Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-23
SHIRTS o WORN.
Qcsen EIizabeth's Wardrobe Made Not.
able by a Linen aNieht-rau..

SHIRTS NOT WORN.
Q1sen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Made Not
able by a Linen "Sisht-rail."
What a Jolly time laundry maids must
have had. says the Boston Globe. in days
when people wore no understanding 10
speak Of. Laundries in those DAYS. how
ever. were pitched On the bank Of TIE
nearest stream, wherever the buxOm
lassies who didthe washing chose to plant
themselves. Wash days had no terrors
then. There wasn't q boiled dinner.
and tae Old mans back wasn't lame from
saving wood the night before. One did
not require TO grub around the pantry for
a bite 10 eat on going TO work in the
morning and on returning at night, nor
did the sweet aroma Of "bilin'" suds send
you 20 bed feeling as if you had dined of
a bar Of soap and two pints Of lukewarm
water. There was neither soap nor boil
ing in those happy days.
Before and long after the time Of Queen
Elizabeth the family washing was called
a buck" from the word "buck," to wash.
To wash a buck'' was to wash a tub OF
clothes. "Buck-ashes'' were the ashes
from which the I've was made for wash
ing; ''0uck-pan" was the tub. To be
~"oucked" was to be soaked or drenched
with water, and finally, the ''5uck-5as-
ket' was the basket in which the clothes
were carried. Fat John Falstafss de-
scriptiOn Of the contents Of the buck
basket" he Once found himself in NAV
merely be referred to. The language is
rather strong for polite quotation.
The girls did not always 20 to the
streams hard by. II there was an inter
VeniDg we'll that might beused. the wash
Ing was lone there. To be sure the
n~elgbbOrs had their Own opinions of PEG
pie who would wash in water that must
afterwards be used for cooking potatoes,
making tea, drinking and the ike. In
1907 the corporation Of Leicester. TO mr.
vent the constant fOuIing Of the water.
ordered that no woman do wash clothes
or other corruption in the common wells"
Al Lyme an order by court was given in
Ibjc, that "nOne do vas their bucks in
the street ii. e., in the stream Of running
water which supplies the town under a
under a penaltrY Of 6s. Sd"
Had some enteTprising Yankee hip
pened along through those towns Just
ABOUT then trying to introduce the wash
board, he would have been so effectually
"Ducked" his widow wouldn't have
known him. Women washed with their
feet in those days or with clubs. When
they used tubs they would tuck up their
dresses, showing their ample feet ard
vigorous ankles, and stamp the clothes
till they were almost as clean as clothes
nowadays after the first water When
the washing was lone in the river the
clothes were laid on wood or smooth
5 ones, nj beaten with q stout.
handy stick, so that the dirt was hammer
ed IN to stay. Warm wafer was never
used. Ideas of cleanliness were not so
exalted then as now, but the habit OF
gossiping, as in the centuries before and
Since, was as dear TO the feminine heart.
How those girls did chatter! Whether at
the town pump or the river front, they
were sure to gather in force, and what
time they could spare from belabOring
each other was devoted 10 My Lady"
his LOrdship," and the rest of the folks.
IL IS of frequent record that Mistress Sc
and-SO was guilty of pitching Mistress Sc
and-SO, "buck" and al, into the stream,
and now and then the handy stick was
used as a weapon of offence and defense
IN skirmishes among the frolicscme
washers.
articles which required washing were
few n tar between until the habit Of
wearing shirts and other undertaking
became quite general, which was not
uutil toward tie end Of the seventeenth
century. In the time Of Queen Elizabeth
the possession Of a linen shirt, even with
the highest mobiles, was q matter of note,
and put few wardTCbes contained one.
>rcn items as This might, 10 doubt, have
been found in the fashion notes of the
day:
TIE Earl of Tewksbury has purchased &
bra1l-ncw shirt. and its ARRIVAL Is confidently
looked for by the next packet from Boston.
Textures which would not stand wash
were worn, such as V~elyets, tafeta and
rich silks. They were worn next the
skin, so that the dyer was about as busy
a person then as the laundryman now.
With his dye-pOts he covered a multitude
OF SINS of omission in personal cleanll-
ness, which the laUndress might have
Femedied with more healthy results. Pee
ple ofthe lower orders wore coarse, WOCien,
also without undec,Otbiug.
Night-gOwns were not known, and the
custom was to sleep entirely without
clothing. Under the IudOrS night-gOTnS
were WON, formed mostly OF silk or vel
vet. Anne BOleyn's night-dTess was
made OF black satin. bound with black
tafecd and edged with velvet of the same
color. One of Queen EllZabeth's night
sowrs was of black velvet, trimmed with
silk lace and lined with fur. In 1868 Her
Majesty ordered George Bradyman to
deliver S'threc-scOrCGnd-siXe OF the best
sable skynnes to furnish US a night
gown" In a like command from Her
Majesty in 1872 she orders the delivery OF
twelve yards of purple velvet, priced
on the backe syde with white and russell
s5ike.' for a n~ight-gOwn for herself. At
tie same time she orders fourteen yards
o. Murray damask '.fOr the makyng OF a
nvchc-gOwne fO- the Egle OF LyceSter.'
Ni-ht dresses were called ''night-rails"
later on, and in the reign of Queen Anne
il was the fashion to wear them in the
daytime over the usual dress. This gave
Use TO much raillery.
Nightcaps were mostly of velvet and
silk. and these, with the night dresses,
the silken shirts and other apparel Of the
kind. eased the laundress. but they must
have given the wearers a graphic fore
taste Ofthe troublesome hereafter. NOwOn-
de- the Duke of Argyle erected posts all
over mis- estate for his tenants to scratch
themselves against
The housewives list of washing in the
DAYS Of Queen Elizabeth would comprise
the following articles: Rutfes, bandes,
eufes, handkerchers, capps, shirtes, half
shirtes, bOOtehose, tOpps, socks, sheetes,
pifIOwberes. tableclOtheS, napkins and
towels. The ''ruffe" was the big collar
so familiar from portraits of that period,
notably the virgin Queens. They were
sometimes about the size Of a barn door,
and were prOpped up by a framework OF
wire. which with the starch. called by
Stubbes, 1.-THE DEVILS WI liquor" held
them up about the neck of the wearer.
''Banies" were collars of linen, cambria
or other material. The bands worn by
the clergy have their origin in these.
Sc. The handbook is also traced
to them, as it was first used to keep
bands and rufs in. The 'Ecuffe'' was the
lower part of the sleeve, turned back over
the sleeve, ard sometimes of the richest
lace with both sexes. ''Handkerchers'
were costly articles. Laced handker-
chiefs fist came into fashion under Eliza
beth, and for several reigns after were
laced round with gold.