"Yorkshire Deceits"
"In
our own countrie the falsehood of clothing is so common that
if a gentleman make a liverie for his man, in the first showre
of raine it may fit his Page for Bignesse". The True Estate of Clothing in the Realm, J May, 1613
Some clothiers were accused of deception or "cunning
workmanship", using cheap and inferior materials in order to increase their profits. There
may have been some truth in this. It was not unknown for weavers
to make use of waste threads known as "thrums" or "flocks" of poor wool during weaving and treat the cloth with "medicines and oyntmentes" to improve its appearance. These dishonest economies were gradually abandoned
during the 1630s as kersey makers used better qualities of wool.
 |
1
of 9 in this section |
 |
|
