Oh, and of course, I'll not resist the chance to jump up & down on Gareth, yer miserable welsh... ...... ;) First though...

Ooh-ah - It was Edward III who banned football, on the grounds that it was a cause of serious public disturbance & interfered with the practice of archery. I can't remember who made archery practice on Sundays compulsory, but I think it was also Ed.III. And I just shot my 3rd best ever score today! :))))

As (apparently) the resident MC re-enactor, I can reassure Gareth that the "Welsh longbowman" bit is as much myth as substance. Did you know that most yew wood for bows was imported from the Med? British yew tends to grow too close grained & knotty (less sun) to be the best bow wood. So where did all these 'welsh' bowmen get their bows from, eh?

As ooh-ah says, there is little evidence to suggest that the welsh were remotely close to being a majority at Agincourt (he's mostly right about the monarchs too - they were rather more upper class, than they were welsh, English, or anything else!). Bear in mind that Ed.III reigned from 1327, & the edict was probably (I don't have the date to hand) issued 1340-1350. Henry V reigned 1413-22. Agincourt - 1415. If Gareth'd said welsh longbowmen at Crecy, he'd almost certainly have been right. Agincourt? There's 60-70 years of *English* longbow practice behind that one, boyo! ;)