Powder, archery, and rebellion.
1. Munitions sent to Berwick. April 3, 1592.
"All these parcels would be well chosen, for that when the last proportion of munition that came from the Tower to this town, the powder was very good at the top of the barrels and [worth] naught in the midst thereof; and likewise the pieces that then came, when they were shot in, some of them broke, and hurt divers men's hands."
Calendar of Letters and Papers Relating to the Affairs of the Borders of England and Scotland, vol. 1, pg. 359
2. Henry Earl of Huntyngdon to Walsingham. June 6, 1588.
"The men are in in [sic] training here, but unless a supply of powder and match come here or to Hull, the shot cannot be trained. The merchants of this city and Hull, would adventure to the east country for powder, but I find Mr Dale hath a grant, and his licence is required. I have written to him to send a quantity to Hull with speed, to be paid for at her Majesty's price. I inclose a schedule of the gentlemen in this county fit to lead horsemen, which I forgot in my last. I have verbally appointed some of them, but delayed giving them their bands, seeing such good likelihood of peace towards Scotland, till the training of the foot is over. I appointed Sir William Mallorey to lead 100 horse—a very fit man, being himself well furnished with horse and geldings. York. Signed: H. Huntyngdon.
[P.S.—]Sir Simon Musgrave reports from Newcastle he hath no powder left."
Calendar of Letters and Papers Relating to the Affairs of the Borders of England and Scotland, vol. 1, pg. 324
3. Henry Earl of Huntingdon to Walsingham. July 27, 1577.
"I have received three letters from my Lords, touching clothiers and buyers of wool; of the decay of archery; and of inns, alehouses, taverns, and victualling houses, the contents of which I purpose to execute with all convenient speed. Thanks for your letter of occurrents."
Calendar of Letters and Papers Relating to the Affairs of the Borders of England and Scotland, vol. 1, pg. 516
4. Hunsdon to Burghley. October 18, 1587.
"I pray your lordship that some order may be given to my lord of Huntyngdon to send some sharp letter to the justices of peace, that there may be some better furniture sent [for] them, for as that they have is very unserviceable, so there is a great many of them utterly unfurnished, and many of them have black bills, which is [of] no service for this country. We desire only shot and pikes, and some bows, if they be good archers."
Calendar of Letters and Papers Relating to the Affairs of the Borders of England and Scotland, vol. 1, pg. 281
5. Thomas Earl of Sussex, Henry Lord Hunsdon, and Sir Ralph Sadler to the Queen. November 26, 1569.
"On the 24th, Lord Hunsdon and Sir Ralph Sadler arrived here with me, to my no little comfort. I render you my most humble thanks for furnishing me with such good company, by whose good advice I shall be the better able to do you service. We have considered of the state of all things here, whereof you should be advertised. First, as to the force here assembled, we have ready 2,500 foot, furnished as this country can furnish, and 500 horse, but not above 60 shot amongst the foot, and no pikes; of the horse a great number be archers, which is not so serviceable as other shot. This is the whole force yet assembled. For supply I, your lieutenant, have ordered a levy of 800 foot more, and as many horsemen as can be got in these parts, with express charge to the gentlemen who yet sit at home as neuter, to come hither in person, with their whole furniture, for your service. To supply the lack of shot and weapons, a warrant has been sent to Newcastle for 200 corselets, 100 calivers, 300 pikes, 500 light horsemen's staves, 1,000 lbs. of corn powder, and four barrels of serpentine powder, but when it will arrive here we are not certain. We have some field pieces here which were brought from Hull."
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, 1566-1579, pg. 168
6. Thomas Earl of Sussex to the Privy Council. April 9, 1570.
"Has sent forward certain bands to guard the frontiers. Of the horsemen only Mr. George Carey's band of 100 lances be yet come. Has given directions to the wardens for having their forces in readiness. Desires that more money may be sent. They have only four lasts of powder, which will serve 2,000 harquebussiers after sixteen shot of every caliver to the pound, but for four weeks, although the soldier shot but one shot in the morning and another at night to keep his piece clean. If it come to any service one last will not serve one day. There is but 4,000 weight of match, which will serve less time. Some of the shot are so ill-furnished that it had been better to have sent them as archers."
Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, 1566-1571, pg. 215
7. Thomas Earl of Sussex to Sir William Cecil. April 3, 1570.
"The French ambassador lately come into Scotland is now near Edinburgh, accompanied with certain lords of the Scottish Queen's faction, and Lethington is gone thither to him. He makes liberal promises of men and money, wherewith that side takes great comfort. It is thought that one Bateley, Laird of Garteley, carried letters lately into Scotland from the Scottish Queen and the Bishop of Ross; let me know whether any French person had a passport from Her Majesty.
