diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-02 21:51:27 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-02 21:51:27 -0800 |
| commit | c5681b7b984494f8c434fa4fe88fd2a6ca3cd3e0 (patch) | |
| tree | ec6ba9b7598fccd184889416b5c12cd021ce0824 | |
| parent | 1c8afb4aea60c12824804f2d91937825c1ea235e (diff) | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68781-0.txt | 4135 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68781-0.zip | bin | 94128 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68781-h.zip | bin | 173659 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68781-h/68781-h.htm | 5209 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68781-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 68141 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68781-h/images/i_098.jpg | bin | 7747 -> 0 bytes |
9 files changed, 17 insertions, 9344 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2749ab6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68781 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68781) diff --git a/old/68781-0.txt b/old/68781-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index af5a9a3..0000000 --- a/old/68781-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4135 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Notes historical, æsthetical, -ethnological, physiological, anecdotal and tonsorial, on the hair & -beard, by Trichocosmos (pseud) - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Notes historical, æsthetical, ethnological, physiological, - anecdotal and tonsorial, on the hair & beard - -Author: Trichocosmos (pseud) - -Release Date: August 22, 2022 [eBook #68781] - -Language: English - -Produced by: deaurider, Karin Spence and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES HISTORICAL, -ÆSTHETICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL, ANECDOTAL AND TONSORIAL, ON -THE HAIR & BEARD *** - - - - - - TRICHOCOSMOS. - - - NOTES - - HISTORICAL, ÆSTHETICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL, - - PHYSIOLOGICAL, ANECDOTAL, - - AND - - TONSORIAL, - - ON - - THE HAIR & BEARD. - - - “Fair tresses man’s imperial race ensnare, - And beauty draws us with a single hair.” - - - LONDON: - READ & Co., 10, JOHNSON’S COURT, FLEET ST. - - _Entered at Stationers’ Hall._ - - (THE RIGHT OF TRANSLATION IS RESERVED.) - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - CHAP. PAGE. - - I. The Beauty of the Hair 3 - - II. The Fashion of Antiquity 7 - - III. Freaks of Fashion 17 - - IV. Wigs 42 - - V. Barbers 83 - - VI. Structure, Growth, and Colour of the Hair 112 - - - - - BEAUTY OF THE HAIR. - - CHAPTER I. - - -Although much time and attention are usually bestowed in dressing and -ornamenting the hair, in compliance with the dictates of fashion, but -little regard is paid to the natural beauty of the hair itself, as -contributing to the expression and comeliness of the features. The -absurdities and caprices of fashion have been constant themes for -ridicule and declamation with the wits of all ages. The sharp epigrams -of Martial, the satires of Juvenal, the anathemas of the Romish -ecclesiastics, the invectives of sour Puritans, the coarse raillery of -Swift, and the good humour of Addison, have all in turn been levelled -against some prevailing folly of the day. It is not our intention, -however, to act the part of censor, but, as humble chroniclers, to note -the change from one fashion to another. - -Before entering on the task we will say a few words about the hair, -in relation to art, a subject of some interest, and which we believe -has not been sufficiently insisted on. The hair is, undoubtedly, the -chief ornament of the head; we naturally associate the idea of vigour, -fertility, and gracefulness, with its growth. Its flowing outline -gives grace and freedom to the symmetry of the features, and by a -little license of the artist’s hand, its form may be made to correct -whatever harshness of character the countenance may chance to have -acquired. In the colour, too, and texture of the hair, what facilities -are afforded for heightening the charm of the most delicate complexion, -or the dignity of the manly brow. The poets have universally recognised -the truth of these principles, and in their descriptions of ideal -beauty we invariably find some allusion to the hair. - -Milton delights to adorn the human countenance with long hair, flowing -in rich profusion. Of Eve he sings: - - “She, as a veil, down to the slender waist - Her unadorned golden tresses wore - Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved - As the vine curls her tendrils,----” - -and to Adam he gives - - “Hyacinthine locks - Round from his parted forelock manly hung.” - -Even his angels are conspicuous for their beautiful hair--for instance - - “Of charming sunny rays a golden tiar - Circled his head, nor less his locks behind - Illustrious on his shoulders, fledge with wings, - Lay waving round”---- - -The vivid descriptions of Homer, full of local colouring, afford -many instances of the picturesque effect produced by duly noting so -apparently a trivial matter, as the colour or crispness of the hair. -Shakspere makes frequent allusions to its beauty: at the touch of his -master hand a gleam of light seems to play about the silken tresses: - - “Here in her hairs - The painter plays the spider, and hath woven - A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men!” - -The Italian poets also show the same love of the beautiful, and -fondness for - - “Le crespe chiome d’or puro lucente.” - -How much the form and variety of the hair help to distinguish the style -and character of a composition was well understood by the ancient -sculptors and painters. “The hair of the Phidian Jove, in the Vatican, -rises in spouts, as it were, from the forehead, and then falls in -waving curls, like the mane of the lion, most majestic and imperial in -appearance. The crisp curls of Hercules again remind us of the short -locks between the horns of the indomitable bull; whilst the hair of -Neptune falls down wet and dank, like his own sea-weed. The beautiful -flowing locks of Apollo, full and free, represent perpetual youth; and -the gentle, vagrant, bewitching tresses of Venus, denote most clearly -her peculiar characters and claims as a divinity of Olympus.” We remark -the same peculiarity in the portraits by Sir Peter Lely of the court -beauties of the time of Charles II. - - “Loves walks the pleasant mazes of the hair.” - -Hair is to the human aspect what foliage is to the landscape; and, -whenever pen or pencil is guided by poetic feeling or good taste, -it lingers with admiration and delight amid the shadows and glossy -silken sheen--the ever-varying tints, and waving, wanton loveliness of -sunny, luxuriant hair. Indeed, so beautiful is the hair itself, when -arranged with taste, and kept in good order, (that is in a growing, -healthful state,) that the addition of any further ornament, by way of -head-dress, is all but superfluous. Not that all ornament should be -dispensed with, but that great judgment is necessary in selecting such -as correct taste may approve. Addison, with his usual good sense, thus -counsels his fair readers: “I would desire the fair sex to consider -how impossible it is for them to add anything that can be ornamental -to what is already the masterpiece of nature. The head has the most -beautiful appearance, as well as the highest station, in the human -figure. Nature has laid out all her art in beautifying the face; she -has touched it with vermilion, planted in it a double row of ivory, -made it the seat of smiles and blushes, lightened it up and enlivened -it with the eyes, hung it on each side with curious organs of sense, -given it airs and graces which cannot be described, and surrounded it -with such a flowing shade of hair as sets its beauties in the most -agreeable light. In short, she seems to have designed the head as a -cupola to the most glorious of her works; and when we load it with such -a pile of supernumerary ornaments, we destroy the symmetry of the human -figure, and foolishly contrive to call off the eye from great and real -beauties to childish gew-gaws, ribbons, and bone lace.” - -And beautiful exceedingly are those beloved memorials--the silken locks -of childhood, the treasured tresses of riper years, or the silver gray -of reverend old age--which, in the eyes of sorrowing friends, are the -dearest relics of the loved ones whose angel spirits beyond the tomb -have passed through death into eternity. - - “There seems a love in hair, though it be dead: - It is the gentlest, yet the strongest thread - Of our frail plant--a blossom from the tree - Surviving the proud trunk; as if it said, - Patience and Gentleness in Power. In me - Behold affectionate eternity.” - _Leigh Hunt._ - - - - - THE FASHION OF ANTIQUITY. - - CHAPTER II. - - -The fashion of ornamenting the hair is an universal vanity, probably as -old as the creation; for the earliest records and antiquities introduce -us to the mysteries of wigs and beard cases, and such evident and -lavish displays of tonsorial art, as remind one more of the skilful -artist than the first rude essays of the craft. It has been suggested -by a writer in the _Quarterly Review_ that we are indebted to Eve -herself for the first principles of the art, and that probably by the -reflection in some tranquil stream she made her earliest studies. - -In the sculptures from Nineveh we have an exact representation of the -fashion of the hair among the Assyrians--thousands of years before -Britain had a place in history. The office of _coiffeur_ in those -days must evidently have been one of no little importance. From the -king on the throne--the mighty hunter, lion slayer, and destroyer -of men--his counsellors, and great captains, to the poor slave, the -mere hewer of wood and drawer of water, all seem to have passed under -the discipline of the curling-irons. The curling and plaiting of the -beard and hair, as shown in the sculptures, is doubtless intended -as a distinguishing mark of a superior and conquering race. Their -colossal-winged bulls and monstrous deities are adorned with the same -venerable badge of power and authority. Since nearly all that is known -on this subject is directly derived from the researches of Mr. Layard, -we cannot do better than refer to the volumes of one to whom not only -this nation, but the civilised world, are indebted for his arduous and -most successful explorations. - -“The Assyrians paid particular attention to the adorning of their -persons. Besides wearing numerous ornaments, they most carefully and -elaborately platted their hair and beards. The hair was parted over the -forehead, and fell from behind the ears on the shoulders in a large -bunch of ringlets. The beard was allowed to grow to its full length, -and, descending low on the breast, was divided into two or three rows -of curls. The moustache was also carefully trimmed and curled at the -ends. The hair, as well as the beard, appears to have been dyed, as is -still the custom in Persia; but it has been doubted whether the hair, -represented in the sculptures, was natural or artificial. - -“According to Herodotus (Lib. 1, c. 195) the Babylonians wore their -hair long. The great regularity of the curls in the sculptures would -certainly lead to the impression that part of the hair, at least, -was false; but we can scarcely suppose that the warriors, as well as -the king and the principal officers of state, wore false beards, for -all the sculptured beards are equally elaborate and studied in the -arrangement. The mode of representing hair in the bas-reliefs is most -probably conventional. Most Eastern people have been celebrated for -the length and beauty of their hair, and if the Assyrians were as well -provided with it as the inhabitants of Persia were in the days of -Darius, or as they now are, they would have had little occasion for a -wig.” - -The hair of females, in the sculptures, is usually represented in long -ringlets, sometimes plaited and braided, and at other times confined -in a net. The modern fashion of wearing the hair in a net is therefore -a revival of a very ancient one. Isaiah alludes to “the caps of -net-work,” (chap. III., v. 8). - -It is to ancient Egypt we must look for the earliest instance of a -people investing themselves with that symbol of wisdom and gravity--the -wig. It was reserved for the courtiers of Louis XIII. to re-introduce -and remodel the ancient perruque, but its origin certainly dates from -a very remote antiquity. The Egyptians as a nation were “all shaven -and shorn:” they shaved even the heads of young children, leaving only -certain locks as an emblem of youth. All classes among the people, the -slaves imported from foreign countries not excepted, were compelled -to submit to the tonsure. The universal custom of shaving the head -led to the use of wigs. “It may appear singular,” says Wilkinson, -“that so warm a covering to the head should have been adopted in the -climate of Egypt; but we must recollect the reticulated texture of the -ground-work, on which the hair was fastened, allowed the heat of the -head to escape, while the hair effectually protected it from the sun: -it is evident that no better covering could have been devised, and that -it far surpassed, in comfort and coolness, the modern turban.” Wigs -were worn both within the house and out of doors, like the turban of -the present day. A wig in the British Museum, from the temple of Isis, -and one in the Berlin Museum, still attest the skill of the Egyptian -artist. For the use of those who could not afford the more expensive -wigs of real hair, an imitation appears to have been made of wool and -other stuffs. A most singular custom of the Egyptians was that of -tying a false beard upon the chin, which was made of plaited hair, and -of a peculiar form, according to the rank of the person by whom it -was worn. Private individuals had a small beard, scarcely two inches -long; that of a king was of considerable length, square at the bottom; -and the figure of gods were distinguished by its turning up at the -ends. The women always wore their hair long and plaited. The back part -was made to consist of a number of strings of hair, reaching to the -shoulder-blades, and on each side other strings of the same descended -over the breast. The hair was plaited in the triple plait, the ends -being left loose, or, more usually, two or three plaits were fastened -together at the extremity by woollen strings of corresponding colour. -Many of the mummies of women have been found with the hair perfectly -preserved, plaited in the manner described, the only alteration in its -appearance being the change of its black hue, which became reddened by -exposure to great heat, during the process of embalming. - -The Hebrews wore their hair generally short, and checked its growth by -the application of scissors only. They seem at an early period to have -availed themselves of the assistance of art, not only for beautifying -the hair, but increasing its thickness; while the heads of the priests -were anointed with an unguent of a peculiar kind. The custom of -anointing the head became a general mark of gentility, and an essential -part of the daily toilet. The Lawgiver of the Jews did not think it -beneath the dignity of his code to introduce into it an especial -ordinance concerning the fashion of the beard--“Thou shalt not mar the -corners of the beard”--(Leviticus XIX., v. 27). By the “corners” the -commentators understand the extremities; and this precept, no doubt, -like others in the same chapter, arose from the leading policy of the -theocracy, which sought to create a people in everything distinct from, -and unmixed with, the idolators by whom they were surrounded. - -It was the noble destiny of the Greeks to add beauty and refinement -to the creations and speculations of a previous age. The love of the -beautiful was a passion with the Greeks; it was stamped, so to speak, -on the meanest objects of every-day life, and found its loftiest -expression in their poetry and the magnificent works of art, which -every civilized people regard as models for imitation. Even in the -mere matter of a head-dress, we are struck with the beauty of the -classic forms in Greek sculpture, which show a rare perception of the -beautiful, in wonderful contrast to the barbarism of earlier, and, we -may add, succeeding ages. In Homer the Greeks are repeatedly spoken -of as the “long-haired Greeks,” and to almost every character in the -Iliad and Odyssey some epithet is applied in allusion to the beauty of -the hair. It is enough to allude to the fair-haired Helen, the nymph -Calypso, Circe, and Ariadne; the flowing locks of Achilles, the curls -of Paris, and the auburn hair of Ulysses. It will be remembered that -Achilles made sacrifice of his yellow hair at the funeral pyre of -Patroclus, in honour of the friend he loved. - -The ancient practice of wearing the hair long was adhered to for many -centuries by the Spartans. The Spartan boys always had their hair cut -quite short; but, as soon as they reached the age of puberty, they let -it grow long. They prided themselves upon their hair, and called it -the cheapest of ornaments. Before engaging in battle, they combed and -dressed their hair with much care, as did Leonidas and his followers at -Thermopylae. - -The custom of the Athenians was different. They wore their hair long -in childhood; but the youths cut off their flowing locks at a certain -age, and, as a religious ceremony, consecrated them to some god: -on attaining the age of manhood, they again let the hair grow. In -ancient times at Athens the hair was rolled up in a kind of knot on -the crown of the head, and fastened with golden clasps in the shape of -grasshoppers. The Athenian females, also, wore the hair much in the -same fashion. It was usually confined in a net-work of silk or gold -thread, or a cap or turban of close material, and, at times, by broad -bands of cloth of different colours wound round the head. - -The Greek philosophers were distinguished by their majestic beards, -and Socrates, it would seem, pre-eminently so. Homer’s description of -the venerable beards of Nestor and Priam is doubtless familiar to most -readers. The Greeks wore their beards till the time of Alexander; and -Plutarch mentions that the beards of the Macedonian soldiers were cut -off to prevent the enemy from seizing hold of them in battle. - -Pliny says that the Romans wore their hair long till the year 454 -A.U.C., when P. Ticinius Mena first introduced a number of barbers from -Sicily. Those bearded ancestors of the Romans, with their long hair, -came, in after times, to be regarded with no little reverence, as the -true type of manly virtue and integrity, “the fine old _Roman_ -gentleman.” At the time of the invasion of the Gauls, Livy tells us, as -the soldiers entered Rome, they were struck with awe and astonishment -at the noble beards and venerable aspect of the old magnates seated at -their thresholds; and, that a soldier venturing, out of mere curiosity, -but to touch the beard of one of them, the affront was resented by -a blow with his ivory sceptre, which was the signal for a general -slaughter. - -The hair was usually worn short and crisp till the time of Commodus, -who was particularly luxurious in the dressing and ornamenting of his -hair, which was powdered with gold. Having, however, a somewhat uneasy -conscience, he resorted to the singular practice of burning off the -beard, “timore tonsoris,” says Lampridius. - -Scipio Africanus first set the example of shaving. Persons of quality -had their children shaved for the first time by a person of the same or -greater quality, who, by this means, became godfather or adopted father -of the children. The day was observed as one of rejoicing, and the hair -of the beard made an offering to some god. The beard of Nero, we are -told, was put into a golden box adorned with pearls, and consecrated -in this way to Jupiter Capitolinus. Hadrian was the first emperor -who wore a beard; Plutarch says he wore it to hide the scars in his -face. Constantine was distinguished by the title of “Pogoniatos;” and -we should do injustice to Julian’s beard to omit mention of it here. -Gibbon says, “the Emperor had been insulted by satires and libels; and, -in his turn, composed, under the title of the ‘Enemy of the Beard,’ -an