Why does a hairstyle custom related to archery attract British people?

Similar to the traditional ethical and aesthetic significance given to the bun by the ancient Han people, in the North American colony in the17th century, the local British immigrants also regarded the bun as the dividing line between civilization and barbarism. But surprisingly, in this process, even some British people followed the custom of "barbarians" and took the initiative to "shave their heads".

16 17, Samuel Perkes, the British encyclopedia editor who devoted himself to collecting aboriginal stories, quoted the testimony of some Virginia colonies and confirmed that "in Jamestown, some British people began to imitate the hairstyle of Algonquin aborigines and shaved off the right half of their hair". Purchas described in the book that the hairstyles of these Indians "are to imitate evil, so these colonists who imitate them are also a group of demons".

Algonquin-speaking powhatan Tribal Union Conference.

Although purchas's words are full of antipathy to this idolatry, it reveals that American colonists may have learned some special skills from the natives during their contact with the Indians at that time, and this "devil hairstyle" is one of them.

In fact, this hairstyle is to prevent bowstring or arrow handle from winding around the hair and affecting the hit rate, so Algonqin shooter chooses to shave off the right half of his hair, leaving only a handful of pigtails. Oko, the god of war in Algonquin mythology, left this hairstyle, which is very consistent with his image of "the patron saint of brave men who use bows". This practical and superstitious custom may be an important factor to attract business adventurers on the other side of the ocean to deviate from their original hairstyles.

The image of the leader of powhatan people's congress in early European paintings

Speaking of which, someone must have questions. Why is a hairstyle custom closely related to archery so attractive to the British?

It turns out that in the British society in the16th century, the longbow, as a traditional national weapon of the island people, has always had a very special position. Even though the use of matchlock guns has become more and more popular in continental Europe, many British people still have a soft spot for this weapon that has brought them countless glory. As a result, it took a long time for firearms to completely replace longbows on the British island. The position of matchlock in England was not finalized until 1595, when the Longbow Abolition Act was promulgated. Before that, the figure of longbowman still appeared frequently in the sequence of British vigilante and expeditionary force. For example, Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition to establish a colony in North Carolina included 65,438+050 longbowmen.

The longbow is a lingering feeling of the British.

Walter Raleigh's North Carolina Colony

A long archer in the British army during Elizabeth I.

On the other hand, even after the enactment of the Longbow Abolition Act, the use of bows and arrows is still a good cost-effective choice in the American battlefield. This is due to the battlefield environment faced by early European colonists. For indigenous warriors without armor protection, the power of the matchlock gun is redundant. On the contrary, because of the disadvantage of shooting speed and accuracy, it is somewhat inadequate to deal with the surprise attack that Indians are good at. /kloc-Cabeza de Vega, a Spanish explorer in the 0/6th century, described in his North American adventure log: "In the open area, they (Indians) are not afraid of our weapons at all, but regard it as a pleasure, because it is difficult for our muskets to hit them in this case." In contrast, a skilled long archer can shoot up to seven arrows in 1 minute, with an accurate range of about 150 yards. Because of this, in the face of the sudden attack of hundreds of Indian troops with excellent shooting skills, some people in the early colonies were often forced to choose to fight back with longbows.

Indian attacks often caught the colonists off guard.

Many Indian tribes in North America are famous for archery, which left a deep impression on European colonists.

The cost-effective advantage of traditional weapons also attracted the attention of commercial venture companies that organized early colonial expeditions. You know, the first British people who were active in the North American colonies were mostly composed of voluntary adventurers, even Puritans who were not welcomed by the Stuart dynasty and left their homes to escape religious persecution. British businessmen who pursue the maximization of interests will naturally not bear too high colonial operating costs for these people. One of the most famous examples occurred in 1622 after the massacre of Jamestown colony by powhatan tribe. As the leader of the colony, John Smith urgently applied to Virginia Company to equip an army to go to North powhatan to "drive away and subdue the barbarians in". It was the company that refused the request for cost saving. As an alternative, with the approval of the king, the company recruited a large number of "outdated and unusable" weapons and equipment from the Tower of London and other arsenals, and transported them to America for the colonists to defend themselves. Including 400 longbows and 800 bundles of arrows. Although these weapons did not reach Virginia in the end, the colonists chose to leave them on Bermuda Island not far from the North American continent-not only to prevent these weapons from being stolen by Indians who lacked the ability to cross the sea, but also to serve as reserve munitions in an emergency, because they were close enough.

Mayflower and Puritans, the early colonists didn't get much support from their motherland.

The multiple advantages of affection, practicality and cost determine that longbow can still occupy a place in the weapons and equipment of early British colonies. In fact, in the early colonial battlefield of North America, the British's pure weapon advantage over Indians did not last long. "From the end of 16 to the first 40 years of 17, both sides confronted each other with bows and arrows, and then the Indians began to learn and adapt to firearms tactics." In the harsh battlefield environment, the two sides showed certain convergence in tactics, so it is not difficult for British colonists to imitate Algonqin's hairstyle.

As the saying goes, "reading history can make people wise, and the past does not forget the teacher of the future." However, the role of history may not be as simple as meeting the future. People who read deeply must understand that reading history only gives us greater freedom and initiative to create the future.

Life is not just the present, but also poetry and distance. In Gao's lyric poems, we not only experienced a literary complex, but also pursued inner freedom and feelings. Poetry creates a spiritual utopia for us, while Shi Zhecun makes us more aware of reality. We should not only live in the present, but also live in the future. Follow these classics, follow the footsteps of history, unveil the veil bit by bit, restore the real scene, feel the passage of time, pursue the thoughts of philosophers, explore the spiritual world of mankind bit by bit, and meet smarter yourself day by day.