Ladies and gentleman, I have a trebuchet in my garage! You may be asking, as so many have, what in the world a trebuchet is. The natural reaction of a number of people is to tell you it’s a catapult, but this is untrue. I have learned the difference and now I will impart this knowledge to you!
trebuchet
n : medieval artillery used during sieges; a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles
catapult
n : An engine somewhat resembling a massive crossbow, used by the ancient Greeks and Romans for throwing stones, arrows, spears, etc
You see, both are ancient siege weapons, but the way they propel large things at unsuspecting passers-by is very different. The catapult is very much like an overgrown sling-shot, using springs and things to force the missiles into the atmosphere… and surronding castles if you happen to have them.
However, the trebuchet uses a counterweight system to fling things in fabulous arcs, at amazingly fast rates! The immediate advantage I can see with a trebuchet, is that you only have to be as strong as the structure is heavy, whereas with a catapult, you must be as strong as the structure is heavy and then compensate for the tension as well. It’s a beautiful thing!
Maybe I’ll post some pix of it up here later! It will be most fantastic.
Sincerely, Pokey
We should strategically place the trebuchet in Browning so as to ward off unruly squirrels-and boys.