Statue in Cambrai of Baptiste Chambray, the improbable inventor of the eponymous fabrics, batiste and chambray.

Charvet corsage in pink cambric (1898).

Cambric (US: /ˈkeɪmbrɪk/,^[1] UK: /ˈkeɪmbrɪk/ or /ˈkæmbrɪk/^[2][3][4]) or batiste, one of the finest and most dense kinds of cloth,^[5] is a lightweight plain weave cloth, originally from Cambrai, woven in greige, then bleached and piece-dyed, often glazed or calendered. Initially made of linen (flax), then cotton in the 19th century, it is also called batiste. Cambric is used for linens, shirtings, handkerchieves and as fabric for lace and needlework.^[6]

History[link]

Cambric was originally a kind of fine white plain-weave linen cloth made at or near Cambrai.^[7] The word comes from Kameryk or Kamerijk, the Flemish name of Cambrai,^[7] which became part of France in 1677. The word is attested since 1530.^[7] It is a synonym of the French word batiste,^[7] itself attested since 1590.^[8] Batiste itself comes from the Picard batiche, attested since 1401, derivation derived from the old French battre for bowing wool. The modern form batiste or baptiste comes from a popular merge with the surname Baptiste, pronounced Batisse, as indicated by the use of the expressions thoile batiche (1499) and toile de baptiste (1536) for the same fabric.^[8] The alleged^[9] invention of the fabric, around 1300, by a weaver called Baptiste or Jean-Baptiste Cambray or Chambray (see Photo right), from the village of Castaing in the peerage of Marcoing, near Cambrai, has no historic ground.^{[8][10][11][12]} Cambric was a finer quality and more expensive^[13] than lawn (from the French laune, initially a plain-weave linen fabric from the city of Laon in France^[14]). Denoting a geographic origin from the city of Cambrai or its surroundings (Cambresis in French), cambric is an exact equivalent^[15] of the French cambrésine (/kɑ̃.bʁe.zin/),^[7] a very fine, almost sheer white linen plain-weave fabric,^[16] to be distinguished^[17] from cambrasine, a fabric comparable to the French lawn despite its foreign origin.^[18] Cambric is also close to chambray (/ˈʃɒmbreɪ/ from a French regional variant of Cambrai,^[7] and to chambray (/ˈʃɒmbreɪ/, from a French regional variant of Cambrai,^[7] a name which "also comes from Cambrai, the French city, where the material was originally made of linen yarn".^[19] Chambray (also spelled chambrai) appears in North American English in the early 19th century.^[7] Though the term generally refers to a cotton plain weave with a colored warp and a white weft, close to gingham, "silk chambray" seems to have coexisted.^[20] Chambray was often produced during this period by the same weavers producing gingham.^[21]

White linen cambric or batiste from Cambrai, noted for its weight and luster,^[22] was "preferred for ecclesiastical wear, fine shirts, underwear, shirt frills, cravats, collars and cuffs, handkerchiefs, and infant wear".^[23] Technical use sometime introduced a difference between cambric and batiste, the latter being of a lighter weight and a finer thread count. Chambray, though the same type of fabric, had a coloured warp and a white weft, though it could be "made from any colour as you may wish, in the warp, and also in the filling; only have them differ from each other.^[24]

In the 18th century, after the prohibition of imports in England of French cambrics,^[25] with the development of the import of Indian cotton fabrics, similar^[6] cotton fabrics, such as nainsook, from the Hindi nainsukh (eyes delight),^[7] became popular. These fabrics, initially called Scotch cambrics to distinguish them from the original French cambrics,^[26] came to be referred to as cotton cambrics or batistes.^[23] Some authors increased the confusion with the assumption the word batiste could come from the Indian fabric bastas.^[27]

In the 19th century, the terms cambric and batiste gradually lost their association with linen, implying only different kind of fine plain-weave fabrics with a glossy finish.^[28][29] In 1907, a fine cotton batist had 100 ends per inch in the finished fabric, while a cheap-grade, less than 60.^[30]