The shot sent out of the South are very ill-furnished from all places, save London, Hertford, and Middlesex, and the Queen has nothing at Newcastle; it had been better if most of the shot had been good archers than so ill-furnished arquebusiers."
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, 1566-1579, pg. 268
8. Thomas Earl of Sussex to Henry Lord Scrope. December 3, 1569.
"The lack here is great of the 500 horsemen that should come, and I know that Leonard Dacre has made such promises to Her Majesty that she looks for his service when commanded; so there can be no cause why the whole number should not be sent. Use diligence, and send the men by a sure way, for Sir Geo. Bowes is now besieged, and send word by the bearer what day they shall be here, and what way they will come, and I will meet them. Raise all the power you can, and draw forward towards the enemy, and let me hear often of your doings.
I send you 100l., which will serve 500 men at the rate of 4s. a-piece; if you lack more, you must make shift, and it shall be repaid here; they at their coming, shall not lack money. Let all the horsemen be spears, for the archers sent from my Lord of Cumberland are unserviceable."
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, 1566-1579, pg. 139
9. Thomas Earl of Sussex and Sir Ralph Sadler to the Council. December 27, 1569.
"We have the apprehension of the Earl of Northumberland confirmed from Berwick and Carlisle. We understand, from Sir Henry Gate and others that have taken a view of Hartlepool, that it is very ruinous, the walls down in many places, and not guardable without great force; therefore we conceive it a superfluous charge to continue him there, but await your pleasure. If you doubt foreign force, shot should be sent thither, as Sir Hen. Gate's soldiers, being archers and bill men, are unable for such defence."
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, 1566-1579, pg. 121
10. Henry Lord Hunsdon to Sir William Cecil. February 21, 1570.
"I have told my doings to Her Majesty, who will make you privy to my letter. To be short:-Leonard Dacre, having more courage than the rebel Earls, and having above 3,000 men English and Scotch, whereof 1,000 were horsemen, and not meaning to suffer me, being three or four miles on this side of his house, to pass to Carlisle, set upon me with his whole force, and his foot being for the most part archers, gave the lustiest charge upon my shot that ever I saw; whereupon, leaving Sir John Forster with 400 or 500 horse for my relief, I charged his foot and overthrew them; Dacre with his horsemen fled, being chased for three miles: Dacre was once taken, but rescued again by certain Scots. There are 300 or 400 slain, and 100 taken.
We were not 1,500, whereof 500 were foot, but God will not suffer rebellion to prosper. I hope Her Majesty will consider me as promised, and if she will bestow upon me Dacre's land in Yorkshire, which was the Strangwishes, I can better serve her."
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, 1566-1579, pg. 242
11. Articles touching the affairs and preparation against the rebels in the North. December 18, 1569.
"In the musters there was great default of armour and weapons, for there were neither spears for the horse, corslets or pikes for the foot, nor arquebuses or powder for shot; the armour the people had was plate-coats, jacks, and sallets, black bills, bows and arrows, and other there was none to get, until my Lord Lieutenant got spears, pikes, and powder from Newcastle; for the munition that came from the South,—being at Barton to be carried over to Hull towards York,—was returned upon the sudden, and this lack was also a great stay."
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, 1566-1579, pg. 155
While all armies at some point struggled with obtaining quality powder and firearms, it seems England had it the worst in this period; except for the men from "London, Hertford, and Middlesex", it was said the harquebusiers were worth little. We see the Earl of Sussex call archers "not so serviceable as other shot", that Hartlepool's archers and billmen needed to be supplemented by harquebusiers as those too arms could not mount a defense, and that the horsemen of Lord Scrope should be "spears" (presumably still referring to men-at-arms as some 20 years prior, although at some point at the end of the century it comes to refer to the light horsemen) as the archers were" unserviceable"; yet at the same time he writes that many of the harquebusiers were so "ill-furnished" that it would have been better if they were archers. Clearly, they were not seeking for any man with a gun, and a good archer would have been better than a poor harquebusier.
We also see a reference to the "decay of archery"; we see other references to this from the same period, saying that the bow was being thrown away by the commons due to the firearms being seen as more effective, despite instructions for otherwise (Lindsay Boyton, The Elizabethan Militia, pg. 66-67).
See also summaries:
12. SP 12/20, Item 25. 1571.
Treatise by Saul addressed to the Houses of Parliament, setting forth the superiority of the arquebus over the bow in warfare, and urging the necessity of having well-made weapons, and of training a sufficient number of men in the use of them.
13. SP 12/114, Item 67. 1577.
Mr. Highfeld's advice to Lord Burghley on the subject of military preparations. The necessity of having in readiness a sufficient number of "shot on horseback." Effectiveness of archery, and reasons why the same should not be discontinued in war.
Unfortunately neither have been digitized, nor transcribed. Perhaps another project for another time, and perhaps for another person.
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