Buckram

Buckram. This name is now applied to a coarse open-woven fabric of cotton or linen made very stiff with size. It is used for the framework of ladies' bonnets, for the inside of belts and collars of dresses, and for bookbinding. But the buckram of olden times was an entirely different kind of stuff. The Rev. Dr Rock, in his Catalogue of Textile Fabrics in the South Kensington Museum, after stating that the term came from the city of Bokhara in Tartary, where a peculiar kind of cotton texture was made, says: 'All along the middle ages buckram was much esteemed for being costly and very fine, and consequently fit for use in church vestments, and for secular personal wear. Grandison, consecrated Bishop of Exeter in 1327, gave to his cathedral banners of white and red buckram; and three of the rich veils for covering the lectern in that church were lined with blue bokeram. As late as the beginning of the 16th century this stuff was held good enough for lining to a black velvet gown for a queen, Elizabeth of York;' but to most minds it is now familiar through Falstaff's antagonists, the 'rogues in buckram suits.'