WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 



r doms of England and Scotland, the environs of Wooler 



I prefent many intrenchments, cairns, and other memorials of 



i the fanguinary conflifts which in former times occurred be- 



I tween the rival nations on the borders. About ten miles N. 



I from the town, on the road to Scotland, is the celebrated 



Flodden-tield, where the Scotch, in 1513, received a fignal 



defeat, and James IV. was flain. — Beauties of England, 



Northumberland, by the Rev. J. Hodgfon, 8vo. 18 12. 



WOOLHASA, a town of Algiers; 6 miles N.W. of 

 Tackumbreet. 



WOOLLEN Manufacture, Progrefs of the. The 

 origin of the woollen manufafture, like that of many other 

 ufeful arts, is not precifely known. At a very early period, 

 domeftic Iheep were extenfively fpread over Weftern Afia. 

 The introduftion of fheep into Europe is not recorded by 

 ancient writers, uiilefs we fuppofe the expedition of the Argo- 

 nauts to Colchis refers to this event. Sheep were probably 

 firft domefticatel for their milk, and afterwards for their 

 Ikins, which mutt have been the firft drefs of paltoral nations. 

 Sheep and goats, in the early ages of fociety, were nearly of 

 equal value. The Greeks, who oftentatioully refer all ufeful 

 difcoveries to their own country, and rank their inventors 

 among the gods, have afcribed to Minerva the invention of 

 fpinning and weaving. Thefe arts appear, however, to have 

 been firft praftifed, at a very early period, in Egypt, and 

 applied to the fpinning and weaving of flax. At what time 

 they were firft applied to wool is unknown. Though Pliny 

 informs us, that Nicias of Megara difcovered the art of full- 

 ing cloth, the property which wool pofleiTed of felting was 

 known in the Eaft at a much earlier period, and probably 

 gave rife to the firft manufafture of woollen goods which 

 were not woven, but felted like the fubftance of hats. 



On this fubjeft, Mr. Luccock, in hisTreatife on Wool, ju- 

 dicioufly remarks, " whilft the flfins of flieep dreffed with their 

 wool on ferved as clothing, it is obvious that only one ufeful 

 fleece could be obtained from one animal, and as the fleece 

 is generally call, or falls off once a year, this produce muft 

 have been wafted. Li a very early period, however, the 

 property which wool polfeflTes of felting was difcovered, or, 

 in other words, it was found that by preflure and moifture 

 the fibres of wool miglit be made to adhere together, and 

 produce a compaft pliable fubftance, quite as durable and 

 more convenient than the (]<ins formerly ufed. This ap- 

 pears to have been the firft effort to produce a woollen ma- 

 nufafture." It is probable the felting property was dif- 

 covered by accident, as fome fleeces will felt upon the (beep's 

 backs ; among farmers, thefe are called cotted fleeces. 

 When the application of this difcovery was firft made, the 

 knowledge of the art was foon widely fpread. The tents 

 of the Arabb and Tartars are, at the prefent day, all made 

 of felt from the wool of (heep, mingled with the hair of 

 goats, camels, and other quadrupeds, and may be confidered 

 as remains of the original art of cloth-making. 



The art of fpinning and weaving threads made from wool 

 was, in all probability, derived from the Eaft ; they are alluded 

 to by Mofes as exiiUng nearly fifteen hundred years before 

 the Chriftian era, and it appears that the early patriarchs had 

 numerous flocks of fheep. 



The greater part of thefe fheep, we are informed, were, 

 at firft, either dark-coloured or fpotted ; hence we may infer 

 that the art of dyeing wool was then unknown. When the 

 feleftion and cultivation of white wool gave to woollen cloth 

 the property of receiving the tints of the dyer, the value and 

 ufe of wool muft have greatly increafed, owing to the great 

 eftimation in which richly-coloured garments are held by 

 people advancing to a ftate of civilization. 



Thus, m addition to the fuperior pliabihty and comlorl 

 of woollen cloth, compared with flcins or felts, the tafte for 

 It muft have been widely fpread by the art of dyeing. It 

 had alfo the great recommendation to its general adoption, 

 that it could be fabricated with eafe in every family. The 

 machinery required for the purpofe was extremely fimple. 

 The diftaff and the loom, fays Mr. Luccock, were little more 

 in the hands of the firft manufaftnrers, than the fpade in 

 thofe of the hufbandman. Spinning and weaving, as we 

 have already obferved, were in ufe at leaft fifteen hundred 

 years before the Chriftian era ; but the manner in which they 

 were performed is not related until about three centuries 

 afterwards. Then the loom confifted of a frame of wood, 

 in fome refpeft diff'erent from the modern one, but well 

 adapted to the fame purpofes. 



The alterations which have been made in it confift, per- 

 haps, more in the pofition of the beam, and the mode of 

 opening the web for the paffage of the fliuttle, than in any 

 other circumftance. Nor was the earlieft mode of fpinning 

 lefs perfeft, than that which was praftifed in the moll cele- 

 brated manufafturing countries for many ages afterwards. 

 It was performed by means of a rod or ftaft', about which 

 the wool to be fpun was carefully wrapt, and held in the 

 left-hand, while a rough kind of fpindle, quickly twirled be- 

 twixt the right-hand and the thigh, was fuffered to continue 

 its motion when fufpended by the thread which the artift gra- 

 dually lengthened with his fingers. This leaft complex of 

 fpinning-machiiies is not entirely laid afide even now. A 

 few years fince it was not uncommon in the county of Nor- 

 folk, and its continuance in ufe through fo many ages is the 

 beft proof of its excellence. 



The preparing of wool for fpinning was probably firft 

 effefted by the fingers, and afterwards by the fuller's teazle 

 or thiftle, the dipfacus fuUorum, which with its rough and 

 hooked points was well adapted to the purpofe, and has 

 continued in ufe to the prefent day. The card afterwards 

 ufed was probably a lubftitute for the carduus, or teazle. 

 The application of the wheel to a fpindle, or the fpinning- 

 wheel, is, we believe, unnoticed in hiftory. Whenever thefe 

 inventions took place, it is probable their firft introdudlion 

 contributed more to increafe the quantity, than improve the 

 quality of the yarn and cloth. For a confiderable period 

 after the commencement of the woollen manufacture, the 

 improvements made in fpinning or weaving of wool were 

 effefted by the improved addrefs and Ikill of the manufac- 

 turer, rather than by any alteration in his machinery, as we 

 now fee the manufaduring nations of the Eaft execute very- 

 elaborate works with inftruments of the moft fimple con- 

 ftruftion. In proportion as luxury and refinement increafed, 

 the demand for fuperior fabrics would induce the growers 

 of wool to jjay great attention to the fleece, and to feleft 

 and preferve for breeding thofe flieep which produced the 

 fofteft and fineft wool ; with the ancients thele terms were 

 fynonymous. The produce of fine white wool from fheep 

 is entirely the rtfult of cultivation ; it has never been grown 

 except in countries were the woollen manufadlures have 

 flouriftied. The race of fine-wooUed ftieep has, however, 

 been partly preferved in thofe countries after the deftrudlion 

 of their trade. The grower would alfo foon learn to pay par- 

 ticular attention to the whitenefs of his fleeces, as a clear 

 white ground is neceflfary for receiving the moft brilliant dyes. 

 Blue, purple, and fcarlet, were the tints moft admired ; and 

 though the ingredients, by means of which they were pro- 

 duced, are in fome meafure unknown, yet we have the moft 

 indubitable teftimonies to their excellency, and the eftimation 

 in which they were held. To produce them in their richeft 



luftre, 



