Rope

*Note: There are a couple citations to Wikipedia...it hurts me too. I am trying to find/get the original sources, if you know them please send me an email!

Pictorial Evidence

The house nooks of the Nuremberg Twelve Brothers Foundation

Citation: 

“Die Hausbücher der Nürnberger Zwölfbrüderstiftungen,” www.nuernberger-hausbuecher.de. https://www.nuernberger-hausbuecher.de/index.php?do=query&mo=4&rs=1&tt=prs-jobnorm&tm=Seiler (accessed Jan. 20, 2024) 

Jobs section under "Seiler"

Location: Nuremberg Germany

Year: Various

Albrecht Durer Woodcut "Rope maker sees mok leave his unfaithful wife"

Citation:

Q5580 et al., “File:Albrecht-Durer-Rope-maker-sees-monk-leave-his-unfaithful-wife.jpg - Wikipedia,” commons.wikimedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht-Durer-Rope-maker-sees-monk-leave-his-unfaithful-wife.jpg (accessed Jan. 20, 2024). 

Location: Germany

Year: circa 1500

Albrecht Durer Woodcut "Rope maker sees mok leave his unfaithful wife"

Citation:

Jost Amman, H. Sachs, and B. A. Rifkin, The book of trades = [Ständebuch]. New York: Dover Publ, 1973. 

Location: Nuremburg Germany

Year: circa 1568

Den Fuskande Repslagaren (The Fraudulent Ropemaker)

Citation:

“File:German Ropemaker, around 1460-1480.png,” Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:German_Ropemaker,_around_1460-1480.png 

E. Brinkman, Ropemaking from 800CE to 1500 CE with a focus on bast ropes in northern Europe. Self, 2023. Accessed: Jan. 19, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://sagy.vikingove.cz/en/ropemaking-from-800-ce-to-1500-ce/ 

Location: Germany

Year: 1460-1480 

Ropemaking workshop

Citation:

E. Brinkman, Ropemaking from 800CE to 1500 CE with a focus on bast ropes in northern Europe. Self, 2023. Accessed: Jan. 19, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://sagy.vikingove.cz/en/ropemaking-from-800-ce-to-1500-ce/ 

Location: Germany

Year: Late 16th century

Scutching Da Costa Book of Hours

Citation:

“MS M.399, fol. 12v,” The Morgan Library & Museum, Oct. 23, 2017. https://www.themorgan.org/collection/da-costa-hours/24 (accessed Jan. 20, 2024). 

"Calendars in Books of Hours were sometimes illustrated by vignettes depicting the "labors of the months," generally rural seasonal activities, such as shearing sheep in June and mowing hay in July. Bening, whose works were highly sought after throughout Europe, is usually regarded as the last great Flemish illuminator. This book was made for a member of the Portuguese Sá family, from whom it passed to King Manuel's armorer, Alvaro da Costa, after whom the manuscript is named. Bening was especially known for sensitively rendered landscapes in full-page calendar illustrations. Such cycles had not occurred in manuscripts since their initial and singular appearance almost a hundred years earlier, in the duc de Berry's Très Riches Heures, a manuscript that inspired Bening. "

"Occupation of the month: November―Within a farmyard enclosed by buildings, including a dovecote, two men, within a ring of flax laid out on the ground, break flax with implements. To the left under a shed, a woman scutches flax with a scutching knife. She is seated on a chair beside a bundle of flax. A hen and pigs inhabit the farmyard. Within a building to the left, a man appears in a doorway raising an implement, possibly a flail."

Author: Simon Bening

Location: Ghent Belgium

Year: 1515

Beating hemp with a Beetle - A Harlot's Progress

Citation:

 “A harlot’s progress,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Harlot%27s_Progress#/media/File:Hogarth-Harlot-4.png (accessed Feb. 27, 2024).

