Washington sentinel., 1898-02-05
IT.. 49,, SENTINEL
EngIAnd's oldest HandIorarts.
ATtiqHayy.

.4HHqHayy.
The most ancient Of all human
inventions is the weaving of cloth
Of one kind or another, and though
before the coming OF the Normans
the handicrafts OF the country were
few and simple, this industry had
its place in the daily life of every
homestead. Sheep were the chief
possessions OF the Anglo-Saxons,
and their wool was combed, ,carded,
spun, woven and dyed by the
women, from the Kings daughter
to the wife of the churl. Queen
Boadicea wore in her last great
stand for freedom, ''under her cloak
\ a tunic oil English made wool
"A cheQuered in many colors," says
Y the Roman historian Dion Cas-
\ sius, and he goes on to speak ad-
miringly Of the brilliant tints the
Briions gave to their wools light
red, green, blue, madderpink,
sometimes violet and mulberry
color, no doubt woven into plaids
much like those the Scotch High
landers use to-day. The Romans
always paid special attention to
textile manufactures, and one OF
their earliest acts, after subjugating
Britain, was to set up a linen and
~ woollen factory in the fortified
town OF Winchester. No doubt the
soldiers of the various cohorts were
supplied with raiment from its
shores, for it was a Cover ment
es ablishment, with a manager,
called by Tacitus "theprocurator,"
by the Emperor Of
Rome. To some extent the trade
OF Winchester !anguished when
the Romans withdrew from the
country, but four centuries later
we find the people Of England
using Wi5chester linen.
Until the Normans came to
England the wool woven produced
only a coarse cloth and a rough
kind of blanket. English wool was
then, as now, the best known and
most highly priced, but the Saxons
had not acquired the art Of weaving
it with any degree of perfection.
They did little more than collect
the feeces over and above what
were needed for actual clothing,
and send them to Flanders, then
and throughout the Middle Ages
the centre OF woollen manufacture,
At what date wool was first eX-
ported from England we cannot
tell. 1t must have been very early
indeed, for we read oil merchants
going to Marseilles and attending
the great French fairs at Rouen
and St. Denis in the ninth century
Before that time commercial inter.
course was carried on, for we have
most interesting document-oui
first treaty Of commerce, in fact
dated 700 A. D., by which Charlie
magne grants protection to certain
English merchants trading be
tween France and Mercia. Henry
of Huntingdon, writing in tn,
twelfth century, alludes to the ex
tensive expectation of fine Englisi
wool TO the main" an exporta
tion which eventually reached sucl
proportions lIiat stOPPas~ Of cup
plies used to throw half the popu
lation of Flanders out Of work.
Taxes, until almost the close o
the Psantaganet period, were cal
culated not in money but in wool
In one year the Parliament granted
Edward III. 2o,o 900 sacks Of hnt
wool, and in another year 80, 200
In 1889 he was to have "thO
tenth sheep, fleece and lamb" Th
CISteTcian monks, since their set
Element in England. were notabl
wool growers, an order tor Bene
dictine monks contracting for al
they could supply. Indeed, Eng
land supplied during the tourteentl
century almost all the wool use
in northern Europe, Spain ais
grew wool, but it was far NOR
difficult TO carry goods from tn
Peninsula to Flanders than acros
the German Ocean, whereon ligh
craft piled constantly. The monk
also grew much fax, some affirm
ing that the soil Of Great Britai
was more suitable for its produc
ton than that OF any other country
and its crops the largest, toughest
uNl uuEol III AAlG W vi IL oANA II
ural advantages marked Englan
for a manufacturing country; an
though unnoted and unheeded b
knight and by baron in mediev;
towns, in merchant and craft gIld
silently but surely was growing u
the slow structure Of England
commercial wealth and influence
In the train Of William the Cor
queTor had come certain FleUing
skilled in textile art, and what ha
been a languishing and undeveI
oped handicraft received impetu
and improvement. Wincheste
remembered it's old glory, an
made efforts to revive its trade
gaining permission from Williar
90 mold great a~nual fair on s.
Giies's Hill, where its manufaC
lures might be displayed, and t
which merchants Of other district
might resort. This fair was a gres
centre Of trade for several centurie
It's duration, limited by William {
one day, was gradually EXTENDED
until by a charter OF Henry III.
was allowed to last for sixtee
days During the time it was hel