A Preliminary Survey of 16th Century English Literary References to Knitting

Historic reenactors interested in recreating pre-1600 items of knitted clothing face a problem common to all students of textile history, namely a low rate of survival of period pieces. While archaeology continues to add to the sum of surviving knitted textiles, the finds themselves are often fragmentary, leaving knitters to ponder over the exact nature, shape and patterning of the item. For example, six portions of knitted textiles were found about the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's great warship that sank in Portsmouth harbor in 1545. Three of the finds are clearly knitted caps. Another of the finds has been generally identified as a scogger,[1] but as the item in question is fragmentary this cannot be taken as a positive identification.[2] The final two items are too fragmentary to even hazard a guess as to their original form and function.

Period artwork has been looked to as a source of further documentation of the craft of knitting in pre-1600 Europe. Knitting historian Richard Rutt lists a number of such artworks in his History of Handknitting, but it must be noted that compared to representations of other textile crafts such as spinning, carding and weaving, the number of late medieval and renaissance artworks depicting knitting are pitifully few. Another area that can be mined for information about knitting is the vast body of printed and manuscript materials surviving from the period. Such a daunting task is made easier by the continuing digitization of pre-17th century documents and literature, particularly from England.[3] This paper provides a preliminary survey of knitting references found in English literature (ballads, prose and drama) published between 1473 and 1600. I have grouped these references according to the type of item mentioned, and included some discussion of surviving items to illustrate the benefit of having these documentary references at hand.

Caps
Two types of pre-17th century knitted caps survive in the English archaeological record: flat caps (which could also be made from other materials) and the so-called Monmouth caps (which were universally knitted).[4] Flat caps were most often worn by males, and Monmouth caps exclusively by males. I presently have no knowledge of knitted caps in an exclusively feminine style.

Simple references from throughout the period underline the ubiquitous nature of knitted hats. A 1518 London ballad lists "spinsters, carders and cap knitters"[5] among many other trades, and there is a well known statute from the first half of Elizabeth's reign that attempted to bolster the knitting trade by requiring the wearing of caps. [6] In 1595 the Pedler's Prophecie asked "What lack you? What buy you? Any good pin?/Knit caps for children, biggens and wastes?/Come, let us bargain…"[7]

A less pedestrian reference is found in a 1570 poem; I cannot help but think of the tall white hats worn by later bakers and chefs.

The first three seemed for to be of Town,
For they were handsomely appareled:
Each of them in a very seemly gown,
The one with a white knit cap upon his head.
His coat was face with gray (rabbit) skin
I judged him a baker by his trade,
As he confessed when I asked him… [8]

The baker's cap may not have been a tall and cylindrical concoction, but Monmouth caps were. Reportedly Monmouth caps were typical headwear for military men, and literary evidence supports this. Shakespeare places leeks in the caps of Welshmen in the play Henry V, [9] while Richard Haklyut published a reference to "Deep caps for mariners, colored in stamel, whereof if ample vent ay be found, it would turn to an infinite commodity of the common poor people by knitting."[10] Wearing this style of knitted cap does not have to be reserved to reenactors playing military roles, however. It is important to note that the earliest documented reference to a Monmouth cap is a 1577 letter contained in the Talbot Papers, which states "I send your lordship a New Year's gift, a Monmouth cap…" [11]

Furthermore, surviving Monmouth caps closely resemble in size and shape the elaborate late Elizabethan embroidered men's nightcaps found in museums such as the Victoria & Albert. The Victoria & Albert Museum makes sure to caution people not to interpret 'nightcaps' as items worn to bed; rather, they were head coverings worn at home in the evenings, less ornate than those worn during the day in public.[12] "Nightcaps knit, and other" are among the items listed to be sent into Russia late in Elizabeth reign as trade samples, [13] and "a knit night cap of courses twine/with two long labels button'd to his chin" pops up Joseph Hall's Virgidemiarum of 1598.[14] These references strongly suggest that Monmouth style nightcaps were worn by non-military Englishmen.