In the 19th century, with the development of the interest for colour shirts, cambric was also woven in colours, such as the pink fabric used by Charvet for a corsage (See Figure right), reducing the difference between cambric and chambray. Moreover, the development and rationalization of mechanical weaving led to the replacement, for chambray, of coloured warp and white weft by the opposite, white warp and coloured weft, which allowed for longer warps.^[31]

See also[link]

• Lawn
• Nainsook

References[link]

External links[link]

• Article on cambric

v t e Fabric Woven Aertex Airdura Airguard Barathea Barkcloth Batiste Bedford cord Bengaline silk Beta cloth Bombazine Brilliantine Broadcloth Buckram Bunting Burlap C change Calico Cambric Canvas Chambray Capilene Cedar bark Char cloth Charmeuse Charvet Cheesecloth Chiffon Chino Chintz Cloqué Cloth of gold Cordura Duck Coutil Crape Cretonne Dazzle Denim Dimity Donegal tweed Dowlas Drill Drugget Foulard Flannel Gabardine Gauze Gazar Georgette Ghalamkar Gingham Grenadine Grenfell Cloth Grosgrain Habutai Haircloth Harris Tweed Herringbone Himroo Hodden Irish linen Jamdani Kerseymere Khādī Khaki Khaki drill Kente cloth Lamé Lawn Linsey-woolsey Loden Longcloth Lumalive Mackinaw Madapolam Madras Moleskin Muslin Nainsook Nankeen Ninon Oilskin Organdy Organza Osnaburg Ottoman Oxford Paduasoy Percale Pongee Poplin Rakematiz Rayadillo Rep Rinzu Ripstop Ripstop nylon Russell cord Saga Nishiki Samite Sateen Satin Saye Scarlet Seersucker Serge Scrim Shot silk Stuff Taffeta Tais Toile Tucuyo Tweed Twill Ultrasuede Ventile Vinyl coated polyester Viyella Voile Wadmal Wigan Whipcord Zephyr Zorbeez Figured woven Brocade Camlet Damask Lampas Songket Pile woven Baize Chenille Corduroy Crimplene Fustian Mockado Moquette Plush Polar fleece Terrycloth Velours du Kasaï Velvet Velveteen Zibeline Nonwoven Felt Cedar bark Knitted Boiled wool Coolmax Machine knitting Milliskin Jersey Velour Netted Bobbinet Carbon fiber Fishnet Lace Mesh Needlerun Net Ninon Tulle Technical Ballistic nylon Ban-Lon Conductive Darlexx E-textiles Gannex Gore-Tex Silnylon Spandex Stub-tex SympaTex Windstopper Patterns Argyle Bizarre silk Herringbone Houndstooth Paisley Pin stripes Tartan (Plaid) Tattersall Textile fibers Acrylic Alpaca Angora Cashmere Coir Cotton Hemp Jute Kevlar Linen Mohair Nylon Microfiber Olefin Pashmina Polyester Piña Ramie Rayon Sea silk Silk Sisal Spandex Spider silk Wool Finishing and printing Androsia Batik Beetling Bingata Bògòlanfini Calendering Decatising Finishing Fulling Heatsetting Mercerization Moire Nap Rogan printing Rōketsuzome Roller printing Sanforization Tenterhook Textile printing Waxed cotton Woodblock printing Indienne Related Dyeing Fiber History of textiles History of silk Knitting Pandy Shrinkage Synthetic fabric Terminology Manufacturing Preservation Weaving Yarn

Peggy Seeger
Seeger in Salford in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Margaret Seeger
Born	(1935-06-17) June 17, 1935 (age 77)
Origin	New York City, USA
Genres	Folk
Occupations	musician, singer
Instruments	Banjo, guitar, dulcimer, concertina, autoharp, piano.
Years active	1955--present
Labels	Folkways, Rounder, Argo, Riverside, Appalseed
Associated acts	Ewan MacColl
Notable instruments
Banjo

Margaret "Peggy" Seeger (born June 17, 1935, New York City) is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, the singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.

