michaela wrote:
"1597
I shall have a petitcoat of silk,...; it shall have a French bodys not of
whalebone for that is not stiff enough, but of horn for that will hold it
out; it shall come in low before to in my belly..... I will have a busk of
whale bone, it shall be tied with two silk points, and I will have a wrought
stomacher embossed with gold."
quoted by G. B. Harrison, Elizabethan Journal (does anyone have further info
on this?)
It's also in Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd. Arnold says:
"In 1597 the three children of a gentleman named Starkie living in
Lacashire were posssessed of the devil and made accusations of
witchcraft. the eldest girl, aged fourteen, screamed and yelled to her
possessing demon:
Come my lad. Come on and set my partlet on one side as I do on the
other...Thus, my lad, I will have a fine Smocke of silke, it shall be
finer than thine, I will ahve a Petticoat of silke, not redde but of the
finest silk that is, it shall be guarded and a foote high: it shall be
laid on with gold lace: it shall have a French bodie, not of whalebone,
for that is not stiff enough, but of horne for that will hold it out, it
shall come, to keepe in my belly...My lad I will have a Busk of
Whalebone, it shall be tyed with two silke Points, and I will have a
drawn wrought stomacher imbroidered with golde, finer than thine." (pp.
146-7)
If you'd like to find the original quote and fill in the ellipses,
there's a version of Harrison's book online at
http://leehrsn.50megs.com/index.html
Cheers,
Melanie Schuessler
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