© 2009 Daniel Rusch-Fischer, CFM, LEED-AP
The word tatting, now referring to a form of handcrafted, knotted lace, belongs to a class of English words that share the meaning element of a notched, serrate, scalloped, dentate, jagged, or irregular projecting part or parts along the margin of some main body.
Other English words in this class include:[1]
Dag: Noun: 1. A pendant pointed portion of anything; one of the pointed or laciniated divisions made by deeply slashing or cutting the lower margin of a cloak, gown, or other garment, as was done for ornament in the 15th c. Obs. 2. A tag or aglet of a lace, shoe-latchet, or the like. [Of uncertain origin: the same senses are partly expressed by Tag.]
Jag: Noun: 1. A sharp projection; a barb. 2a. A hanging flap along the edge of a garment. 2.b. A slash or slit in a garment exposing material of a different color. [The formation appears to be onomatopic; in some senses it coincides with Dag n.1, and in some approaches Tag and Rag.]
Rag: Noun: I. Senses relating to cloth or clothing. 1.a. In pl. Tattered or ragged clothes. Freq. in in rags. II. Senses relating to something compared to a torn piece of cloth. 6.a. A torn or irregularly shaped piece of something, esp. a shred of flesh; a fragment, a scrap, a remnant. III. Other extended senses. 12. A sharp or jagged projection, esp. a small irregularity on the edge of a piece of cast metal or cut wood. Now chiefly as mass noun: such projections collectively. [Probably < early Scandinavian]
Tag: Noun: 1. Originally, one of the narrow, often pointed, laciniæ or pendent pieces made by slashing the skirt of a garment; hence, any hanging ragged or torn piece; also, any end or rag of ribbon or the like. 2. A small pendent piece or part hanging from, or attached more or less loosely to the main body of anything. [Origin obscure. In sense 1, it is synonymous with Dag n.1, which appears to have been the earlier form. Some compare Sw. tagg ‘prickle, point, tooth’, but evidence of historical connection is wanting.]
Tat: Noun: 1. a. pl. tats: Dice; esp. false or loaded dice. 2. pl. tats, tatts. Teeth; now usu. with ref. to a set of false teeth. slang (chiefly Austral.). [Origin unascertained.] (Note that, slang words for dice often refer to common materials of construction, as ‘bones’ and ‘knucklebones’, in reference to animal bone, and both ‘tats’ & ‘ivories’ in reference to ivory tusks or teeth.)
Tatting has historically had a similar general meaning, that is, to make or furnish a piece of textile with a decorative dentate, serrate, scalloped, etc. lace edging.
We find a comparable rationale in France, where the word for lace dentelle, translates as ‘little teeth’, and has a meaning element similar to the English word tatting. The 1694 Dictionary of the French Academy states that dentelle is, “A type of ornamental textile trimming, thus named because it is made in the shape of teeth”.[2] And in 1798, defined it as, “A type of ornamental textile trimming thus named, because the first ones that were produced had serrations”.[3] And in 1932-5 supplemented the definition thus, “A type of modern ornamental textile trimming and very fine netting, thus named, because the first ones that were produced had serrations.[4]
The earliest references to tatting simply meant a hand- or machine-made length of narrow lace, that was intended to be applied as an edging or trimming for a textile article. On April 3, 1819, in the first written use of the word tatting, a letter from Joanna Baillie to John & Sophia Lockhart reads:
Hampstead April 3d 1819
My dear Sophia,
…. However, I dont (sic) dislike the elder Mrs Siddon(s) in her way, I ought rather to say I am beginning to like her; and I flatter myself that she is beginning to like me, for she has invited me very kindly to see her which I have done, and I am this very day employed in sewing some tatting (do you know what tatting is?) upon a handkerchief which she made me a present of very lately, the work of her own Queenly fingers, and it is the most beautiful tatting I ever saw.[5]
Joanna Baillie, in this letter, was describing her sewing a length of narrow lace, handmade by Mrs. Siddons, to a handkerchief.
In 1822, William Copestake of Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, England invented a ‘tatting wheel’ that, when attached to a warp-frame, lace machine, made possible the manufacture of ‘warp-tattings’.[6] These emerged from the warp-frame lace machine as a single, wide piece of machine lace that consisted of vertical, narrow strips of warp-lace tatting connected to each other only by an occasional, crosswise weft thread. To finish the tattings, one had only to snip the single weft threads between the warp strips and roll them as individual lengths of tatting for sale.
In 1833, William Herbert also patented lace machinery to make tattings that imitated bobbin net lace.[7] Tatting manufacture certainly had a significant market in the early 19th century as the wages of 650 “narrow tatting-frame” workmen were reduced 30% due to the commercial panic of 1838.[8]
In an 1858 commercial dictionary published in New York NY USA, tatting was defined as: narrow lace used for edging nets that vary in width from 1/4” to 1/16”.[9]
In conclusion, the word tatting has been used in written English to mean, a narrow, lace, edging-material from at least 1819. The earliest probable use of the written word tatting, in the sense of a handcrafted, shuttle-made, knotted lace is mentioned in passing in a short story in 1835[10] and the first instructions for tatting date occur in a British needlecraft publication dated 1842.[11]
[1] “Dag, Jag, et al.” Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989.
[2] “Dentelle.” Dictionnaire de L'Académie Française. 1st ed. 1694. “s.f. Sorte de passement, ainsi nommé, parce qu'il est fait en forme de dents.”
[3] “Dentelle.” Dictionnaire de L'Académie Française. 5th ed. 1798. “substant. fém. Sorte de passement ainsi nommé, parce que les premières qu'on fit étoient [modern French: étayent] dentelées.”
[4] “Dentelle.” Dictionnaire de L'Académie Française. 8th ed. “n.f. Sorte de passement à jour et à mailles très fines, ainsi nommé parce que les premières qu'on fit étaient [modern French: étayent] dentelées.”
[5] Baillie, Joanna. Letters. 1819. 820-1. National Library of Scotland. SM 1551 f.229-230
[6] Felkin, William. History of the Machine-wrought Hosiery and Lace Manufactures. 149, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1867. 149. “There sprung from these, warp-tattings in 1822, the wheels for producing which were devised by Copestake of Stapleford, and Read, of Radford.”
[7] ---. 150. “In 1833 William Herbert took out patent, No. 6399, for tattings in imitation of bobbin net;”
[8] ---. 150. “In 1838 the commercial panic seriously affected the warp trade, and the narrow tatting-frame workmen were reduced thirty percent in their wages, affecting 650 hands.”
[9] Lund, Peter. The Dictionary of Trade Products, Manufacturing, and Technical Terms: With a Definition of the Moneys, Weights, and Measures of All Countries. 1858. 374. “Tattings and Pearls, narrow lace used for edging nets; tattings vary in width from a quarter to the sixteenth of an inch, while pearls are still narrower.”
[10] Forrester, Charles Robert. The Masquerade Short story published in, The Comic offering: or, Ladies' melange of literary mirth., edited by Sheridan, Louisa Henrietta; 1835. 170. "In needle-work, I have a new stitch for watch-pockets, to be worked on tick, with a sprig of thyme border. Knitting, knotting, and tatting for spare moments; and as for worsted-works, I forbid them entirely, because they are crewel."
[11] Gaugain, Mrs. Jane. The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work. Fifth Edition. Re-arranged and Improved by the Proprietor . . . 3 vol. Edinburgh; 1842. vol II. 411 "Common Tatting Edging"; 412 "If the Tatting has not been properly worked, this scollop (sic) will not draw. All Tatting stitches must be formed with the loop around the fingers."