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CLC reader Gareth informs me that this story refers relates to the two
finger salute (meaning 'f*ck off') which is more common in the UK, not
the one fingered 'giving the finger' used in the USA
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In the film, Titanic, the character Rose is shown giving the finger to her
fiance's manservant (another character). Many people who have seen the film
question whether "giving the finger" was really done around the time of the
Titanic disaster, or if it is a more recent gesture invented by some defiant
seventh-grader.

According to research, here's the true story:

Giving the 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" (or "pluck
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."

And yew all thought yew knew everything!