Knit Gloves
Surviving examples pre-date (and post-date) the 16th century, but they are ecclesiastical finds. This begs the question of whether or not knit gloves were an item of clothing for the general population. So far I have found only one reference that knitted gloves were worn by other than the clergy. "Gloves of all sorts knit, and of leather" are listed among the mercantile items ordered sent on a voyage to Russia in 1580 in the hopes of creating a new export market.[15]

Socks
Several well-known examples of period knitted socks survive, although not all of them are from England. The possibly apocryphal story of Elizabeth I's reception of her first pair of knitted silk stocking is also well know, as is the report that her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, went to her execution wearing a double layer of knit stockings (one of Jersey, and one of silk).[16] Again, I have only one document that clearly refers to knit stockings, and again the reference comes from the 1580 list of items to be sent to Russia. "Knit stocks [i.e., stockings] of silk of orient colors [and] knit stocks of Jersey yarn of orient colors, whereof if ample vent might follow the poor multitude should be set in work."[17] The interesting aspect of these two items is the indication that both silk and woolen (Jersey) socks be of 'orient' colors, meaning brilliant or lustrous.

Garters
According to the Weaver's Guild of Boston, two 17th century knitted garters survive, one at the Museum of London and one at Haddon Hall.[18] It would be worth checking with the Museum of London staff to see if the 17th century date has been revised backwards, as the knitted children's garments (flat cap, mitten and singlet) appear to have been. At present I have only one written reference to knitted garters, from the Taming of the Shrew "let their heads be sleekly combed, their blue coats brushed and their garters be of indifferent knit."[19] This is the command given for Petruccio's household servants to make themselves ready to welcome home their master and his new wife. In this context, "indifferent" knit mean that their garters should be plain and similar to each other. Whether or not we should take the "knit" as a literal description of the type of textile used for the servants' garters is debatable, but the reference is highly suggestive.

Purses
Oval shaped knitted purses survive from the 17th century.[20] The oval shaped purse appears with some frequency in late 16th century art, but without indication of the materials used. However, "purses knit, and of leather" are part of the 1580 list of trade goods so frequently cited in this paper.

The references detailed above must only scratch the surface of English documentary items that can be used to round out our knowledge of knitted items appropriate for use by pre-1600 historic reenactors. I expect the most valuable references will be found in wills and personal letters. Wills are easily accessed-if one is in England. Unfortunately the digitized collection of period wills housed at the Public Records Office in London is not configured for browsing as opposed to downloading a specific document. Private letters are fairly well published, however, and I hope to use them to continue building on the citations contained in this paper.

Lady Kateryn Rous
(Marybeth Lavrakas)

