Monday, 5 February 2024

Fishermens' Jerseys (Ganzies)

Musings on 'Ganseys'




While writing my subscriber newsletter for 'The Skipper' series of novels, I found myself wittering on about 'Ganzies' (which is my own mis-spelling of 'Gansey', itself a corruption of Guernsey.

Most of the questions I asked of subscribers are actually answered here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernsey_(clothing) so I really should have Googled before asking any questions!

These garments were worn by fishermen and the unanswered question is whether they were knitted to unique patterns as I believed, or were typical for a port or village?

The Wikipedia article sheds no light on this, but a number of websites (e.g. https://ichscotland.org/wiki/fishermens-ganseys) do say that womenfolk developed their own patterns which gave rise to the tradition that a drowned man could be identified by his gansey.

As you'll gather, my thinking often drifts onto somewhat trivial matters, but I find them intersting nonetheless.

So back to work I go, keep on reading!

 



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Fishermens' Jerseys (Ganzies)

Musings on 'Ganseys' While writing my subscriber newsletter for 'The Skipper' series of novels, I found myself wittering on ...