Step 7.2: ?Replica? Horn Nocks
One of the problems we run into with building a replica of a Medieval bow is how to fill the gaps in our understanding of how the equipment was used. A great example of this is the horn nocks on the Mary Rose bows. Every intact bow tip shows clearly that it had, at one time, a horn nock fitted onto it similarly to how we do it today. Similar--but not the same. Limb tips were tapered to a point and the horn was glued on (probably with hide glue) and a single side nock was cut through the horn into the bow tip. The obvious questions that this raises are, ?why horn nocks? and ?why a single side nock??
The Mary Rose bows were not intended to be ornate. The horn tips were not decorative, but were functional parts of military weaponry. Those who have worked with Yew may have already guessed that Yew in very high draw weights will not survive very long without horn tips or their equivalent. While tillering my own replica, I filed a set of temporary nocks into the wood, and it wasn?t a few minutes before the string deeply gouged into the sapwood on the back. OK, so the ?why horn nocks? question is answered easy enough.
But how does a single side nock work? Many believe that the bowstrings that were used in Medieval times had no loops and were tied to both ends of the bow with two timber hitches. Living in this day, where we primarily use strings with two plaited loops, the single side-nock begins to be less practical. Here?s the conflict: closer replication, or more practical function?
My original plan was to use the single side-nock that was present on the original bows, but once again, not knowing exactly how these worked, it is difficult matching the originals. I want my replica bow to be a functional, regular shooter. After consulting Pip, and a few others in the mother country, I have decided to use more modern grooves in my horn nocks. I have also resisted the urge to make them fancy. I chose to match the horn nock replica on the Mary Rose web page (pictured below) as it seemed the only slightly-better-than-completely-arbitrary style of horn nock to copy. It struck me as being a good example of rugged, practical, military functionality. I forced myself to comply to this simple standard.
Another note: many of the notches in the bow tips revealed that the horn nocks had two grooves on the same side. This could have meant that they were made to be used with a bow stringer, or as an easy adjustment for brace height. I chose to include this double-groove in my nocks to facilitate the use of a stringer. I can string a bow that draws 100# at 30? but not one that?s 80? long.
The first image below shows a Mary Rose bow tip without the nock, the only horn nock to be found on the Mary Rose, and a replica that I kinda modeled my horn tips on.
The second image is of me working down my own double-groove horn nock.
Questions welcomed.
J. D. Duff
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