In message <032520082254.24750.47E982C30006BF24000060AE221555588404040A99050C0 [EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes >Most lace historians agree that the English laces (Honiton, >Bucks, Beds, etc...) were derivatives of laces brought to England by persons >fleeing persecution.
But most lace "historians" have based their "facts" on the writings of Mrs Bury Palliser, who was not around at the time. Dr John Yallop's thesis on Honiton Lace goes into this myth in detail, particularly relating to Honiton, where none of the parish registers show the existence of refugees in that area until much later; the refugees appear to have remained closer to the east and south-east coasts. The book I have mentioned before, on the history of British costume, published in 1834 (well before Mrs Palliser wrote her book!) states that lace was used on Henry VIII's clothing - quite some time before the refugees arrived. Far more likely the explanation that lace was brought into Devon via the established sea trade routes and therefore by merchants, rather than refugees! Also, if you believe all you read, the Huguenot refugees were said to have introduced the nailing industry to Britain.... which makes me wonder if there was anything we could do for ourselves in the centuries before they got here ;-) I have no dispute with the fact that they did arrive (one of my ancestor's names is likely to have come from that region) and probably found work alongside those workers already here - they would need the dealers to sell their wares, after all. Most likely over time some techniques were absorbed as being quicker/better ways of solving particular problems, and so similarities arise. The similarities in design are also more than likely due to the fact that fashion trends travel, and if a particular design is fashionable, it gets copied.... why else would everyone in the high street fashion world watch the infamous catwalks the way they do now, rather than just getting on with their own thing regardless? These days they watch what comes over the internet, rather than what comes off the ship.....! -- Jane Partridge - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
