"Dat jurkje is hier vlakbij uit zee opgevist." ('That dress was fished out of the sea nearby').
This afternoon Gillian and I spent a few hours on a boat out shrimp fishing off the coast of the island of Texel, in the north of The Netherlands. At a certain moment the captain told us that 'that dress' was found nearby. He referred to an early 17th century dress that was found some two years ago underwater, in a chest covered with sand, near the island of Texel. The find was only made public some ten days ago, and since last week it can be seen in a local museum, Kaap Skil, in the village of Oudeschild, on Texel. It drew attention from all over the world.
The dress of Jean Kerr, found off the coast of Texel.The dress was of course the reason that Gillian and I, after attending a wedding in Alkmaar, travelled north yesterday evening, took the ferry to Texel, and checked in at an idyllic hotel at the little harbour of Oudeschild. First thing this morning we went to the local museum and there it was, beautifully displayed together with other finds from the same shipwreck. The dress almost looks as if it was worn yesterday and thrown into the laundry basket. It is incredible that the garment has been preserved underwater for so long.
I don't have to refer to the details of the dress. Much has been published about it in recent days (see also the TRC facebook pages). We now know it was part of the wardrobe of a lady at the court of the British King, Charles I, who around 1642 sent his eleven-year old daughter, Mary, to Holland to join her husband, William II of the House of Orange. The young girl was accompanied by her mother, the Queen, and many followers. Yet, the real reason for the diplomatic mission may have been to send his jewellery and other valuables over to Holland for safe keeping in the face of the growing opposition led by Cromwell. The revolt of the Parliamentarians, as you know, would eventually cost the king his throne and his head.
Twelve ships brought the Queen and her daughter to Holland, together with the valuables of the king and his followers. One of these ships was shipwrecked off the coast of Texel, and that particular ship contained the wardrobe of one of the British ladies. From recovered contemporary correspondence we now seem to know the name of the owner of the dress. It was Jean Kerr (1585-1643), the Countess of Roxburghe, who was 57 at the time. She was (partly) identified because of her dress size, namely what is now size 42. She was a Catholic, and lady-in-waiting to Henrietta Maria, the French wife of King Charles I, and the mother of the young bride. When the news of the shipwreck reached England, one of the opponents of the King gleefully said that the Ladies and their maids now had to cover themselves in Dutch cloth. Whether or not wearing Dutch clothing is such a bad thing I could not honestly say, but sadly she did not survive the loss of her clothing for long.
Willem Vogelsang, 23 April 2016