"Bridewell prison with inmates (including prostitutes and a card-player) beating hemp under the supervision of a warder holding a cane; Moll is still dressed in her finery, but a one-eyed female attendant fingers the lace lappet hanging from her cap and her erstwhile serving-woman is trying on her fashionable shoes and stockings; beyond, a man stands with his hands in a pillory. "

Location: England

Year: 1731

Ropes on ship in Painting

Citation:

    “Portuguese Carracks off a Rocky Coast,” Portuguese Carracks off a Rocky Coast | Royal Museums Greenwich, https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-12197 (accessed Feb. 15, 2024).

"This large, detailed panel is the oldest painting of the sea by a Flemish or Flemish-trained artist in the collection of the National Maritime Museum. It is one of the few contemporary paintings of ships of the first half of the sixteenth century and one of the best representations of the first generation of ocean-going merchantmen. The subject is generally thought to be the carrack 'Santa Catarina de Monte Sinai' bringing the Infanta Beatriz, second daughter of King Manuel of Portugal, to Villefranche for her marriage to Charles III, Duke of Savoy, in 1521. The Portuguese vessels are shown wearing Manuel's flags and emblems but were met by Italian ships during the journey from Lisbon. However, considering the distinctly Flemish style of the painting, this identification of the subject remains debatable - although Flemish artists did work in Portugal and Spain, notably (in the marine sphere slightly later) Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. That said, in this case the original function of the painting and the identity of the artist remain elusive. An examination of the oak panel suggests that it was probably originally set in a wall frame or wall panelling and, therefore, could have been part of a larger decorative scheme. This may, in turn, support the hypothesis that it is the work of a prestigious painter, depicts an historical event such as the wedding voyage of 1521, and was possibly intended for a ‘public’ space.

The 'Santa Catarina' was richly adorned for the wedding voyage of the Infanta. Quarters were prepared for her, the Count de Villa, ambassadors and officials in the stern castle of the ship. These apartments were decorated with splendid fittings, fine silver and given a gilded finish. The Infanta's cabin was furnished with brocade, carpets and velvet cushions. The awning of the ship was of crimson velvet and white damask, with borders that were described as of velvet with tassels of silk, and lined inside with blue damask from China. There were two very large damask flags with the royal arms painted in gold and silver on the ship's stern. Another 84 large flags of crimson and white damask decorated the masts and yardarms. A band of musicians also accompanied the Infanta.

The painting depicts ten ships, a caravel, three galleys and a rowing barge, off a coastline on the right. This mountainous ‘world-landscape’ consists of a fortified tower on a rocky outcrop above a steeply rising walled town. A man-made harbour can be seen below. Inside the harbour are a number of ships. Two of these vessels are shown at anchor. Beyond this is another at anchor and one more coming to anchor. Wooded hills are visible in the background, on the right, and an island lies off-shore in the distance on the left. The scene is observed from a high vantage point. An aerial perspective is introduced through the warm brownish-green tones in the foreground which gradually change into cooler blues in the background.

In the centre foreground, the carefully delineated principal ship is a large armed Portuguese merchant carrack. She is shown firing a salute to port and starboard. This is thought to be the 'Santa Catarina', which was built of teak at Cochin, India, in 1510, to serve as one of the large armed merchant ships of the Portuguese East Indies trade. She is shown in starboard-quarter view. Figures on board are carefully delineated and are evident in both the rigging and main-top ('crow's nest'). Nine other ships of broadly carrack form are present, five under sail and the four at anchor. The two under sail, immediately flanking the 'Santa Catarina', are flying Portuguese colours and firing salutes from single guns towards her. The ships are a combination of four- and three-masters with a pair of two-masted galleys in the right foreground and middle distance. Beyond the far side of the harbour entrance a three-masted lateen-rigged caravel approaches in port-bow view. In the foreground the galley with crewmen visible, heading towards the 'Santa Catarina', flies Savoyard banners. From one of her starboard bow guns, the galley fires or returns the 'Santa Catarina's' salute. This and the dragon figurehead of the 'Santa Catarina' are visible through the artist's use of isometric perspective, which brings details into view that would not be seen from the perspective of the viewer.

