Apparently for English longbow archers the order was as follows in this sequence. 1 "Ready your bows" 2 "Nock" 3 "Mark" 4 "Draw" 5 "Loose" This is as Gary suggests. "notch" = place the string into the arrow there are two marks on the string, you put arrow in this small middle section. You have to quickly align otherwise arrow does not fire correctly. On a modern gun this would be same as cocking the gun ready to fire. Firearms I think shortened the steps and the commands to 1. "READY" (READY YOUR BOW) Gun 2 "Set" (Notch) 3 "FIRE" (loose) Fire in modern warfare. I believe there was a period in history when "loose fire" was used for infantry. Suggesting a gradual change of language.

Your question is ambiguous, sorry. 'Fire arrow' is a compound noun, meaning an arrow that has flames, and I have not heard that used. The closest would be a 'flaming arrow'. I guess you are asking if you would say 'fire an arrow', i.e. did we use the verb 'fire' with the noun arrow? It is certainly the correct verb now, but it is an interesting question to ask if it was correct historically. On TV programs, they often use the verb 'loose' with arrows. I don't know if that is historically correct, and whether that was the standard word back then, sorry.