One of the various meanings of the English word 'pall' is that of a large cloth usually of black, purple or white velvet, which is spread over a coffin, hearse or tomb. This meaning came into general use by the mid-fifteenth century. Several embroidered palls from England from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries have survived, including the Bakers’ Pall, the Fishmongers’ Pall, the Sudbury Pall and the Fayrey Pall.