ironical confession of his own faults, and a severe satire on the -licentious and effeminate manners of Antioch.” He descants with seeming -complacency on his own “shaggy and _populous beard_”--a phrase -which we may interpret literally or not, as we please. The historian -adds, “This imperial reply was publicly exposed before the gates of -the palace, and the MISOPOGON remains a singular monument of the -resentment, the wit, the humanity, and the indiscretion of Julian.” -Probably no nation ever patronized the tonsor with more assiduity than -Rome in the decadence of the Empire. The young patrician exquisites -of those days devoted hours daily to the barber and the bath; and no -lady’s train of slaves was complete without the _ornatrix_, whose -duty it was to attend the toilet of her mistress, for the special -purpose of dressing her hair. - -An elegant simplicity at one time characterized the head-dress of the -Roman ladies, who generally adopted the fashion of the Greeks, which -usually, however, soon degenerated into extravagance and coarseness. -They piled upon their heads imitations of castles and crowns, cumbrous -wreaths, and other absurdities, and knotted the hair with tiresome -minuteness. - - “With curls on curls they build their head before, - And mount it with a formidable tower: - A giantess she seems, but look behind; - And then she dwindles to the pigmy kind.” - -The _calamistrum_ or curling irons, had a busy time of it, for the -craving after novelty was intense, and any artificial arrangement of -the hair welcomed as a change. - - “More leaves the forest yields not from the trees, - Than there be fashions of attire in view, - For each succeeding day brings something new.” - -Poppea, Nero’s wife, was so conspicuous for the beauty of her hair, -that he composed a poem in honour of it. - -It was the custom of the Romans to let their beard and hair grow during -the period of mourning; as we are informed by Suetonius, Augustus did -his, after the terrible Varian catastrophe. The slaves had the hair -cut close as a mark of servitude. Wigs and false hair were worn by the -Romans, more especially by the females; thus Martial---- - - “The golden hair which Galla wears - Is her’s--who would have thought it? - She swears ’tis hers; and true she swears, - For I know where she bought it!” - -Juvenal describes Messalina putting on a wig of flaxen hair to conceal -her own black locks when she left the palace in disguise: - - “Et nigrum flavo crinem abscondente galero.” - -Among the Gauls (Gallia comata) long and flowing hair was greatly -esteemed. Cæsar says that he always ordered the long hair of the -conquered races to be shaved off, in submission to the Roman arms; and, -during the decline of the empire, whenever a province revolted, the -patriot leaders urged the adoption of the opposite fashion of wearing -long hair, as a mark of freedom and independence. Thus the fashion of -the hair, as in later times, had a political significance, and took -part in revolutions and the great struggles for social freedom. - - - - - FREAKS OF FASHION. - - CHAPTER III. - - -We will now conduct the reader, who has condescended to accompany -us thus far, through the succeeding centuries and complete our -illustrations of the fashion of bygone times. - -Cæsar describes the Britons as having long flowing hair, and a beard on -the upper lip only. A bust in the British Museum, one of the Townley -marbles, supposed by some to represent Caractacus, may be taken as a -good example of the fashion of hair worn by the British chieftains. -The hair is parted along the crown of the head, and disposed on each -side of the face and down in the neck in thick bold masses. Immense -tangled moustaches, reaching sometimes to the breast, completed the -hirsute ornaments of the tattooed Briton. Strabo says, in his time the -inhabitants of the Scilly Islands had long beards, like goats. Dion -Cassius alludes to the long yellow hair of Boadicea flowing over her -shoulders, which sufficiently indicates the _coiffure_ of that -undaunted heroine. - -The Anglo Saxons considered fine hair as the most becoming of personal -ornaments, and took every pains to dress it to the greatest advantage. -Aneurin, the Welch bard, says, the warriors wore a profusion of hair, -and were as proud of it as the women, decking it with beads and -ornaments. It was worn long, and parted on the forehead, falling -naturally on the shoulders; the beard of ample growth, and forked. To -have the hair cut entirely off was considered a great disgrace--a mode -of punishment inflicted upon criminals. Adhelm, bishop of Sherbone, -who wrote in the eighth century, describes a maiden as having her -locks delicately curled by the iron of those adorning her. The clergy -were obliged to shave the crowns of their heads, and to keep their -hair short to distinguish them from the laity. Again and again the -denunciations of the clergy were directed against the practice of -wearing long hair, but with partial results; the old Teutonic love of -flowing locks was too strong to be extinguished by the threatenings of -the Church. - -When the Gauls were ruled by native sovereigns, none but nobles and -priests were allowed to wear long beards. A close shaven chin was a -mark of servitude. In the days of Charlemagne, kings rivalled each -other in the length and majesty of their beards. Eginhard, secretary to -Charlemagne, describes the old race of kings as coming to the Field of -Mars in a carriage drawn by oxen, and sitting on the throne with their -flowing beards and dishevelled locks. So sacred a thing was a king’s -beard, that three of the hairs enclosed in the seal of a letter or -charter were considered the most solemn pledge a king could offer. - -The Danes, like the Anglo Saxons, took great pride in their hair; and -the English women, we are told, were not a little captivated with some -Danish officers, who especially delighted in combing and tending their -hair: and we read of one Harold with the fair locks, whose thick -ringlets reached to his girdle. - -The Normans, at the time of the Conquest, not only shaved the upper lip -and the entire face, but also cropped close or shaved the back of the -head. Harold’s spies, unacquainted with so singular a custom, on the -approach of the Conqueror’s forces, reported that his army was composed -of priests, and not soldiers. Holinshed states that after the Conquest -the English were ordered to shave their beards and round their hair, -after the Norman fashion. When William returned to Normandy, he took -with him some young Englishmen, as hostages: the French greatly admired -their long beautiful curls. The Normans and Flemings, who accompanied -the Conqueror, were too solicitous about their good looks to be long -restricted to the stunted growth prescribed by military rule. All -classes soon indulged in the forbidden luxury, and, as is usually the -case, the reaction was extreme; so much so, that William of Malmesbury -who makes complaint of the cropping of his countrymen in the previous -reign, reprobates the immoderate length of the hair in the time of -Rufus. - -The prevailing sin of unshorn locks and curled moustaches had long been -a grievous scandal in the eyes of the clergy. Councils were held at -Limoges, in 1031; by Gregory VII. in 1073, and again at Rouen in 1095; -on this much discussed grievance. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury -refused his benediction to those who would not cut their hair. And -Serlo, bishop of Seez, when Henry was in Normandy, seems to have taken -the matter literally into his own hands. Observing that the king and -courtiers were moved by his zeal and eloquence, when preaching against -this extravagant profusion of hair, he pulled out a pair of scissors, -and docked the whole congregation, king and all, on the spot. A royal -edict to the like effect was immediately issued. St. Wulstan, bishop of -Worcester, took a somewhat singular method of enforcing his commands. -When anyone knelt to receive his blessing, he would snip off a lock of -their hair, throwing it in their face, and bidding them to cut off the -rest, or perish in perdition. - -The effigies of Henry and his Queen Matilda, at Rochester Cathedral, -show the style of hair worn in those days. The king is represented with -the beard trimmed round, and hair flowing in carefully-twisted ringlets -upon his shoulders and down his back. The queen’s hair descends in two -long plaits to the hips, and terminates in small curls. These plaits -were sometimes encased in silk, and bound round with ribbon. - -Whatever changes were effected by the zeal of the clergy, it is certain -that the fops in Stephen’s reign had not conformed to their teachings. -Historians describe their effeminate ringlets: and when these were not -sufficiently ample, recourse was had to false hair. - -In France, the denunciations of the clergy were as little heeded as -in England. Louis VII., however, sacrificed his hair to save his -conscience; he shaved himself as close as a monk, and disgusted his -pleasure-loving queen, Eleanor of Guienne, by his denuded aspect and -asceticism. Eleanor bestowed her favors upon another, was divorced, and -subsequently gave her hand and dower--the fair provinces of Guienne and -Poitou--to Henry, duke of Normandy, afterwards king of England--the -first of the Plantaganets. In Henry’s reign the old Norman custom, of -shaving the beard closely, was revived. - -During the absence of Richard Cœur de Lion, closely trimmed hair and -shaven faces were the fashion; but, towards the close of this reign, -short beards and moustaches reappeared. - -In king John’s reign curled hair was so much the fashion, that the -beaux seldom appeared with any covering on their head, that their -flowing locks might be everywhere admired. The king himself, and the -nobles of his party, wore beard and moustaches, out of contempt, it is -said, for the discontented barons. His effigy in Worcester Cathedral -has the beard closely trimmed, and moustaches. - -Curls and a shaven face, denote the gentlemen in the days of Henry -III.; the ladies wear the hair turned up and confined in a caul. - -Crispness of the hair and beard (which was curled with the nicest -care) was the favourite fashion at the court of Edward Longshanks. His -successor, as we may judge from the effigy at Gloucester, wore the -beard carefully curled, and the hair cut square on the forehead, which -hung in wavy ringlets below the ears. Can it be true that the beard of -this wretched king suffered the indignity we read of in history? Did -Maltravers order the king to be shaven with cold water from a dirty -puddle, while on a journey near Carnarvon; and the poor king, - - “Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen, - Fallen from his high estate,” - -bursting into tears exclaim, “Here at least is warm water on my cheeks, -whether you will or not.” Beards at that time were seldom worn but by -aged persons, officers of state, and knights templars. - -Edward III. on his tomb at Westminster, is figured with a noble beard, -which would not have disgraced the chin of some old Greek in the heroic -ages. - -In Richard the Second’s reign, we notice the hair of the ladies caught -up prettily in a gold fret or caul, the hair usually surmounted by some -ornament in jewelry, in the form of a chaplet, as described by Chaucer: - - “And everich on her head - A rich fret of golde, which withouden drede - Was full of stately net stones set, - And every lady had a chapelet.” - -The king, as appears from his effigy, wore flowing curls, confined -by a narrow fillet round the temple; his beard and moustache short, -from which two small tufts depended on each side of the chin. The -“Canterbury Tales” furnish admirable sketches by a master-hand -in illustration of our subject. The squire, “a lover and a lusty -bachelor,” is pictured “with lockés curl’d as they were laid in press;” -the franklin had a beard - - “White was his beard as is the dayesy;” - -the merchant-- - - “A merchant was there with a forked beard;” - -and the sumpnour, - - “With sealled browes, black and pilled beard.’ - The _Pardoner_ had hair as yellow as wax, - But smooth it hung, as doth a strike of flax; - By ounces hung his lockés that he had, - And therewith he his shoulders overspread, - Full thin it lay by culpons, on and on. - - * * * * * - - No beard had he, no ever none should have, - As smooth it was as it were newe shave.” - -The “shipman,” we know not if he had “the long gray beard, and -glittering eye,” of The Ancient Mariner, but - - “With many a tempest had his beard been shaken;” - -the miller’s beard, - - “As any sow or fox, was red, - And thereto broad, as though it were a spade;” - -and the Reve-- - - “The Revé was a choleric man, - His head was shav’d as nigh as ever he can; - His hair was by his earés round yshorn; - His top was decked like a priest beforn.” - -But here we must part company with the pilgrims, and proceed on our way. - -During the reign of Henry IV., there occurred a marked change of -fashion; the hair was now closely cropped round the head. The king -retained the beard and moustaches; but, his successor, Henry V., -discarded them, and, in his reign, even military men seldom wore -moustaches, and none but old men had beards. A kind of horned -head-dress was in favour with females, which Lydgate, the monk of Bury, -ridicules: - - “Horns were given to beasts for defence; - A thing contrary to feminity-- - -but “feminity” heeded not. - -Men’s faces were all closely shaven in the time of Henry VII.; and -certain turban-like and heart-shaped head-dresses, worn by females, -were now of such unusual width, that we are told the doors of the -palace at Vincennes had to be altered to admit the Queen of Charles -VII., Isabella of Bavaria, when in full dress. At Paris, the horned -head-dresses were doomed to perish in the flames. In 1429, a famous -cordelier, one Thomas Conecte, preached in the church of St. Genevieve, -for nine days in succession, to some thousands of auditors, against the -pomps and vanities of this wicked world; and, in a fit of enthusiasm, -fires were lighted, the men flung their dice and cards into the -flames, and the women their monstrous head-dresses, tails, and other -articles of finery. A somewhat similar head-dress, however, survives to -this day among the peasantry about Rouen, Caen, &c.; and the steeple -head-dress of the fifteenth century is exactly represented by the -_Cauchoise_, still worn in Normandy. - -Again in the reign of Edward IV., another change occurs, and the hair -is suffered to hang in profusion over the ears in large thick masses, -called “side locks,” covering the forehead, and drooping over the eyes -in a very awkward manner--a fashion which scarcely varied during the -remaining years of the Plantaganets. - -Leland, in his description of the pageants at the marriage of Elizabeth -to Henry VII., relates how the Queen was royally apparelled, “her -fair yellow hair hanging down plain behind her back, with a caul (or -net-work) of pipes over it, and a circlet of gold, richly garnished -with precious stones, upon her head.” To wear the hair at full length -on the shoulders was the approved fashion for a bride--Anne Boleyn -was so attired at her nuptials--and the fashion was very generally -followed by unmarried females. The men vied with the fair sex in the -length of their flowing curls, and the dandies, especially, loaded -their shoulders with a rich profusion. Louis XII. of France had a very -magnificent _chevelure_, till disease compelled him to take refuge -in a wig. - -It is almost as needless to say ought of “bluff king Hal,” as to -describe the current coin of the realm. He is a sort of Blue Beard, -and the tragical story of his wives is known to everybody. He it was, -who, in his royal will and pleasure, issued a peremptory order that the -heads of his attendants and courtiers should be polled. We may be sure -that short crops were soon in fashion. The Venetian ambassador at the -English court writes, that when Henry heard that the king of France -wore a beard, he allowed his, also, to grow, which, being somewhat red, -had the appearance of golden hair. Henry was then about twenty-nine -years of age. - -Francis the First, who was wounded in a tournament, had to submit to -the loss of his locks; so the pliant courtiers parted with theirs, -which set the fashion of cropping the hair very close. - -We have seen how bishops, in olden time, laid violent hands on their -flocks, and imposed penalties on the laity, for too successfully -cultivating their curls. But the sight of a bishop in danger of being -shaved by his colleagues is a curiosity. We give the story as we find -it in Southey’s “Omniana:” “Guillaume Duprat, bishop of Clermont, -who assisted at the council of Trent, and built the college of the -Jesuits at Paris, had the finest beard that ever was seen. It was too -fine a beard for a bishop; and the canons of his cathedral, in full -chapter assembled, came to the barbarous resolution of shaving him. -Accordingly, when next he came to the choir, the dean, the _prevot_, -and the _chantre_ approached with scissors and razors, soap, basin, -and warm water. He took to his heels at the sight, and escaped to his -castle of Beauregard, about two leagues from Clermont, where he fell -sick, from vexation, and died.” - -Hastening onward, we come to the days of good Queen Bess--and foremost -is the figure of the queen herself-- - - “The cynosure of neighbouring eyes.” - -This was an age ever memorable for the choicest wits, and, we need -not scruple to add, BEARDS. These were of every variety of cut, size, -and colour; and certain professions were distinguished by particular -beards. The cathedral beard, long and square-trimmed, which fell upon -the breast, was worn by divines of the English church; the broad -spade-beards and steeletto beards by soldiers: the former in favour -with the Earl of Essex, the latter with Lord Southampton. There were, -likewise, hammer-shaped beards, like the Roman T, similar to the -formidable beard of the present Emperor of France; the _pique devant_, -forked, needle, and tile-shaped beard; and round, trimmed beards, “like -a glover’s paring-knife.” - -Taylor, the Water-Poet, who had a curious cork-screw beard of his own, -in his “Whip for Pride,” thus flagellates the whole race: - - Now a few lines to paper I will put, - Of men’s beards strange and variable cut; - In which there’s some do take as vain a pride - As almost in all other things beside. - Some are reaped most substantial as a brush, - Which make a natural wit known by the bush. - Some seem as they were starched stiff and fine, - Like to the bristles of some hungry swine; - And some (to set their love’s desire on edge) - Are cut and pruned like a quick-set hedge. - Some like a spade, some like a fork, some square, - Some round, some mowed like stubble, some stark bare; - Some sharp stiletto-fashion, dagger-like, - That may, with whispering, a man’s eye out pike; - Some with the hammer cut, or Roman T, - Their beards extravagant reformed must be; - Some with the quadrate, some triangle fashion, - Some circular, some oval in translation, - Some perpendicular in longitude, - Some like a thicket for their crassitude; - That heights, depths, breadths, triform, square, round, - And rules geometrical, in beards are found; - Besides the upper lip’s strange variation, - Corrected from mutation to mutation; - As ’twere from tithing unto tithing sent, - Pride gives Pride continual punishment. - Some (spite their teeth) like thatch’d eaves downward grows, - And some grow upwards in despite their nose. - Some their mustachios of such length do keep, - That very well they may a manger sweep! - Which in beer, ale, or wine, they drinking plunge, - And suck the liquor up as ’twere a sponge; - But ’tis a sloven’s beastly Pride, I think, - To wash his beard when other men may drink. - And some (because they will not rob the cup) - Their upper chaps like pot-hooks are turned up. - The Barbers, thus, (like Tailors) still must be - Acquainted with each cuts variety. - -The word beard, in former times, was understood to comprehend what -we now distinguish as beard, whiskers and moustaches. The colour of -the beard was considered of much importance, and dyed, when needful, -of the desired hue. Bottom, who was to act the part of Pyramus, “a -most gentleman-like man,” says, “I will discharge