medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Bill East <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> --- Phyllis Jestice <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >
>>In an odd linguistic note, the word "tawdry" is a corruption of "St. Audrey"
(= Etheldreda) and refers to the quality of merchandise that was sold in the
saint's honor at Ely.
> Specifically, "Tawdry lace" which I had assumed was an inferior form of
lace, but it seems was not that kind of lace, but a silk cord or ribbon
sold at St Audrey's Fair and worn as a necklace (neck lace). "Tawdry"
was thus originally a noun rather than an adjective: "Buy me a Tawdry,
Uncle Baldric!" The word came to be used of any cheap and gaudy finery.
here's the OED on this burning question :
tawdry lace
tawdry lace. Obs. [See T (the letter) 7. ] In the earliest quotation St.
Audrey's lace, i.e. lace of St. Audrey, Etheldrida.... (daughter of Anna king
of East Anglia, and patron saint of Ely): A silk 'lace' or necktie, much worn
by women in the 16th and early 17th c.; sometimes taken as a type of female
adornments; As to the origin of the name, it is told, originally by Bede
(Eccl. Hist. iv. ix.), and after him by AElfric in the Life of St;
AEthelfryth, Virgin (AElfric's Lives of Saints, ed. Skeat, 1885, xx. ll.
49-60), that St. Audrey died of a tumour in her throat, which she considered
to be a just retribution, because in her youth she had for vain show adorned
her neck with manifold splendid necklaces, 'forthðan þe ic on iu(asg)oðe
frætwede mine swuran mid mæni(asg)fealdum swurbea(asg)um'. In the 16th
century, N; Harpsfield, Archdeacon of Canterbury under Philip and Mary (died
1588), after relating the story in his (Latin) Historia Anglicana
Ecclesiastica (Douay 1622), adds 'Our women of England are wont to wear about
the neck a certain necklace [torquem quendam], formed of thin and fine silk,
perchance in memory of what we have told'. See also, more particularly, quot.
1674 below. Skinner in his Etymologicon (licensed 1668), explains Tawdry lace
as 'Ties, fringes, or bands, bought at the fair held at the fane of St.
Etheldreda, as rightly points out Doctor Th. Henshaw'. There is no discrepancy
between the two statements. 'St. Audrey's laces' would naturally be largely
offered for sale at her fair, and though this did not give the article its
name, it doubtless made it more widely known, and led to the production of
cheap and showy forms for the 'country wenches' (see Nares s.v.), which at
length gave to tawdry its later connotation.
1530 Palsgr. (ed. 1) 63/2 Seynt Audries lace, cordon.
1548 Patten Exped. Scotl. Pref. c iv b, Pardon Beades, Tanthonie belles,
Tauthrie laces, Rosaries, Collets.
1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Apr. 135 Binde your fillets faste, And gird in your
waste, For more finesse, with a tawdrie lace.
1593 Jack Straw iii. D iv, Queen... I will speake for thee. T. M. Will you in
faith, and I will giue you a tawdrie lace.
1610 Fletcher Faithf. Sheph. iv. i, The Prim-Rose Chaplet, taudry-lace and
Ring, Thou gavest her for her singing.
1611 Shaks. Wint. T. iv. iv. 253 Come you promis'd me a tawdry-lace, and a
paire of sweet Gloues.
1674 Blount Glossogr., Taudrey Lace, so called from St. Audrey (Ethelreda) who
thought her self punished for wearing rich Necklaces of Jewels; and therefore
women after that wore Necklaces of fine silk, called Taudrey Laces.
C. 1750 Shenstone Elegies xi. 18 To deck my native fleece with tawdry lace!
"...the fair held at the fane of St. Etheldreda...", "fane" in the sense of
"temple" ??
c
"Lots of useless other data points just enlarge the consciousness of the
agrieved showing how particular the pain is."
--Burma Shave
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