CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 167 



These considerations of the mode of cutting, lead to the conclusion 

 that not every board cut from a wainscot log or wainscot billet is neces- 

 sarily wainscot oak, for the marginal boards will be plain oak if the billet 

 or log be too wide in relation to the original thickness of the butt. 



So far the matter has been discussed solely from the point of view of 

 history and decorative effect, but there is another important aspect of 

 the question. Shrinking and warping during drying are very much less 

 along the medullary rays than in a direction at right angles to these. 

 The result is that true wainscot panels will shrink, warp, or crack less than 

 plain oak panels under the same conditions. Hence, even did oak 

 possess no silver grain, true wainscot panels (cut in the quarter) would 

 be more valuable than plain panels. 



From all points of view then it must be rigidly insisted that wainscot 

 is that cut on the quarter and showing very considerable silver grain in the 

 form of transverse bands. It will be seen, therefore, that the original 

 panelling in oak, or, as it was termed, " wainscoting," consisted 

 necessarily (since the whole of the wood was reft or split) of highly figured 

 timber showing tlie " clash " or " flower " to the greatest extent, but that 

 at a later date, with the advent of the use of the saw, a change gradually 

 took place. According to an account by " W. S." published by the 

 Timber Trades Journal, August 7, 1915 : " The wainscot oak in the old 

 houses in the country was mostly English oak ; there was not much Dutch 

 or Riga wainscot before the reign of WiUiam the Third (1689-1702). 

 I think Sir Christopher Wren introduced a great deal of it into this 

 country ; he was building for a Dutch king, therefore it was natural that 

 he should use it." John Armstrong (1835) says : " Most of the timber was 

 cut by windmills at Westzaam and Zaandam and others near Rotterdam, 

 and shipped either from Ostend or the Holland ports." He also reports 

 that George the Fourth (1820-1830) sent his representative over to 

 Holland to purchase wainscot oak for Gothic fittings in Windsor Castle, 

 but although he obtained the wood he does not seem to have been very 

 pleased with the quaUty, partly because he could not select billets for 

 figure, but had to accept them as they came. George the Fourth has 

 not been the only disappointed man. Complaints and disputes leading 

 to law-suits and arbitraments have been continually recurring. It 

 would therefore be desirable that, to prevent further disappointments 

 and disputes, there should be a general agreement that where work is 

 specified to be executed in wainscot oak, it should be generally understood 

 that the wood should show a preponderance of good figure or clash, and 

 especially so in the panels. At the same time, having regard to the 

 altered conditions since the age when " split " wood was used, reasonable 

 regard should be paid to the economical conversion of the material. 

 For instance, the appearance of the finished work would not suffer if a 