First American period[link]

Seeger's father was Charles Seeger (1886–1979), an important folklorist and musicologist; her mother was Seeger's second wife, Ruth Porter Crawford (1901–1953), a modernist composer who was one of the first women to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship. One of her brothers was Mike Seeger and the well-known Pete Seeger is her half-brother. One of her first recordings was American Folk Songs for Children (1955), considered one of her most enduring and probably the best-selling collection of children's songs ever recorded.

In the 1950s, left-leaning singers such as Paul Robeson and The Weavers began to find that life became difficult because of the influence of McCarthyism. Seeger visited Communist China and as a result had her US passport withdrawn; the US State Department – which had been opposed to Seeger's trip to Moscow, where the CIA had monitored the US delegation — was incensed that Seeger had gone to China against official "advice".^[1] The authorities had already warned her that her passport would be impounded, effectively barring her from further travel, were she to return to the US.^[1] She therefore decided to tour Europe – later finding out that she was on a blacklist sent to European governments.^[1] Staying in London in 1956, she was accompanying herself on banjo, when Ewan MacColl fell in love with her. Previously married to director and actress Joan Littlewood, MacColl left his second wife, Jean Newlove, to become Seeger's lover. However, in 1958, Seeger's work permit for the UK expired and she was about to be deported. This was narrowly averted by a plan, concocted by MacColl and Seeger, in which she married the folk singer Alex Campbell, in Paris, on January 24, 1959, in what Seeger described as a "hilarious ceremony". This marriage of convenience allowed Seeger to gain British citizenship and continue her relationship with MacColl.^[2] MacColl and Seeger were later married (in 1977), following his divorce from Newlove. They remained together until his death in 1989. They had three children: Neill, Calum, and Kitty. They recorded and released several albums together on Folkways Records, along with Seeger's solo albums and other collaborations with the Seeger Family and the Seeger Sisters.

The documentary film A Kind of Exile was a profile of Seeger and also featured Ewan MacColl. The film was directed and produced by John Goldschmidt for ATV and shown on ITV in the UK.

Two social critics[link]

Together with MacColl, Seeger founded The Critics Group, a "master class" for young singers performing traditional songs or to compose new songs using traditional song structures (or, as MacColl called them, "the techniques of folk creation"). The Critics Group evolved into a performance ensemble seeking to perform satirical songs in a mixture of theatre, comedy and song, which eventually created a series of annual productions called "The Festival of Fools" (named for a traditional British Isles event in which greater freedom of expression was allowed for the subjects of the king than was permitted during most of the year). Seeger and MacColl performed and recorded as a duo and as solo artists; MacColl wrote "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in Seeger's honour (and did so during a long-distance phone call between the two while Seeger was performing in America and MacColl was barred from traveling to the U.S. with her due to his radical political views). None of the couple's numerous albums use any electric or electronic instrumentation. Whilst MacColl wrote many songs about work and against war and prejudice, Seeger (who also wrote such songs) sang about women's issues, with many of her songs becoming anthems of the women's movement. Her most memorable was "I'm Gonna Be an Engineer".^[3] There were two major projects dedicated to the Child Ballads. The first was The Long Harvest (10 volumes 1966 - 1975). The second was Blood and Roses (5 volumes, 1979 – 1983). She visited the women's camp at Greenham Common, where protests against U.S. cruise missiles were concentrated. For them she wrote "Carry Greenham Home". Seeger ran a record label "Blackthorne" from 1976 to 1988.

In recent years[link]

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. authorities began to soften their attitude towards Seeger. She returned to the United States in 1994 to live in Asheville, North Carolina. Seeger has continued to sing about women's issues. One of her most popular recent albums is Love Will Linger On (1995). She has published a collection of 150 of her songs from before 1998. In 2006, Peggy Seeger relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, to accept a part-time teaching position at Northeastern University. In 2008, she began producing music videos pertaining to the Presidential campaigns, making them available through a YouTube page.

