The History of Irish Linen
IRISH linen history—in the commercial sense of the 1 term—really began, when, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, by King Louis XIV of France, over 5,000 " Huguenot • refugees, mostly hand spinners and weavers of flax, left Picardy, and settled in the counties of Antrim and Down, near Belfast.
For 300 years previously there had existed a linen industry of sorts—entirely domestic at first, but later fostered in turn by two famous Lord Deputies, Lord Strafford and the Duke of Ormonde—but, owing to lack "of real direction or incentive, and the difficulties always attached to flax culture and manipulation, 'native Irish weavers, using coarse reeds and primitive looms, produced linen of a useful but quite ordinary type. Many, indeed, were content to weave either wool or linen cloth as occa- sion required.
With the advent of King William II and the immigra- tion of the Huguenots, a new position developed.
From the time of Henry VIII manufacturers of English woollen cloth had repeatedly objected to the competition in similar goods from Ireland, and various restrictions were enacted against the Irish article, which remained cheaper in the London market. William was approached by representatives of the English woollen industry and asked " to further the linen and discourage the woollen trade in Ireland." These two points were effected by a new scheme for - the organization of linen manufacture in Ireland, and the placing of duties on the importation of Irish woollens into England. Trouble for one industry meant new life for the other.
Louis Crommelin, a prominent Huguenot, previously an important linen manufacturer at Armandcourt in Picardy, whom William, when Prince of Orange, had met in Amsterdam, was invited to prepare a scheme of " organization for linen manufacture in Ireland." He embodied his ideas in a memorial dated April, 1699. The Treasury, in agreement with the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, recommended his proposals and effect was given by a Royal patent. From that time onward the manufacture of Irish Linen entered upon a new phase. Crommelin undertook to advance the sum of £10,000 towards the development, on which he was to receive eight per cent, interest ; he was appointed " Overseer of the Royal Linen Manufactures of Ireland," and received £200 per annum " for his pains in carrying out the said work." When he took over his responsibili- ties the total value of linen exported did not exceed £6,000 per annum, an amount which seemed ridiculous to him after his experience in France.
Trustees were appointed to form a Linen Board, eighty in number, twenty from each of the four Provinces of Ireland. This Board had many powers conferred by various Acts of Parliament, and a comprehensive scheme for putting them into action was agreed to. Premiums for flax cultivation, instruction in hand spinning, new looms, with certificates and special privileges for the weaving of good cloth, were among the early features introduced.
When Crommelin died in 1727, linen exports had risen to over £200,000 per annum, and the type of linen manu- factured had vastly improved. During the remainder of the eighteenth century the handicrafts of spinning and weaving extended rapidly. The whirr of the spinning wheel and click of the shuttle became familiar sounds in almost every home among the hills and valleys of Ulster, and white linen bleaching on the green grass was a pleasing industrial feature amid the rich landscape.
The invention of the power loom about 1787, with its later evolution and introduction into Irish factories about 1840, also the . spinning frame, created ,a new phase of linen production, made necessary by an increased world demand. Hand spinning of flax in Ireland died out many years ago, but the hand loom still remains in certain districts, and is used mostly for weaving fine table damask. During the past 150 years Irish hand looms have produced the finest damask the world has seen, cloths and napkins with designs that have added beauty and distinction to Royal tables in almost every Court in Europe ; cloths have been produced within the past few months of a texture showing over four hundred and thirty threads to the square inch ; an aristocrat of textiles, scintillating in its snowy whiteness, beauty dignity, and simplicity. The power loom is to-day responsible for over ninety per cent. of Irish linen pro- duction.
The industry during recent years suffered heavily in the general economic " slump " which has affected all textiles, and there is still considerable unemployment in various sections, but, assisted by the Government of -Northern Ireland in an effort to seek a way out, a new -form of expression—the Irish Linen Guild—representing all sections, spinning, weaving, bleaching, &c., has been formed to carry out a new marketing scheme for reliable standardized qualities of table linen, bed linen, and towels, at economic prices fixed by the industry. These, in special transparent wrappers bearing the Guild seal and price will be offered throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Irish linen is now cheap ; relatively cheaper than any other textile to-day. So if any considerable proportion of the women of this country remain " linen conscious," having-still an appreciation of the economy, beauty, and charm of good Iinen, this effort should prove beneficial to, one of the oldest industries in the Empire.
Finally, Ulster is a natural home for the manipulation of textiles ; its people are industrious and adaptable. Within what is known as Northern Ireland there is an intensity of effort and application to detail not practised elsewhere, hence these industrial, economic, and moral Virtues, expressed as they are to-day in " Ireland's lovely linens'," give modern distinction to the oldest craft in history—the manufacture of fine linen.
JOHN GILLILAND.
[This concludes the section comprising the special articles on Ireland. Irish themes are also treated in the regular book, reviews and travel columns and in the American notes of the week. In the Spectator dated March 22nd we shall include the first of a series of four extracts from the diaries of Robert Fulke Greville, which are shortly to be published in book form by Messrs. John Lane. Next week's issue also contains a special article by the Marquis of Tavistock on " Vivisection," and Professor S. de .Madariaga analyses the Franco-British psychological conflict in the League.]
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