A few weeks ago I finally sourced some new proper linen bowstrings for my yew longbow I use for museum presentations. To my immediate surprise (because I never thought of mentioning it), the replacement strings came with a centre serving (thread wrap). At first my immediate reaction was... that has to come off. But this got me wondering again.

Of all the original crossbow bowstrings I've come across, be it in München or here in the US, the displayed and fairly original strings have a full centre serving thread wrap. Even the beautiful one recently acquired by the Higgins has one. And there is no question by the age and condition that the string is hundreds of years old.

The meaning of this is that the technology and use of centre servings existed and were used (at least for crossbows). But I've not come across any paintings or documentation that have shown servings on longbow strings. The practicality and benefit of using a centre serving is obvious. But I'm wondering about this historically.

I haven't looked for this detail in art - most of the art showing longbows tends to be from illuminated manuscripts, and that level of detail is not normally depicted. I think we need to look for some images of the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, and see what we can't dig up.

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