Dear Jeri and all For a moment I thought you were referring to a book I have in my collection then realised my error. My A5 size green cloth bound book is entitled ‘Olney and the Lace-Makers’ published in 1864 by William Macintosh, London. It doesn’t mention an author but a receipt attached to the book names a Mrs Vernon.
I quote from the book: Upon inquiry, a friend residing at Olney has supplied me with the following particulars respecting the songs of “the lacemakers.” “The children learn to make lace, not so much at home with their mothers, as at lace schools kept by dames. When the lace trade was better, most boys used to learn as well as the girls; and even men used to make lace, as they could earn more at ‘the pillow’ than at agricultural labour. I have seen old men who made good wages at the beginning of this century.” “The ‘Songs of the Lace-Makers’ were of the same class as the Nursery rhymes, and were sung by the children while at work. The proficiency of the children was estimated by the number of pins they could stick in an hour. They were set so many score of pins, and counted as they went on. The singing, or rather chanting, assisted them in the counting, and also kept them together in their work. I am told that we cannot imagine either the effect of thirty or forty children’s voices uniting in this ‘sing-song’, nor yet the aid it was to them. “These ‘Lace Tellings,’ as they were called, were repeated over and over, the number at the beginning lessening as the task appointed neared its conclusion, as - ‘Nineteen miles have I got to go.’ ‘Eighteen miles have I got to go.’ ‘Seventeen miles have I got to go’. “It is only the very old people who remember anything about these ‘Lace Tellings’, as they have not been used in the schools about Olney for many years. Latterly they have sung hymns, or some of the current songs of the day. “From the specimens we have been able to collect from the memories of the old Lace-Maker in the *portrait, and one of her friends, few will be disposed to regret that the old ‘Tellings’ have become obsolete. These that follow are evidently the ‘Songs of the Lace-Makers’ mentioned in the Northamptonshire Glossary, as assisting ‘the young workers;’ and are thrown aside with other childish things on leaving the Lace school”. *in the book is a lovely illustration of an elderly lacemakers and young girl working at their pillows. I have left out the Tellings in the interest of space. If anyone would like them please contact me privately. Diana in Northamptonshire. - 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/
