Monmouth cap

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Monmouth cap
An example of a Monmouth cap
TypeHat
MaterialWool
Place of originMonmouth, Wales

The Monmouth cap (Welsh: Cap Trefynwy) was an item of

knitted round caps were used by both soldiers and sailors
, and they were widely exported.

History

In the early 14th century, the area immediately north of Monmouth, known as

Severn estuary, allowed the produce of the area ready access to wider markets. The industry of cap manufacture by hand knitters in and around Monmouth was well established by the 15th century, when court records show Capper as a common surname in the town.[1] The cappers or knitters, generally men, were attached to the Weaver's Guild and may have been governed by a Council of Master Craftsmen.[2] The trade is thought to have flourished particularly in the Overmonnow area, known at one time as "Cappers' town".[3] However, antiquarian sources state that much of the trade moved from Monmouth to Bewdley in Worcestershire at some point, following an outbreak of plague at Monmouth.[4]

Worn by upper and lower classes in England,

13 Eliz. 1. c. 19), during the reign of Elizabeth I, stated that every person above the age of six years (excepting "Maids, ladies, gentlewomen, noble personages, and every Lord, knight and gentleman of twenty marks land") residing in any of the cities, towns, villages or hamlets of England, must wear, on Sundays and holidays (except when travelling), "a cap of wool, thicked and dressed in England, made within this realm, and only dressed and finished by some of the trade of cappers, upon pain to forfeit for every day of not wearing 3s. 4d." This legislation was intended to protect domestic production, as caps were becoming unfashionable and were being challenged by new forms of imported headgear. It was repealed in 1597 as unworkable.[1][7]

The earliest surviving reference to a "Monmouth Cappe" dates from 1576, in a letter from Lord

Shakespeare's play, Henry V, written around 1599:

Fluellen: "Your majesty says very true: if your majestie is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps; which, your majesty knows, to this hour is an honourable badge of the service; and I do believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Davy's day

.

In the 1620s, the sponsors of the

Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain, described Monmouth caps as being worn predominantly by Dutch seamen. Peter the Great of Russia wore one when working for the East India Company in 1697; it is preserved in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.[2]

As the caps were increasingly made outside Monmouthshire, the term "Monmouth cap" came to mean the style of cap, rather than any location of manufacture. Areas, such as

Scotch bonnets, or watch caps.[10]

Design and production

A brown hat with a rounded top and a carrying loop
The only known surviving example of a 16th-century Monmouth cap, in Monmouth Museum

The earliest surviving example is held by Monmouth Museum and was knitted from coarse two ply wool. The cap was made by casting on at the lower edge and knitting in the round towards the top. The crown consists of a classic rounded top, with the last remaining stitches cast off. The yarn tail was wrapped around just below the cast off stitches to gather them, leaving the little lump commonly, but inexactly, referred to as a button. The doubled brim was formed by picking up stitches inside the body of the cap, and worked down to the original cast on. The cast on loops were picked up, and a three needle bindoff worked to finish and join the inner brim to the outer cap, ending with a little loop.

Each hat was made weatherproof by

felting, a process which reduced its size.[10] The distance from the centre to the hem in this example varies between 5 inches (130 mm) and 6 inches (150 mm).[11]

Thousands of Monmouth caps were made, but their relatively low cost, and the ease with which the knitting could unravel, means that few remain.

Reproduction

Similar caps are now produced for historical reenactment organisations.[2][10]

Patterns that attempt a stitch for stitch reproduction sometimes result in a cap that is slightly too narrow, after felting, due to the different felting characteristics of modern knitting yarn.[12]

Legacy

The small area known as "Monmouth Cap"

The Monmouth Cap Inn was a coaching inn located on the main road between Abergavenny and Hereford, just north of Llangua on the River Monnow, Wales. The river marked the boundary between Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. The inn was the property of the Kentchurch estate, and adjoined a ruined priory.[2] Although the inn has closed, the name Monmouth Cap remains in use for the locality.[13]

See also

  • Blue bonnet (hat)
  • Tuque

References

  1. ^ a b c d Carlson, Jennifer L. "A Short History of the Monmouth Cap". Archived from the original on 26 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Isca Morrismen Tradition: Monmouth Caps. Accessed 9 January 2012
  3. ^ Kelly's Directory 1901: Monmouth Archived 2016-10-29 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 29 February 2012
  4. Vision of Britain
    . Accessed 29 February 2012
  5. ISBN 978-1-8438-3950-7
    .
  6. ^ the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1839). Penny Cyclopaedia. London: Charles Knight and Co. pp. 334. Retrieved 20 March 2012. John of Monmouth.
  7. ^ Victoria and Albert Museum: description of cap. Accessed 29 February 2012
  8. ^ Gathering the Jewels: Monmouth cap, 16th century Archived 2012-05-03 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 29 February 2012
  9. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12952. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  10. ^ a b c Mara Riley. Knitted caps. Accessed 28 February 2012
  11. ^ Knit Monmouth Cap at Genvieve.net, accessed 28 February 2012.
  12. ^ "Monmouth Cap, the details matter! Pattern by Colleen Humphreys".
  13. ISBN 978-0-319-24054-0

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monmouth_cap&oldid=1219130831"