The New International Encyclopædia/Dowlas

DOW′LAS (probably from Doullens, a town of France). A kind of coarse, strong unbleached linen, much used in the sixteenth century, and said to have been made at Doullens, France. It was largely manufactured in southern Scotland and in Yorkshire in the eighteenth century, and used by working people for shirts and aprons. Since the introduction of calico, the demand for dowlas has very much diminished, the article being little used.