That rare volume, Caxton's
_Boke for Travellers_, a treasury of archaisms, supplies the best
definition of her calling:--"Mabyll the shepster cheuissheth her
right well; she maketh surplys, shertes, breches, keuerchiffs, and
all that may be wrought of lynnen cloth." The French term given, as
corresponding to shepster, is "_cousturiere._" Palsgrave also, in
his _Eclaircissement de la Langue francoyse_, gives "schepstarre,
_lingiere_:--sheres for shepsters, _forces_." If further evidence were
requisite, old Elyot might be cited, who renders both _sarcinatrix_
and _sutatis_ (? _sutatrix_) as "a shepster, a seamester." The term
may probably be derived from her skill in shaping or cutting out the
various garments of which Caxton gives so quaint an inventory. Her
vocation was the very same as that of the _tailleuse_ of present
times--the _Schneiderinn_, she-cutter, of Germany. Palsgrave likewise
gives this use of the verb "to shape," expressed in French by
"_tailler_." He says, "He is a good tayloure, and _shapeth_ a garment
as well as any man.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69