On 21/04/2015 07:01, J-D Hammett wrote: > Hi Linda and other Arachnids, > > Is âdickey potâ a local name? What is it? (showing my ignorance?). Well, I think it's local to England; I don't have any information about it's being local to the High Wycombe area, or even the county of Buckinghamshire.
I've never seen one, but I understand that it is a small fireproof container, which lacemakers used to keep warm; they would put something like live coals in it and pop it under their skirts to keep their feet warm during the long hours spent sitting at their lace pillows. > My Collins dictionary gives . . . [snip] There are indeed a lot of uses for this word, but I selected the one that seemed relevant to lace makers' warming devices. For me, the "aha!" moment came when I saw that, in the days of the old professional lace makers, it could mean a petticoat and then I made the connection with the foot warmer. Actually, it seems rather dangerous to me. Could they have placed it under a footstool? Do we have any real information about the dickey pot? Was it used by other workers? Has anyone seen a real, (authenticated), one? Linda. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