it in either your -straw-coloured beard, your orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain -beard, or your French-crown-colour beard, your perfect yellow,” nor -must we omit the most venerable of all, “a sable silvered.” There was, -also, the yellow, or Cain-coloured beard; and the red, or Judas-beard, -formerly supposed to indicate a treacherous nature. - -Beards of very noble proportions were worn at the era of the -Reformation. We may instance Calvin, Beza, Peter Martyr, Fox, Cranmer, -and John Knox, whose beard reached to his girdle. Possibly this length -of beard was encouraged as much out of opposition to the Romish church, -as from any real reverence for so patriarchal a fashion. Sully’s -or Lord Burleigh’s beard may be taken as the finest growth to which -statesmen have attained. The poets Spencer, Shakspere, and Beaumont, -present fine patterns for their tuneful brethren; and scholars, if -they despair of acquiring the erudition of a Scaliger, a Buchanan, -or a Buxtorf, may resemble these old worthies in their plenitude of -beard. Every painter is familiar with glorious old Titian’s beard, with -Reuben’s and Vandyke’s. - -And looking back through the vistas of past ages, the monarchs of -the intellectual world are, for the most part, distinguishable by -their handsome beards. Henry the Fourth, of France, could boast of a -splendid beard; but his successor, Louis XIII., was without, and the -pliant courtiers, in deference to the smooth face of royalty, gave up -wearing beards. Sully, however, retained his, much to the amusement -of some jesting spirits about the court. The old man, indignant at -such treatment, observed to the king, “Sire, your father, of glorious -memory, when he wished to consult me on state affairs, bade the fools -and jesters leave his presence.” - -Sir Thomas More’s beard but narrowly escaped the stroke of the axe -which ended the career of that illustrious man. The story is told thus: -Sir Thomas More at his execution, having laid his head upon the block, -and perceiving that his beard was extended in such a manner that it -would be cut through by the stroke of the executioner, asked him to -adjust it properly upon the block; and when the executioner told him he -need not trouble himself about his beard, when his head was about to -be cut off, “It is of little consequence to me,” said Sir Thomas, “but -it is a matter of some importance to you that you should understand -your profession, and not cut through my beard, when you had orders only -to cut off my head.” - -Ulmus of Padua wrote a folio volume on the Beard, as he well might, if -the length of his discourse were proportioned to the noble beards it -was his privilege to illustrate, and the dignity and gravity of the -subject he had to discuss. Hotoman wrote a “Treatise,” and Pierius -Valerianus an “Eulogium” on beards. Those of Italy and Spain alone -are worthy of a separate treatise. Many an Arab would rather lose his -head than part with his beard--it is part of his religion to honour -it; he swears by his beard: and Mahommed, we are told, never cut his. -In Spain, in old times, it was held in like reverence: an insult to -the beard could only be wiped out with blood. The seated corpse of the -Cid--so runs the story--knocked down a Jew who dared to offend against -its majesty by touching but a hair of the beard. It was reserved for -the pencil of Velasquez to give immortality to the martial beards of -Spain, which flourished proudly, and grew fiercely, amid the strife -and smoke of battles. The decline and fall of the Spanish beard is -attributed to Philip V. and his courtiers, in whose reign it was -abolished. Many a brave Spaniard felt the privation keenly; and it -became a common saying, “Since we have lost our beards, we seem to have -lost our souls.” - -The Longobardi, or Lombards, have made themselves a place in history; -and stubborn enough they proved at times, as Frederic I., the renowned -old Barbarossa, found to his cost. And was there not the terrible -Blue Beard--that incarnation of villainy and bloodthirstiness of -our childhood. Who has forgotten the beards of the Persian kings, -interwoven with gold; or the long white beard of the old Laconian -mentioned by Plutarch, who being asked why he let it grow so long, -replied, “It is that seeing continually my white beard, I may do -nothing unworthy of its whiteness?” Fuller, however, says, “Beard was -never the true standard of brains;” nor of valour either, if we may -trust Bassanio: - - “How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false - As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins - The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars; - Who inward search’d, have livers white as milk; - And these assume but valour’s excrement, - To render them redoubted.” - -There seems, at all times to have been a sinister protest, in some -quarter or other, against the presumed arrogance of the beard--a -lurking spirit of revolt, engendered possibly of envy, against the -supremacy of its reign. Even the would-be-philosopher of old did not -go unchallenged, as we may guess from the sharp rebuke administered -in the memorable words, “Video barbam et palliam; philosophum nondum -video.” And, indeed, if the truth must be spoken, there are faces to -which it lends no dignity. A mean and contemptible nature, hid behind a -potent beard, is a miserable disguise. The affectations of a gentleman -are but trifles. Raleigh wore stays, and was a great dandy; but he -was something more--an elegant poet, an accomplished gentleman, and a -gallant soldier. But the abuse of a good thing is no argument for its -disuse. We grieve to think of the degradation of this manly ornament, -and put no faith in - - “those ambiguous things that ape - Goats in their visage, women in their shape;” - -and would fain hope that a return to the “flat faces,” - - “such as would disgrace a screen,” - -is next to impossible. - - “Now, a beard is a thing which commands in a king, - Be his sceptre ne’er so fair; - When the beard wears the sway, the people obey, - And are subject to a hair. - - “’Tis a princely sight and a grave delight - That adorns both young and old; - A well thatch’d face is a comely grace, - And a shelter from the cold.” - -Even our playing cards look the better for the beards; how richly are -the kings furnished--what a winning aspect it gives them. - - “Behold four kings, in majesty revered, - With hoary whiskers and a forked beard.” - -When the lively Beatrice exclaims, “I could not endure a husband with -a beard on his face,” and is reminded she may light on one without, -the alternative seems by no means pleasing; for she replies, “What -shall I do with him? dress him with my apparel, and make him my -waiting gentleman? He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he -that hath none is less than a man.” And we take it, though the lady -tells us she was born to speak “all mirth, no matter” she has given -expression to the opinion of her own sex very naively. It was one of -those consistent contradictions so in character with the delightful -absurdities of lovers, for some sighing swains to part with “the old -ornament of their cheeks;” some say, to give a more youthful appearance -to those who stood in need of it; and adopted by others from the -merciful consideration which swayed the heart of Bottom, when he -resolved “to roar like a sucking dove,” not to “fright the ladies.” -When the repentant Benedick turned lover, his beard was fated to stuff -tennis-balls. To pluck a hair from the beard of the great Cham, at the -bidding of some fair inamorata, was obviously an easy and agreeable -duty to the knights of old romance. But what shall we say to those -giants’ coats - - “Made from the beards of kings.” - -Once upon a time, by the exigencies of war, John de Castro was -compelled to leave one of his whiskers in pledge with the inhabitants -of Goa, as security for a thousand pistoles, which he needed to -carry on the siege. A general’s whiskers valued at 2,000 pistoles! -Everything, in short, has its use, - - A barbe de fol apprend-on à raire. - -In Elizabeth’s reign periwigs made their appearance, and were worn very -generally by ladies of rank. Paul Hentzner, writing of the queen, then -in her sixty-seventh year, says she wore false hair, and that red, with -a small crown on her head. False hair of different colours was worn on -different occasions by the same person: sometimes the queen appeared in -black hair. - -Mary Queen of Scots had black hair; but in some of her portraits she is -represented with light hair, and, in accordance with the fashion of her -day, she frequently wore borrowed locks of different colours. Knollys, -in a letter to Cecil, makes mention of one “Mistress Mary Seaton, -greatly praised by the queen, and one of the finest _buskers_ -to be seen in any country. Among other pretty devices, she did set a -curled hair upon the queen that was said to be a _perewyke_, that -showed very delicately; and every other day she hath a new device of -head-dressing without any cost, and yet setteth forth a woman gayly -well.” Hair-powder first came into fashion in 1590. - -Puttenham, in his “Art of Poesie,” says, “Now again at this time the -young gentlemen of the court _have taken up_ the long haire -trayling on their shoulders, and think this more decent, for what -respect I should be glad to know.” Curling the points of their beards -and moustaches was a favourite style with the young men of fashion. The -ladies wore the hair curled, frizzled, and crisped, and underpropped -with pins and wires, and so tortured into the most fantastic shapes: we -read, also, of cauls of hair set with seed-pearls and gold buttons. - -In the days of our British Solomon there were first-rate coxcombs and -exquisites; and some so solicitous about the beauty of the outward -man, that, when they walked abroad, they carried a looking-glass “in a -tobacco box or dial set.” Towards the close of this reign, the hair -of females was combed back in a roll over the forehead, and on this a -small hood. - -In France, when Louis XIII. came to the throne, he was too young to -have a beard. For a time the beard was unfashionable; but whiskers were -much in favour with gallants, and thought to be greatly admired by -their lady-loves. - -The peaked beard of Charles I., so well known from the portraits by -Vandyke, introduces us to the troubled times of the Cavaliers and -Roundheads. The aversion of the latter to the flowing curls of the -Royalists was extreme, and led to the adoption of the Puritanical crop, -which, as a mere negation and opposed to every principle of beauty, -was doomed in turn to be discarded with ineffable contempt. One would -wish to speak with all respect of the stout ironsides who fought at -Marston Moor and Naseby; but the silly crusade, encouraged by some -of the meaner sort against the beautiful creations of art, has done -more to estrange men’s minds from the noble principles they upheld -with their swords, than the united acclaim of their preachers could -effect in their behalf. The “_love-locks_” of the court gallants -were especially hateful to the Puritans. Sometimes a single lock of -hair, tied at the end with silk ribbon in bows, was allowed to fall -on the chest; others wore two such love-locks, one on each side of -the head, which, at times, reached to the waist. Prynne wrote a book -expressly against them, on “The Unloveliness of Love-locks;” and in -1643 appeared Dr. Hall’s tract “On the Loathsomeness of Long Hair,” -wherein he complained that “some have long lockes at their eares, as if -they had four eares, or were prick-eared; some have a little long locke -onely before, hanging down to their noses, like the taile of a weasall; -every man being made a foole at the barber’s pleasure, or making a -foole of the barber for having to make him such a foole.” And in Lyly’s -play of Midas, it is asked, “Will you have a low curl on your head, -like a ball, or dangling locks, like a spaniel? Your moustachioes sharp -at the ends, like a shoemaker’s awl, or hanging down to your mouth, -like goats’ flakes? Your love-locks wreathed with a silken twist, or -shaggy to fall on your shoulders?” - -The reader cannot have failed to remark how these love-locks and -periwigs facilitated the disguise of one sex for the other, so often -assumed by characters in old plays, and on which the chief interest -or plot of a piece frequently turned. Thus, when Julia, in “The Two -Gentlemen of Verona,” desires her maid, Lucetta, to provide her with -“such weeds as may beseem some well-reputed page.” Lucetta answers, -“Why, then, your ladyship must cut your hair.” - - JULIA.--No, girl; I’ll knit it up in silken strings, - With twenty odd conceited true-love knots: - To be fantastic, may become a youth - Of greater time than I shall show to be. - -A periwig favored the escape of the Duke of York, afterwards James -II., from St. James’s Palace in 1648, who luckily “shifted into -gentlewoman’s clothes,” got on board a Dutch vessel below Gravesend, -and landed safely in Holland. The hostess at Middleburgh, where the -prince slept by the way, wondered much that “the young gentlewoman -would not let the maids help her to bed.” - -As a companion picture to the love locks of the gentlemen, the ladies -adorned themselves with artificial ringlets, cunningly inserted amid -the true; and _heart-breakers_ (accroche-cœur), arranged with -studied and most killing aim. The female coiffure of the Stuart period -has always been much admired, with its soft clustering curls and -semi-transparence, the effect of a peculiar friz. Some of the portraits -of that era, the hair arranged with true feminine taste, gracefully -shadowing a complexion of the utmost delicacy, are studies of female -loveliness, which, once seen, are not easily forgotten. - -Some years ago, the body of Charles the first was discovered at -Windsor, and it is said the late Sir Henry Halford and George IV. were -the only persons to whom it was shown. Sir Henry cut off a lock of the -king’s hair, and made Sir Walter Scott a present of a part, which he -had set in virgin gold, the word “Remember” surrounding it in highly -relieved letters. - -Whiskers were still in fashion at the French court. The king, Turenne, -Corneille, Moliere, and the chief men of note were proud to wear them. -“It was then,” says a grave encyclopedist, “no uncommon thing for a -favourite lover to have his whiskers turned up, combed, and dressed -by his mistress; and hence a man of fashion took care always to be -provided with every little requisite, especially whisker-wax. It was -highly flattering to a lady to have it in her power to praise the -beauty of the lover’s whiskers, which, far from being disgusting, -gave his person an air of vivacity, and several even thought them an -incitement to love.” What would our gallant Drake have thought of -this effeminacy, who, after he had burned Philip’s fleet at Cadiz, in -sailor’s phrase called it “singeing the king of Spain’s whiskers.” - -The Roundheads were mercilessly ridiculed in ballads, and pelted -with poetry in every style of doggerel, till finally gibetted for -the amusement of posterity by the author of Hudibras. The nick-name -of Roundheads, we are told, arose from their putting a round bowl or -wooden dish upon their heads, and cutting their hair by the edges or -brim of the bowl. The bowl may, or may not, have been in use for this -purpose, but nothing could exceed the ugliness of the Puritan crop. - - “What creature’s this, with his short hairs, - His little band, and huge long ears, - That a new faith has founded?” - -Even such brave and noble-minded adherents as Colonel Hutchinson could -not escape the censure of their own party for not conforming in all -respects to the vulgar notions of orthodoxy. His long and beautiful -hair was looked upon with suspicion as betraying a certain lukewarmness -in their cause. The Puritans even forbade the women to wear braided -hair. And some of them, more zealous than the rest, made a vow not to -trim their beards till the parliament had subdued the king, as did Sir -Hudibras. - - ’Twas to stand fast - As long as monarchy should last; - But when the state should hap to reel - ’Twas to submit to fatal steel. - -These vow-beards were also worn by some staunch old Jacobites, to mark -their love for the house of Stuart, who hoped to see the king recalled -to the throne. The beard of Sir Hudibras has acquired a sort of -historical importance, and, to do it justice, must be pictured at full -length: - - “His tawny beard was th’ equal grace - Both of his wisdom and his face; - In cut and die so like a tile, - A sudden view it would beguile; - The upper part whereof was whey, - The nether orange mix’d with grey. - This hairy meteor did denounce - The fall of sceptres and of crowns; - With grisly type did represent - Declining age of government, - And tell, with hieroglyphic spade, - Its own grave and the state’s were made. - Like Samson’s heart-breakers it grew, - In time to make a nation rue; - Though it contributed its own fall - To wait upon the public downfall.” - -What befel this tawny beard we learn from the same faithful narrative -of the knight’s adventures: - - “At that an egg let fly, - Hit him directly o’er the eye, - And, running down his cheek, besmear’d - With orange tawny slime his beard; - But beard and slime being of one hue, - The wound the less appear’d to view.” - -In this terrible plight he is visited by the widow, one of Job’s -comforters, who begins her discourse with a commentary on beards, which -must be our apology for inserting it here: - - “If he that is in battle conquer’d - Have any title to his own beard, - Though yours be sorely lugg’d and torn, - It does your visage more adorn - Than if ’twere prun’d, and starch’d, and lander’d, - And cut square by the Russian standard.” - -Butler has left us a portrait of Philip Nye’s Thanksgiving Beard, which -must not be passed by unnoticed: - - “This rev’rend brother, like a goat, - Did wear a tail upon his throat, - The fringe and tassel of a face, - That gives it a becoming grace; - But set in such a curious frame, - As if ’twere wrought in filograin, - And cut so e’en, as if’t had been - Drawn with a pen upon his chin: - No topiary hedge of quickset, - Was e’er so neatly cut, or thick-set.” - -It has been seriously asserted that paste-board cases were invented to -put over these beards at night, lest their owners should turn upon and -rumple them in their sleep. The Puritans carried their hatred of long -hair with them to their new homes across the Atlantic. In a code of -laws which they published, among other curious regulations it is set -forth, “that it is a shameful practice for any man who has the least -care for his soul to wear long hair. As this abomination excites the -indignation of all pious persons, we, the magistrates, in our zeal -for the purity of the faith, do expressly and authentically declare, -that we condemn the impious custom of letting the hair grow--a custom -which we look upon to be very indecent and dishonest, which terribly -disguises men, and is offensive to modest and sober persons, inasmuch -as it corrupts good manners,” with much more to the like effect, in a -strain of dreary verbiage and exhortation. Long hair, according to a -Puritan poet, was nothing else than the banner of Satan displayed in -triumph from a man’s head. - -Milton’s beautiful hair, falling upon his shoulders in broad masses of -clustering curls, and setting off features of rare beauty, is deserving -of special honour. It is a question whether those sacred hairs were -sacrilegiously handled by certain ruffianly overseers in 1790, during -some repairs to the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. If the body then -exhumed, and presumed to be Milton’s, were in reality the earthly -remains of our great poet, these “sapient, trouble-tombs,” after a -carouse, (how wonderfully a parish feast smooths the way to some dirty -job, so easily reconciled to the parochial mind), “cutting open the -leaden coffin, found a body in its shroud, and, believing it to be that -of the poet, they extracted the teeth, cut off the hair, which was six -inches long, and combed and tied together, and then left the scattered -remains to the grave diggers, who were permitted to exhibit them for -money to the public. Mr. Philip Neve, of Furnival’s Inn, who published -an