Several years ago, I used to buy most of our gardening stuff from the ironmongers here in the village - now sadly closed.
When I used to go there for - say - one small packet of seeds, I used to come out with about a dozen packets of seeds, a new set of spanners, a stainless steel wrench and a gallon of white paint, because Peter was such a great guy, and also, of course, a good salesman!
One item he did always stock though has got me slightly stuck.
I wanted a ball of garden twine, and of course, he had several sizes of twine ranging from the small cottage garden to a twenty-acre small-holding...
And he called the average sized ball I bought, a ball of 'Phyllis' (or maybe 'Fillis')!
I've tried to find out where the name came from, and may be missing the obvious, but has anyone else ever heard ordinary garden twine called by this name?