On Wed, 8 Feb 2006, Melanie Schuessler wrote: > I'm wondering about the Wife of Bath and what she's got on her head in > the Canterbury Tales: > > "Hir coverchiefs ful fyne weren of ground, > I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound > That on a Sonday weren upon hir heed." > > Mainly I'm wondering about the use of the word "ground" in the first > line. I've seen a suggestion that this could translate to mean > "texture", as in "her coverchiefs were of a very fine texture".
I've always read it as meaning "of a very fine material"; probably echoing in my mind with the use you hear in "embroidery ground" as meaning the base fabric on which embroidery is done. I have no idea whether this reading is justified; I've never much thought about it! --Robin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
