PILE FABRIC 



6155 



PILGRIM FATHERS 



Pile Fabric. Textile distin- 

 guished by the hair (Lai. pilus) or 

 fibre left standing upon the surface. 

 Pile can be produced in cloth finish 

 ing by breaking or tearing out fibre 

 from the threads of the structure, 

 or may be created in weaving. The 

 pile of a blanket is an example of 

 the former, and that of a velvet of 

 the latter. Woven pile exists first 

 as a loop and is left as such in 

 " terry " goods. The loops may be 

 cut as in plain velvet, the fibres of 

 the yarn being opened out to form 

 a dense cover. As in some figured 

 velvets, cut and loop pile exist in 

 the same fabric, forming regular 

 designs. Plush is a long-piled 

 velvet, and imitation furs made by 

 weaving or knitting are pile fabrics. 



Piles. Dilatations of veins in 

 the mucous membrane of the 

 rectum. See Haemorrhoids. 



Pilewort (Ranunculus ficaria) 

 OR LESSER CELANDINE. Perennial 

 herb of the natural order Ranuncu- 

 laceap Tt is a native of Europe. W 



Pilewort Flowers and leaves of 

 the Lesser Celandine 



Asia, and N. Africa. The root-fibres 

 develop into a bunch of small 

 tubers resembling on a very small 

 scale those of the dahlia. The long- 

 stalked heart-shaped leaves appear 

 by copse and hedgerow very early 

 in the year, and are soon followed 

 by the bright golden flowers. 

 Though of the same genus as the 

 buttercups, the flowers are more 

 starry than cup-shaped, the petals 

 spreading. The fruits are nutlets 

 (achenes), and are furnished with 

 minute oily food-bodies (elaio- 

 somes). These are eaten by ants, 

 which thus assist in the distribu- 

 tion of the species by carrying the 

 seeds away and dropping them 

 after removal of the food-bodies. 



Pilgrim (Lat. peregrinus, for- 

 eign). One who from religious 

 motives journeys to visit some 

 place considered sacred, as the 

 scenes connected with the life 

 of Christ or the tomb of a saint. 

 Pilgrimages, made often for the 

 cure of sickness or in thanksgiving 

 for cure, are common in the his- 

 tories of most important religions. 



Examples are the pilgrimages of 

 the Jews to Jerusalem during great 

 festivals ; of the ancient Greeks to 

 the shrines of Apollo at Delphi, 

 Diana at Ephesus, etc. ; of the 

 Indian sects to the shrines of Rama 

 and Krishna ; of Buddhists to the 

 scenes of Gautama's life ; and of 

 Mahomedans to Mecca. 



Among Christians the practice 

 was not unusual as early as the 

 close of the second century. The 

 first notable instance on record is 

 that of Alexander, the friend of 

 Origen, who, in 212, " made a jour- 

 ney to Jerusalem for the sake of 

 prayer and investigation of the 

 places." But it was the visit of S. 

 Helena, the mother of Constan- 

 tine, to Jerusalem in 326, when she 

 is supposed to have discovered the 

 Holy Sepulchre and the relics of 

 the Cross, that gave the great im- 

 pulse to the practice of pilgrimage 

 which reached such vast develop- 

 ment in the Middle Ages. 



Next after the Holy Land, the 

 tombs of the Apostles at Rome be- 

 came the great centre of pilgrimage. 

 Pilgrims also visited the tomb of S. 

 Thomas in India, that of S. John at 

 Ephesus, Mt. Sinai, and the shrine 

 of S. Martin at Tours. As early as 

 the 7th century, laws were made 

 giving special protection to pil- 

 grims on their journeys ; and 

 Charlemagne in 796 exempted 

 pilgrims from tolls. Pilgrims very 

 commonly wore scallop shells as 

 badges, though this was more cor- 

 rectly restricted to those who had 

 visited the shrine of S. James at 

 Compostella. In the Middle Ages 

 the practice of pilgrimages became 

 much abused, and a class of profes- 

 sional pilgrims arose, no better 

 than tramps and mendicants, who 

 led a wandering life and subsisted 

 on charity. The custom died down 

 in the Renaissance period ; but 

 still survives locally to some ex- 

 tent, e.g. at Lourdes in the S. of 

 France. In Great Britain the 

 shrine of S. Thomas Becket at 

 Canterbury, of S. Alban at St. 

