5jO O.Y THE PRICE OF TEXTILE FABRICS. 



second, under the name of diaper, for King's College, and prob- 

 ably for the Provost. Of course the entries of these high-priced 

 goods are far less numerous than those of common and second- 

 best quality, but they are sufficient for the purpose of showing 

 what was the cost at which these conveniences were procured. 



Between 1634, when the first entry occurs, and 1671, the 

 last, the fellows of Eton purchased for their own table what 

 they call ' suits ' of diaper. The record tells us that the suit 

 consisted of a table -cloth, a cupboard-cloth, a towel and eighteen 

 napkins ; and generally, if previous entries can be relied on, 

 the table-cloth contained eight yards, the cupboard-cloth two, 

 the towel seven, while diaper napkins are at Eton almost 

 invariably 14^. a dozen. In 1629, the cost of these items was 

 53 s. %d. With one exception, 1659, the price of the suit does 

 not fall below 56^. In 1659 three suits are bought at 50?., and 

 were probably a bargain. In 1637, the College gave 65 s. ; 

 in 1645, when everything was dear, 70$. In 1671 the material 

 is called Sleasey diaper, that is Silesian ; and in 1672 the 

 College buys a ' piece ' of Sletia diaper for 28^., at half the 

 price of the previous year's suit. It is probable then that the 

 suit required two pieces, and that the pattern, if any existed, 

 of the linen was continuous. From certain entries in which 

 the quantity of cloth and the number of dozen napkins is 

 given, it appears that a dozen napkins contained 9! ells or 

 yards of linen. The napkin was therefore a full-sized towel of 

 modern experience. After 1672 Eton ceases to enter parti- 

 culars of its linen purchases, and the entries are chiefly 

 obtained from Cambridge and Winchester. 



As I shall take occasion to show, not a little of the linen 

 purchased in England was of foreign origin. But it is also 

 certain that the manufacture of textile fabrics, and among 

 them linen, took a* great start in the sixteenth and seventeenth 

 centuries. A vast number of Flemings (the currently received 

 figures being the inevitable exaggerations of those who .guess 

 at numbers) settled in England, during the last half of the 

 sixteenth century, in order to escape the persecutions of Alva, 



