"Six huge Fulling-Mill Hammers, which interchangeably thumping several Pieces of Cloth, made the terrible Noise that caus'd all Don Quixote's Anxieties and Sancho's Tribulation that Night." Peter Motteux.
With this, Cervantes laid to rest the frightful experience of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza after they awaited dawn in the woods. (Chapter 6 of Book 1. Of a Wonderful Adventure Achiev'd by the valorous Don Quixote de la Mancha; The like never compass'd with less danger by any of the most famous knights in the world (Peter Motteux's translation) he explained the source of noises that raised such fear as being fulling mills that produced ".... a terrible Din of obstreperous Blows, struck Regularly, and a more dreadful rattling of Chains and Irons..." that caused Sancho to tie himself, Rozinante and the Don in a fashion to prevent the knight apparent from pursuing the source of the disturbance. Others of Cervantes' time knew what a fulling mill was and how they operated, however, today's readers may not. And in the case of the extended stories brought forth by S. J. Mahtrow, it is just as likely that the processes taking presence was that of rendering flax as a precursor to making linen rather than fulling of woolen cloth.
Fulling may seem to be a more likely mechanical process because Spain at the time was known for producing merino wool for fine cloth. However, the presence of the clanging of chains seems to be at odds with the process. Regardless, by considering the description of the cloth making industry as practiced in the mid 1800's, we can project back to Cervantes' time as we learn more about wool cloth manufacture. To make the story complete, it is necessary to begin at the beginning, with the shearing of the sheep which was done by hand and take it to its conclusion with the production of cloths of different qualities. For this we are much obliged to Chamber's Library of Universal Knowledge which is much more than a dictionary (the purpose of which it was originally intended) or an encyclopedia alphabetical listing of important subject (to which it evolved). Instead it is a pictorial of the period much better provided than any novels, essays, bibliographies or public records of today. Treatment of subjects is, as is to be expected, uneven, but that in itself makes the work more interesting as "nuggets" of information may be disclosed that are by-passed in other references.
We begin our quest of what exactly is a fulling mill by first visiting the "goat-herders" who tended the animals. The sheep were not only a source of wool by meat for the table as well and in the varied climate of Spain, they adapted to the dry parched areas as well as to the lush valleys. Consider for the moment, a ewe producing sometimes as often as not, a pair of lambs rather than a single offspring that when permitted to grow for a full year matured and were themselves capable of producing in the period following. If not slaughtered for the meat and hide, they were shorn in a back-breaking labor that involved catching the animals in a small enclosure and cutting the wool from their back.
Interesting enough but that must await a future study, let it be briefly said that the characteristic of sheep when captured and placed on their haunches, is to become "tranquilized" and in a state offering no resistance. Then the shearer, can as he is able, move a pair of scissor like blades next to the skin and cut the wool from the sheep. These scissors are somewhat like garden shears but designed to spring open when pressure is released; by sharpening them to a fine edge they cut the fibers neatly and cleanly. When well done, the entire woolen blanket that once covered the sheep is removed in a single piece and can be tied with the legs and neck wool folded in to produce a square of wool that can weigh as much as the sheep from which it was shorn.
But wait, what exactly is wool? It is the fine, soft hair which forms the coat (some refer to this as a pelt, however, a pelt usually includes both hide and hair) of sheep and similar animals. It is heavily laden with lanolin which from the time where it provided protection against the elements for the sheep, is a fine waterproofing material as well as a good lubricant and skin moisturizing agent as well. Unfortunately, the coat often contains burrs and other filth accumulated over the year and removal of these substances is necessary before the individual fibers can be used in cloth manufacture.