account of the transaction, was strongly convinced that the body was -that of Milton, although the hair and other circumstances favoured the -opinion that it was the body of a woman.” Was anything more disgusting -ever perpetrated in the days - - “When Bradshaw bullied in a broad-brimmed hat,” - -or since? - -The Restoration of Charles II. ushered in THE AGE OF GREAT WIGS--a -subject of too much importance to be summarily disposed of, and which -we purposely reserve for the next chapter. - - - - - WIGS. - - CHAPTER IV - - -The introduction of the ample perriwig has always been regarded as -the most ambitious effort of tonsorial art. And as it rarely happens -that any one mind is capable of perfecting a discovery by a single -effort; so the honour of conceiving the beau ideal of a fully-developed -wig can scarcely, with justice, be claimed by any particular artist. -Like the Absolutism, of which it may be regarded as the symbol, it -was the growth of time, and expanded to its fullest dimensions under -the favouring rule of the Grand Monarque. During that long reign, -extending over the greater part of a century, the Wig sat supreme upon -the brows of one of the great Princes of the Earth, at whose nod the -nations trembled; whose wrath was fire and desolation, as the ruined -towns of the Palatinate may still bear witness (Rex dixit, et factum -est); whose ambition was fed with war and conquest; but whose heart -was all as false as the smooth curls which counterfeited the graces of -perpetual youth. - -The true morphological development of the wig appears to have been -after this fashion. First of all a small portion of artificial hair -was cunningly inserted among the natural curls, to eke out the economy -of Nature; this suggested the idea of two supplementary bunches; -then a third was added; these in turn were connected by a coif, and -the result was the _perruque à calotte_. It is recorded of the -Cardinal de Richelieu that he was the first to introduce this form of -peruke at court. It formed part of the attire of the Duke of Bedford, -so whimsically described by De Grammont to Charles II. “Sir,” said he, -“I had the honour to see him embark in his coach, with his asthma, and -country equipage, his _perruque à calotte_ neatly tied with a -yellow riband, and his old-fashioned hat covered with oil-skin, which -became him uncommonly well.” The first appearance of Louis Quatorze in -his grand peruke is not duly set forth with historic accuracy; but the -important part it played in the daily routine of court etiquette is -well known. The chief valet slept in the king’s apartment and called -him at the appointed hour. Then it was announced in the ante-chamber -that the king was awake. In came the members of the royal family -to wish him “good morning;” after them, the first gentleman of the -chamber, the grand master of the wardrobe and other officers bringing -the king’s dresses. From a silver gilt vessel the valet pours spirits -of wine on the royal hands, and a duke presents the holy water. After -a very short religious service, the king’s perruques are laid before -him, and choice is made of one most pleasing to his majesty, which -is subsequently elevated to the head by the king’s own hand. Other -ceremonies disposed of, the king must be shaved: one holds the basin, -another adjusts the shaving-cloth and applies the razor; a soft sponge -dipped in spirit of wine is passed over the royal face, and afterwards -pure water in the same manner, which completes the operation, the chief -valet all the time holding the looking-glass. At all the mysteries of -_la première entrée_, the _grand entrée_, and the dressing -of the king by the courtiers, the ceremony of the breakfast, and the -state receptions, the peruke is present. But before proceeding to the -council, the chief valet furnishes another wig for the king’s pate: it -goes to mass with him, attends him at dinner, accompanies him to the -abode of Madame de Maintenon and elsewhere; comes home in good time, -and is present at the supper _au grand couvert_: then bows to the -ladies and courtiers in the grand saloon, and returns with the king for -a while to his own apartments to witness the felicities of a king in -private life. About midnight again all is bustle and preparation; the -chief barber arranges the dressing table in the king’s chamber; a cold -collation is put by the bedside, ready to the king’s lips, should he -wake with an appetite in the night; the courtiers are assembled, and -the king enters. He hands his hat and gloves to some favoured nobleman -who is present to receive them, the sword by knightly hands is carried -to the dressing-table, the almoner holds the wax lights and repeats -the prayer, the watch and reliquary are given in charge to a valet de -chambre, blue ribbon, cravat and waistcoat are dispensed with, two -lacqueys remove the garters, two more are required to draw off the -stockings, two pages present slippers, and the Dauphin the _chemise -de nuit_; the king bows, the courtiers retire, and the _grand -coucher_ is finished. Now the hair has to be combed and arranged; -one valet holds the looking-glass and the other a light; the bed is -aired, and the Wig goes to bed with the king; the chief valet draws -the curtains, and, within the secret recesses of that impenetrable -shade, the perriwig is exchanged for a nightcap, and the royal hand of -Louis presenting it outside the curtains, it is consigned to the care -of its trusty guardian, the chief valet, who then locks the doors, and -lays down on a bed prepared for him in the same chamber. Good night, -Monsieur Bontemps.--What if some of these wonderful wigs could publish -their “Secret Memoirs,” what a treasury of scandal it would disclose -for the gratification of the pickers-up of “unconsidered trifles!” - -Binette was the great perruquier of that Augustan age. Without his aid -neither king nor courtiers could go forth in becoming fashion. His -carriage and running footmen were constantly to be seen passing to -and fro the streets of Paris, in attendance on the nobility. In 1656, -Louis le Grand appointed forty wig-makers to wait upon the Court, and -in 1673 a corporation of _Barbiers-perruquiers_, consisting of -200 members, was established to supply the commonalty of Paris. At -one time the minister Colbert, judging from the large sum of money -remitted from France to foreign countries for hair, that the balance -of trade was against his own country, was desirous of introducing some -kind of cap to take the place of the wig, and spoke to the king on the -subject; but the wig-makers took the alarm, memorialized the king, and -showed from statistics that the profit on wigs exported from Paris more -than equalled the sum paid to foreigners for the material; so that -Colbert’s project was laid aside, and wigs and wig-makers flourished -more than ever. The number of licenses was now increased to 850, and -the members known under the title of _barbiers-perruquiers_, -_baigneurs-etuvistes_. The corporation had its provost, wardens, -and syndics, which were appointed by letters patent, and the offices -were hereditary. The king bestowed on this corporation the sole right -of dealing in hair, either by wholesale or retail; of making and -selling powder or pomatum; preparations to remove the hair; drops -for the cure of toothache, &c. The use of powder was not at first -sanctioned by the monarch, but at last he yielded to the wishes of his -courtiers, and permitted a trifling quantity to be sprinkled on his -own perukes. Not only was the wig a thing of magnitude, it possessed -also considerable weight; a stylish wig weighed rather more than a -couple of pounds, and was worth, according to the best authorities, a -thousand crowns. Light hair was most esteemed, and fetched at times -as much as eighty francs the ounce. To prevent imposition, it was -ordered that no second-hand wigs should be sold, except by certain -dealers on the _Quai de l’Horloge_. When these costly wigs were -first introduced the wearers appeared in the streets, in all sorts of -weather, with their hats in their hands, so anxious were they not to -disarrange their well-ordered curls. Menage has preserved a poem of -that period which ridicules the custom, and concludes thus: - - “Critics, how narrow are your views, - Who thus the prudent youth abuse! - By a just value he is led - Both of his wig and of his head; - The one he knows was dearly bought, - The other would not fetch a groat.” - -Bernini, the sculptor, once ventured to arrange the monarch’s curls in -accordance with his own notions of classic dignity. He had been sent -for, from Rome, at great expense, to superintend some additions to the -Louvre, and was engaged on a bust of Louis, when perceiving that the -king’s forehead was too much over-shadowed with curls, he thrust them -back, saying to the king, “Your Majesty’s face should be seen by every -one.” This originated the _frisure à la Bernin_. - -Combing these elaborate curls was the envied occupation of the -beaux. In that inimitable dramatic sketch by Molière, “Les Précieuses -Ridicules,” which resembles a clever etching by a master-hand, it will -be remembered that Mascarille, the pretended marquis, combs his curls -in the presence of the ladies with the usual blandishments. The scented -powder with which these wigs were besprinkled was selected with the -nicest judgment and at great cost. In this respect also, Mascarille, -who had made free with his master’s clothes, the better to make love in -the court fashion to the fair _precieuse_, was as well furnished -as any of the court gallants. - - _Mascarille._ - - Et celle-la? (Il donne à sentir les cheveux poudrés de sa - perruque.) - - _Madelon._ - - Elle est tout à fait de qualité; le sublime en est touché - délicieusement. - -Well might Gorgibus, in choleric mood exclaim: - - Ces pendardes-là, avec leur pommade, ont, je pense, envie de me - ruiner. Je ne vois partout que blancs d’œufs, lait virginal, et - mille autres brimborions que je ne connais point. Elles ont usé, - depuis que nous sommes ici, le lard d’une douzaine de couchons, - pour le moins; et quatre valets vivraient tous les jours des - pieds de moutons qu’elles emploient. - -We are not well enough informed in such manners to know if these family -recipes be worthy to be compared with the “capons greaz” which good -Queen Bess carried with her, as we learn from Nichol’s “Progresses,” -to make the hair to shine like a mallard’s wing. We own to a natural -dread of such domestic manufactures, and always greatly admired that -fine piece of strategy on the part of Dr. Primrose, when observing his -daughters busily concocting some compound over the fire--and informed -by little Dick of its true nature--he grases the poker and capsizes the -ingredients. - -The nomenclature of wigs is very ample, a complete system of -classification might be adopted, and genus and species discriminated -with the greatest nicety; there were Wigs Military, Legal, -Ecclesiastical, and Infantile; we can only find room for a few -varieties: - - Perruque à bonnet. - ---- à nœuds. - ---- ronde. - ---- pointue. - ---- naissante. - ---- à deux queues. - ---- à tonsure. - ---- à la brigadière. - ---- de l’Abbé. - ---- à boudin. - ---- à papillons. - ---- à deux marteaux. - ---- à trois marteaux. - ---- à bourse. - -We shall only be following the usual course of Fashion if we pass from -the French Court to Whitehall. In England the ladies are said to have -been beforehand with the gentlemen in the great Wig movement. Pepys -writes (1662), “By and bye came La Belle Pierce to see my wife, and -to bring her a pair of perruques of hair as the fashion now is for -ladies to wear, which are pretty, and one of my wife’s own hair, or -else I should not endure them.” The year following Pepys made a similar -investment on his own account--“November 3, Home, and by and bye comes -Chapman, the perriwig maker, and upon my liking it (the wig), without -more ado, I went up, and then he cut off my haire, which went a little -to my heart at present to part with it; but it being over, and my -perriwig on, I paid him £3, and away went he with my own haire to make -up another of; and I by and bye went abroad, after I had caused all my -maids to look upon it, and they concluded it do become me, though Jane -was mightily troubled for my parting with my own hair, and so was Besse. - -“November 8, Lord’s Day.--To church, where I found that my coming in -a perriwig did not prove so strange as I was afraid it would, for I -thought that all the church would presently have cast their eyes on me, -but I found no such things.” - -The same minute chronicler informs us that the Duke of York put on a -perriwig in February, 1663, and that he saw the king in one for the -first time the following April. - -By command of Charles II., members of the University of Cambridge were -forbidden to wear perriwigs; and, on another occasion, when a chaplain -was preaching before him in a wig, he bid the Duke of Monmouth, then -chancellor of the university, to cause the statutes concerning decency -of apparel to be more strictly enforced. To be deprived of their -wigs was a clerical grievance. In France, a turbulent priest at the -cathedral of Beauvais insisted on his right to wear one at mass, but -was hindered from doing so, when he solemnly placed the objectionable -wig in the hands of a notary at the church doors, and protested against -the indignity which had been put upon him. - -The year of the Great Plague was one of the most terrible in our -annals--Death smote his victims by thousands--the voice of lamentation -and mourning stilled for a time the gaieties of a dissolute court. The -men of fashion became alarmed lest the poison of the plague might lurk -insidiously in the curls of their wigs. Pepys entertained the same -fear:--“September 3, (1664).--Up, and put on my coloured silk suit, -very fine, and my new perriwig, bought a good while since, but durst -not wear, because the plague was in Westminster when I bought it; and -it is a wonder what will be the fashion after the plague is done as to -perriwigs, for nobody will buy any hair for fear of infection, that it -had been cut off the heads of people dead of the plague.” - -Wigs were first worn by barristers about 1670. The judges were at -first somewhat opposed to the innovation, as suited only to fops, -and unbecoming so learned a profession; and some of the more zealous -leaders of the fashion were not suffered to plead in their new attire. -Time has long since reconciled us to the forensic head-dress; and if -the public be at all sceptical as to the merits of horse-hair, the -rare talents it has fostered would alone command respect. Custom and -precedent have now securely enthroned the wig in the Halls of Justice, -and authority looks with suspicion on any attempt to interfere with -its prerogative. Lord Campbell tells us that when he argued the great -Privilege Case, and had to speak for sixteen hours, “he obtained leave -to speak without a wig; but under the condition that it was not to be -drawn into a precedent.” - -As early as 1654, Evelyn had been shocked at the discovery that -ladies of fashion painted their cheeks; and Pepys records that in the -galleries at Whitehall he beheld the ladies of honour “just for all -the world like men with doublets buttoned up to the breast, and with -perriwigs and hats.” How closely French fashions were imitated at -Whitehall we may judge from an entry in Evelyn’s diary:--“Following -his majesty this morning through the gallery, I went with the few who -attended him into the Duchess of Portsmouth’s dressing-room, where she -was in her morning loose garment, her maids combing her, newly out of -her bed, his majesty and the gallants standing about her.” Although -modesty, which ever accompanies good taste, had fled the court of -Charles, some fine examples might be selected from the Court Beauties, -as illustrating the special beauty of a natural and becoming coiffure. -De Grammont has not failed to notice the hair of La Belle Hamilton, -which was well set, and fell with ease into that natural order which is -so difficult to imitate. Miss Jenning’s hair was of a most beauteous -flaxen, adorning the brightest complexion that ever was seen. And the -portraits of Nell Gwynn show that sprightly damsel with short ringlets -about the temples, massed like bunches of grapes, in most tempting -clusters. - -Among the smaller works of art which the perruquier produced for the -fair sex, we may mention a description of false hair set on wires, so -as to stand out like wings from each side of the head; and the merkin, -so called, which was arranged in a group of curls at each side of the -face, small over the forehead and thence increasing like the lower part -of a pyramid. - -During the brief reign of James II. wigs grew larger still, and false -hair put the natural ornament of a man’s head completely in the shade. -Holme, writing in 1688, assures his readers that the custom of wearing -wigs, then so much used by the generality of men, “was quite contrary -to the custom of their forefathers, who got estates, loved their wives, -and wore their own hair,” and adds pathetically, “in these days there -be no such things.” The love-lock was soon engrafted on the wig, to -which allusion is made in Beaumont and Fletcher’s “Cupid’s Revenge:” - - “He lay in gloves all night, and this morning I - Brought him a new perriwig with a lock at it.” - -There was, also, a long perriwig in vogue with a pole-lock or -_suffloplin_, as the perruquiers termed it, the prototype of the -giant pig-tails, once so dear to the army and navy, who never turn tail -on the enemy. We read, likewise, of the travelling or campaign-wig, -with long knots or twisted tails tied with ribbon, depending from the -bottom of the wig laterally--technically styled “knots or bobs, or a -dildo on each side with a curled forehead.” - -In the next reign wigs still went on increasing in size. Combing the -curls in public, or when flirting with the ladies, was esteemed _haut -ton_. Ivory or tortoiseshell combs of large size were carried in -the gentlemen’s pockets, with which they imitated Mascarille, we make -no doubt, very abominably. They certainly manage these things much -better in France: in fashion we are content to be servile imitators of -the French, and the copy is usually very inferior to the original. -Madame Sevigné, in one of her charming letters, gossiping about the -Duchess de Bourbon, writes:--“Rien n’est plus plaisant que d’assister -à sa toilette, et de la voir se coiffer; j’y fus l’autre jour: elle -s’éveilla à midi et demi, prit sa robe de chambre, vint se coiffer, -et manger un pain au pot; elle se frise et se poudre elle-même, elle -mange en même tems; les mêmes doigts tiennent alternativement la houppe -et le pain au pot; elle mange sa poudre et graisse ses cheveux; le -tout ensemble fait un fort bon déjeuné et une charmante coiffure.” -To this age belongs the extraordinary head-dress usually called a -commode: the hair was combed upwards from off the forehead, and upon -this was built a huge pile of ribbons and lace, arranged in tiers, -and over all a scarf or veil drooping on the neck and shoulders. It -rivalled the fabled turrets which crown the head of Cybele, and was -worn by Queen Mary herself as part of the court costume. In England -these were Halcyon days for wig-makers. In later years wigs were more -generally worn by all classes; but, for the most part, they were wigs -for the million, more moderate in their pretensions, till at last they -dwindled down to a mere apology for a wig. The quantity of hair alone -in a wig for a nobleman or gentleman in those high and palmy days of -wig-making was more than ten natural crops could furnish. The material -was most costly. In 1700, a young country girl received £60 for her -head of hair; and the grey locks of an old woman, after death, sold -for fifty pounds: the ordinary price of a wig was about forty pounds. -Full-bottomed wigs, invented by one Duviller, to conceal, it is said, a -want of symmetry in the shoulders of the Dauphin, were appropriated by -the learned professions and those who studied to look uncommonly grave -and sagacious. - - “Physic of old her entry made - Beneath the immense full-bottom’s shade, - While the gilt cane, with solemn pride, - To each sagacious nose applied, - Seemed but a necessary prop - To bear the weight of