The mainsail (technically a 'main course') of the 'Santa Catarina' is the biggest sail in the painting and consists of several elements. It has been extended by the addition of two (or 'double') bonnets, in the fine weather. Their fixing points have been coded by pairs of apparently random letters so that they match up correctly. One of these may be 'A T' in monogram form. However no artist is known with those initials. This painting has been variously and incorrectly ascribed to the Portuguese painter Gregorio Lopez (d. 1550), Pieter Bruegel, Cornelisz Anthoniszoon, c. 1500-55, and Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. The land- and townscape show the influence of the Flemish painter Joachim Patinir, d.1524, and are Flemish in colouration and style. The National Maritime Museum aimed to clarify the attribution after Sir James Caird acquired the panel for over £2000 in 1935. In 1936, correspondence between the Museum and art historian Max Friedländer, as well as the Director of the Warburg Institute, Fritz Saxl, placed the painting between the oeuvres of Joachim Patinir and Pieter Bruegel. Friedländer dated the panel to 1540 and he supported the suggestion made by Charles Tolnay that the painting could be by either Jan or Matthijs Cock. A stylistic comparison with the rendering of the waves and the delineation of the rocks in 'The Martyrdom of St Catherine', in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, may tentatively support the latter attribution.

The only other contemporary painting to show Portuguese carracks, in similar detail, is the 'Santa Auta' altarpiece. This was formerly in the Santa Auta Chapel (c. 1522, to which the altarpiece is thought to be coeval) in the convent of Xabregas outside Lisbon: today it is in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antigua, Lisbon. Santa Auta was one of the mythical companions of St Ursula. The martyrdom of Santa Auta in Cologne is the subject of the foreground and the shipping is depicted in the background. In 1972 the Ministerio da Educacao Nacional, Institito de Alta Cultura, Centro de Estudios de Arte e Museologia, published a study of this (with reference to the painting held in the National Maritime Museum) entitled 'Santa Auta Altarpiece, A Research Study', but unfortunately it is not illustrated. Whatever its origin, the present painting exemplifies the emancipation of landscape and the sea. The artist has deemed both subjects worthy of large-scale, independent treatment and - at a very early date- has demonstrated their validity for paintings of considerable size. As far as currently known, it is the earliest surviving representation of a marine subject for a secular rather than religious purpose. "

Location: Flanders or Portugal

Year: First half of 16th century

Extent Examples

Scutching Knife

Citation:

C. Archaeology, “Scutching knife,” Virtual Museum, May 16, 2022. https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/museum/scutching-knife/ 

"A scutching knife is a type of object used for processing fibres from plants such as flax, hemp or nettles.

Following retting (soaking) the plant fibres are beaten (scutched) with objects such as the example shown here which shows some evidence of wear. This example was fashioned from slow grown oak. It is in excellent condition and complete. The hole at the tip is part of the design but is of uncertain function, perhaps for suspending the tool whilst not in use.

It was found on the base of a pit together with a bark container. Despite the tool’s function, the pit did not seem to have been associated with plant fibre processing and is instead interpreted as a possible ritual shaft, with the tool and other finds being votive deposits."

Location: Bishop’s Cleeve, Gloucestershire 

Year:  Bronze Age

Rope aboard "Nossa Senhora dos Mártires"

Citation:

      F. V. de Castro, The Pepper Wreck a Portuguese Indiaman at the Mouth of the Tagus River. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2005.

On the wreck there was found two pieces of rope (ID:81 Artifact Number:007.01.01 & ID:421 Artifact Number:035.03). There is no information in the book regarding material, size or construction of either piece. The following is the pertinent information about the wreck from the The Nautical Archaeology Digital Library.

"The Pepper Wreck was tentatively identified as the Portuguese Indiaman Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, lost at São Julião da Barra in September 1606, during a storm, at the end of its return trip from India.

Country: Portugal

Place: São Julião da Barra, Oeiras

Coordinates: Lat. 38°40’21.21″N; Long.  9°19’32.35″W

Type: Nau da India (Indiaman)

Identified: Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, 1606

Dated: 1606 (historical event)" - https://shiplib.org/index.php/shipwrecks/iberian-shipwrecks/portuguese-india-route/pepper-wreck/

Location: Lisbon Portugal (Mouth of the Targus River) 

Year:  1606 (excavated in 1996-1998)

Rope aboard "The Mary Rose"

Citation:

      J. Gardiner, M. J. Allen, and M.-A. Alburger, Before the Mast: Life and Death Aboard the Mary Rose, vol. 1 & 2. Oxford ; Havertown, PA: Oxbow Books, 2021.