The coat of wool shorn from a sheep at one time, usually one year's growth, is called a fleece. A fleece remains intact when taken from the animal, because the fibers are entangled naturally to a degree sufficient to hold it together. At the mill the fleece is unrolled by the sorter, who separates it into parts or grades. The finest wool being from the shoulders of the animal and that from the belly is much soiled and heavily laden with dirt. The average weight of a fleece is from five to ten pounds but is much dependent upon the size and breed of the animal as well as the length of time that the wool has been permitted to remain on the animal. The heaviest recorded American fleece was taken from a Kansas ram and weighed fifty-two pounds. This ram most probably weighed upwards to two hundred pounds (fleece included). Sheep at market weight for slaughter typically weigh about one hundred pounds in today's markets. (Weisbart feedlots in Greeley Colorado fatten sheep on waste onions as well as other delectables (at least to a sheep). One can only wonder if this marinade of the chop is intended or just a happen chance of supply and demand.)
The wool once removed is cleansed by a process termed scouring in which the fleece loses about one-third of its weight. The processes of scouring, rinsing, and drying leave the wool harsh and wiry. As a certain degree of pliability is necessary for carding and spinning (more on these processes later), it is subjected to a shower of lard oil(from pigs) or olive oil or of both, delivered in a fine spray. If burs, leaves, or seeds are entangled with the fiber, they must be removed. This is done sometimes by a mechanical process whereby the burs are beaten until they break and the pieces fall out. Another method is that of burning out the foreign matter by means of acids and a high degree of heat. Vegetable matter is entirely "carbonized," or reduced to a crisp, while the wool, being an animal substance, remains uninjured (or so they say, but women who have had their hair permed may question this). The wool is then ready for carding and spinning. Wool is classified as clothing wool, also called carding wool (short fiber which is carded and spun without combing), combing wool or long stapled wool ( from four to ten inches fiber length) and carpet and knitting wools (long, strong, and very coarse fibers).
Chambers describes wool as a variety of hair. The term hair being applied, in ordinary language; to a smooth, straight-surfaced filament, e.g., human or horse hair, without serrations of any kind on its surface. Wool, on the other hand, is always more or lees waved; besides which, externally each woolly filament is seen under the microscope to be covered with scales overlying each other, and projecting wherever a bend occurs in the fiber. Upon minute points of difference the value of wool chiefly depends, especially with regard to the great variety of its applications. If each fiber were straight and smooth, as in the case of hair. it would not retain the twisted state given to it by spinning. but would rapidly untwist when relieved from the force used in spinning; but the wavy condition causes the fibers to become entangled with each other, and the little projecting points of the scales hook into each other hold the fibers in close contact. Moreover, the deeper these scales fit into one another, the closer becomes the structure of the thread, and consequently the density of cloth made of it. This gives to wool the quality of felting, that is to be matted, and then to remain in a compressed state after pressure is removed. (Felting is another of those terms to be explored. Remembering the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, we were introduced to felting. Practitioners of the art of making hats used mercury and nitrate of mercury to compact the fibers, a process termed carroting (don't bother to look this up, it isn't in the usual references). In so doing the workers absorbed mercury resulted in a poisoning of their nervous system giving us the "mad hatter". Much of the early trade with America was in harvest of beaver pelts which yielded up fine hats known as beavers. Truth is stranger than fiction.)
By combing, or drawing the wool through combs with angular metal teeth, some of the scales are removed, and the points of many more are broken off, so that wool which has been combed has less of the felting property, and is consequently better adapted for light fabrics; and yarn made of such wool is called worsted, and the cloths made of it worsted goods. But such is the variety of wools obtained by careful breeding and selection, that these differences can be got without combing, some wools being found to have naturally fewer serratures, and a less wavy structure, than others. These are consequently kept separate, and are called combing wools; whilst those which are waved and have many serratures, are called carding wools from their being simply prepared for spinning by carding-machines. The serratures or points of the scales are exceedingly small and require the aid of a good microscope to see them. They vary from 1,200 up to 3,000 to an inch.
Wool varies in character according to the peculiar breed of sheep which yields it, and also with the nature of the soil, food, shelter, and climate. In a wool of first rate quality, the fibers are fine, soft, elastic. sound, of good color, and free of troublesome impurities; the commercial value of any sample depends, therefore upon the extent to which it possesses these properties. If it be a combing wool, it will also depend upon its length of staple.