wig at top.” - -Children, too, wore wigs; and, if unprovided with so necessary an -article of dress, the hair was combed and curled, so as to look as much -like a wig as possible. - -Archbishop Tillotson was the first of our prelates who wore a wig. In -one of his sermons he writes: “I can remember when ministers generally, -whatever their text was, did either find or make occasion to reprove -the sin of long hair; and if they saw any one in the congregation -guilty in that kind, they would point him out particularly, and let fly -at him with great zeal.” - -The reign of Queen Anne saw the magnitude of the wig somewhat -diminished, but the variety of wigs in fashion was increased. Steele’s -wig at one time formed a heavy item in his expenditure. His large black -perriwig cost him (we are supposing it was paid for) as much as forty -guineas. Swift had a fine state wig for grand occasions waiting his -coming to St. James’s, as did poor Vanessa. Colley Cibber’s wig, in -which he played a favourite character, was of such noble proportions, -that it was brought upon the stage in a sedan by two chairmen. How it -was that Colonel Brett desired to possess this formidable wig, at any -price, must be told in Cibber’s own words: “Possibly, the charms of our -theatrical nymphs might have had some share in drawing him thither; -yet, in my observation, the most visible cause of his first coming -was a more sincere passion he had conceived for a fair full-bottom’d -perriwig, which I then wore in my first play of the _Fool in -Fashion_. - - * * * * * - -Now, whatever contempt philosophers may have for a fine perriwig, my -friend, who was not to despise the world, but to live in it, knew very -well that so material an article of dress upon the head of a man of -sense, if it became him, could never fail of drawing to him a more -partial regard and benevolence than could possibly be hoped for in an -ill-made one,“--terms were offered--and it ended in an agreement to -finish our bargain that night over a bottle.” “That single bottle was -the sire of many a jolly dozen,” at their subsequent meetings, as he -explains further on. - -The tie-wig, an abridgment of the long curled perriwig, was worn by -many, but was not considered court dress. Lord Bolingbroke, having to -wait upon the queen in haste, once went to court in a tie-wig, which so -offended Queen Anne, that she said to those about her, “I suppose his -lordship will come to court the next time in a nightcap.” Swift writes, -(1712): “As prince Eugene was going with Mr. Secretary to court, Mr. -Hoffman, the Emperor’s resident, said to his highness that it was not -proper to go to court without a long wig, and his was a tied up one. -“Now,” says the prince, “I know not what to do, for I never had a long -perriwig in my life; and I have sent to all my valets and footmen, to -see whether any of them had one, that I might borrow it; but none of -them had any.” But the secretary said “ was a thing of no consequence, -and only observed by gentlemen ushers.” After the battle of Ramillies, -the name of the Ramillie-wig was given to a wig with a long tapering -tail, plaited and tied, with a great bow at the top, and a smaller one -at the bottom.” - -The little incident of Lord Petre depriving Mrs. Fermor of a ringlet -gave rise to Pope’s poem “The Rape of the Lock.” Belinda’s head-dress -is thus described: - - “This nymph, to the destruction of mankind, - Nourished two locks, which graceful hung behind - In equal curls, and well conspired to deck - With shining ringlets the smooth ivory neck. - Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains, - And mighty hearts are held in slender chains.” - -The poet explains how these “mazy ringlets,” owed much of their beauty -to a rigorous discipline: - - “Was it for this you took such constant care - The bodkin, comb, and essence to prepare? - For this your locks in paper durance bound, - For this with torturing irons wreathed around? - For this with fillets strained your tender head, - And bravely bore the double loads of lead?” - -Belinda’s lock, in imitation of the lost tresses of Berenice, is -translated to the heavenly regions: - - “A sudden star, it shot through liquid air, - And drew behind a radiant trail of hair.” - -A compliment to Belinda appropriately concludes the poem: - - “When these fair suns shall set, as set they must, - And all those tresses shall be laid in dust, - This lock the Muse shall consecrate to fame, - And ’midst the stars inscribe Belinda’s name.” - -In Swift’s verses called “Death and Daphne,” we have a metaphorical -description of a beau’s wig: - - “From her own head Megara takes - A perriwig of twisted snakes, - Which in the nicest fashion curl’d, - (Like toupées of this upper world), - With flour of sulphur powder’d well, - That graceful on his shoulders fell. - An adder of the sable kind - In line direct hung down behind.” - -Both old and young fops carried the follies of the wig mania to a -most ridiculous extent. The author of the “London Spy” introduces us -to a smart young fellow “with a wheelbarrow full of perriwig on;” and -that impudent fellow, Tom Brown, in his “Letters from the Dead to the -Living,” writing of a certain beau, styled Beau Whittaker, says, “His -perriwig was large enough to have loaded a camel, and he had bestowed -upon it at least a bushel of powder;” and speaking elsewhere of -another fop, with a perriwig of the same dimensions, he observes, “If -Nature had indulged our primitive parents with such an extraordinary -production, they would have had little reason to have blushed at, -or been ashamed of their nakedness.” To speak seriously, if the wig -did not quite clothe the body like a tunic, it more than concealed -the head. The malicious spy we have quoted above comes across another -fopling in a fine wig, and moralizes after this manner: “His head is a -fool’s egg hid in a nest of hair.” If we accompany him to Man’s Coffee -House, we shall see, “a gaudy crowd of _Tom Essences_ walking -backwards and forwards with their hats in their hands, not daring to -convert them to their intended use, lest it should put the foretops of -their wigs into some disorder; their whole exercise being to charge and -discharge their nostrils, and keep their perriwigs in proper order.” -The fortune of a life not unfrequently turned upon the imposing--we -should have said the captivating appearance of a wig: unluckily -in every lottery there are many blanks; and Addison tells of one -inveterate fortune-hunter, who “had combed and powdered at the ladies -for thirty years.” - -There were some inconveniences attending the use of wigs. There was no -such thing as walking forth to enjoy fresh air and exercise except in -the finest weather, if attired as became a gentleman; to be carried -about by chairmen, and jolted in a sort of trunk or band-box was a most -unenviable distinction. If a dark cloud hung over the Park or the Mall, -away hurried the magnificent perriwigs--away flew the pretty women -in their hoods and ribbons. Gay, in his “Trivia,” sounds the note of -warning: - - “When suffocating mists obscure the morn, - Let the worst wig, long used to storms be worn; - This knows the powdered footman, and with care - Beneath his flapping hat secures his hair. - - * * * in vain you scow’r - Thy wig alas! uncurl’d, admits the show’r. - So fierce Alecto’s snaky tresses fell, - When Orpheus charm’d the vig’rous powers of hell - Or thus hung Glaucus beard, with briny dew - Clotted and straight, when first his am’rous view - Surprised the bathing fair.” - -Swift, in the “City Shower,” laughs at the distressed wigs: - - “Here various kinds, by various fortunes led - Commence acquaintance underneath a shed. - Triumphant Tories and desponding Whigs - Forget their feuds, and join to save their wigs.” - -To be caught in the rain was a terrible ordeal for the curls; but -accidents by fire were still more calamitous. At a display of -fireworks, an old writer says, the spectators screwed themselves up -in the balconies to avoid the fireworks, “which instantly assaulted -the perukes of the gallants and the merkins of the madams.” Wigs, too, -being of considerable value, were frequently stolen from the head. Gay -gives an instance of a very artful dodge: - - “Where the mob gathers swiftly shoot along, - Nor idly mingle in the noisy throng. - - * * * * * - - Nor is thy flaxen wig with safety worn. - High on the shoulder, in the basket borne, - Lurks the sly boy, whose hand to rapine bred, - Plucks off the curling honours of the head.” - -To be brought into actual contact with a powdered beau, was reckoned -one of the misadventures which a prudent man would wish to avoid. - - “You’ll sometimes meet a fop of nicest tread, - Whose mantling peruke veils his empty head, - At every step he dreads the wall to lose, - And risks, to save a coach, his red-heeled shoes; - Him, like the miller, pass with caution by, - Lest from his shoulders clouds of powder fly.” - -While the coarser sex revelled in all the luxury of full perriwigs, we -may be sure the fair sex bestowed as great attention on their hair. -If enterprises of great moment were undertaken by the wigs, there was -fearful slaughter of human hearts from the masked batteries of the -ladies’ smiles. In “Love’s Bill of Mortality,” given at length in the -_Spectator_, we read of one, “Jack Freelove, murdered by Melissa -in her hair.” - -“The toilet,” says Addison, “is their great scene of business, and the -right adjustment of their hair the principal employment of their lives.” - - “At her toilet she puts on every toy - That ladies use when eager to destroy; - Three hours by the clock, (and some say four), - She sat in polishing her form all o’er, - And culling arrows from her fatal store.” - -The resources of a lady’s toilet were too numerous to be brought within -the compass of Cowley’s verse. He declines - - “To relate - The strength and riches of their state-- - The powder, patches, and the pins, - The ribbons, jewels, and the rings, - The lace, the paint, and warlike things, - That make up all their magazines.” - -And, fortunately, what he despaired of accomplishing lies beyond the -limits of our present subject. But the time spent at the toilet was -not all dedicated to dress and the tire-woman. Addison’s skilful pen -will supply an apt illustration; “Sempronia is at present the most -professed admirer of the French nation; but is so modest as to admit -her visitants no farther than her toilet. It is a very odd sight -that beautiful creature makes when she is talking politics, with her -tresses flowing about her shoulders, and examining that face in the -glass, which does such execution upon the standers-by. How prettily -does she divide her discourse between her woman and her visitants! -What sprightly transitions does she make from an opera or a sermon to -an ivory comb or a pin-cushion! How have I been pleased to see her -interrupted in an account of her travels by a message to her footman, -and holding her tongue in the midst of a moral reflection by applying -the tip of it to a patch!” - - “Vanessa held Montaigne and read, - Whilst Mrs. Susan combed her head,” - -The Duchess of Sunderland, daughter of the celebrated Duchess of -Marlborough, and like her mother, says Horace Walpole, conspicuous for -her long and beautiful hair; was a great politician, and used, when -combing it, to receive the visits of those whose vote and interest -she sought to influence. While Queen Anne dressed, prayers used to be -read in an outer room, and once ordering the door to be shut while she -shifted, the chaplain stopped. The queen sent to ask why he did not -proceed. He replied, “He would not whistle the word of God through the -key-hole.” The author of the “Reminiscences” adds, that Queen Caroline -was wont to dispatch her toilet and hear prayers in the same fashion. -The Duchess of Marlborough on one occasion was somewhat prodigal of -her fine fair hair, of which she had the greatest abundance; for being -engaged at her toilet, in a fit of anger towards the Duke, she cut off -those commanding tresses and flung them in his face. - -The beauties of those days made politics, the card table, and the -toilet, their chief study, and - - “Thought the life of ev’ry lady - Should be one continued play-day-- - Balls, and masquerades, and shows, - Visits, plays, and powdered beaus.” - -The wits and poets of that brilliant era, have hit off the manners -of the times, and all the paraphernalia of patches, fans, hoops, and -head-dresses, by a few touches of the pen, with such airy grace and -lightness in the true spirit of comic revelry, and with keenest irony, -that more modern efforts in the same style appear, by comparison, -coarse and clumsy. In our own day one would think the artists all -copied from the same model, - - “Small waist, wide flounces, and a face divine, - Wretchedly foolish, and extremely fine.” - -The ladies’ head-dresses, which, in the time of William III., had shot -up to a height which would have astonished even De Grammont’s Princess -of Babylon, had now fallen many degrees. Addison remarks, “some ten -years ago, the female part of our species were much taller than the -men. The women were of such an enormous stature, “that we appeared as -grasshoppers before them.” At present the whole sex is in a manner -dwarfed and shrunk into a race of beauties that seems almost another -species. I remember several ladies who were very near seven feet high -that at present want some inches of five. How they came to be thus -curtailed I could never learn:” - - Instead of home-spun coifs were seen - Good pinners edged with Colberteen. - -Old ladies continued for some time longer to adhere to the huge -head-dresses, which supplied Lady Wortley Montague with a bit of -raillery for her “Town Eclogues:” - - At chapel shall I wear the morn away? - Who there appears at these unmodish hours - But ancient matrons with their frizzled towers. - -Queen Anne in the latter years of her reign wore her hair in a simple, -graceful style, well suited to her quiet nature, with clusters of curls -at the back of the neck; nor was any hair-powder permitted to sully -the brightness of her chesnut ringlets. Her sweet voice seems still -to plead for her with posterity, and to be remembered with something -like affection, when the splendid victories of the great Marlborough -are losing somewhat of their lustre on the page of history. The fruits -of industry and the blessings of peace are too precious to be weighed -against the glories of war. But, who can look at the portraits of -Marlborough, with the long curls of the wig resting on the cuirass, -without feeling there was truth in the saying of a foreigner, “That his -looks were full as conquering as his sword.” - -How to wear a wig was part of the education of a man of the world, not -to be learned from books. Those who know what witchcraft there is in -the handling of a fan, what dexterity in the “nice conduct of a clouded -cane,” will imagine the wits and gentlemen of old did not suffer the -wig to overshadow their temples with perpetual gloom, like the wreath -of smoke which overhangs our Modern Babylon. And many a country squire -must have tried in vain to catch the right toss of the head; to sport a -playful humour in those crisp curls; or to acquire the lofty carriage -of the foretop, or the significant trifling with some obtrusive lock; -and felt as awkward in his new wig as a tailor on horseback, or a -fat alderman with a dress sword dangling between his legs. There -must have been something truly ridiculous in the prostrations of the -perriwig-pated fop, who - - Returns the diving bow he did adore, - Which with a shag casts all the hair before, - Till he with full decorum brings it back, - And rises with a water-spaniel shake. - -For many years wigs were worn of the natural colour of the hair, but -about 1714 it became customary to have them bleached; this, however, -was not found to answer, as they soon turned of a disagreeable shade, -so that recourse was had to hair-powder, the use of which soon became -general. At the accession of George 1st, it is mentioned that only two -ladies wore hair-powder. White perukes were characteristic of the early -Georgian era. About the same period we notice that one side only of -the wig was frequently tied together into a sort of club which hung -down upon the chest in a very lop-sided fashion. A few years later -bag-wigs were in vogue; when first introduced in France they were only -worn _en déshabille_; in a short time, however, they came to be -regarded as the most essential part of the full-dress costume of a -beau. The French bag-wig, as it was styled, when it first made its -appearance among us, was called in ridicule a fan-tail, and said to -resemble the winged cap of Mercury; the women likened the bag-wigs to -asses’ ears, and the men retorted by allusion to the horns which were -visible in a lady’s head-gear. The _tu quoque_ has ever been the -ready argument with both sexes. - - Follies they have so numberless the store, - That only we who love them can have more. - -In some satirical verses, published 1753, the contour of the wig, set -off from the face, is clearly shown: - - “Let a well-frizzled wig be set off from his face; - With a bag quite in taste, from Paris just come, - That was made and tied up by Monsieur Frisson; - With powder quite grey--then his head is complete;--” - -The tie-wig, which Lord Bolingbroke helped to bring into fashion, -was a very stiff and solid affair, as compared with the long curled -perriwigs which preceded them. The curls appear as if hardened into -rollers; and the pendant lumps of hair, looped and tied at the ends, -as if modelled after the fashion of the proud horse-tails, turned up -and bound with straw, at a fair. It would be as difficult to determine -why such cumbrous wigs were tolerated without any beauty to recommend -them, as to say why George I. chose such ugly German mistresses. Was -it because, like certain kinds of old china, deformity was pleasing? -The king’s favourites might possibly resemble the china, but the wigs -were certainly not as frail. Horace Walpole has left us a lively -description of Lord Sandwich’s tie-wig, in a letter to Sir H. Mann, -1745: “I would speak to our new ally, and your old acquaintance, Lord -Sandwich, to assist in it; but I could have no hope of getting at his -ear, for he has put on such a first-rate tie-wig, on his admission to -the admiralty-board, that nothing without the lungs of a boatswain can -ever think to penetrate the thickness of the curls. I think, however, -it does honour to the dignity of ministers: when he was but a patriot, -his wig was not of half its present gravity.” We have yet to notice the -wig with the long _queue_, “small by degrees and beautifully less”--the -drollest and most awkward of all additions to the human form since -the long tails in Kent were inflicted on the men by a miracle, as a -punishment for sticking fish tails to some monks’ garments. - - “As I live! - The hair of one is tied behind, - And plaited like a womankind, - While t’other carries on his back, - In silken bag, a monstrous pack: - But pray, what’s that much like a whip, - Which with the air does waving skip - From side to side, and hip to hip? - It is a modish pig-tail wig.” - -When the Czar Peter was in Holland he made free with a burgomaster’s -wig in a very characteristic manner. He was at church: the service -was somewhat dull, and his head getting cold, when, observing a good -warm wig on the head of a fat functionary near him, he clapped it -on his own pate, and did not restore it until the service was over. -Churchill, the poet, used to declare that his career at Oxford was cut -short by a large bushy wig, which added such a sage solemnity to the -grave aspect of the examiner’s face, that he could not control his -laughter. Churchill had his jest, and was rejected at the examination. -Garrick himself was once driven from the stage by a fit of laughter, -brought on at the sight of a powdered wig. A Whitechapel butcher in a -church-warden’s wig, accompanied by his dog, occupied seats in front -of the stage. Garrick was playing Lear, and preparing for a triumph at -the end of the fifth act. The butcher, overcome with heat and mental -excitement, was in a melting mood; to relieve which, he took off his -wig, and placed it on the dog’s head, who advanced to the orchestra, -holding himself up by the