Although no rope was found on the Mary Rose, there was pollen analysis done on many areas where it is thought rope would have been stored. This analysis revealed both Help and Flax pollen.

Location: England, the Solent, between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight

Year:  19 July 1545 (excavated in 1971)

Textual Examples

Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie

Citation:

     T. Tusser and W. Payne, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie: The Ed. of 1580 Coll. with Those of 1573 and 1577. Together with a Reprint, from the Unique Copy in the Brit. Mus., 1557. London: Engl. Dial. Soc., 1878.

This 16th century English book gives many pieces of advise on the processing of hemp.

"Karle hempe, left gréene,

now pluck vp cléene.

Drowne hemp as ye néed,

once had out his séed.

I pray thee (good Kit)

drowne hempe in pit."

"Of al the rest,

white hempe is best.

Let skilfull be gotten

least hempe prooue rotten."

"Now pluck vp thy hempe, and go beat out the seed,

and afterward water it as ye see need:

But not in the riuer where cattle should drinke,

for poisoning them and the people with stinke."

"Hempe huswifely vsed lookes cleerely and bright,

and selleth it selfe by the colour so whight:

Some vseth to water it, some do it not,

be skilful in dooing, for feare it do rot."

"Where banks be amended and newly vp cast,

sow mustard seed, after a shower be past.

Where plots full of nettles be noisome to eie,

sowe therevpon hempseed, and nettle will die."

"Sowe hemp and flacks,

that spinning lacks."

"Good flax and good hemp for to haue of hir owne,

in Maie a good huswife will see it be sowne.

And afterward trim it, to serue at a neede,

the fimble to spin and the karl for hir seede"

"Ripe hempe out cull,

from karle to pull.

Let séede hempe growe,

till more ye knowe."

"Wife, pluck fro thy seed hemp the fiemble hemp clene,

this looketh more yellow, the other more grene:

Vse ton for thy spinning, leaue Mihel the tother,

for shoo thred and halter, for rope and such other."

"Set some to peele hempe or else rishes to twine,

to spin and to card, or to seething of brine."

"For flax and for hemp, for to haue of her owne:

the wife must in May, take good hede it be sowne.

And trimme it, and kepe it to serue at a nede:

the femble to spin, and the karle for her sede."

Location: England, the Solent, between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight

Year:  19 July 1545 (excavated in 1971)

Physical Evidence for the antiquity of Cannabis Sativa L

Citation: 

     M. P. Fleming and R. C. Clarke, “Physical evidence for the antiquity of Cannabis sativa L,” Journal of the International Hemp Association, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 80–92, Jan. 1998.

NOTE: BP = Befpre Present

Pollen analysis can be used to find out if Cannabis or Hops were in any given area. The two are from the same family and produce pollen that is often indistinguishable (or very difficult and expensive to distinguish). Flax also produces pollen that can be detected, but because flax is insect pollinated not wind pollinated it shows up in much smaller quantities.

"Due to the close resemblance between Cannabis and Humulus pollen grains, the similar flowering times for both genera, and the fact that both genera shed buoyant pollen in vast quantities (Lewis et al. 1983) there have been difficulties in accurately interpreting the Cannabaceae pollen records from past site analyses. The desirability of separating these two

species has encouraged researchers to designate several characteristics which can be used to determine whether a Cannabaceae pollen grain came from a hemp or hop plant (Whittington and Edwards 1989). Godwin (1967a) examined the pore complexes of Cannabis and Humulus pollen and noted differentiating factors between the two, based on several minute details in these

complexes. Described later in independent studies by French and Moore (1986) and Whittington and Gordon (1987), these factors include the grouping of the scabrae as revealed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), the virtual absence of the hollow internal annulus in hop grains, the rise and arch of the tectum over the rim of the pores, and the steep slope of the annulus of

Cannabis versus the low slope of Humulus pore complexes."

