Osnaburg

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Osnaburg is the name given to a coarse type of plain fabric, originally made from flax yarns. It is now made from either flax, tow or jute yarns, sometimes flax or tow warp with mixed or jute weft, and often entirely of jute. The finer and better qualities form a kind of common sheeting, and the various kinds may contain from 20 to 36 threads per inch and 10 to 15 picks per inch.

It began to be woven in Scotland as an imitation from a German import (possibly from Osnabrück) of a coarse lint or tow-based linen cloth in the later 1730s. It quickly became the most important variety in East-Central Scotland. Sales quadrupled, from 0.5 million yards in 1747 to 2.2 million yards in 1758. It was exported mainly to England, the Netherlands and Britain's colonies in America.

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