For technical purposes, shorn fleeces are divided into two classes, one called hogs or tags, the other wethers or ewes. The former are the first fleeces shorn from the sheep, the later are those of the second and succeeding years; but the meaning of these terms has been lost with the passage of time. The fleece of yearlings are, as a rule, longer in the staple, and otherwise of superior quality to the wool of older animals. Where it is customary to clip lambs, the wool so obtained is called shorn lamb's wool. Wool taken from the skins of slaughtered sheep is called skin-wool or pelt-wool, and is of a more variable quality than fleece-wool, on account of its being obtained in all stages of growth.
As long stapled wools are used for worsted goods, sheep breeds are naturally divided into long wool and short wool classes.
Independently of the vast amount of home and foreign-grown wool which finds its way into our markets as wool that is in the condition fit for spinning and weaving, considerable quantities are retained on the skins, and made into rugs or mats for house and carriage use. For this purpose skins of the very best quality are chosen, and it is necessary that the wool should be very long in the staple. After being carefully curried, the long silky locks of wool are dyed usually some bright color, and combed. The skins are pared to shape, and form handsome rugs. Large numbers of Astracan sheep and lamb skins, usually black, are also imported in the wool, and are dressed and used as furs, that is, for personal wear; and some of the Slink (Is this the skin of an unborn lamb obtained at slaughter of the dam? In the slaughter of pregnant heifers and cows, the unborn fetus is termed a slunk and is the source of fetal calf serum (FCS). The person who bleeds the slunk is called, what else, a slunker thumper, because he thumps the chest cavity to force out the blood. Ah well, enough on the needs of man for such products as FCS which are absolutely required in tissue culture in scientific studies.) At any rate, lambs' skins for this purpose fetch high prices.
With respect to the wool or woolly hair, of animals other than the sheep, which we have not already mentioned, the only one of much importance is mohair, or the wool of the Angora goat. It is a white silky wool, with an average length of staple of from 5 to 6 inches. The hair of camels, bullocks, common goats and several furs are also used to some extent for manufacturing purposes.
The chief stages in processes for manufacture of woolen cloth are: A fleece of wool Is first sorted by experienced sorters into several qualities. as first sort, or "picklocks;" second sort or quality; third sort or quality; and so on. Sometimes it is only divided into three, sometimes, into as many as six kinds. The "scouring" is the next step, and consists in immersing the wool in an alkaline (lye) solution, which forms soap with the natural grease of the fleece. This of course acts as a detergent, and cleans the wool thoroughly when it is washed in water. Upon the perfection with which the scouring is performed, depends in great part the beauty of the dye. It is often dyed at this stage, and is then said to be wool-dyed; if not dyed till it is woven; the cloth is said to be piece dyed. For some purposes, it is dyed (or gasp, printed) in the yarn.
Scoured wool, whether dyed or not, next undergoes the operation of "willying." The "willy" is a machine used to cleanse the wool from dust and other loose impurities. In many cases, seeds with hooked scales like burs are so thickly entangled in the wool, that it requires to be passed through a "burring machine," and afterward examined by "pickers" After this, the wool is sprinkled with olive oil. which renders the fibers soft, flexible, and better fitted for later operations. The next process consists in tearing open the matted portions, and separating the wool into small tufts by means of a machine called a teaser, tucker or devil. It has a large cylinder studded over with iron pikes, which performs from 1,000 to 2,000 revolutions per minute, teasing the wool as it revolves, and throwing it out like flakes of snow.
The two next operations are called scribbling and carding, and are performed by two somewhat similar machines. Each machine consists of a large cylinder surrounded by several small rollers, all covered with wire cards or brushes. These, acting like fine-toothed combs they open out, mix, and blend the fibers into a uniform and continuous sheet or lap, in which state it leaves the scribber; but in the carder, the sheet is at length converted into small rolls, say from a quarter to, half an inch in diameter, which are afterward joined together, and form the basis of the thread. In the next machine, called the slubbing-billy, these rolls are drawn out, slightly twisted, and, in short, half converted into yarn. The spindles upon which these slubs or slubbings are wound pass them to the spinning mule, where they are converted into finished yarn. Hand carding tools can still be found in antique stores. They have the appearance of two blocks of wood into which are imbedded many fine wires. A handle is affixed to each of the blocks and by placing a bit of wool (or cotton) between the two blocks and lightly moving one block away from the other, a mass of interlocking fibers is produced which can be freed of any debris or further used to make thread.
