WOOLLEN CLOTH. COLOURS. SOURCES. BLANKET. FRIEZE. 567 



have russet (said to be the undyed wool of black sheep, though 

 we find white russet in 1431, 1432, 1433, I 44> I 449)> rec ^j 

 middle red, medley, green medley, green, blodius, white, Black 

 de Lyre, sanguine, black, grey, murray, ray, violet x , blue, rosett, 

 crimson, and other colours, in grain and out of grain, scarlet, 

 brown, tawny medley, maddered tawny, green byse, marble, 

 and marble russet. 



The origin of the fabric is sometimes designated. In 1446 

 we read of Kendal cloth, and again in 1463, 1467, and 1509 ; 

 of Gloucester reds and Suffolk blues in 1482 ; of Bristol cloth, 

 of cloth from Bradford, Ripon, and Wakefield, of Roselle 

 worsted, of Norwich say, of Northern cloth (which becomes 

 common at the end of the period), and of 'pannus hirsutus 

 Hibernicus,' which appears to be Irish frieze. 



Another frequent kind of cloth is that known as blanket* 

 It is sold by the ell and by the yard, more frequently by the 

 latter measure, and must have been of various qualities, as it 

 is bought in Cambridge (1447) at is. 2d. and 4f., at the latter 

 price twice, the article being described on one of these oc- 

 casions as 'for the cook's boy's bed.' In 1432, some is pur- 

 chased at yd. for lining. The purchase at Heyford in 1420, 

 probably, that at Takley in 1421 certainly, is intended for 

 bedding. I conclude that the blanket at Canons' Ashby(i453) 

 was purchased for the same purpose, that of Cambridge in 1458, 

 but hardly that of Norwich in 1469. That of Battle in 1502 is 

 probably blanketing ; that of Hickling in 1513 certainly. In 

 1494 blanket is described as * white,' in 1504 as fine. Omit- 

 ting the cheaper kinds, the average of all the entries is i s. $\d. 

 before the rise. There is a single entry after it at is. 4</ 

 Once in 1405 it is bought by the piece. 



Another kind is designated as frieze, sometimes frisiatum. 

 I do not find it before 1431, when Fastolfe's bailiff buys three 

 and a half yards for the gardener's 'epitogium,' by which I 



1 Perhaps the large quantity of 'violet cloth' purchased by King's College in 1509, 

 was mourning for Henry VII, who had recently devised the college a large legacy for 

 the completion of the college chapel. 



