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Spanish Sporting Crossbow
' Cristoval de Azcoitia, grandson of Azcoitia the elder, made stock
and gafa and put his name where others had done, calling himself Azcoitia
the fourth.
' Juan Hernandez made stock and gafa and put his name also on both parts.
Juan Peres de Villadiego did the same.
' Juan de Azcoitia only made the stock.
' Uzedo made stock and gafa ; Juan Criaclo only the stock ; Hortega,
stock and gafa.
' Of all the great master-makers of crossbows, none remain save Juan
de Lastra, who serves his Majesty [Philip IV] in the office of crossbow-maker.
There are many other makers but these are the ones who have achieved most
fame.'
' The masters who have made strings for crossbows are, first and best,
Louis Moreno, then Juan Blanco. The elder Puebla Alanis, Grajeras the deaf
man of Zamora, Munoz of Getafe and others have made them in this kingdom
and in Biscay.'
The Iron and Horn of which a Crossbow is Made and Its Appointments
The crossbow has a stock. The irons which furnish the sides of the stock
- at the part where the nut is - are called the cheeks of the crossbow.1
These irons are sunk into the wood and adjusted so as to be level with
it
.
' Two irons which surround the centre of the bow near the head of the
stock are called the " flowers," one of these irons is on each side of
the stock.2
' The trigger which frees the nut that holds the string of the crossbow,
is the long iron underneath the stock.3
' The nut which holds the crossbow string when it is stretched, is made
out of the horn which stags have on their heads at the bottom of their
antlers, and there is nothing so strong for this purpose in any other animal.4
' This nut of horn has also a steel catch which meets the point of the
trigger inside the stock, and these fit one with another when the crossbow
is bent.5
' The hollow inside the stock in which this nut revolves, is called
the " box,"6 and this hollow has a horn fitting round it which
is called the breast piece.
' On the top of the stock, forward of the nut, there is a long grooved
horn. In this groove the arrow is laid ready for discharging after the
bow is bent.7 This horn is called the " canal," and the part
of the stock behind the canal and the nut is called the tiller or handle
of the crossbow.
1The lock-plates, fig. 56, p. 99. 2 The
bow-irons, fig. 59, p. 103. 3 The trigger, fig. 55, p. 98.
4 The crown. 5 Fig. 52, p. 97.
6"
The socket, fig. 50, p. 96. 7 The groove, fig. 64, p. 108 |
