Woollen Cloth corrigenda

Bearing on the last paragraph, p. 451, infra, Dr. Bowles Daly, in Myra’s Journal for October, 1888, in an interesting article on Irish Industries, points out that while the civilized world is clothed out of four materials — silk, cotton, flax, and wool—Ireland produces in abundance two of these commodities (flax and wool), and could make ten times as much if required. Ireland, he says, was thoroughly skilled in wool-work long before the Flemish refugees had begun to teach the art to English workers; and Irish woollen stuff had an ancient history, and was valued and known centuries before the first cloth manufacture was introduced into England. “The origin of the Irish woollen fabric is lost in the mist of ages. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Popes of Rome used to send their agents to several of the Irish towns to purchase woollen fabric for the construction of those gorgeous mantles used on State occasions; the ingenious designs and ornamentation were invariably the work of Irish artists. In fact, the old Irish frieze was eagerly bought up in Spain and Italy, and so prized, that garments made of it were entered as heirlooms in the wills of the Florentine citizens.”