[IX]
HAND WEAVING
And Aphrodite came to comfort them
With incense, luscious honey, and fragrant wine;
And Heré gave them beauty of face and soul
Beyond all women; purest Artemis
Endowed them with her stature and white grace;
And Pallas taught their hands to flash along
Her famous looms.
The "Daughters of Pandarus" (from the "Odyssey," Lib. XX). Translation by Mrs. Browning.
Among the home industries which the arts and crafts societies have lately revived, perhaps none invite more interest or deserve greater honour than weaving with the hand loom. Weaving is an ancient art. If we were to seek its origin we should have to go back to the time when men adopted homespun clothing in place of rude coverings made from the skins of animals. That was a great change, for it meant the beginning not only of the textile industries but of civilization itself. It is no wonder that the distaff and the loom were highly honoured in ancient mythologies. Not less honour is due the spinning wheels and looms of our grandmothers, which played an important part in the early beginnings of our own history. The New England colonists spoke with pride of communities which showed progress in the weaving of cloth; and this was then largely a home industry in the hands of honourable women. It was a work of necessity, but not without love and devotion. Many evidences remain in beautiful coverlets or bedspreads, in towels of homespun flax, in durable linen sheets and table-cloths—examples of unfailing patience, great ingenuity, and marvellous skill—handed down from generation to generation to their present fortunate and proud possessors.
Weaving a Rug
[Plate VII]