Saye is a
wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
len
cloth
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is n ...
woven in the west and south of
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in and around the 15th and 16th centuries.
On 21 June 1661
the diary of Samuel Pepys recorded purchasing "green Say ... for curtains in my parler".
In 1541 Cecily Aylmer, the daughter of Richard Aylmer,
Mayor of Norwich, leaves Mother Manfold 'my best petticoat and an apron of saye', while Mother Plank gets 'my worst petticoat and my worst apron.'
Norwich tailor Edmund Peckover, in his very long and detailed 1592 bill to Nathaniel Bacon of Stiffkey, Norfolk, charged ''xxxv s'' (35 shillings - £1.75) for 15 yards of saye to line three ladies gowns.
A related sort of cloth was serica,
which was finer, since it also contained silk.
References
External links
About Bristol Suburbs, Sea Mills, Early History
Woven fabrics
{{textile-stub