Bow bearer

In Old English law, a bow bearer was an under-officer of the forest who looked after all manner of trespass to vert or venison, and who attached, or caused to be attached, the offenders, in the next court of attachment.

The bow was a renowned English weapon, made of wood from the yew tree.

Examples of the role

;In the Middle Ages:

* 1605 - Sir Robert Swift of Streetthorpe (Edenthorpe) was appointed bow-bearer to the Royal Chase of Hatfield by James I. [http://www.ancient-yew.org/doncasteryews.shtml Historic Trees of the Doncaster Region - Ancient Yew trees in the Doncaster Landscape ] ] A local tradition in that area states that the many yew trees of the region were planted as a result, to provide wood for bows.
* 1632 - Sir Francis Armitage of Kirklees, was appointed bow-bearer of the Free Chase of Mashamshire. [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/MIs/ARY/YorkMinsterBurials1a.html - burial register of Tork Minster.]
* The Parker family were the hereditary bow-bearers of the Forest of Bowland for thre hundred years. [Baines' History of Lanc., Vol. III.] [for example: [http://www.gisburn.org.uk/gisburnvillage/ribblesdales2.htm] "hereditary in his family for many generations" (as at 1779) and [http://www.forestofbowland.com/visit_attractions_interest.asp] ] The office traces back at least as far as Robert Parker of the 16th century. [ [http://www.browsholme.co.uk/genealogy.htm Browsholme Hall - Home of the Parker Family for over 500 years ] ]
* 12th century - Oughtred de Boulton, son of Edwin de Boulton ("Edwinus Comes de Boelton" in the "Domesday Book") is described as an earlier bowbearer in the royal forests of Bowland and Gilsland, at the time of Henry II. [http://www.kennedy-cousins.com/boulton.htm - cited to "Drysdale": "This family claims its descent from Oughtred de Bolton, by Bowland and Bolton upon Deane. Oughtred de Boulton, Bowbearer in the royal forests of Bowland and Gilsland, temp. Henry II was, according to Drysdale, a lineal descendant of the Saxon Earls of Mercia, and supposed to be the son of Edwin, living at the Norman Conquest, and three times mentioned in the "Domesday Book" as Edwinus Comes de Boelton".] Verify source|date=December 2007
* The Complete Shakespeare Encyclopedia by Carol Enos states that "Alvanley Hall, the property of William Arden, Baron Alvanley, has been abandoned as the residence of the family for nearly a century and a half, and little of the house remains. Lord Alvanley is hereditary Bow-bearer of the Forest of Delamere, and possesses the ancient bugle horn by which his ancestors have held that office almost from the period of the Norman Invasion” (Chetham Society,Vol I, 331)." [http://www.sunflower.com/~cenos/docs/CompleteShakespeareEncyclopedia.pdf - online copy] Verify source|date=December 2007
* 1513 - A Richard Done of Utkington is described as the hereditary bow-bearer of Delamere. [From "MACKLESFELDE IN YE OLDEN TIME", Ch. 8, by Isaac Finny, said to be "reprinted from the Macclesfield Advertiser" in 1873. [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~finney/isaac/macklesfelde-in-ye-olden-time.htm] ] Verify source|date=December 2007

;Other:There was an officer to the king, described as a "bow bearer", in Ancient Persia. ["The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World" by G. Rawlinson, Professor of History, Oxford. [http://www.ihaystack.com/authors/r/george_rawlinson/00016165_the_seven_great_monarchies_of_the_ancient_eastern_wo/00016165_english_ascii.htm title page] [http://www.ihaystack.com/authors/r/george_rawlinson/00016165_the_seven_great_monarchies_of_the_ancient_eastern_wo/00016165_english_ascii_p005.htm page 5] .]

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