wool and silk without mordant."

Plants which Dye Black.—

• Alder. Alnus glutinosa. Bark with copperas.
• Blackberry. Rubus fruticosus. Young shoots, with salts of iron.
• Dock. Rumex. Root.
• Iris. Iris Pseudacorus. Root.
• Meadowsweet. Spirea Ulmaria.
• Oak. Bark and acorns.
• Elder. Bark, with copperas.

CHAPTER V.


THE LICHEN DYES

Some of the most useful dyes and the least known are to be found among the Lichens. They seem to have been used among peasant dyers from remote ages, but apparently none of the great French dyers used them, nor are they mentioned in any of the old books on dyeing. The only Lichen dyes that are known generally among dyers are Orchil and Cudbear, and these are preparations of lichens, not the lichens themselves. They are still used in some quantity and are prepared rather elaborately. But a great many of the ordinary Lichens yield very good and permanent dyes. The Parmelia saxatilis and P. omphaloides, are largely used in the Highlands & West Ireland, for dyeing brown of all shades. No mordant is needed, and the colours produced are the fastest known. "Crottle," is the general name for Lichens, in Scotland. They are gathered off the rocks in July and August, dried in the sun, and used to dye wool, without any preparation. The crottle is put into the dye bath with a sufficient quantity of water, boiled up and allowed to cool and then boiled up with the wool until the shade required is got. This may take from one to three or four hours, as the dye is not rapidly taken up by the wool. Other dyers use it in the following way:—A layer of crottle, a layer of wool, and so on until the bath is full; fill up with cold water and bring to the boil, and boil till the colour is deep enough. Some of the finest browns are got in this way. The wool does not seem to be affected by keeping it in the dye a long time. A small quantity of acetic acid put in with the Lichen is said to assist in exhausting the colour.

The grey Lichen Ramalina scopulorum, dyes a fine shade of yellow brown. It grows very plentifully on old stone walls, especially by the sea, and in damp woods, on trees, and on old rotten wood. Boil the Lichen up in sufficient water one day, and the next day put in the wool, and boil up again till the right colour is got. If the wool is left in the dye for a day or more after boiling, it absorbs more colour, and it does not hurt the wool, but leaves it soft and silky to the touch, though apt to be uneven in colour. Some mordant the wool first with alum, but it does not seem to need it.

The best known of the dye Lichens are Parmelia saxatilis, and Parmelia omphalodes, which are still largely used in Scotland and Ireland for dyeing wool for tweeds. The well known Harris tweed smell is partly due to the use of this dye.

Other Lichens also known for their dyeing properties are:—Parmelia caperata or Stone Crottle which contains a yellow dye, P. ceratophylla, or Dark Crottle, and P. parietina, the common wall lichen, which gives a colour similar to the colour of the lichen itself, yellowish brown. In Bancroft's "Philosophy of Permanent Colours" is to be found the following—"Besides the lichens, whose colour depends upon a combination with the ammonia, there are some which afford substantive colours, less beautiful indeed, but more durable, by merely boiling with water. One of these is the muscus pulmonarius of Caspar Bauhine, or the lichenoides pulmonium reticulatum vulgare marginibus peltiferus of Dillenius, called Rags and Stone Rags, in the northern parts of England, which, without any mordant, dyes a very durable dark brown colour upon white wool or cloth, and a fine lasting black upon wool or cloth which has previously received a dark blue from Indigo." The following occurs in an old Scottish history.—"There is one excresence gotton off the craigs which they call cork-lit, and make use thereof for litting, or dyeing a kind of purple colour." Another lichen, taken from trees in Scotland, was used for producing an orange tint, called Philamort. The tree lichen was called wood-raw, or rags, to distinguish it from stone lichen, or stone-raw. A deep red colour was got from the dull grey friable lichen, common on old stone walls, which was scraped off, with a metal scraper. The bright yellow lichen, growing on rocks and walls, and old roofs, dyes a fine plum colour, if the wool is mordanted first with Bichromate of Potash. There is a difficulty, however, in getting enough of this lichen to make the dyeing with it practicable.

The colour of the plant is no indication of the colorific power. That is often greatly modified by the conditions of its growth,—such as climate, elevation above the sea, nearness or distance from the sea, age, season when gathered, habitat. The best season for gathering most lichens, is late summer and autumn.

In Sweden, Scotland and other countries, the peasantry use a lichen, called Lecanora tartarea, to furnish a red or crimson dye.

In Shetland, the Parmelia saxatilis (Scrottyie) is used to dye brown. It is found in abundance on argillaceous rocks. It is considered best if gathered late in the year, and is generally collected in August. Immediately after being collected, an iron vessel is filled with it, and stale urine then poured over it, till the vessel is full. This is slowly boiled until the plant begins to assume a mucillaginous appearance, which generally takes place in about 2 hours. When taken off the fire, it has the consistence of a thin jelly, but it speedily hardens until it is nearly as thick as porridge, and its colour becomes a dark rusty grey. It is then folded in the cloth, layer by layer of Scrottyie and cloth alternately, and all is boiled for about 20 minutes, in soft water, in which a little alum has been dissolved. It is then taken off the fire and the cloth washed in cold water, when the process of dyeing is complete. The Scrottyie, taken from between the folds of the cloth, is used several times for dyeing, on being treated again in the same manner.

The plant used in Shetland for the red dye is the Lecanora tartarea. It is found abundantly on almost all rocks and also grows on dry moors, along with Cladonia sangiferina. (If a particle of the latter is allowed to be intermixed with the dye, it is supposed to be spoiled.) The lichen, and the dye made from it, are called Korkalett. This lichen is collected in May and June, and steeped in stale urine for about 3 weeks, being kept at a moderate heat all the time. The substance having then a thick and strong texture, like bread, and being of a bluish black colour, is taken out and made into small cakes of about ¾ lb. in weight, which are wrapped in dock leaves and hung up to dry in peat smoke. When dry it may be preserved fit for use for many years; when wanted for dyeing it is partially dissolved in