fore-paws. At the critical moment, when -inspiration seemed to animate every tone and gesture of the great -actor, it chanced that his eye, “in a fine frenzy rolling,” lighted -on his four legged critic, who was as intent as any biped present on -the scene before him, and quite indifferent to his large well-powdered -Sunday peruke. At the moment the effect was irresistible; the dog -outdid Garrick, who fairly ran off the stage amid roars of laughter -from the whole house. - -Of old, the doctor who set up in business without a wig in the best -style of art was as little likely to succeed in his profession as a -modern physician without his carriage. - - “Each son of Sol, to make him look more big, - Had on a large, grave, decent, three tailed wig.” - -Of course, we don’t suppose that Dr. Brocklesby’s barber or the learned -doctor intended it as an advertisement; but it was the constant -practice of his barber to carry the said doctor’s wig in its box -through the crowd at the Exchange, calling out, “Make way for Dr. -Brocklesby’s wig!” Our allusion is to the dignity and importance of -the wig, which were fully recognized by the honourable and illustrious -professors of the healing art, who will please to excuse our indulging -in a pleasant stave of an old song: - - “If you would see a noble wig, - And in that wig a man look big, - To Ludgate-hill repair, my joy, - And gaze on Doctor Delmayhoy.” - -The parson was as well found in wigs as the doctor. Mandeville says -of a wealthy parson, “His wigs are as fashionable as that form he is -forced to comply with will admit of; but, as he is only stinted in -their shape, so he takes care that for goodness of hair and colour -few noblemen shall be able to match ’em.” It is encouraging to know -that the clergy look so closely to the goodness of the article they -put before us. Warton wrote an “Ode to a Grizzle Wig,” which is not -the worst ingredient in that pleasant miscellany of his, “The Oxford -Sausage:” - - “All hail, ye _Curls_, that rang’d in rev’rend row, - With snowy pomp my conscious shoulders hide! - That fall beneath in venerable flow, - And crown my brows above with feathery pride! - - High on your summit, wisdom’s mimick’d air - Sits thron’d with pedantry, her solemn sire, - And in her net of awe-diffusing hair, - Entangles fools, and bids the crowd admire. - - O’er every lock, that floats in full display, - Sage ignorance her gloom scholastic throws; - And stamps o’er all my visage, once so gay, - Unmeaning gravity’s serene repose. - - * * * * * - - But thou, farewell, my _Bob_! whose thin wove thatch - Was stor’d with quips and cranks, and wanton wiles, - That love to live within the _one-curled scratch_, - With fun and all the family of smiles. - - * * * * * - - No more the wherry feels my stroke so true; - At skittles in a _grizzle_, can I play? - Woodstock, farewell! and Wallingford adieu! - Where many a scheme relieved the lingering day. - - Such were the joys that once HILARIO crown’d, - Ere grave preferment came my peace to rob; - Such are the less ambitious pleasures found - Beneath the _liceat_ of an humble _Bob_.” - -But at Bath the clergy thought of other things beside divinity lectures -and professorships. Anstey tells of a young spark of a clergyman -sporting about in a more fashionable, but less canonical, coiffure than -the grizzle-wig: - - “What a cropt head of hair the young parson has on - Emerged from his grizzle, the unfortunate sprig - Seems as if he were hunting all night for his wig.” - -Lely and Kneller could best illustrate the heroic age of wigs; but -Hogarth’s ready pencil furnishes abundant details of their social -state. The comic element seems to abound in all his sketches of wigs. -In his print of “The Bench,” they slumber in the softest repose, in -undisturbed gravity, and nod with the profoundest humour. The eminent -lawyers were not all senior wranglers in those days. Look at the print -of “The Country Dance,” and say if ever wigs hung more unbecomingly on -the shoulders of the most awkward frights; but for an enormous pig-tail -wig where could we select a finer specimen than in the print of “Taste -in High Life.” These choice Exotics, as he has labelled them, are -evidently great favourites with this humourous artist. But the print we -are most concerned with is “THE FIVE ORDERS OF PERIWIGS, _as -they were worn at the late Coronation, measured Architectonically_.” -At the foot of the print the following advertisement is added: - - In about 17 years will be completed, in 6 vols. folio, price 15 - guineas. The exact measurements of the Periwigs of the Ancients, - taken from the Statues, Bustos, and Basso-Relievos of Athens, - Palmyra, Balbec, and Rome, by Modesto, Periwig-maker, from - Lagado. - -Five rows of perriwigs, faithful portraits we dare be sworn every one, -illustrate the Five Orders of Perriwigs. First in order we have the -EPISCOPAL, OR PARSONIC WIGS, followed by the OLD PEERIAN OR ALDERMANIC; -the LEXONIC; COMPOSITE, _or Half Natural_; and, last of all, the -QUEERINTHIAN. The reader will understand from the advertisement given -above that the engraving was a notable quiz on Athenian Stuart, as -he was called, whose laborious and accurate work on the Antiquities -of Athens has been of such service to architects. It is said that the -portrait of Stuart, outlined as a wig-block in the original was so -unmistakably like the author of the Antiquities that Hogarth struck -off the nose on purpose to disguise the joke a little. One of the OLD -PEERIAN order of wigs was at once recognized as a hit at the notorious -Bubb Doddington, “the last grave fop of the last age:” - - “Who, quite a man of gingerbread, - Savour’d in talk, in dress, and phiz, - More of another world than this.” - -Bubb Doddington’s wig is again figured by Hogarth in one of the -prints of “The Election,” where it shares in the perils and triumphs -of the chairing of the member. Cumberland says that when Doddington -was made Lord Melcomb, he actually strutted before the looking-glass, -coronet in hand, to study deportment. Warburton’s wig was another of -the portrait-wigs, of the Parsonic order. From Hogarth’s most popular -works alone one might select a gallery of wigs--tie-wigs, bag-wigs, -pig-tails, and bob-wigs, in every variety--well worthy of earnest -criticism. Matthews used to say he wondered what the beggars did with -their left off clothes till he went to Ireland, when he discovered -some of those old relics curiously clinging to the nakedness of their -brethren of the Emerald Isle. What became of the old wigs we had -ourselves never sufficiently considered till we scanned one of these -said prints, and found, to our delight, what had evidently once been a -wig comically seated on the head of a young vagrant beside a gutter. - -Voltaire’s wig, in the eyes of his contemporaries, was as fatally -charged with the electricity of criticism, as Dr. Johnson’s proved -to be, to the terror of his obsequious followers. This Rhadamanthus -of literature, speaking of Geneva, says, “Je secoue ma perruque, la -republique est bien poudrée.” There was one, André, a perriwig maker, -who wrote a play in 1760, and ventured to solicit Voltaire’s friendly -criticism. His reply is well known; it filled four sides of a sheet of -letter-paper with merely a repetition of “_Monsieur André, faites -des perruques_,” and ending, “_toujours des perruques et jamais -que des perruques_.” Descartes had a great passion for perukes; and -at the taking of Dresden, Frederick the Great found in the wardrobe of -Count Brühl some hundreds of wigs--one authority says fifteen hundred. - -Some time before bag-wigs went out of fashion a practical joke was -played off in Pall Mall, with the intention of bringing bags into -contempt, which had like to have ended somewhat seriously. The -particulars are given in the Annual Register of 1761. Some wags dressed -up a porter in a bag-wig and lace ruffles, and made him as Frenchified -as possible, and drove him into the midst of the fashionable throng -in the Mall. His superb dress immediately won the admiration of the -votaries of pleasure, who seemed anxious to make his acquaintance; but -his absurd conduct soon convinced them of the trick which had been -played upon them, and the fellow was thrust out from among them--we -sincerely hope with the addition of a good cudgelling. - -The time came when perriwig makers had fallen upon evil days. The -fashion was evidently on the decline--something must be done for the -common good; when, Curtius like, they took a bold leap. Accordingly, -on the 11th February, 1765, they presented a petition to his majesty -George III., the prayer of which was, that a law should be passed -to enforce the wearing of wigs, and that his majesty should help to -keep up the fashion. Alas! for the mutability of human affairs, it -is questionable if the good king had the power to revive, even for -an hour, an expiring fashion: it is certain in this instance, as in -others of graver moment, he obstinately adhered to his own choice, -and clung to his pig-tail in spite of remonstrance. The London mob, -however, proceeded to legislate after their own fashion; and, observing -that the wig makers, who wished to make others wear wigs, wore no -wigs themselves, they seized hold of the petitioners by force, and -cut off all their hair. “Should one wonder,” says Horace Walpole, “if -carpenters were to remonstrate that since the peace there has been -no call for wooden legs.” George III. might well be content with his -modest pig-tail, which queen Charlotte, like a home-loving wife, as she -was, often powdered and bound with ribbon, and curled his majesty’s -hair in the style he preferred, well knowing in such matters none could -please him so well as herself; and thus adorned, we are told, he read -the speech from the throne at the meeting of parliament. - -At the marriage of the Princess Royal to the Prince of Orange, in the -reign of George II., the bridegroom wore a long curled perriwig to hide -the terrible hump which disfigured his princely shoulders. As soon as -the awkward ceremony was over, the queen gave vent to her feelings in a -flood of tears. - -The Maccaroni Club, 1772, set the fashion of wearing the hair in a -most preposterous style. It was combed upwards into a conical-shaped -toupée of monstrous size; and, behind the head, the hair was plaited -and tied together into a solid bundle, which of itself must have been -an inconvenient load for a gentleman’s shoulders. The ladies wore a -head-dress of similar altitude, piling Peleon upon Ossa, in the shape -of a cushion of horse hair and wool, over which the hair, pomatumed -and powdered, was spread out and carried upwards towards the clouds, -bedecked with lace and ribbon; the sides of this delectable mountain -were ornamented with rows of curls: but words can convey but a very -poor idea of this diverting monstrosity. “An you come to sea in a -high wind,” says Ben to Mrs. Frail, in Congreve’s “Love for Love,” -“you mayn’t carry so much sail o’ you head--top and top-gallant.” And -the Macarronies in their day ran the same risk of being capsized by a -squall. At the opera these head-dresses so completely intercepted all -view of the stage to those in the rear, that, in 1778, a regulation -was put in force which excluded them altogether from the amphitheatre. - -The amiable Cowper, shocked at the vulgar assurance of the once coy -shepherdess, beheld - - “Her head, adorned with lappets pinned aloft, - And ribands streaming gay, superbly raised, - And magnified beyond all human size, - Indebted to some smart wig-weaver’s hand - For more than half the tresses it sustains.” - -Cowper, like Shakspere appears to have entertained a great antipathy -to wigs. The author of the Diverting History of John Gilpin assailed -them in their dotage: Shakspere would have nipped them in the bud. -Cowper, writing to a friend, says, “I give you joy of your own hair. No -doubt you are a considerable gainer by being disperriwigged....* * * I -have little doubt if an arm or a leg could have been taken off with as -little pain as attends the amputation of a curl or a lock of hair, the -natural limb would have been thought less becoming than a wooden one.” - - “Look on beauty, - And you shall see ’tis purchased by the weight; - Which therein works a miracle in nature, - Making them lightest that wear most of it. - So are the crispéd, snaky, golden locks, - Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, - Upon supposed fairness, often known - To be the dowry of a second head; - The skull that bred them in the sepulchre.” - MERCHANT OF VENICE. - -The Water-poet was more explicit than elegant when he inveighed against -the dames - - “Whose borrowed hair (perhaps not long before) - Some wicked trull in other fashion wore; - Or one that at the gallows made her will, - Late chokéd with the hangman’s pickadill; - In which respect a sow, a cat, a mare, - More modest than these foolish females are; - For the brute beasts, (continual night and day,) - Do wear their own still, (and so do not they.)” - -Pennant had a strange aversion to wigs, and, when he was half seas -over, used to snatch them off the wearers’ heads. Once, at Chester, -dining with an officer and a personal friend, (who, knowing his -particular weakness, purposely sat next him, to prevent mischief,) -being somewhat elated with wine, he made a sudden dart at the officer’s -wig and threw it into the fire. The officer, enraged at the insult, -drew his sword, and Pennant took to his heels. The son of Mars was -close upon him when Pennant’s better knowledge of the bye-ways of -Chester stood him in good stead, and he contrived to give the enemy -the slip. His friend, who remembered all the particulars of this -hair-breadth escape, used to call it Pennant’s Tour in Chester. - -When Fag, in Sheridan’s play of “The Rivals,” meets Sir Anthony’s -coachman at Bath, he tells him he must polish a little, and that “none -of the London whips of any degree of ton wear wigs now.” But the -bucolic mind is eminently conservative, and Thomas makes answer, “Odd’s -life! when I heard how the lawyers and doctors had took to their own -hair, I thought how ’twould go next. Why, bless you, the gentlemen of -the professions ben’t all of a mind; for in our village now, thoff Jack -Gauge, the exciseman, has ta’en to his carrots; there’s little Dick, -the farrier, swears he’ll never forsake his bob, though all the college -should appear with their own heads.” - -It was during the first shock of the French Revolution, when the laws, -religion, and social institutions of France were overturned, as by an -earthquake, that wigs were discarded with other insignia of the old -régime. The heroes of pagan Rome, and the fabled deities of Greece, -supplied the French Republicans with models for their newest fashions. -The men with rough cropped hair sported a _Brutus_, and the ladies -in scanty draperies assumed the coiffure _à la Greque_. While the -heroic citizens rejoiced in their newly acquired liberty and freedom -from wigs, the chaste matrons went in search of false hair, to imitate -the classic beauties of antiquity. In England, however sudden the -transformations in high life, the change, agreeably to the genius of -the people, was rather the growth of a new system than the uprooting -of the old. The old wig decayed slowly beside the growth of a new -crop, and lingered long in many a humble circle, became the oracle of -the club, and enjoyed the dignity of the arm-chair and the repose of -the chimney-corner; and some would be laid up in ordinary with family -relics in the old lumber-room, like Uncle Toby’s white Ramillies wig -in the old campaign trunk, which the corporal put into pipes and -furbished up for the grand _coup de main_ with widow Wadman, but -which resisted all Trim’s efforts, and the repeated application of -candle-ends, to bring into better curl. - -It chanced that Queen Charlotte’s auburn locks fell off during her -accouchment. At this fatal omen the extravagant head-dresses then -in fashion were suddenly sacrificed. Her majesty and the princesses -in 1793 were pleased to discard hair-powder, which speedily rid the -_beau monde_ of that encumbrance. In 1795 the hair-powder tax of -one guinea per head, imposed by Pitt’s act, came into operation. The -tax at one time realized as much as £20,000 per annum. This lessened -considerably the number of powdered heads; and hair-powder, once so -necessary to the finish of the finest gentleman, fell into disuse, -except with a few gentlemen’s gentlemen--the Fitz-Jeames in livery. - -For state and ceremony except among the lawyers and the bench of -bishops, at last nothing worthy the name of a perriwig was left -to admire. George the Third’s bag-wig was as unpretending as the -king himself. His statue beyond Charing Cross will happily remind -posterity of that most respectable monarch--and his wig. Dr. Johnson’s -scratch-wig, of which Boswell has left us a most authentic account, is -familiar to most readers. That famous old scratch, too small for his -head, always uncombed, and the fore part burnt away by contact with the -candle, must be carefully distinguished from the smart wig which Mrs. -Thrale’s butler kept for him at Streatham and placed on his head as he -passed through the hall to dinner. - -During the decadence of the wig, the army and navy wore pig-tails, -which were nourished with regulation charges of powder and pomatum. How -gallantly they defended them, the history of many a well-fought battle -can tell-- - - “Not once or twice in our rough island story, - The path of duty was the way to glory.” - -In 1804, the soldier’s allowance of pig-tail was reduced to seven -inches, and in 1808 the order was promulgated to cut them off, but -countermanded the very next day. However, revocation was impossible; -for the barbers, with their usual alacrity, had performed their stern -duties successfully, and not a pig-tail remained to the British army. - -Is the reader curious to know something about Sergeants of the coif, -and the mysteries of the bar-wig with its rows of curls and twin tails? -Let him make his studies from nature, and “the stiff-wigged living -figures,” as Elia calls them. The sages of the law were among the last -to forego the use of wigs in private life; and it is said that Mr. -Justice Park acquired the cognomen of _Bushy Park_, from the peculiar -fashion of his wig, which he retained long after his brethren of the -long robe had forsaken theirs. In the Table-talk of Samuel Rogers there -is an anecdote of Lord Ellenborough’s wig. The judge was setting out -for the circuit, and as Lady Ellenborough wished to accompany him, it -was agreed between husband and wife that no band-boxes of any kind -would be tolerated; for, when travelling, his lordship had a great -aversion to band-boxes. On the journey, however, as the judge was -stretching his legs in the carriage, they came in contact with the -thing he so cordially detested--a band-box. In an instant his lordship -seized hold of it, and threw it out of the window. The carriage -stopped, and the footman was about to pick it up, when his lordship -called out, “_Drive on!