Processing wool results in a certain amount of "waste", which is worked up again into inferior goods. It was, in fact, to such waste that the name shoddy was originally applied.
Once we have the wool what is to be done with it?
There are two great classes of manufactures using wool as a raw material: in the one where carded wool is employed the goods are called "woolen fabrics;" in the other where combed wool is used the goods are called. ' worsted fabrics."
The difference between woolen and worsted fabrics is owing in great part to the way the yarn for each is spun. Yarn for woolen cloth is very slightly twisted, so as to leave the fibers as free as possible for the felting process; worsted yarn, on the contrary, is hard spun, and made into a much stronger thread.
When woolen cloth is taken from the loom, it has a bare look, and is called the raw thread. It first requires to be brayed or scoured, to remove the oil added to the wool before spinning, and the size added to the warp, the cross threads in the weaving process. In Cervantes' time, this was done by immersing it in some ammoniacal detergent liquid, such as urine and/or hog's dung, .and squeezing it between rollers, or beating it in the fulling-stocks, and then rinsing it in clean water. The cloth then passes to the burler, to remove knots or burls.
Finally we come to fulling. Fulling, is the manufacture of textiles in which the process of shrinking or condensing woolen and worsted fabrics renders them firmer and stronger. This process to which it is subject is the milling or fulling and it is a very important one. The primitive method of fulling cloth was to tread it with the bare feet in water. It is said that our surnames of Fuller, Walker, and Tucker all came from the fact that those who performed this labor, variously called fulling, walking, and tucking, were called by these names. Fulling in Cervantes's time was done by beating the cloth in fulling-stocks, which were heavy wooden mallets, raised by wheels with projecting cams (perhaps water powered?); but a newer fulling machine has come into use, in which the cloth is felted (remember the Mad Hatter) by passing it in a confined space between heavy rollers. With either machine, a thick solution of soap is used, and in the fulling-stocks an ordinary broadcloth will take 60 hours to mill, but a considerably shorter time in the fulling-machine. The result of the operation is that the fibers of wool become so interlocked-so thoroughly felted, to leave no appearance of thread. The shrinkage of the cloth in the milling is sometimes nearly a half in the width, and about a fourth in the length. Another scouring follows the milling, The goods are taken out of the mill frequently, and are stretched, turned, and inspected. Experience and judgment are required by the fuller, as the length of time cloth should be fulled varies greatly. After fulling, the soap is washed from the fabric, and it is tentered, that is, stretched carefully that it may dry evenly. After that the nap or pile of the cloth is raised' by teasels. These curious thistle-like heads are set in frames, which are arranged upon a large cylinder, the whole apparatus being called gig-mill. As the cylinder revolves, the spines of the teasels raise the nap, which is afterward cut by a process termed shearing. For this purpose, a cutting machine with spiral blades arranged round an iron cylinder, is used; and when it revolves, the spiral cutters, acting against a straight steel blade, shear off the nap of the fabric like scissors. The cloth is then boiled, or "scalded," to impart a luster to it, and to prevent spotting with rain. After this it is dyed (if this is not previously done in the wool), and finally it is pressed between polished iron plates in a powerful hydraulic press.
How little regard for the reader did Miguel de Cervantes give in 1607 when he simply stated that Don Quixote and his sidekick, Sancho Panza, were terrified by the banging and rattling of chains as they awaited the dawn. So we now leave it to the reader to determine if it was indeed a fulling mill that excited the Don or was it perhaps a mill processing flax as suggested by Mahtrow that added to the story.
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