Series 2 > Household book of Lady Grisell Baillie

Ixxii HOUSE-BOOK OF LADY GRISELL BAILLIE
wife’s sister ‘ Jeanie,’ and to his sister Mrs. Weems, costing
respectively £3 and £2, 15s. From the number that are
bought they are evidently more than dressing-gowns, and
from the fact that elaborate ones are also purchased for
Mr. Baillie himself, the term can hardly be synonymous
with ‘ an evening gown.’ In the case of ladies, it was
probably a sort of tea-gown; and in the case of men, a
dressing-gown for more or less public wear. It was no
doubt in this sort of ‘ night gown ’ that Robert Baillie
was tried and hanged, and not in the garment we now
understand by the words.1
What would be now termed ‘ nightgowns ’ are called
in the Accounts ‘ night clothes,’ and were made of muslin
or cambric.
In the matter of underclothing, the Accounts show but
cold comfort, and it is with a sense of relief that one reads
of the occasional purchase of flannel. No doubt the
material for woollen underwear was woven at home, as
we find frequent references to the purchase of wool, some¬
times bought specifically to be ‘ made into flanell.’
Stockings of cotton, wool, and silk are purchased at
prices ranging from Is. Id. to 14s. per pair, the finer kind
being worn over woollen understockings. When abroad,
specially thick stockings for travelling are bought, as are
also stockings of beaver skin, which cost three florins
(7s.) the pair. One would be inclined to doubt the
meaning of the word, but a few entries further on ‘ baver
skin gloves ’ are purchased, and ‘ baver ’ for a ‘ peticoat
and clock,’ the former costing Is. lOd. per pair, and the
latter £2, 19s. 3d. It will also be noted from the snuff-
1 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu writes in 1716: ‘I met the lover yesterday
going to the ale house in his dirty night gown, with a book under his arm to
entertain the club; and as Mrs. D. [the gentleman’s fiancee] was with me at
the time, I pointed out to her the charming creature; she blushed and looked
prim ; but quoted a passage out of Herodotus in which it is said that the
Persians wore long night gowns.’