History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 194

Fulling terms are:
Walker (c. 1290, Beket), one who fulls cloth, a fuller; OE. wealcere occurs once as a
gloss for fullo (c. 1050, in Voc. in Wr.-Wü.), but it is probable that the word was
reintroduced from Low Dutch in the 13th century from M.Du. or MLG. walker.
Walk-mill (1359, Mem. Ripon), a fulling mill; from walk and mill.
Walk (14.., 1437), to subject woollen cloth to the operation of beating or pressing in
order to cause felting of the fibres and consequent thickening and shrinking; originally
identical with the vb. walk, to walk, step, but the sense ‘to full cloth’ is not recorded in
English before the 14th century, though prominent in other Teutonic languages; OE.
had the agent noun wealcere, but it is possible that the corresponding sense of the
Teutonic verb had not survived into OE. and that the late ME. walke is either a back
formation from the agent noun or an adoption from M.Du. or MLG. walken.
Some terms of woollen weaving and the preparation of cloth were introduced in the
modern period.
Buckety (1548), according to Jamieson a corruption of ‘buckwheat’ and the name of a
paste used by weavers in Scotland in dressing their webs (see Buckwheat).
Bay (1581), baize, originally a fabric of a finer and lighter texture than now, the
manufacture of which was introduced into England in the 16th century by fugitives
from the Netherlands and France; usually in the plural, whence the corruption
Baize (1578); ad. F. baie or its Du. representative baai, from F. bai, baie, the colour
bay; also in many combs., as Bayhall (1684), a hall in Colchester, used as an
exchange by traders in this commodity.
Spill (1594), a small cylinder upon which yarn is wound, a spool; (1594), a rod or stalk
of wood, metal, &c.; apparently ad. Du. spil (M.Du. spille) or LG. (and MLG.) spille,
spindle, axis, pin, stalk.
Scraw (c. 1563, from Canterbury), a frame on which textile fabrics are hung to dry;
perhaps ad. Du. schraag, trestle.
Scribble (1687), to card or tease wool coarsely, to pass through a scribbler; probably
from LG.; compare the synonymous G. schrubbeln, schrobbeln, schruppeln, Sw.
skrabbla; the verb is a frequentative from LG. and G. schrubben, schrobben (see
Scrub). Derivatives which, however, appear earlier are
Scribbler (1682), a person who scribbles wool, and Scribbling (1682), the first
process in the operation of carding wool.
A term of dyeing is Slip (1667), the powder found in the trough of cutlers' grindstones
and used in dyeing; apparently ad. older Flem. slip (Kilian) or MLG. slip, related to
Flem. and Du. slijpen, to polish, sharpen; this word may equally well have come in as
a term of the cutler's trade.

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