I think there's a mistake thinking that it's only called bushcraft because Ray Mears called it that, he made the term more recognised but he's not the first or the only one to use it in many parts of the world.
That's the problem - it's foreign. We don't have "the bush" in Europe, we have the woods, moors etc.
I'm reading "The Confessions of a Poacher", written in 1890.
Here's the very first paragraph:
I do not remember the time when I was not a poacher; and if I may say so, I believe our family has always had a genius for woodcraft.
and he's not talking about carpentry