INDUSTRIES 



is to have two of these strips, and as one is 

 finished the other is placed below it, the lace- 

 maker thus working round and round the pil- 

 low. The lace is made of linen thread, and at 

 the present day there is considerable difficulty 

 in procuring it fine enough and even enough. 4 * 

 This was probably a difficulty in earlier times, 

 and silk was used many years before Maltese lace 

 was introduced. 4 * Amersham and Great Marlow 

 were specially noted for the black silk lace made 

 there.* The bobbins were originally made of 

 bone hence the name bone-lace ; but more 

 frequently they are of wood. 11 The number 

 used varies according to the design, but for a 

 wide pattern as many as 500 may be needed. 

 Old bobbins often show an interesting history 

 of their owner, since it was the custom to 

 inscribe them with names and the dates of 

 various events occurring in her life. Forty 

 years ago it was still the custom to give bobbins, 

 often of intricate workmanship, as love-tokens." 

 The pillow was, however, the costliest part of a 

 lace-maker's implements. It is a hard round 

 cushion, stuffed with straw and well-hammered 

 to make it hard, and covered with ' pillow-cloth.' w 

 The making of pillows was almost a monopoly, 

 one family making them for a district.* 4 A 

 pillow with all its appurtenances in some cases 

 cost as much as ^5 in the early part of the 

 igth century. In the prosperous days of the 

 industry women could earn very good wages, 

 often making more than their husbands, who 

 were agricultural labourers. In 1794 the 

 average wages of the best lace hands were from 

 ii. to u. 6d. a day,'* but about the same time 

 in the Thames Valley women only earned lod. 

 a day and girls about \d. and 6d. M In 1813 

 the wages given were rather lower, <)d. to is. 



a day, but good workers at Aylesbury, before 

 machine-made lace killed the trade, could earn 

 25J. 18 a week, and married women who did not 

 give their whole time to the work often made 

 as much as i a week. The workers were 

 sometimes, however, only paid once a month, 

 after the lace-buyers had come round and the 

 local lace-men had sold their store of lace.** 



At the present day the lace-makers are paid 

 by the hour, and the wages are not high, vary- 

 ing from i^d. to i^d. per hour.* 



Many old customs existed amongst the lace- 

 makers. St. Catherine was their patron saint, 

 and her festival was kept as a holiday till 

 recent years.* 1 The Aylesbury Overseers*' 

 even gave the lace-makers in the workhouse 

 ' 3. to keep Catern,' and special Catern cakes 

 were made to celebrate the holiday. 



At Aylesbury a lace-queen was chosen from 

 among the lace-makers and carried round the 

 town on a platform, working on her pillow, and 

 accompanied by a band and a great crowd.** 

 Whether these processions were held on St. 

 Catherine's Day is not clear, but more prob- 

 ably they took place during fairs, since the 

 time of year commanded indoor celebrations of 

 the lace-makers' holiday rather than street pro- 

 cessions. 



In some parts of the county the women, who 

 have lost their employment owing to the decline 

 of the lace trade, have taken to sequin and bead 

 work. This is the case round Princes Ris- 

 borough, particularly at Lacey Green, Amer- 

 sham, and near High Wycombe. 64 At Lacey 

 Green bead-work has been done about twenty- 

 five years, and was sent to London, but the 

 demand is lessening, and only an occasional 

 order is now received. 



WOODEN WARE AND CHAIR-MAKING 



The beechwoods of the Chiltcrn districts 

 have naturally led to the manufacture of wooden 

 ware for many years. Presumably the 1 3th- 

 century names, Hubert Turnator, Peter le 

 Turnur, and Bartholomew le Turnur, specify 

 the trade carried on by their bearers, a trade 

 which afterwards obtained a considerable im- 



u Pamphltt of the North Bucks. Lace Aisoc. 7. 



* Aylesbury, Overseers' Accounts, 1 787. 



** Pinnock, Hist, and Topog. of Engl. i, 25, 52. 



" Pamphlet of the North Bucks. Lace Assot. 9. 



"Ibid. 



" Pallier, Hist, of Lace (1902), 391. 



M Gibbs, Hist, ofAylesbury, 617. 



" W. James and J. Malcolm, Gen. View of Agric. 

 fBucki. 



14 Arthur Young, Six Months' Tour, iii, 356. 



" St. John Priest, Gen. Yievi of Agric. in Bucks. 

 3 |6. 



portance, and was and is specially centred at 

 Chesham. 1 In 1725 Defoe 1 mentions the 

 supply of beechwood which was then used for 

 making felloes for ' the great cars of London, 

 cole-carts, dust-carts, &c., which the city laws 

 do not allow to have tyres of iron,' for the 

 billet wood for the king's palaces and similar 

 purposes, and lastly for chairs and turnery ware. 



* Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 621. 



** Shrimpton, Notes on a Decayed Needle-land. 



M Information kindly given by Miss E. Johnson. 



* M em. of the Perney Family, i, 1 1 . 



" Overseen' Accts. 1 797. 



Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 621. 



64 From information kindly given by Mrs. Robson, 

 Lacey Green Vicarage, and Miss Tighe, Looseley 

 House, Princes Risborough. 



1 llund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, , 35, 36. 

 ' Tour in Gt. Brit. (1725), ii, 7*. 



109 