[1] A footless stocking, worn on the leg or alternatively on the arm.
[2] The Mary Rose Trust itself lists a question mark after the word scogger in its online database of finds.
[3] The three best collections of digitized sources are available by subscription only, usually through a university library. Early English Books Online database contains approximately 100,000 items published in England between 1473 and 1700. Literature Online is a database of 350,000 items of poetry, prose and fiction, that gives keyword search capabilities. Finally, the jewel of dictionaries, the Oxford English Dictionary, provides detailed historical and literary references to a word's initial and subsequent appearances, charting changes in usage and meaning when they occur.
[4] Flat caps are found in the Museum of London collection, as well as the Mary Rose collection. The Mary Rose hats are of interest, in that two of the three are lined in silk-an important precedent for reenactors to remember when making their own caps.
[5] Anon., Cocke Lorelless Bote, London: 1518. The ballad is not paginated.
[6] I haven't found the text of the statute yet, but did find the 1573 Proclamation insisting that the act be enforced.
[7] Anon., The Peddler's Prophecy, 1595. One of the Museum of London's better known examples of kitting is a child's flat cap from the 16th century.
[8] F.T., The Debate Between Pride and Lowliness, 1570, line 788.
[9] Act iv, scene 7, line 98.
[10] Richard Haklyut, The principal nauigations, voyages, traffiques and discoueries of the English nation made by sea or ouer-land, to the remote and farthest distant quarters of the earth… London, 1599, 440.
Stamel is usually used to reference a particular type of woolen cloth, and sometimes the garment made from it. It was typically dyed red. As the rest of the sentence makes clear that knitted caps are to be sent, the reference to stamel here may refer to it's particular shade of red.
[11] G Talbot, Letter dated 3 January, in Talbot Papers F, (Lambeth Palace Library MS 3197), 181, as cited in the OED.
[12] See for example the online collection entry for a man's nightcap dated 1600-1624.
[13] Haklyut.
[14] Joseph Hall, Arcades Ambo 1598
[15] Haklyut.
'[16] See Donna Kenton's Hand Knit Hose web page for more details on these two stories. http://www.dabbler.com/ndlwrk/stocking.html.
[17] Hakluyt.
[18] 17th Century Knitting Patterns as Adapted for Plimoth Plantation. Boston: 1990, p 36.
[19] Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act iv, Scene 1, lines 93-95. While the first printed version did not appear until 1623, the Taming of the Shrew is considered to be one of his earlier comedies and thus Elizabethan.
[20] See Weaver's Guild of Boston, 17th Century Knitting Patterns as Adapted for Plimoth Plantation. Boston: 1990 for 2 examples, including patterns.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources
Anon.(1518) Cocke Lorelless Bote. London: Wynkyn de Worde.

Anon. (1595). The Peddler's Prophecy. London: Tho. Creede.

Hakluyt, Richard. (1599) The principal nauigations, voyages, traffiques and discoueries of the English nation made by sea or ouer-land, to the remote and farthest distant quarters of the earth… London.

Hall, Joseph. (1598) irgidemiarum sixe bookes. First three bookes. Of tooth-lesse satyrs. 1. Poeticall. 2. Academicall. 3. Morall London: Richard Bradocke for Robert Dexter.

F.T. (1577) The debate betweene Pride and Lowlines, pleaded to an issue in assise and hovve a iurie vvith great indifferencie being impannelled, and redy to haue geuen their verdict, were straungely intercepted, no lesse pleasant then profitable. F.T. Seene, and allowed..London: Iohn Charlwood for Rafe Newbery.

Shakespeare, William. (1623) Henry V, Act iv, scene 7, line 98.

Ibid., The Taming of the Shrew, Act iv, Scene 1, lines 93-95.

Secondary Sources

Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Frances Pritchard, and Kay Staniland. (1992) Textiles and Clothing c.1150-c.1450. London: Her Majesty¹s Stationery Office.

Rutt, Richard. A History of Hand Knitting. Loveland: Interweave Press, 1987.

Weavers Guild of Boston. (1990) 17th Century Knitting Patterns as Adapted for Plimoth Plantation.

Web Pages

Early English Books Online (available via subscription only). http://www.eebo.com. Last accessed 12/2003.

Kenton, Donna Flood (1997) Hand Knit Hose. (Page about Elizabethan knitted stockings.) http://www.dabbler.com/ndlwrk/stocking.html. Last accessed 12/2003.

Mary Rose Trust/Mary Rose Trust Electronic Archive. http://www.maryrose.org. Last accessed 12/2003.

McGann, Kass (2000, 2003) The Carnamoyle Stockings - Irish Wool Stockings from the 16th Century. http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/irish/stocai.html. Last accessed 12/2003.

Museum of London Picture Library. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/. Last Accessed 12/2003.

Oxford English Dictionary online (available via subscription only). http://dictionary/oed.com. Last accessed 12/2003.

Shetlands Museum Service. Gunnister Man. http://www.shetland-museum.org.uk/collections/textiles/gunnister_man.htm. Last accessed 12/2003.

Victoria & Albert Museum "Access to Images database." http://images.vam.ac.uk. Last accessed 12/2003.