Seeger identifies as bisexual and contributed an essay to Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World. In it she details a relationship she began with Irene Pyper-Scott after Ewan MacColl died.^[4]

After nearly two decades of living in the United States, Seeger has moved back to the United Kingdom in order to be nearer to her children.

Selected discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

• - Folksongs of Courting and Complaint (1955)
• - Animal Folksongs for Children (1957)
• - Folksongs and Ballads (1957)
• - Two Way Trip (1961)
• - Peggy Alone (1967)
• - Penelope Isn't Waiting Anymore (1977)
• - Different Therefore Equal (1979)
• - The Folkways Years 1955 - 1992 - Songs of Love and Politics (1992)
• - Familiar Faces (1993)
• - Songs of Love and Politics (1994)
• - Love Will Linger On (1995)
• - An Odd Collection (1996)
• - Classic Peggy Seeger (1996)
• - Period Pieces (1998)
• - No Spring Chickens (1998)
• - Almost Commercially Viable (2000)
• - Heading For Home (2003)
• - Love Call Me Home (2005)
• - Bring Me Home (2008)
• - Peggy Seeger Live (2012)

With Ewan MacColl[link]

• - New Briton Gazette, Vol. 1 (1960)
• - The Unfortunate Rake (1960)
• - Songs of Two Rebellions (1960)
• - Popular Scottish Songs (1961)
• - Bothy Ballads of Scotland (1961)
• - Two-Way Trip (1961)
• - New Briton Gazette, Vol. 2 (1962)
• - Traditional Songs and Ballads (1964)
• - At The Present Moment (1972)
• - Folkways Record of Contemporary Songs (1973)
• - Cold Snap (1978)
• - Hot Blast (1978)
• - Saturday Night at the Bull and Mouth (1978)
• - Kilroy was Here (1980)

With Mike Seeger[link]

• - American Folk Songs for Children (1955)
• - American Folk Songs Sung by the Seegers (1957)
• - Peggy 'n' Mike (1967)
• - American Folk Songs for Christmas (1990)
• - Fly Down Little Bird (2011)

With the Critics Group and Frankie Armstrong[link]

• - The Female Frolic (1967)
• - Living Folk (1970)

With guests[link]

• - Three Score and Ten (concert) (2007)

Collaboration[link]

• 1964: Who's Going to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot (UK version); US version by Tom Paley and Peggy Seeger with Claudia Paley

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Cox, Peter. Set into Song: Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker, Peggy Seeger and the Radio Ballads. Labatie Books, 2008. ISBN 0-9551877-1-0, ISBN 978-0-9551877-1-1. P. 73
2. ^ Harper, Colin, Dazzling Stranger; Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues Revival, Bloomsbury, 2006. ISBN 0-7475-8725-6. p.96
3. ^ Included in: Henderson, Kathy, et al. (ed.) (1982) My Song is My Own. London: Pluto Press ISBN 0-86104-033-3; pp. 159-162. "Composed 1972 .. the words take some fitting into this rather skeletal tune but if not sung too fast the song sings well."
4. ^ [1]

Further reading[link]

• MacColl, Ewan (1998) The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook: sixty years of songmaking; ed. Peggy Seeger. New York: Oak Publications
• Harker, Ben (2007) Class Act: the Cultural and Political Life of Ewan MacColl. London: Pluto Press ISBN 978-0-7453-2165-3 (chapters: 1. Lower Broughton—-2. Red Haze—-3. Welcome, Comrade—-4. Browned Off—-5. A Richer, Fuller Life—-6. Towards a People's Culture—-7. Croydon, Soho, Moscow, Paris—-8. Bard of Beckenham—-9. Let a Hundred Flowers Blossom—-10. Sanctuary—-11. Endgame)

External links[link]

• Official site
• Biography from Appleseed Music
• Thesis Publication on Peggy Seeger
• TheBanjoMan.com Peggy Seeger Page
• Peggy Seeger's YouTube Page
• How Can I Keep From Singing?: A Seeger Family Tribute, Library of Congress, American Folklife Center, March 2007 symposium and concert. All events are available as webcasts via the site. Retrieved August 25, 2009.