Sign of the Lord Raglan pub
St. Martin's Le Grand, City of London
London, October 2009
“Two other items of clothing have links with the Crimean war. To protect them against the bitter cold, some soldiers persuaded wives or relatives at home to knit them head coverings that left only small holes for eyes and mouth. These became known as balaclavas, after the Crimean port that was the British operational base. Another item whose name appeared at the time was the raglan, a type of overcoat named after Lord Raglan, the British general in the Crimea. The garment was unusual in that the sleeves continued in one piece up to the neck, producing a larger, looser armhole that suited the one-armed general, hence our term raglan sleeve.” (Cardigan, World Wide Word)
I didn't know the origin of both clothing items.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered this blog of yours, VP. You have freed yourself of the limits of geography by posting whatever attracts your interest. And, I enjoy the frequent use of other people's quotations.
ReplyDeleteHow you find the time to keep four blogs going, I will never understand!
ciel - The clothing items are actually three!
ReplyDeleteJack - Welcome to DPS! To 'keep' these blogs takes a lot less time than you may think: you only have to be organized and use the time when you have it...
I always wondered about that strange name balaclava (and often say baklava by mistake, much tastier). Thanks for the lesson.
ReplyDelete