9/17/2023 0 Comments PirnThis idea was to completely change the hand shuttle, as the yarn could flow without the restriction of the revolving quill. The skill of the weaver was to cut the quill from the straightest part, so that the natural curvature of the feather spine was kept to a minimum, as this bias could affect the tension on the thread as it unraveled whilst in motion. As the quill was a ready-made tube, they could be cut to fit the shuttle aperture easily and discarded when they became split or dogged at the edges. To hols the quill inside the shuttle there was a hard wire sprung or wooden pin that fitted into a small hole in each end of the shuttle. The curve of the shuttle faced away from the reed, which is used to beat the weft into the cloth. The hand shuttle could be straight and boat like with symmetrical ends or shaped with a curvature, as the path through the shed of the loom was in fact more ark shape than straight. ![]() Early shuttles were thrown across the width of the with the flick of the hand. ![]() In order that the weft could be released from the shuttle during weaving, the thread needed to be carefully wound up in preparation. There was another important requirement for the silk weaver and his work as the quill, with the feather flights stripped off, was the ideal ready-made hollow tube for use in the shuttle. Scots Word of the Week is written by Pauline Cairns Speitel of Scottish Language Dictionaries.The Quill, the Pirn and the Shuttle by Richard Humphries A healthy goose in the 18 th century was more than just for the table or the eiderdown. Finally, from the Aberdeen Press and Journal of Decemtalking of good times past: “the bonnie days for which we ees’t to yearn gang by as fest as threed rins aff a pirn…” If you are ‘in a pirn’ you are in a quandary or a state of agitation: “He’s gotten himself into a right pirn” from Shetland in 1966 or Stevenson in Catriona having a ravelled (tangled) pirn: “I shall have a fine ravelled pirn to unwind.” (1893). ![]() The current meaning of the word - a small bobbin, spool or reel for thread - does not appear until the the early 19th century and the first example is from Mrs Oliphant’s Lilliesleaf (1856) :“Throwing down the seam upon my little table, after a fashion that scattered my pirns of thread down upon the carpet.”Īlthough the etymology is obscure it became the parent to many figurative usages pirn-taed (meaning hen-toed in English) is still used in the 21st century as shown by this example from the Herald of 20 January 2003: “As an ancestor worshipper, the Farmer has a terrible vision of a handsome man with strong black hair, a long, strong body and short, slightly pirn-taed legs, peering over a cloud and shaking his head in disapproval.” And another from Aberdeen Evening Express of 5 February 2010: “I have barely a joint that isn’t bunioned, corned or calloused - permanent, throbbing memories of youth. The first definition of pirn in the Dictionary of the Scots Language is “A weaver’s spool for holding his weft yarn in the shuttle, originally one made from a quill or hollow reed, in later times one turned from wood or metal with an axial bore for mounting on a spindle for winding, a bobbin”.
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