Cambric or 'batiste', one of the finest and most dense kinds of cloth, is a lightweight plain-weave cloth, originally from the French commune of Cambrai, woven in greige, then bleached, piece-dyed and often glazed or calendared.

Initially, it was made of linen; later, the term came to be applied to cotton fabrics as well. Cambric is used as fabric for linens, shirts, handkerchiefs, ruffs, lace and needlework.

The term "cambric cloth" also applies to a stiff, usually black, open-weave cloth typically used for a dust cover on the bottom of upholstered furniture.

The English folk song ballad 'Scarborough Fair' has the lyric in the second verse "Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, Sewn without seams or fine needlework, Then she'll be a true love of mine."

It also appears in the David Bowie song, 'Come And Buy My Toys' in the lyrics "You shall own a cambric shirt, you shall work your father's land."

In Agatha Christie's novel 'Murder on the Orient Express' aka 'Murder in the First Class Carriage,' a cambric handkerchief with an 'H' monogram is one of the clues in the murder.

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