[Ads-l] ditty-bag etymology and dittis, manchester stuff

[Stephen Goranson]

OED has ditty bag from c1860; that can easily be antedated by some decades. Here, my interest is etymology.

"Etymology:  Origin obscure: according to Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. it 'derives its name from the dittis or Manchester stuff of which it was once made'; but no evidence of this is given, nor is anything known of the stuff alleged."


Here is an 1808 mention of the "stuff alleged":

"A subscription for manufacturing Dittis or Manchester stuffs of thread and cotton, Mulford's."


Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the eighteenth century... with a review of the state of society in 1807..., James Peller Malcolm (London, 1808) p.66.[1]

and one from 1817:
"Notice is hereby given, that several Persons of undoubted Character and Reputation , have determin'd to enter into a Copartnership, in order to promote and carry on that Advantageous Manufacture of making Dittis, (alias Manchester Stuffs), made of Thread and Cotton will be taken in this Day at Mulford's Coffee-house...."

The Literary Panorama and National Register. March, 1817 col. 970.[2]

Stephen Goranson
http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/

[1] https://books.google.com/books?id=PqJfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA66&dq=dittis+manchester&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6EuhVYDmGoSy-AHurYD4BQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=dittis%20manchester&f=false

[2] https://books.google.com/books?id=bRcAAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PT477&dq=dittis+manchester&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yjyhVcfxFMLW-QGq8YB4&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=dittis%20manchester&f=false
[https://books.google.com/books/content?id=bRcAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE70536w0gjK9MVFxPgRFxtQqNrN48tBvfCvKiztrrcb2y_7PkF9zc99V_IznU992CtUw-u050fXsH2ORlLXnKsCuFPLnYpxtlvAQTS9jHspMPEeOsi9z1fyaMA4CCo7fjHg_ZYi0]<https://books.google.com/books?id=bRcAAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PT477&dq=dittis+manchester&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yjyhVcfxFMLW-QGq8YB4&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=dittis%20manchester&f=false>

The Literary Panorama and National Register - Charles Taylor - Google Books
Read more...<https://books.google.com/books?id=bRcAAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PT477&dq=dittis+manchester&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yjyhVcfxFMLW-QGq8YB4&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=dittis%20manchester&f=false>


<https://books.google.com/books?id=PqJfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA66&dq=dittis+manchester&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6EuhVYDmGoSy-AHurYD4BQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=dittis%20manchester&f=false>

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