History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 192

references, and important centres seem to have been Wilton, Hereford, and Norwich.
The vocabulary shows that the Low Dutch had some influence on this manufacture,
and we know that Flemish linen weavers were introduced in 1253 and again in the
reign of Edward III.
It seems probable that it is to the 15th century, and especially to the time of James I,
that we are to attribute the large immigration of weavers into Scotland, which
undoubtedly took place at some time or other. They bear the name Brabanters in not a
few towns, and they appear to have migrated before the religious struggles of the 16th
century. The walkers and litsters may be survivals of a previous immigration, though
their incorporation in the year 1500 would point to their increasing importance.
9. 2.
The next great immigration of foreign clothworkers comes in the 16th and 17th
centuries as the result of the religious persecutions of the Spaniards in the
Netherlands. The industrial arts improved or introduced by these refugees are
numerous