View source for Baize

{{Short description|Coarse woollen cloth, similar in texture to felt}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2011}}
[[File:Snooker table.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|A baize-covered snooker table]]

'''Baize''' is a coarse [[woollen]] (or in cheaper variants [[cotton]]) [[cloth]], similar in texture to [[felt]], but more durable.

==History==
A mid-17th-century English [[wikt:ditty|ditty]]&nbsp;– much quoted in histories of ale and beer brewing in England&nbsp;– refers to 1525:<br />

{{blockquote|Hops, heresies, bays, and beer;<br />Came into England all in one year.}}

''Heresies'' refers to the Protestant [[Reformation]], while ''bays'' is the [[Elizabethan English|Elizabethan]] spelling for ''baize''<ref>{{cite web |work=Life in Elizabethan England |url= http://elizabethan.org/compendium/75.html |title=Good English Ale |date=22 March 2008 |first=Paula Kate |last=Marmor |access-date=20 February 2011}}</ref> (though ''bay'' and ''baize'' eventually came to describe two similar but distinguishable types of cloth, as described below).

==Applications==
Baize is often used on [[billiard tables]] to cover the {{cuegloss|slate}} and {{cuegloss|cushions}}, and is also used on different kinds of gaming tables (usually gambling) such as those for [[blackjack]], [[baccarat]], [[craps]] and other [[casino]] games. It is also found as a writing surface, particularly on 19th century [[pedestal desk]]s.

The surface finish of baize is coarse, thus increasing rolling resistance and perceptibly slowing [[billiard ball]]s. Baize is available with and without a perceptible [[Nap (fabric)|nap]]. [[Snooker]], in which understanding nap effects is part of the game, uses the nappy variety, while [[Pool (cue sports)|pool]] and [[carom billiards]] use the napless type.

For gaming use, baize is traditionally [[dye]]d green, in mimicry of a lawn ''(see [[Cue sport#History|Cue sport, "History"]])'', though wide variety of table colours have become accepted. [[Bay (cloth)|Bay]] was similar material to baize, but lighter in weight and with a shorter nap.<ref>{{cite book |title=Textiles in America 1650–1870 |last=Montgomery |first=Florence M. |date=1984 |location=New York / London |publisher=Norton |page=152 |isbn=978-0-393-01703-8 |quote=Heaton distinguished between bay and baize: 'the bay was light, baise is heavy and with a long nap' (''Letter Books of Joseph Holroyd'', p. 11n). |url= https://archive.org/details/textilesinameric00mont/page/152/mode/2up?q=Bay+and+say |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=Baize
|width=295
|height=295
|File:Baize closeup.jpg|alt1=Baize closeup|A closeup of the weave of [[worsted]] baize. This particular sample is Simonis 760, a high-end [[pool (cue sports)|pool]] cloth; it is [[Nap (textile)|napless]], unlike [[snooker]] cloth.
|File:Baize and ball.jpg|alt2=Baize and ball|A similar cloth sample as in the previous image, from further away and with a [[w:Billiard ball|pool ball]] for scale.
}}

==Idioms and catchphrases==
* "Let's get the boys on the baize!" has been a [[catchphrase]] of [[BBC Television|BBC TV]] [[snooker]] presenter [[Rob Walker (sports announcer)|Rob Walker]] since 2008.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Reason |date=4 May 2008 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/snooker/2299341/Ronnie-OSullivan-greater-than-Tiger-Woods.html |title=Ronnie O'Sullivan greater than Tiger Woods |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=5 May 2014}}</ref>
* At one time, "the green baize door" (a door to which cloth had been tacked to deaden noise) in a house separated the servants' quarters from the family's living quarters;<ref>{{cite book |first=Graham |last=Greene |author-link=Graham Greene |title=The Basement Room |publisher=Penguin |date=1976 |orig-year=1935 |page=125<!--Specific page number in a specific old edition not identified by ISBN. It would be better to find and re-cite this material in a newer edition that can be ISBN-identified.-->}} Also republished as ''The Fallen Idol''.</ref> hence the phrase's usage as a [[Metonymy|metonym]] for [[Domestic servant|domestic service]]. Moving men in the children's book ''[[The Railway Children]]'' wore green baize aprons.

==See also==
* ''[[Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commons category|Baize}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Baize|volume=3 |short=x}}

{{Fabric}}

[[Category:Cue sports equipment]]
[[Category:Pile fabrics]]
[[Category:Snooker equipment]]
[[Category:Woven fabrics]]
[[Category:Waulked textiles]]

[[ja:ラシャ]]