The Historical Origin of the Middle Finger Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415,

The Historical Origin of the Middle Finger
Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory
over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured
English soldiers. Without the middle finger, it would be impossible to draw
the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the
future.
This famous weapon was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of
drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew." Much to the
bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking
the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French,saying,
"See, we can still pluck yew ... ... PLUCK YEW!"
Over the years, some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic
gesture. Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say (like "pleasant mother
pheasant plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on
the arrows for the longbow), the difficult consonant cluster at the
beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus the
words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute are mistakenly
thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. It is also
because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the symbolic gesture is
known as "giving the bird".