better+known

(1525?-1579 or 1580)

   Portugal's national epic poet of the Age of Discoveries and author of the most celebrated piece of national literature, Luís de Camoes's lifespan marked both the high tide and ebbing of Portuguese imperial power. Educated at the University of Coimbra, Camões for much of his life, most of which remains largely unknown, was an adventurer overseas. He served as a soldier in Morocco, as Portugal began to lose its hold on parts of Morocco, and was later imprisoned. After his release, he shipped out to Portuguese India, to Goa, where he served the king. He lived in Portuguese India, Macau, and Mozambique, and his Eastern years left a permanent mark on his mind and soul. Upon his return to Portugal, he continued writing as a poet, and in 1572, his most famous work, better known and more quoted than any other piece of the nation's literature, Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads), was published in Lisbon. Whatever the reception of his epic poem, the story of the great Vasco da Gama's voyage to India (1497-99) within the context of the history of Portugal, Camões cannot have gained a great deal from its publication. It is said that he fell into poverty, that a servant or friend of his was forced to beg for food for Camões, and that he died in misery. In Portuguese tradition, it is also recounted that before he died he was informed of the disastrous battle of Alcácer- Quivir in 1578 and the resulting loss of the king, his army, and any defenses remaining to Portugal. Camões, the story goes, exclaimed, "I die with the Fatherland!"

Grammatical information: n.

Meaning: `skin' (Nic. Al. 248, Th. 376).

Origin: XX [etym. unknown]

Etymology: Riming to the better known στέρφος, τέρφος `id.' (A. R., Nic. etc.); further unclear. A suggestion by H. Petersson in WP. 1, 291. - A cross of στέρφος and ἔριον? Thus Güntert Reimwortbildungen 139f.: ἔρφος younger reshaping resp. assimilation of ( σ)τέρφος to *ἔρεφος from ἐρέφω `cover with a roof'?

Page in Frisk: 1,571

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SUBJECT AREA: Textiles

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John Kay was the youngest of five sons of a yeoman farmer of Walmersley, near Bury, Lancashire, who died before his birth. John was apprenticed to a reedmaker, and just before he was 21 he married a daughter of John Hall of Bury and carried on his trade in that town until 1733. It is possible that his first patent, taken out in 1730, was connected with this business because it was for an engine that made mohair thread for tailors and twisted and dressed thread; such thread could have been used to bind up the reeds used in looms. He also improved the reeds by making them from metal instead of cane strips so they lasted much longer and could be made to be much finer. His next patent in 1733, was a double one. One part of it was for a batting machine to remove dust from wool by beating it with sticks, but the patent is better known for its description of the flying shuttle. Kay placed boxes to receive the shuttle at either end of the reed or sley. Across the open top of these boxes was a metal rod along which a picking peg could slide and drive the shuttle out across the loom. The pegs at each end were connected by strings to a stick that was held in the right hand of the weaver and which jerked the shuttle out of the box. The shuttle had wheels to make it "fly" across the warp more easily, and ran on a shuttle race to support and guide it. Not only was weaving speeded up, but the weaver could produce broader cloth without any aid from a second person. This invention was later adapted for the power loom. Kay moved to Colchester and entered into partnership with a baymaker named Solomon Smith and a year later was joined by William Carter of Ballingdon, Essex. His shuttle was received with considerable hostility in both Lancashire and Essex, but it was probably more his charge of 15 shillings a year for its use that roused the antagonism. From 1737 he was much involved with lawsuits to try and protect his patent, particularly the part that specified the method of winding the thread onto a fixed bobbin in the shuttle. In 1738 Kay patented a windmill for working pumps and an improved chain pump, but neither of these seems to have been successful. In 1745, with Joseph Stell of Keighley, he patented a narrow fabric loom that could be worked by power; this type may have been employed by Gartside in Manchester soon afterwards. It was probably through failure to protect his patent rights that Kay moved to France, where he arrived penniless in 1747. He went to the Dutch firm of Daniel Scalongne, woollen manufacturers, in Abbeville. The company helped him to apply for a French patent for his shuttle, but Kay wanted the exorbitant sum of £10,000. There was much discussion and eventually Kay set up a workshop in Paris, where he received a pension of 2,500 livres. However, he was to face the same problems as in England with weavers copying his shuttle without permission. In 1754 he produced two machines for making card clothing: one pierced holes in the leather, while the other cut and sharpened the wires. These were later improved by his son, Robert Kay. Kay returned to England briefly, but was back in France in 1758. He was involved with machines to card both cotton and wool and tried again to obtain support from the French Government. He was still involved with developing textile machines in 1779, when he was 75, but he must have died soon afterwards. As an inventor Kay was a genius of the first rank, but he was vain, obstinate and suspicious and was destitute of business qualities.

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