from Greece, it was through that country that purple textiles were brought to England. Besides speaking of a conversation held about, beside other things, the produce of Greece in purple silks—"Græcorum purpuris, et pannis holosericis"—Gerald Barry gives us to understand that in his days not only were our churches sumptuously hung with costly palls and purple silks, but that these textiles were the work of Grecian looms—"rex (Willielmus Rufus) ecclesiam quandam (in nova foresta) intraret quam adeo pulchram et decentius ornatam auletis historicis, et pretiosis Græcorum palliis, pannis holosericis et purpureis undique vestitam," &c.[1]
Silks woven of two colours, so that one of them showed itself unmixed and quite distinct on one side, and the second appeared equally clean on the other—a thing sometimes now looked upon as a wonder in modern weaving—might occasionally be met with here at the mediæval period: Exeter Cathedral had, A.D. 1327:—"Unus pannus sericus curtus rubei coloris interius et crocei coloris exterius."[2]
Shot, or, as they were then called, changeable silks, were fashionable in England during the sixteenth century, for when the King's (Edward VI.) Lord of Misrule rode forth with great pageantry, among other personages there came "afor xx. of ys consell on horsbake in gownes of chanabulle lynyd with blue taffata and capes of the sam, like sage (men); then cam my lord with a gowne of gold furyd," &c.[3] At York Cathedral, A.D. 1543, there was "a vestment of changeable silke,"[4] "besides one of changeable taffety for Good Friday."[5]
Marble silk had a weft of several colours so put together and woven as to make the whole web look like marble, stained with a variety of tints; hence it got its name. In the year 1295 St. Paul's had "paruram de serico marmoreo"[6]—an apparel of marble silk; "tunica de quodam panno marmoreo spisso"[7]—a tunicle of a certain thick marble cloth; "tunica de diaspro marmoreo spisso"[7]—a tunicle of thick diaper marble; "casula marmorei coloris"[8]—a chasuble of marble colour. During full three centuries this marble silk found great favour among us since H. Machyn, in his very valuable and curious Diary tells his readers how "the old Qwyne of Schottes rod thrught London," and how "then cam the Lord Tresorer with a C. gret horsse and ther cotes of marbull,"[9] &c., to meet her the 6th of November, A.D. 1551.[9]
