You probably already know this, but the English two-fingered salute (kind of equivalent to our middle-finger salute) goes back to those days when the french would cut off the bow fingers of any English bowmen they happened to capture.
I didn’t. I did know an archer who shot with middle and ring fingers. His right index finger had been amputated. I don’t think you could swing it with your pinkie and ring finger and I would sure hate getting caught by the French again if you could. I doubt if the French would let you off as lightly a second time.