I think that any writing that mentions 'lace ' and 'medieval' in the same context needs more salt to swallow it than is good for you. Where did the story come from? In 'The Romance of the Lace Pillow' by Thomas Wright he mentions in the chapter on bobbins that....
'At Renhold in Beds.(Bedfordshire), in days gone by, when persons got married they would take a bone from the ham or other joint provided at the wedding feast, and get the bobbin maker to fashion from it a bobbin with a suitable inscription.'
From such small suggestions a whole legend has been woven it seems. But like Linda, I would really like to believe in the Scandinavian one.
Jean in Cleveland U.K.
On 28 May 2004, at 19:44, Linda Walton wrote:
Just found this, and I've never heard of it before: can anyone verify it?
It's from "Heaven and Hearth - A Seasonal Compendium of Women's Spiritual and Domestic Lore", by Beverly Pagram. (The Women's Press, London, 1997.) Except for actual quotations, it's not the sort of scholarly work that lists sources for everything, unfortunately.
Under 'June', she collects wedding traditions, and there is a piece about the contents of the bride chest - apart from the usual linens and so on. "In their marriage-chests, or 'bride-wains', many girls in medieval Britain kept lucky lace-making bobbins carved from bones from successful past wedding feasts they'd attended."
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