175-year-old wager to be relived

Press, 14 May 1987, Page 4

175-year-old wager to be relived

A wager at a dinner party in Berkshire, England, 175 years ago will be relived -in an unusual addition to the National Woolcrafts Festival at Lincoln College on Saturday. The convener of the festival, Mrs Julia Anderson, said the festival would be extended for a day to recreate a bet between Sir John Throckmorton and Mr Coxeter, the owner of a spinning and weaving factory, in 1811. At the dinner party Sir John wagered 1000 guineas that Mr Coxeter could not make a coat between sunrise and sunset, from wool off two sheep Sir John provided. Wool for the original bet was shorn from two sheep that were later slaughtered, and served, along with 120 gallons of strong ale, to the 5000 people who had gathered to watch the event. The wool went through 14 processes before being handed to the local tailor’s son and nine sewers to make into the coat at 4 p.m. Two hours and twenty minutes later the finished coat was presented to Sir John. The Lincoln Coat will be made at the festival

under the same restrictions faced by Mr Coxeter in Berkshire, said Mrs Anderson.

However, the event will begin ah hour later than the original and the four sheep wil be shorn using a hand-shearing stand. Organisers of the event said they hope the coat can be completed in 12 hours, an hour and twenty minutes faster than the original. Spit-roasted lamb and beer would be served during the day, said Mrs Anderson, but the sheep used for the wool would not be slaughtered. It is thought to be the first time the challenge has been re-enacted in the Southern Hemisphere, although it has been tried previously in England. One attempt, the Greengarth Tunic in 1973, was finished at 11 p.m.

It is not known how many people helped make the coat at Greehham Mill in Berkshire, but 50 members of the New Zaland Spinning, Weaving and Woolcrafts. Society will be on hand to make the Lincoln Coat. Mrs Anderson said the coat would be given to Professor Bruce Ross, the principal of Lincoln College.