_” Arrived at the county town, when the judge -was putting on his robes before going into court, enquiry was made for -the wig, which, at the last moment, was nowhere to be found. After -much delay, the footman was interrogated by his lordship, “Where _is_ -my wig?” “Why, my lord,” replied the servant, “you threw it out of the -window.” It seems that her ladyship’s maid, envious that a judge’s wig -should travel so comfortably in its proper case, while some pieces of -millinery were in danger of being terribly crushed for want of a larger -box, at their last resting place had made an exchange, and put the -fright of a wig in a band-box, and the millinery in the wig-box. The -most villainous of the wig tribe was certainly the peruke of George the -Fourth’s reign, which, pretending to imitate the natural hair, was, on -that very account, the more detestable, in as much as an ape’s features -are more ridiculous from bearing some resemblance to a man. - -Even the bishops have gradually forsaken the episcopal wig. The Irish -bishops do not appear to have worn them. The Honorable Richard -Bagot, bishop of Bath and Wells, was the first of our modern bishops -who dispensed with the wig. Many years previous to his obtaining the -bishopric, the Prince Regent had said to him in a joke, “You are much -too handsome a man to wear a wig; remember, whenever I make you a -bishop you may dispense with wearing one.” However, when the bishop -reminded his sovereign that his promise when Regent exempted him from -wearing a wig, it was only after much hesitation that the favour was -granted. Bishop Bloomfield officiated in an orthodox-peruke at the -coronation of William IV.; and more recently in the House of Lords, at -times, a solitary wig came forth like a decrepid fly in mid-winter, -drowsily contemplating the change and bustle going on around it. For a -brief space it walked the earth like a troubled spirit--the reverend -fathers have exorcised it, and it is no more seen of men. - -When George IV. was king, his were the model whiskers (though false -ones) which constituted the standard of perfection. Our continental -neighbours, in derision, frequently likened the English whiskers to -mutton chops or a string of sausages; but John Bull who is always -tolerant of abuse, and goes about matters after his own sturdy fashion, -maintained his whiskers with imperturbable gravity. Moore, in one of -his humorous poems, thus takes off the vanities of royalty, and it says -much for the good sense of the king that he could enjoy the wit of the -poet when directed against himself: - - “He looks in the glass--but perfection is there, - Wig, whiskers, and chin-tufts all right to a hair; - Not a single _ex_-curl on his forehead he traces-- - For curls are like Ministers, strange as the case is, - The _falser_ they are, the more firm in their places.” - -Some brief notes yet remain to complete the present imperfect sketch, -but of too recent date to warrant their insertion here. It is -gratifying to know that, under the present glorious and auspicious -rule, improvement is taking place in all matters of taste, and that -even in the changeful fashions of the day we are much indebted to the -refined judgment of our most gracious Queen, VICTORIA, whom may God -long preserve to reign over a free and enlightened people. - - - - - BARBERS. - - CHAPTER V. - - -Barbers, by common consent, enjoy a most enviable reputation. Both in -fact and fiction they are the representatives of shrewdness and good -nature; and in some of the choicest literature extant, the sayings and -doings of the brethren of the craft are among the best of their kind. -It would be a dull world without Figaro. - -The barber’s shop was for centuries the emporium of gossip, the -idler’s club; and when the young Roman wished to meet with a rake as -pleasure-loving as himself, he sought him at the barber’s, possibly to -contrive how to steal away some old man’s daughter or his money-bags. -And thither came the old miser to get his finger-nails clipped, -taking care, however, to take the parings away with him. All classes -frequented the barber’s shop; and we may suppose the lively satirists -of old visited the spot, as Molière did the barber of Pezenas, to find -material for some of their best sketches of character. - -The Roman barbers, it must be confessed, were somewhat garrulous, and -their tongues went as nimbly as their shears. Like the moderns, they -put a rough cloth round the patient, as we are half inclined to call -the customer who submitted to the operation, for we fear their razors -were none of the best, for some preferred to have their beards plucked -out by means of plasters applied to the face, and then those terrible -tweezers completed the work, pulling out the stray hairs the razors -or plasters had left behind. Some wealthy men had the duties of the -barber performed by their own slaves, but the shops were thronged -with customers, and the tonsor was at all times the most obedient and -obliging servant of the public. One of the peculiarities of their art -was the clicking of the shears, to which Juvenal makes allusion: - - “He whose officious scizzors went snip, snip, - As he my troublesome young beard did clip.” - -Several of these worthies attained to great distinction, and rose from -the shop to the senate. - -The furniture of a barber’s shop, to those who are curious in matters -of antiquity, might serve to explain the customs of a very remote -period. The basin is mentioned in Ezekiel: it is the _cantherus_ -of the middle ages, which was of bright copper. From a peculiar soap, -_lascivium_, used by the fraternity, we derive the word lather. -Washing-balls were used for washing and softening the beard before -shaving, and the pomatum in use was known as _capillare_. Various -modes of frizzing and plaiting the hair, distinguished by appropriate -terms, are alluded to by archæologists; but we turn a deaf ear to such -traditions--our lode-star glistens near the barber’s pole, Mambrino’s -helmet, bright with sunny memories of golden romance and the adventures -of the knight of La Mancha. There has been some diversity of opinion as -to the origin of the well-known barber’s pole. The prevalent opinion -is probably the true one, that it represents the staff held in the -hand by the patient phlebotomized by the barber-surgeon; and that the -red ribbon coiled round it represents the tape by which the arm was -compressed during the operation. And here, at the threshold, we observe -the mystical union between Barbery and Surgery; and hence the dignity -and professional honours to which the barbers justly lay claim. Lord -Thurlow, in the House of Peers (1797) decorated the barber’s pole with -somewhat different colours when he stated “that, by a statute then in -force, the Barbers and Surgeons were each to use a pole. The barbers -were to have theirs blue and white, striped, with no other appendage; -but the surgeons’, which was the same in other respects, was likewise -to have a galley-pot and a red rag, to denote the particular nature -of their vocation.” Our business is not with the galley-pot, although -we love the golden beard of Æsculapius well. We incline to the belief -that there were no jealousies between the happy couple at an early -period of their union. The fees of both professions were, doubtless, -small, and seldom any but minor operations attempted; while, probably, -the ignorance of both parties was so nearly balanced as to produce the -desired equality so necessary to the concord of the married state. For -many long years we know they jogged on together without complaint of -any kind; that subsequently, if not very loving, they tolerated each -other with due decorum; and that, when at last they got to wrangling -and high words, they luckily obtained a divorce. - -The barber’s basin certainly ranks next in importance to the pole. The -basin of the proper form had the usual semi-circle cut out of the brim, -that it might fit into the neck; and, in another part, a hollow place, -like a little dish, to hold the soap: its office was two-fold, and was -in requisition both for bleeding and shaving. To the disturbed vision -of Don Quixote the brass basin glittered like burnished gold. His -adventure with the village barber, mounted on his dappled grey ass, the -renowned helmet, and the part it played in the astounding feats of that -flower of chivalry, are known the world over, and are among the most -pleasant associations connected with the barber’s trade. At a public -festival in Holland, in honour of the Earl of Leicester, Holinshed -says a barber set up some three score of bright copper basins on a -wall, with a wax candle burning in each, and a painting of a rose and -crown, and an inscription in Latin, “this made a faire shew, and was -a pretie deuise.” If the fellow were an honest patriot, he deserved a -pyramid of brass basins for a monument. - -Punning inscriptions and quaint devices outside of the shop were -frequently adopted as alluring bait for the lovers of odd whims and -fancies, who thought none the worse of the man for having some spice of -humour in his composition. Over a barber’s shop Hogarth has set up this -inscription, “Shaving, bleeding, and teeth drawn with a touch, ECCE -SIGNUM.” Bat Pigeon, of whom honourable mention is made by both -Steele and Addison, had a curious device of a bat and a pigeon, which, -in its day, attracted much attention. The wig-maker’s sign of Absalom -hanging from the oak by his hair, and the darts of Joab fixed in his -side, is probably of French origin. The story is told of a barber at -Troyes, and the inscription runs thus: - - “Passans, contemplez la douleur - D’Absalon pendu par la nuque: - Il eût évité ce malheur - S’il avait porté la _perruque_.” - -The English version is more concise: - - “O Absalom, unhappy sprig, - Thou shouldst have worn a perriwig.” - -The barber’s chair may be regarded as the centre of the system. The -proverb “As common as a barber’s chair” is well known, and Shakspere’s -clown adds “it fits all buttocks”--the word is not ours--the seat -of honour, if you please, reader, furnished with twin cushions to -protect the sacred Luz, out of which the Rabbins say the renewed -mammal is to sprout forth at the resurrection, as you are probably -aware. In old prints, the chattels of a barber’s shop are usually -few and mean enough; but the chair--the descendant of the _sella -tonsoria_--bears some rude flourishes of art, is broad and massive -and well-cushioned, as became the throne of so many grave potentates. -One is as much astonished at the size of the combs, scissors, and -razors of the ancient barbers as at the giant arms and armour worn -by the knights of old. What ponderous blades these artists wielded -it is fearful to contemplate. There is an old joke that some barber -advertised shaving by the acre, and cutting blocks with a razor one -would think not impossible with such weapons. Actius’ razor, which -was of the keenest, must have been after this fashion. As razors are -of very old date, it may interest some one to know that, long before -Sheffield or Sheffield blades were thought of, Palermo did business in -their commodity. The presiding deity was not unfrequently the greatest -curiosity about the place. A certain knack of snapping the fingers -was a common practice among them; tradition says, it recalled to mind -the clicking of the shears used by their great ancestors. Morose, in -Ben Jonson’s “Silent Woman,” so detested this sound, as indeed he did -noises of all kind, that meeting with a barber who was without this -trick of his profession, he thought it so eminent a virtue, that he -made him chief of his counsel, which reminds one of Adrian’s rebuke to -his gossip of a barber, who, in reply to the man’s query how he should -like to be shaved, said--silently! But barber’s were better employed -than in curing the ill-humours of the Morose family. In Stubbes’ -Anatomie of Abuses (1583) is a dialogue about old barbers, which we -will in part transcribe: - - “There are no finer fellowes under the sunne, nor experter in - their noble science of barbing than they be; and therefore, - in the fulness of their overflowing knowledge, (oh! ingenious - heads, and worthy to be dignified with the diademe of folly and - vain curiositie!) they have invented such strange fashions and - monstrous manners of cutting, trimmings, shavings, and washings, - that you would wonder to see.... Besides that, when they come - to the cutting of the haire, what snipping and snapping of the - cycers is there, what tricking and trimming, what rubbing, - what scratching, what combing and clawing, what trickling and - toying, and all to tawe out money, you may be sure. And when - they come to washing, oh! how gingerly they behave themselves - therein; for then shall your mouth be bossed with the lather - or fome that riseth of the balles (for they have their sweete - balles wherewithall they use to washe); your eyes closed must - be anointed therewith also. Then snap go the fingers; ful - bravely, God wot. Thus, this tragedy ended, comes me warme - clothes to wipe and dry him withall; next the eares must be - picked and closed togither againe artificially forsooth; the - hair of nostrils cut away, and every thing done in order comely - to behold. The last action in this tragedie is the paiment of - monie. And least these cunning barbers might seem unconscionable - in asking much for their paines, they are of such a shamefast - modestie, as they will aske nothing at all, but, standing to - the curtesie and liberalitie of the giver, they will receive - all that comes, how much soever it be, not giving anie again, I - warrant you; for take a barber with that fault, and strike off - his head. No, no, such fellows are _Raræ in terris, nigrisque - simillimi cygnis_,--“Rare birds upon the earth, and as geason - as black swans.” You shall have also your Orient perfumes for - your nose, your fragrant waters for your face, wherewith you - shall bee all to besprinkled: your musicke againe, and pleasant - harmonie shall sound in your eares, and all to tickle the - same with vaine delight. And in the end your cloke shall be - brushed, and, God be with you, gentleman!...* * * * * * But yet - I must needs say (these nisities set apart) barbers are verie - necesarie, for otherwise men should grow verie ougglisom and - deformed, and their haire would in processe of time overgrowe - their face, rather like monsters, than comlie sober Christians.” - - -Stubbes, himself, was an inveterate trifler--one of an army of pigmies -warring against cranes; but we acquit him of all malice; he belonged -to that numerous class who originate nothing, but find fault with -everything-- - - “The long-neck’d geese of the world for ever hissing dispraise - Because their natures are little,” - -as Tennyson calls them. An apt turn for flattery was very requisite in -an accomplished barber--one of the most difficult things, by the way, -for humanity to attain to; for if satire should wound, like a keen -razor, “with a touch that’s scarcely felt or seen,” flattery, like -rouge, should be applied with a very delicate hand, indeed. Suckling’s -verses allude to this hazardous feat: - - “When I’m at work, I’m bound to find discourse - To no great purpose, of great Sweden’s force, - Of Witel, and the Burse, and what ’twill cost - To get that back which was this summer lost. - So fall to praising of his lordship’s hair, - Ne’er so deformed, I swear ’tis _sans_ compare: - I tell him that the King’s does sit no fuller, - And yet his is not half so good a colour: - Then reach a pleasing glass, that’s made to lye - Like to its master most notoriously: - And if he must his mistress see that day, - I with a powder send him strait away.” - -But other duties such as bleeding, cupping, and drawing teeth had to be -attended to in turn. Those who have seen the - - “Black rotten teeth in order strung, - Rang’d cups, that in the window stood, - Lin’d with red rags to look like blood,” - -will acknowledge that this was once a very important branch of -industry. We have ourselves seen the tooth of some unknown animal -in a collection of the kind, which, for size, would have astonished -Professor Owen; the sight of it, we were told, had frightened away many -a toothache. The reader has probably met with the anecdote of Queen -Elizabeth, who hesitated about having a tooth drawn; when Bishop Aylmer -sat down in the chair, and said to the operator, “Come, though I am -an old man, and have but few teeth to spare, draw me this!” which was -done; and the queen, seeing him make so slight a matter of it, sat down -and had hers drawn, also. - -When it was part of the popular belief that the human subject required -to be bled at regular intervals to ensure good health and make the -ladies fair, and when every barber-surgeon was ready “to breathe a -vein,” we may be sure the lancet was in constant request. Cupping -was recommended to remove a catarrh or cold in the head; and one who -made trial of its virtues says, he was startled by being asked by the -operator if he wished to be _sacrificed_; but declined being -scarified on that occasion. We take it for granted there must have -been uncommon stamina in the British constitution, or it would long -since have broken down hopelessly under the rough handling it has -undergone. - -Benjamin Suddlechop, in Scott’s “Fortunes of Nigel,” has become the -model barber of our popular literature; the sketch is confessedly a -slight one, and, indeed, after Cervantes, Fielding, Smollett, and Le -Sage--not to mention others--have given their delineations of the -character, the barbers stand in need of no further help to fame. -Even Suddlechop had some music in his soul; his shop in Fleet-street -resounded with the tinklings of the guitar, where the lover, if so -inclined, might warble “a woeful ballad to his mistress’ eyebrows,” or -flay some spell-bound Marsyas with sounds by no means - - “As sweet and musical - As bright Apollo’s lute, strung with his hair.” - -But what shall we say to Suddlechop’s little back shop, from which -he supplied his customers with strong waters. We consider this a sad -blot upon his fame. Many of the barbers sold cordials and compounded -English _aqua-vitæ_, and to them we are indebted for some of the -earliest recipes for British brandy--an abominable mixture, which, like -the filthy poison known as gin, has destroyed more victims than ever -groaned under the lancet of the barber-surgeon. Could these worthies -have foreseen what scandalous things would come of this gin drinking, -how - - “The vitriol madness flashes up in the ruffian’s head, - Till the filthy by-lane rings to the yell of the trampled wife,” - -what disease, and want, and wretchedness, and crime, are engendered -of this poison to men’s souls--all to build up the fortunes of a few -wealthy capitalists--we are sure even the strong nerves of the dashing -barber would have failed him, and he would have turned with loathing -from the hateful traffic. Rabelais makes Pope Calixtus a woman’s barber -in the other world, which might be a very salutary discipline for a -proud pontiff; and we put it to the prince of jovial drinkers himself -to suggest any more fitting purgatorial chastisement for the gin-fire -aristocracy, than that of compelling them to drink their own vile -compounds: Prometheus, bound to the rock, with the vulture preying on -his liver, would be but a faint type of their misery. - -Before we dismiss Suddlechop, we have to remark that though dame -Ursula, his wife, carried on the sale of cosmetics and perfumes, and -dealt in other mysteries in her own room at hand, the business of a -perfumer, as the term is now understood, had nothing to do with the -ancient craft of barbery; such matters concerned St. Veronica and the -milliners--the barbers and their patron saint, St. Louis, were engaged -on higher mysteries. To preserve order, or, more probably, to promote -merriment, a list of forfeits was hung up in the shop; those who chose -to pay them did, and those who did not might laugh at them-- - - “like the forfeits in a barbers shop, - As much in mock as mark.” - -Some old-fashioned “rules for seemly behaviour” have been handed to -certain learned antiquaries as genuine regulations of the craft; but -old birds are not to be caught with chaff, and the archæologist knows -better. The forfeits are said to have been incurred by meddling with -the razors, talking about cutting throats, swearing, pricking another -with the spurs, taking another’s turn, interrupting the barber, and -such like venial offences. It was formerly the custom to apply the soap -with the hand when lathering the beard; the practice of using a brush -was a French innovation, not known in England till the year 1756. Nor -must we omit to mention that contrivance of the dark ages, the barber’s -candlestick, which consisted of an upright wooden stem, pointed at the -lower end, which was fixed in the apron string, and a projecting branch -moveable round the stem to hold the candle. - -Down even to the time of Queen Anne the barber’s shop was frequented -by the better sort of people, and the hand that trimmed the tradesman -curled the courtier. In Green’s “Quip for an Upstart Courtier,” (1592), -we read, “With quaint terms you greet Master Velvet-breeches withal, -and at every word a snap with your scissors, and a cringe with your -knee; whereas, when you come to poor Cloth-breeches, you either cut his -beard at your own pleasure, or else in disdain ask him if he will be -trimmed with Christ’s cut, round like the half of a Holland cheese?” - -Some of the old histories afford curious glimpses of the varied -fortunes of