 Albans, and of Our Lady of Wal- 

 singham were noted centres of 

 pilgrimage, among many others. 

 See Lourdes ; Palmer ; consult also 

 Pilgrimages to S. Mary of Walsing- 

 ham and S. Thomas of Canterbury, 

 D. Erasmus, trans. J. G. Nichols, 

 1849 ; Scudamore, in Diet, of Chris- 

 tian Antiquities, W. Smith and S. 

 Cheetham, 1893 ; Bede Jarrett, in 

 Catholic Encyclopaedia, 1907-12. 



Pilgrimage of Grace. Nam, 



given to a rising which took place 

 in the N. of England in 1536 and 

 1537. The suppression of the 

 smaller monasteries, unemploy- 

 ment caused by the extension of 

 sheep-farming.andothergrievances, 

 led to an insurrectionary move- 



ment in Lincolnshire which soon 

 spread to Yorkshire. Under Robert 

 Aske, Lord Darcy, and Sir John 

 Constable, the rebels, estimated at 

 30,000, entered York, their stand- 

 ard being a banner displaying the 

 five wounds of Christ They asked 

 for the restoration of the religious 

 houses, the removal of Cromwell 

 from the privy council, and the 

 deprivation of heretic bishops 

 Marching S. to Doncaster, they 

 met the duke of Norfolk with a 

 royal army by the river Don, and 

 negotiations were begun, for Nor- 

 folk was too weak to fight. In the 

 king's name he promised the rebels 

 a free pardon and a parliament at 

 York, and they dispersed. 



Nothing being done to carry out 

 these promises, insurrection broke 

 out again in Cumberland and West- 

 morland. Henry VIII thereupon 

 ordered the arrest of the leaders of 

 the original rising, and, with four 

 abbots and several other laymen 

 Aske, Darcy, and Constable were 

 executed for treason. Instead of 

 the promised parliament a Council 

 of the North was established at 

 York. See Aske, Robert. 



Pilgrim Fathers, THE. Term 

 applied to the English founders of 

 Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, 

 in 1620. They belonged to the 

 church founded by John Robinson 

 at Leiden, in Holland Seeking re- 

 ligious liberty, they had separated 

 from the established Church in 

 England, but while well treated in 

 Holland, desired to retain their 

 native language and customs. 



Obtaining from the Virginia 

 company a grant of land in New 

 Jersey, and a promise, obtained by 

 Sir Edwin Sandys from the king, 

 that their freedom to worship as 

 they pleased should not be inter- 

 fered with, they set sail from Ply- 

 mouth in the Mayflower, in all 78 

 men and 24 women, Sept. 6, 1620. 

 By stress of weather they were 

 forced to land, Dec. 21, on the 

 coast of Massachusetts, far S. of 

 the territory granted to them, and 

 here they founded Plymouth 

 Colony. The tercentenary of their 

 sailing was commemorated on an 

 extensive scale in England, Holland, 

 and the U.S.A. in 1920, notably at 

 Southampton. The Massachusetts 

 Bay Colony, founded by English 

 Puritans in 1629-30, and Ply- 

 mouth Colony were united in 1691. 

 The Pilgrim Fathers' Memorial 

 Church in New Kent Road, Lon- 

 don, was enlarged in 1856 by 

 Americans in memory of South- 

 wark men who sailed in the May- 

 flower. See Jordans ; Mayflower, 

 The ; Robinson, John ; Sandys, 

 Edwin ; Scrooby. 



Bibliography. History of the 

 Puritans in England and the Pil- 

 grim Fathers, W. H. Stowell and D. 



