Page:Glossary of words in use in Cornwall.djvu/350

 ADDITIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. X711 Such men would go to Huddersfield, buy their 501bs. -weieht of wool, cany it home on their backs, spread it out on the house-floor, strinkle it with oil, l&yer on layer, then beat it with sticks. Hand cards were then used. They teased it altogether, and turned it off in a floss state, as they do now by the scribbling machine. They worked it together in long sHvings ; it was then spun into rough or nne threads, then into warp and woof. The piece when made was spread on the floor. A large kitful of urine (see Weeting) and swine's dung was taken and strained througn straw ; it was then sprinkled on the cloth, and, as may be imagined, the smell in the house was horrible. As they lecked one piece it was laid down, and so layer on layer were placed, in the form of a long parallelogram raised from the ground ; then all the members of the household got up and trampled it ! There it lay till morning ; it was then wrapped up in a bundle, taken to Honle^ (or the nearest place) to a fiillmg rmil ; it was scoured, the offensive fluid washed out of it, and it was then brought dripping home. It was next trailed oyer furze-bushes, hung out upon the walls, and the small pieces pulled off in the bushes whisked from it ; then burled in the house Dy the family. Then it was taken ag^ain to the mill, and placed in the fulling stocks with soap, by which process it was reduced in dimensions. It was afterwards laid on the mill-stone (a long stone table) and stamped by the Qt)yemment official, who affixed secus to the piece impressed with the length and breadth. It was then carried home, and as it was being fastened to the tenter the family pulled at one end to increase the len^h. If it was stamped for (say) fifty yards it would thus stretch to flfty-one or fifty-two, and shrink agam on being finished. The market was at Huddersfield, and the clotn was exposed for the sale on the churchyard wall. The seals before s^ken of were of lead. The officer, who was sworn at Pomfret sessions, made a hole at each end of the piece. A strip of lead three and a half inches long and half an inch broad was bended at one end ; it was passed through the cloth, and by means of a hole at one end of the lead and a button at the other it was riyetted by a hammer. The length was stamped on the lead with a die. The manufacturer was now at liberty to remove his cloth, which before could not be done under a fine. This stamp-law became obsolete twenty or thirty years before it was repealed. I do not hold myself responsible for the above — I have given it nearly in the words in whicn it was related to me ; but I thoroughly believe in its accuracy, and am quite sure it was given in perfect good faith. CHRISTMAS. This festival is kept up with some ceremony stilL On Christmas Eve, and during the whole of the week till New Tear's Day, may be heard the carols, of which the following is one of the most common. ' Here we come a weseelling Among the leaves so green. And here we come a wandering So fair as to be seen.