Note 738 — MAGNA CARTA. (continued 4)

At a later date cloth of an alternative standard width was also legalized, viz., of one yard between the “lists.” Hence arose the distinction between “broadcloth” (that is, cloth of two yards) and “streits” (that is, narrow cloth of one yard). (See Statute I Richard III. c. 8.) The word “broadcloth” has, long since, changed its meaning, and now denotes material of superior quality, quite irrespective of width. See Oxford English Dictionary, under “Broadcloth.”