Welsh Wig

The Wool Industry was an important part of Welsh life throughout history. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries areas like Monmouthshire and West Glamorgan were famous for quality wool, and Wales gained an international renown for high quality woollen products such as caps. This reputation saw a vast increase in trade and Welsh woollen goods found new export markets throughout Northern Europe.[1]

Welsh goods during this era were produced on an semi-industrial scale, with varieties of woollen caps, such as the iconic Monmouth Cap being obvious progenitors to the Welsh Wig. Though it is unknown how early the distinctive Welsh Wigs began production, they were well known throughout Great Britain by the eighteenth century.

The Welsh woollen industry was in sharp decline by the early nineteenth century, with the newly industrialised woollen mills of Northern England now dominating the British market and fluctuations in European trade of the Napoleonic Era proving particularly challenging.

The decline was reversed when the new industrial populations of Wales demanded specific woollen goods for working life in the mid-late nineteenth century. The Welsh Wig, the Crys Fach (a short fronted metallurgical workers shirt), coal miners underpants, shawls, bedgowns and the newly popularised Traditional Welsh costume, all maintained and grew the Welsh wool industry. [2]

The Welsh Wig was prized for its excellent protection against the elements, providing a shield against the wind on the back of the neck. With the decline of traditional wigs, there was a market for knitted head wear throughout the British Empire. The Welsh wig became associated not only with workers but also with stagecoach travellers, polar and mountain explorers and was part of the "kit list" for men in The Crimea.[3]

In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol the character Mr Fezziwig is described as wearing A Welsh Wig. His name is also likely an allusion to the garment.

• Monmouth Cap
• Mr Fezziwig
• Woollen industry in Wales