WELSH TRADITIONS 4
GWAU HOSANAU – KNITTING STOCKINGS
In rural Wales, one of the main cottage industries which flourished during the 18th Century was that of knitting stockings – not only for the family – but for selling in the local markets – and further afield. The towns of Bala, in southern Gwynedd, Llanrwst near Conwy and Tregaron in Cardiganshire were the main centres of the knitting industry, but we know that it also existed in many other locations all over Wales. It was said that Welsh women knitted stockings whenever they had their hands free. But it was not only the womenfolk who knitted; the men and the children, who were old enough, did so too.
Before anyone could start knitting, the yarn had to be prepared. Sheep farmers’ wives had enough wool for their needs, but the poorer cottagers were not able to afford to buy wool. So, as we heard last month, they would go out on wool gathering journeys, before the sheep were sheared, to collect tufts of wool snagged in the hedges and on gorse bushes and elsewhere. The right to gather the wool was valuable and young women who were employed as servants would make sure that they were given the two weeks off for wool gathering each year.
Once they had gathered a good supply of wool, they would carry it home, wash it and when it was dry, begin the process of carding it. This was often done with teasel heads – combing it or brushing it out until it was ready to be spun into yarn. It was now ready to be knitted – but at this stage, it could be dyed, using plants from the countryside.
Here are some of the colours that could be obtained:
- Different lichens would produce green or a deep pink, depending on the type of lichen
- Sloes would also produce a rose colour
- Elderberries and alum would produce a turquoise colour
- The roots of some types of straw would produce a red colour
- The bark, flowers and leaves of gorse would produce yellow
- Bracken would produce brown
- Dandelions produced magenta
- Onion skins can produce a range of colours from red to orange to brown – and more
As you can see, many colours could be produced by dyeing, but the stockings knitted tended to be plain black, grey or white – although, apparently, blue with white stripes was very popular. Many women of rural Wales were proficient spinners and highly skilled in the art of knitting. Despite the time-consuming labour involved in carding and spinning the wool into yarn prior to knitting, many were able to support themselves by knitting and selling stockings. Such was the demand that a Walter Davies, in 1799, estimated that annual production ran to approximately 192,000 pairs.
The late Minwel Tibbott, of the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans, stated that ‘Knitting stockings became a vital industry for many families throughout that time, and during famine periods, saved many a family from starvation – and this cottage industry continued to support families economically up until the early twentieth century’.
Between the financial benefits of knitting stockings and the lack of transportation in rural Wales during the 18th and 19th centuries, women often knitted while they walked or performed other duties. Using a yarn hook in the shape of an ‘S’, women would attach the upper hook to the waistband of their apron, then hang a ball of yarn from the lower hook. In this way, both hands would be free for knitting while they walked, often with a basket on their back, travelling to market, tending to animals, or collecting peat’. Knitting sheaths were popular; suspended from the hip, they bore the weight of the garment being knitted. These were handmade, carved, and given as love tokens, much like Welsh love spoons.
Knitting evenings were always popular – social evenings when knitters of both sexes gathered in someone’s house to enjoy a few hours of knitting accompanied by storytelling and singing. A good storyteller was always in great demand for these occasions and some of them had a great store of tales. Storytellers have been given pride of place at such gatherings in Wales for hundreds of years. We know that two of the most highly regarded members of the courts of the Welsh Princes in mediaeval times were the ‘Cyfarwydd’ – storyteller – and the Court Poet.
When the knitters had a good supply of stockings, they took them to market to sell to middle-men or dealers, who probably sold most of them at English markets, from where, it is said, many were exported to Europe and beyond. We know that some were exported via the port at Barmouth to Charleston, USA, the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. We know that stocking markets were held in many towns in Wales, from Llanilltud Fawr – Llantwit Major in the south, to Caergybi – Holyhead, in the north. The price of a pair of stockings varied from 6 pence (2 ½ pence in today’s money) – to ten shillings (50p today). But the average price for a plain pair of stockings was about 1 shilling (5p today).
Some stocking knitters would stand along the stage-coach highways to sell their wares to passing travellers. It is said that Welsh stockings were of high quality and long-lasting. Several members of the gentry purchased pairs as souvenirs during their tours of Wales – and tradition maintains that King George III insisted on wearing Bala stockings to relieve his rheumatism!
Today, the internationally known Corgi Socks factory in Rhydaman – Ammanford – which holds a Royal Warrant, and which has been producing socks, stockings and other items of knitwear since 1892 – is a worthy exponent of the Welsh stocking knitting tradition.
Ann M. Jones