Evidence of Occurrence in Europe:

"According to the pollen record, the spread of Cannabis throughout Europe was a two pronged migration. After its establishment in the Balkan states and Italy during the time of the Greek and Roman empires, it spread both north and west through eastern and southern Europe. Trade between the Vikings and various Mediterranean cultures resulted in its early establishment and cultivation in Scandinavia and its subsequent spread into the rest of northwestern Europe."

"Central, southern and western Europe have also yielded some interesting palynological evidence for hemp and hop occurrence. Lutgerink (1989) documented local occurrences of both Cannabis and Humulus in east-central France. Unfortunately, the study was not correlated with radiocarbon dating, and birch was the sole source of arboreal pollen. This study took place in an elevation zone of 1300-1700 meters that showed no arable cultivation. From northwestern France, Corillion and Planchas (1963) reported high values for Cannabaceae pollen associated with rye and weeds of arable ground from ca. 2000 BP. They furthermore note historical accounts of widespread hemp cultivation from the 11th through the 18th centuries. Further west in France, van Zeist (1964) showed high Cannabaceae values also associated with rye cultivation. Radiocarbon dating showed that continuous curve to be low from ca. 2900 BP, but with high occurrences after ca. 2600 BP. Welten (1952) was able to date Cannabis pollen to ca. 2200 BP in Spitzierbucht, Switzerland, but wide-spread cultivation there occurred during the 12th through the 17th centuries. His studies showed the Cannabis/ Humulus maximum to reach 10-13% of the total pollen, and showed occurrences of the usual indicator species. From Sehestedt on the northwestern German coast, Wiermann (1965) reported a substantial Humulus curve paralleled by clearance indicators, especially those of arable ground (i.e., cereals, Cruciferae, and Centaurea cyanus). His studies showed intermittent occurrences from ca. 2500 BP, continuous but low values from ca. 1600 BP, and high values after ca. 600 BP. Hölzer and Hölzer (1995) documented Cannabis pollen near Stuttgart, Germany from ca. 1950-250 BP."

Hops:

"A brief discussion on hop’s occurrence is in order here. Wilson (1975) discussed the occurrence of Humulus lupulus in central Europe and noted that its natural range extends throughout most of Europe (except the islands of Crete, Iceland, and Spitzbergen) over the Caucasus and Altai Mountains into Siberia, north up to the Arctic Circle and south into Morocco and Palestine. Based on this early evidence, Wilson concluded that "Cannabaceae pollen curves from Zone VIIb and earlier in northern Europe are assumed to be that of hop only," using the occurrence of Cannabis grains as post-Roman indicators. The first written evidence of hop cultivation in Europe was ca. 1140 BP (DeLyser and Kasper 1994). Increases of Cannabaceaen pollen curves could not be attributed to increases in hop cultivation until after 1100 BP."

Year:1998

The English Housewife

Citation:

    G. Markham, The English House-Vvife Containing the Inward and Outward Vertues Which Ought to Be in a Compleate Woman. As Her Skill in Physicke, Surgery, Cookery, Extraction of Oyles, Banqueting-Stuffe, Ordering of Great Feasts, Preseruing of All Sorts of Wines, Conceited Secrets, Distillations, Perfumes, Ordering of Wooll, Hempe, Flax, Making Cloth, and Dying, the Knowledge of Dayries, Office of Malting, of Oates, Their Excellent Vses in a Family, of Brewing, Baking, and All Other Things Belonging to an Houshold. A Worke Generally Approued, and Now the Fourth Time Much Augmented, Purged and Made Most Profitable and Necessary for All Men, and the Generall Good of This Kingdome. London, 1631.

Accessed from: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eebo;idno=A06924.0001.001

The processing of Hemp:

"The br••king for hemp• flax.

