[1] The vse of the long bowe (as Iohn Rous testifieth) came first into England with this king William the Conquerour:Shooting. for the English (before that time) vsed to fight with axes and such hand weapons: and therefore in the oration made by the Conquerour be|fore he gaue battell to king Harold, the better to en|courage his men, he told them they should encounter with enimies that wanted shot.