to possess weapons. My son in law, a highly respected and successful businessman ( whatever that means), is at this moment at his French gun club practising shooting his Glock, Uphill or downhill, I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s a fucking bad idea and no way to spend a Sunday morning. I, on the other hand, have been killing Algy softly with chemicals.
😀 What a sinister character you must be in algy folklore, Roger. Point taken: yet what Felix learned was not how to hurt someone, but how height is a defensive advantage. And this is the key to knowing why iron age settlements, and castles through the ages, were built where they were built. After all, it is a comparatively modern luxury to sit in a house in a valley without fear for ones possessions or life. Seeing aggressors before they see you is very near to the fight-or-flight instincts which have shaped the behaviour of the human race. So I would argue that Felix was not learning how to shoot something: he was learning a wider lesson about why settlements have been sited where they are. Next time he sees a high point at the coast I know he will put two and two together and think: was that once a human settlement?
We learn by doing.
We do, Lou,we do. And reflecting on what we have done.
Fascinaiitng post – did you know that Robert Hardy is a great fan of the Longbow?
I did not know that! I must Google it immediately!
Phil’s take on this is priceless. Felix’s lesson learned … is a sharp one. Thanks for sharing.
Pleasure, Judy. A sharp one, yes: less sharp, because EH sell bolts with padded ends.
LOL, we have a local castle that also sells replica armor/swords etc. What do people do with it: display it in their lobby? Wear it to Tescos? Baffled 🙂
I would love to meet someone with a full suit of brand new EH armour in their hallway 😀
As a school teacher years ago, I always thought and we were trained that this is the best way to learn. Sadly.. it doesn’t happen easily in a building with rooms and desks. What a great crossbow lesson in life:)
It was, Barbara, and a lesson for me too…
Thank you for enlightening me about the true meaning of “a blot from the blue”. I hope Felix can hang onto his two bolts for a while. Any chance you can find back ups on Amazon? Hey, they’ve got just about everything else.
We’ve worked out we can make out own with the right width of dowelling, Lameadventures. And plenty of nice soft padding.
Oh, right, Kate, that was actually going to be my next suggestion once I added the word “dowelling” to my vocabulary.
I can’t explain my attraction to and fascination with these relatively “primitive” weapons (bows and crossbows), but it’s always been there. I’m sure Felix will have a great time with his new crossbow. (Only two bolts seems a bit shortsighted, however. Perhaps the manufacturer sells replacements online?)
We can make them, we think, PT….
A side business for Felix: an arms dealer, selling replacement bolts to other children who lose theirs. 🙂 And, you know me. I am always a fan of seeing the layers of a landscape, however I can.
I think your idea is an excellent one and I shall suggest it to Felix. I can just see the palatial granny flat he builds for me on the proceeds of a career which began with EH crossbow bolts 😀
The best of all lessons are learned through the doing, aren’t they?
They are, Penny: action research!
yes here’s to self-discovery complete with context, go Felix 🙂
He’s going to have a wonderful time, Nicola 🙂
“so we can stand in the shoes of a person who is no longer here, and see through their eyes.” The history that I currently read is about the daily lives and functions of regular mundane life of struggle and toil of various people of different cultures from times past. Simple daily was such hardship. THE YEAR 1000 is about such life in England.
It was. Death was a constant stalker.
I “tweeted,” sent it on to FB, and will share this with everyone I know raising a family! I don’t need to elaborate! I long for developmental education to take its rightful place. I am singing the same song, Kate! And no wonder Felix and Maddie are such bright children. Their mum gets it in spades! Debra
Thanks so much for that, Debra! I’m teaching 30 children about the Victorians this Autumn. Let’s see if I can bring it to life.
From Phil’s flip comment to the closing remarks, a wonderful message.
Thanks, Cameron 🙂
What I’d like to know is: did he lose his bolts?
Nope: they’re still around: how long that situation will remain I do not know! We have plans to make more though. Thanks for commenting: it was so exciting following Martini Bond through her paces. Glad it was such a success.
The Hub is after a crossbow. I can’t believe you can buy them in school uniform shops – saw one last week, when we got Spud’s new blazer.
I had no idea! I think I’ll steer clear of the real thing, Tilly….the wooden toy suits us just fine….
Kate, this is fabulous. I could never face home schooling, but the power of discovery is strong
It is, Fiona, and it’s the way you remember best.
Tell me and I’ll forget
Show me and I may remember
Involve me and I’ll understand.
~ Chinese Proverb