After your hempe or Flaxe hath bene watered, dried, and housed, you may then at your pleasure breake it, which is in a brake of wood (whose proportion is so ordinary, that euery one almost knowes them) breake and beate out the d•y bu•ne, or kexe of the Hempe or Flaxe from the rinde which couers it, and when you brake either, you shall doe it, as neere as you can, on a faire dry Sun shine day, obseruing to set foorth your hempe and fl•xe, and sp•ead it thinne be∣fore the Sunne▪ that it may be as dry as tinder before it come to the brake; for if either in the lying close to∣gether it shall giu• againe or sweate, or through the moystnesse of the ayre, or place where it lies receiues any dampishnesse, you must necessarily see it dried sufficiently againe,* or else it will neuer bra•e well, nor the bu•ne breake and part from the •nde in order as it should: therefore if the weather bee not seasonable, and your need much to vse your hempe or fl•xe, you shall then spread it vpon your •ilne, and making a soft fire vnder it, dry it vpon the same, and then brake it: yet for as much as this is oft times dangerous, and much hurt hath beene receiued thereby through ca∣sualty of fi•e, I would wish you to st••ke foure stakes in the earth at least fiue foote aboue ground, and laying ouer them small our layers of wood,* and open fleakes or hurdles vpon the same, spread your Hempe, and also reare some round about it all, but at one open side; then with straw, small shauings, or other •ight dry wood make a soft fire vnder the same, and so dry it, and brake it, and this without all danger or mistrust of euill; and as you brake it, you shall open and looke into it, euer beginning to brake the roote ends first; and when you see the bun is suffi•ciently crusht, fallen away, or at the most hangeth but in very small shiuers within the Hempe or Flaxe, then you shall say it is brak't enough, and then tearming that which you called a baite or bundle before, now a strike, you shall lay them toge∣ther and so house them, keeping in your memorie ei∣ther by score or writing, how many str•kes of Hempe, and how many strikes of flaxe you brake vp euery day."

"D•u•rsity o• b•ak•s.

Now that your H•mpe or Flaxe may brake so much the better, you must haue for each seuerall sort two se∣uerall brakes, which is an open and wide toothed, or nickt brake, and a close and straight toothed brake: the first being to crush the bun, and the latter to beate it forth. Now for Flaxe you must take first that which is the straightest for the Hempe, and then after one of purpose, much straighter and sharper for the bun•e of it being more small, tough and thinne, must necessari∣ly be broken into much lesse peeces."

"Of swingling hempe •nd flaxe.

After your Hempe and Flaxe is brak't, you shall then swingle it▪ wh•ch is vpon a swingle tree blocke made of an ha•fe inch boord about foure foote aboue ground, and set vpon a strong foote or stocke, that will not easi∣ly moue and stirre, as you may see in any House-wiues house whatsoeuer better then my words can expresse: and with a peece of wood called the swingle tree dag∣ger, and made in the shape and proportion of an olde dagger with a reasonable blunt edge; you shall beate out all the loose buns and shiuers that ha•g in the hemp or flaxe, opening and turning it from one ende to the o∣ther, till you haue no bunne or shiuer to be perceiued therein, and then strike a twist, and fould in the midst, which is euer the thickest part of the strike, lay them by till you haue swingled all; the generall profit where of, is not onely the bea•ing out of the hard bunne, but also an opening, and sof••ing of the teare, whereby it is pre∣pared and made ready for the Market."

"The s•cond swingli•g.

But 〈◊〉 proc•ed forward in the making of cloth, after you•〈…〉 o• fl•x• hath beene swingled once ouer, wh•c• is s•ffi•••nt for the market, o• for o•y ••l•, you sh••l ••e• for cloth swingle 〈…〉 a•d as the first did beate away 〈…〉the rind, so this shall breake and diuide, and prepare it fit for the heckle; and hurds which are this second time beaten off, you shall also saue: for that of the hempe (being toased in wooll cards) will make a good hempen harden) and that commeth from the slaxe (vsed in that manner) a flaxe harden better then the former."

"Of heating h•m••.

