the bowmen. "Why should English archers use French terms?" he said. I
replied that the only reason was this--that a "Monseigneur" here and
there struck me as picturesque; and I reminded him that, as a matter
of cold historical fact, most of the archers of Agincourt were
mercenaries from Gwent, my native country, who would appeal to
Mihangel and to saints not known to the Saxons--Teilo, Iltyd, Dewi,
Cadwaladyr Vendigeid. And I thought that that was the first and last
discussion of "The Bowmen". But in a few days from its publication the
editor of _The Occult Review_ wrote to me. He wanted to know whether
the story had any foundation in fact. I told him that it had no
foundation in fact of any kind or sort; I forget whether I added that
it had no foundation in rumour but I should think not, since to the
best of my belief there were no rumours of heavenly interposition in
existence at that time. Certainly I had heard of none. Soon afterwards
the editor of _Light_ wrote asking a like question, and I made him a
like reply. It seemed to me that I had stifled any "Bowmen" mythos in
the hour of its birth.

A month or two later, I received several requests from editors of
parish magazines to reprint the story. I--or, rather, my editor--
readily gave permission; and then, after another month or two, the
conductor of one of these magazines wrote to me, saying that the
February issue containing the story had been sold out, while there was
still a great demand for it. Would I allow them to reprint "The
Bowmen" as a pamphlet, and would I write a short preface giving the
exact authorities for the story? I replied that they might reprint in
pamphlet form with all my heart, but that I could not give my
authorities, since I had none, the tale being pure invention. The
priest wrote again, suggesting--to my amazement--that I must be
mistaken, that the main "facts" of "The Bowmen" must be true, that my