What in the world is a Sayer?

iangmacdonald · Post by **iangmacdonald** » Thu May 31, 2007 5:48 pm

I've come across a couple of Frasers in Invernesshire who appear to be described as "Sayers".

I'd been hoping that one of them would have been a salmon fisher. Could sayer be a term to describe that?

I suspect it may just be a phonetic spelling of sawyer, but I live in hope for fishing.

Ian

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:22 pm

Hi Ian
My first thought was Sawyer too... but then I found

Say Weaver Made "say" - used in making table cloths bedding etc.

http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/s.html
Could someone who worked with "say" also be called a sayer?
Which made me wonder... but stilll not the fishing connection you were hoping for.

Someone else may be able to help more !!!

And what sort of stuff was "say" anyway? Might it be used for nets as well....?

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **paddyscar** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:10 pm

From 'Dictionary of the Scots Language' http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/

* 1. A narrator or author.
* 2. One who says or celebrates mass, the celebrant.
Also shows na-sayer, soothsayer, mes-sayer (mass sayer)

* Sayar, sayer 19th c. English - one who assays or tests; an assayer of metal

* Sayer - 1629 M. Works Acc. (ed.) II 254. For laying a sayer at the head of the new street, cheeks, soles and covers thereto

Couldn't find 'say' in a textile directory, but will keep looking.

Frances

Post by **paddyscar** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 4:00 am

Fairchild’s Dictionary of Textiles (7th edition) gives the following information on ‘say’ (saye or saie)

An obsolete fabric widely used from the 12th to 19th centuries.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, it was a relatively fine, lightweight, high quality wool fabric similar to serge. About the 16th century, it was also made of silk.

A mid-19th century, heavy twilled worsted (a half-century earlier it had been even heavier). Uses included garments and wall hangings.
Courtesy of: Therese Curry, The H.N.Pullar Library

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:23 am

Hi Frances
Thank you - fascinating ... and that rules it out as having anything to do with fishing nets then...

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **paddyscar** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:03 pm

Hi Lesley:

I guess it does rule out fishers as those nets would have been:

a) mighty heavy made of any weight of wool serge
b) very expensive if made of silk

Frances

iangmacdonald · Post by **iangmacdonald** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:34 pm

What a fine discursive thing I've inspired.

I think someone should attempt a full investigation into the use of silk fishing nets in Scotland.

The weaving connection, given the vast amount that used to go on, seems most likely. I somehow can't see the local minister being keen on recognising soothsayers or nay-sayers as a profession in his records.

Anyway, what I'm really looking for is a salmon fisher in Inverness. I'll kick off another thread on that one.

Thanks

Ian

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:32 pm

Hi Ian
I think, as far as I remember, you can only use those silk nets when fishing for mermaids....

(or so an old soothsayer told me...)

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **paddyscar** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:35 pm

Hi Ian:

This site, just posted in response to another query, gives a definition of a

Say Weaver Made "say" - used in making table cloths bedding etc.

http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/index.html

Frances

iangmacdonald · Post by **iangmacdonald** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:27 pm

Many thanks. I reckon that is the real answer.

TalkingScot.com

What in the world is a Sayer?

What in the world is a Sayer?

Salmon fishing in Inverness