After the second swingling of your Hempe, and that the hurds thereof haue bene layd by, you shall take the strikes, and diuiding them into dozens, o• halfe dozens, make them vp into great thicke roles, and then as it were broaching them, or spitting them vpon long stickes, set them in the corner of some chemney, where they may receiue the heate of the fire, and there let them abide, till they be dried exceedingly, then take them, and laying them in a round trough made for the purpose, so many as may conueniently lye therein, and there with beetles beate them exceedingly, till they handle both without and within as soft and plyant as may be, without any hardnesse or roughnesse to be felt or perceiued; then take them from the trough, and o∣pen the roler, and diuide the strikes seuerally as at the first, and if any be insufficiently beaten, role them vp, and beate them ouer as before."

"O• he•kling hempe.

When your Hempe hath bene twice swingled, dried, and beaten, you shall then bring it to the heckle, which instrument needeth no demonstration, because it is hard∣ly vnknowne to any woman whatsoeuer: and the first heckle shall be course, open and wide to•thed because it is the first breaker or diuider of the s•me, and the layer of the strikes euen and straight: and the hu•ds which come of this heckling you shall m•xe with ho•e of the latter swingling, and it will make the clo•h much better; then you shall heckle it the second time through a good straight he•kle made purposely for hempe, and be sure to breake it very well and sufficiently thereupon, and saue both the hurds by themselues, and the strikes by themselues in seuerall places.

Now there bee some very pincipall good House-wiues, which vse onely but to heckle their hempe once ouer, affirming, that if it be sufficiently dried and beaten, that once going ouer through a straight heckle will serue without more losse of labour, hauing bene twice swingled before."

Location: England

Year:  Written between 1568-1631

The Whipping Cheare

Citation:

   WHIPPING Cheare. or the WOFULL Lamentation of the Three Sisters in the Spitile When They Were in New Bride-Well: To the Tune of Hempe and Flax. Printed at London: For H. Gosson., 1625.

Accessed from: https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/20093/xml

Location: England

Year:  Written between 1625

The Praise of hemp-seed

Citation:

J. Taylor, The Praise of Hemp-Seed. with the Voyage of Mr Roger Bird and the Writer Hereof, in a Boat of Brown-Paper, from London to Quinborough in Kent. as Also, a Farewell to the Matchlesse Deceased Mr Thomas Coriat. Concluding with the Commendations of the Famous Riuer of Thames, Etc. London: Printed ... for H. Gosson, 1620.

Accessed from: https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/resource/document/praise-hemp-seed-john-taylor-references-shakespeare-name

Location: England

Year:  Written between 1620

The Natural History

Citation:

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855

Accessed from: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D19%3Achapter%3D56

"CHAP. 56. (9.)—FOUR KINDS OF FERULACEOUS PLANTS. HEMP.

The other garden plants are of the ferulaceous kind, such as fennel, for instance, very grateful to serpents, as already stated, and used for numerous seasonings when dried; thapsia, too, which bears a close resemblance to fennel, and already mentioned by us when speaking of the exotic shrubs. Then, too, there is hemp, a plant remarkably useful for making ropes, and usually sown after the west winds have begun to prevail: the more thickly it is sown, the thinner are the stalks. The seed is gathered when ripe, just after the autumnal equinox, and is dried by the agency of the sun, the wind, or smoke. The hemp itself is plucked just after vintage-time, and is peeled and cleaned by the labourers at night.

The best hemp is that of Alabanda, which is used more particularly for making hunting-nets, and of which there are three varieties. The hemp which lies nearest the bark or the pith is the least valuable, while that which lies in the middle, and hence has the name of "mesa," is the most esteemed. The hemp of Mylasa occuplies the second rank. With reference to the size to which it grows, that of Rosea in the Sabine territory, equals the trees in height.

We have already mentioned two kinds of fennel-giant when speaking of the exotic shrubs: the seed of it is used in Italy for food; the plant, too, admits of being preserved, and, if stored in earthen pots, will keep for a whole year. There are two parts of it that are used for this purpose, the upper stalks and the umbels of the plant. This kind of fennel is sometimes known by the name of "corymbia," and the parts preserved are called "corymbi." "

Location: Roman Empire

Year:  77ce

Personal Project Narrative and Pictures

Location: Barony of the Bridge 

Year:  2022-2024