the trade. In the time of Henry VI., the king’s palace was -surrounded by little barbers’ shops, under the direction of the barber -of the household. There being then no carriages, and the streets being -dirty, it is probable that those who went to court were first shaved -and dressed in these shops. A considerable fee was given to this barber -for shaving every Knight of the Bath, on his creation; forty shillings -from every baron; one hundred shillings from every earl; and ten pounds -from every duke. The barbers of London were first incorporated by -King Edward IV., in 1461, and at that time were the only persons who -practised surgery. In France the Company of Barbers dates from 1096. -An association called the Company of Surgeons was then formed prior to -the act of Henry VIII., regulating the trade of barbers and surgeons. -This act incorporated the company of surgeons with the barbers, under -the name of the Barbers and Surgeons of London, and defined the duties -of both professions: the barbers were not to practice surgery further -than drawing of teeth, and the surgeons were strictly prohibited from -exercising the craft of shaving. It is needless to add, that to a much -later period, any act of parliament to the contrary notwithstanding, -the barber did as much of the surgeon’s work as he could get. In -certain articles devised by Henry VIII. for the establishment of good -order in his household and chambers, there is an order by which the -king’s barber is “expressly enjoined to be cleanly, and by no means to -frequent the company of idle persons and misguided women, for fear of -danger to the king’s most royal person.” - -Montaigne complains (1581) that throughout Italy he had not been able -to get hold of a single barber that could either shave him, or cut, or -arrange his hair properly. The barber of King Charles II. seems to have -acquired somewhat of the levity of his master, (evil communications -corrupt good manners); for one day, while shaving him, with his usual -familiarity he hazarded the remark, that none of his majesty’s officers -had a greater trust than himself. “How so, friend?” quoth the king. -“Why,” said the barber, “I could cut your majesty’s throat whenever -I liked.” Charles started up at the idea, and, using his favourite -oath, exclaimed, “Odds fish, the very thought is treason!” Nor could -King Charles have forgotten the occasion when William Penderel first -performed the office of barber, and shaved and trimmed him in a very -sorry fashion, that he might elude his enemies. Royalty must at all -times have been a very awkward customer for the barber to meddle with. -Midas’ barber who appears to have had the _cacoethes loquendi_ -which is said to be endemic with the craft, suffered dreadfully in -consequence. Fortunately for a few crowned heads, the tonsor, taught -discretion by the story of Midas, has become the most prudent of men, -and not a whisper is uttered on earth of any peculiar developement -about the ears which the Phrygian cap effectually conceals from the -vulgar. - -Female barbers were not unknown to our forefathers, and, till within a -few years, were to be met with in the provinces: possibly some “weird -sisters” still survive in odd localities. We remember a sturdy little -Welsh woman who wielded the razor very successfully in her native town, -and was patronized extensively by the sailors and quarrymen. The five -barberesses of Drury Lane, who dreadfully maltreated a woman in the -reign of Charles II., are remembered for their infamy. Local histories -tell of a noted barberess in Seven Dials, and of a black woman who -did duty at Butcher Row, near the Temple. The delicate manipulation -of female artists is proverbial; but one shudders at the thought of -encountering the armed hand of the female barber; for who has forgotten -the trick which the barber-damsel put upon Don Quixote, when she raised -a lather a span high, covering up his face and beard with a white -foam, and then left him for awhile with his neck outstretched, and his -eyes half shut, “the strangest and most ridiculous figure imaginable;” -and how poor Sancho was threatened with still worse consequences, and -protested loudly against the beard-scouring by the scullions, adding, -with his usual shrewdness, that there was no such difference between -him and his master, that one should be washed with angel water and -the other with devil’s-ley. Southey informs us that female shavers -were not uncommon in Spain in his day. The more feminine occupation of -hair-dressing was long carried on by the other sex, in a becoming and -artistic manner: witness the announcement of one of them, copied by -Strutt from the original in the British Museum:-- - - - A [Illustration] R - - _Next Door to the Golden Bell, St. Bride’s Lane, Fleet Street_, - - LYVETH LYDIA BEERCRAFT, - - Who cutteth and curleth ladies, gentlemen, and children’s - hair.--She sells a fine pomatum, which is mix’d with ingredients - of her own makeing, that if the hair be never so thin, it makes - it grow thick; and if short, it makes it grow long. If any - gentleman’s or children’s hair be never so lank, she makes it - curle in a little time, and to look like a perriwig. - -It will be observed in Queen Anne’s reign no other style but that of -the perriwig was thought worthy of imitation. In former times, the -university barber was a person of some consequence. The vice-chancellor -and proctors invited the fraternity to an annual supper, and no barber -or hair-dresser could exercise his vocation in the university unless -he matriculated,--took the usual oath, and had his name entered on -the books of the university. It was usual for the college barber to -wait upon the “freshmen,” and dress and powder them in the prevailing -fashion--a custom which Southey was among the first to resist--an -innovation he would scarcely have ventured on in after life. - -The home of the first Company of Barber-Surgeons in London was probably -where the hall of their successors, the barbers, is at this day, in -Monkwell Street. The present building was erected by subscription -some years after the Fire of London, which all but consumed its -predecessor: a portion of the hall, of a semicircular shape, is -actually within one of the bastions, still entirely perfect, of the old -Roman wall--the ancient boundary of the metropolis. The court-room, -designed by Inigo Jones, though small, is of fine proportions, and -contains what must now be considered the chief riches of the company--a -noble painting by Holbein, “Henry VIII. granting the charter to the -Barber-Surgeons”--one of the finest pictures by Holbein in this -country. There is also a portrait of Inigo Jones, by Vandyke; a picture -by Sir Peter Lely, and other valuable paintings. The Company possesses -a silver-gilt cup, presented by Henry VIII.; another the gift of -Charles II.; and a large bowl given by Queen Anne. Such are some of -the relics the barbers may still feel proud of, which we trust are -not fated to decay; but, as this is eminently an age of revival and -restoration, it is to be hoped the old hall may yet see better days; -that, whatever was garnered up of old by the wisdom and prudence of our -forefathers, may be wisely and liberally enjoyed by this generation, -and the good work carried on and extended for a later age. The arms of -the barbers are:-- - - Quarterly first and fourth, _sa_, a chevron between three fleams - _ar_, second and third, per pale _ar_, and vert, a spatula in - pale _ar_, surmounted of a rose, _gu_, charged with another of - the first; the first rose regally crowned _proper_. Between - the four quarters a cross of St. George, _gu_, charged with a - lion passant gardant, _or_. _Crest_--An opinicus, with wings - indorsed, _or_. _Supporters_--Two lynxes _proper_, spotted - of various colours, both ducally collared and chained, _or_. - _Motto_--“De præscientia Dei.” - -If we were privileged to direct our thoughts to other lands, and to -record the pleasant life of that admirable humourist, the barber of -Southern Europe, we might hope to add a little sunshine to these pages. -Who enjoys life better than Figaro--who is as well entertained--who is -half as entertaining? - - Ah che bel vivere! - Che bel piacere per un barbiere di qualita, - Ah bravo Figaro, bravo bravissimo fortunatissimo. - -What a lively, sensuous, _al fresco_ life he has of it at Naples; -content, without the semblance of property of any kind; in action, free -as the breeze; and in spirit, buoyant as a wave. - - Ah che bel vivere! - -But the shrine of Figaro must be sought in Seville. In the charming -fictions of Cervantes and Le Sage, we seem to live on most familiar -terms with the Spanish barber, as much so, as with Smollett’s Hugh -Strap, or Partridge in Fielding’s “Tom Jones.” So truthfully is the -invisible world peopled for us by the power of genius. Romance seems in -some way associated with the character of a barber-- - - “In Venice, Tasso’s echoes are no more, - And songless rows the silent gondolier;” - -but the barber still contrives an occasional serenade, accompanying -his amorous tinklings with vocal strains which would rouse the Seven -Sleepers. What a contrast to his European brethren is the grave barber -of the East, who is usually physician, astrologer, and barber, and -better known to most of us by the amusing story in the Arabian Nights -than from any other source. Much might be said of Yankee wit and humour -in the person of the American barber; something too, of the crude state -of the art in Africa, where, to complete her modest coiffure, the sable -beauty is seated in the sun with a lump of fat on her head, which -trickles down in resplendent unctuous streams with a profusion enough -to make a railway engine jealous. Nor can we stop to notice the Chinese -“one piccie Barber-man,” whose speculations on heads and tails must be -highly amusing; for the Fates are inexorable, and our canvass too small -to complete the picture. - -We must not, however, omit all mention of the trade in human hair, on -which the wig-maker is dependent for his supplies. Ovid alludes to this -traffic--light and auburn hair was most sought for by the Roman ladies -which was brought from Germany and the North of Europe-- - - “Hair is good merchandise, and grown a trade, - Markets and public traffic thereof made; - Nor do they blush to cheapen it among - The thickest number, and the rudest throng.” - -In the reign of Elizabeth, the wearing of false hair was something of a -novelty; Italian ladies of no reputation are said to have first revived -the fashion. Stubbes took up the cudgels in earnest; he says:-- - - “They are not simply content with their own hair, but buy other - hair, either of horses, mares, or any other strange beasts, - dyeing of what colour they list themselves. And if there be any - poor woman (as now and then we see--God doth bless them with - beauty as well as the rich) that have fair hair, these nice - dames will not rest till they have bought it. Or if any children - have fair hair, then will entice them into a secret place, and - for a penny or two they will cut off their hair; as I heard that - one did in the city of Londinium of late who, meeting a little - child with very fair hair, inveigled her into a house, promised - her a penny and so cut off her hair.” - -In more modern times the demand has created a distinct branch of trade, -and various agencies are at work to procure the needful supply. Black -hair comes principally from Brittany and the South of France, where -it is collected by dealers who visit the principal fairs, and barter -ribbons, kerchiefs, and such matters, for the tresses of the Breton -lasses. From a superstitious feeling, most of them are averse to take -money for their hair, and consider it unlucky to do so. As it is an -invariable custom for the females to wear a close cap from childhood, -the loss of their magnificent _chignons_ is thereby concealed. -Germany supplies the market, as of old, with light and flaxen hair, -and this branch of trade is chiefly carried on by a Dutch company. -The London hair-dressers alone, purchase some five tons annually. The -annual consumption in Great Britain of foreign human hair is assumed -to be about six tons. Hair which curls naturally, and is of good -colour and very fine, commands the highest price; and certain shades, -which are comparatively rare, are much sought for. Such choice lots -are packed up in skins, to exclude the air, and exported to the best -markets. Fashion, however, has much to do in regulating the price. -Bryant, the American poet, whose Pegasus seems to have taken fright at -the gaudeous dresses of the beauties in the Broadway, thus discourses -of hair with a poet’s license: - - “And thick about those lovely temples lie - Locks that the lucky Vignardonne has curled. - Thrice happy man! whose trade it is to buy, - And bake, and braid those love-knots of the world; - Who curls of every glossy colour keepest, - And sellest, it is said, the blackest cheapest. - - And well thou mayst--for Italy’s brown maids - Send the dark locks with which their brows are dressed, - And Gascon lasses, from their jetty braids, - Crop half, to buy a riband for the rest; - And the fresh Norman girls their tresses spare, - And the Dutch damsel keeps her flaxen hair. - - Then, henceforth, let no maid nor matron grieve, - To see her locks of an unlovely hue, - Grizzled or thin, for liberal art shall give - Such piles of curls as nature never knew. - Eve, with her veil of tresses, at the sight - Had blushed, outdone, and owned herself a fright.” - -When long-curled perriwigs were in fashion, some fine heads of hair -fetched extraordinary prices; and as it was impossible to find human -hair in sufficient quantity for the purposes of trade, recourse was -had to horse-hair. One of the companies projected just before the -bursting of the South Sea bubble, was a company for dealing in human -hair which promised unheard of profits. In “A Description of Trades,” -published 1747, we are told, “that the business of hair-curlers and -sellers is properly a part of perriwig making, but of late years they -have prevailed so much as to become quite a separate trade, and really -not an inconsiderable one neither, some of them being even styled -_merchants_, who have the makers-up of hair in all shapes for -their customers. There are also abundance of hawkers and pedlars who -go up and down the country to buy up this commodity, who generally -dispose of it to these hair-sellers.” The material for a perriwig being -somewhat costly, and trickery not uncommon, the character of the barber -was the best guarantee for the quality of the wig. The reader has -probably heard how Tom Brown, meeting a parson at Nando’s Coffee-house, -recommended him to the honestest perriwig-maker in Christendom--the -barber at Chelmsford, with his nineteen daughters, all bred up to his -own trade, and being kept unmarried, their hair grew so prodigiously -fast that it gave them full employment throughout the year; the barber -cropped them every four years, and never lacked a plentiful harvest--so -that Chelmsford was as famous for its wigs, as Romford for calves. The -girls were all virtuous, which made the hair the stronger, and there -was not finer hair to be had in the kingdom. On this, the parson who -was in want of a new wig, and had been cheated in his last purchase, -set out for Chelmsford, and returned thoroughly satisfied--that he had -been sent on a fool’s errand. - -The value of long fair hair, when wigs were in fashion, is amusingly -shown in Walpole’s anecdote of the Countess of Suffolk, married to Mr. -Howard. “Such was their poverty, that having invited some friends to -dinner, and being disappointed of a small remittance, she was forced -to sell her hair to furnish the entertainment, and for which she -obtained twenty pounds.” Middle Row, Holborn, was chiefly inhabited by -perriwig-makers, and the French barbers congregated in Soho. - -One of the mysteries of the craft was the art of dyeing hair, and every -barber was supposed to be fully initiated in this occult science. -Greeks and Romans performed similar feats in their day, but blonde -hair being most esteemed, the compositions they used were of a very -different nature to those employed by the moderns; strictly speaking -they could hardly be called dyes, they partook more of the nature of -caustic pomades and pigments: such were the _pilæ Mattiacæ_, the -_caustica spuma_, _spuma Battava_, &c., of their authors, -imported for the most part from Germany. Making old folks young again, -at least in appearance, was not beyond the power of Roman art, for -the locks of age, white as the plumage of the swan, could be suddenly -changed to that of a crow. Sir Thomas Brown suggests that Medea might -have possessed some famous dye:--“That Medea, the famous sorceress, -could renew youth, and make old men young again, was nothing else but -that, from the knowledge of simples, she had a receipt to make white -hair black, and reduce old heads into the tincture of youth again.” -Mohammed forbade the dyeing of the hair; and a story is told of Herod, -that in order to conceal his advanced age, he used secretly to dye his -grey locks with a dark pigment In the greater number of Anglo-Saxon -M.S.S. the hair and beard are painted blue, and sometimes green and -orange. Strutt concluded from this, that the Saxons dyed or tinged -their hair in some way; but the point is doubtful. In the fourteenth -century, yellow was the favourite colour, and saffron was used as a -dye. Again, in Elizabeth’s reign, fair hair became fashionable, and the -ladies used various compositions to obtain the desired shade. Stubbes -is indignant at the practice, and exclaims with his usual warmth:--“If -any have hair of their own natural growing which is not fair enough, -then will they dye it in divers colours, almost changing the substance -into accidents by their devilish, and worse than these, cursed -devices.” Foreign charlatans, quack doctors, and astrologers, were -formidable rivals of the barber, and succeeded in disposing of their -dyes and cosmetics in the most unblushing manner; some affected to be -so occupied in the sublime study of contriving cures for all the ills -which flesh is heir to, as to have no leisure for cosmetic practice, -and coolly announced that their wives attended to such matters. A high -German doctor and astrologer informed the public that he was blessed -with a wife “who could make red hair as white as a lily, shape the -eyebrows to a miracle, make low foreheads as high as you please, and -had a rich water which would make the hair curl.” The practice of -shaping the eyebrows, though now in disuse, was at one time considered -a very delicate and important operation. Every one has remarked the -extreme fineness of the eyebrows in the pictures of the great Italian -masters. The St. Catherine of Rafaelle, and the Saints of Francia, in -the National Gallery, are instances of this; such was the fashion of -the Italian ladies of the fifteenth century, and was esteemed a great -beauty. The eyebrows were carefully reduced in substance to a mere -line, till scarcely visible. A lady, whose lover had an unconquerable -aversion to red hair, once made application to a noted quack, who, -politely answered:--“This is no business of mine, but my wife’s, who’ll -soon redress your grievances, and furnish you with a leaden comb and my -_Anti-Erythrœan Unguent_, which after two or three applications -will make you as fair or as brown as you desire.” We hope, for the -ladies sake, it turned out to be the true _Elisir d’amore_. A Mr. -Michon, a goldsmith, in 1710, advertised a clear fluid, which would -change red or grey hair to brown or black, under the name of “The -Tricosian Fluid.” The remarkable success which attended the use of the -_Cyananthropopoion_, patronized by Titmouse Tittlebat, is known to -all readers of “Ten Thousand a Year.” It would, however, say but little -for the progress of chemistry in our day, if we were unprovided with -some efficient means of dyeing the hair; in competent hands, no doubt, -the thing is easy enough. The old-fashioned dyes are now perfectly -useless, and may safely be consigned to the same limbo with Peter -Pindar’s razors: - - “Sir,” quoth the razor man, “I’m not a knave; - As for the razors you have bought,-- - Upon my soul, I never thought - That they _would_ shave.” - - “Not shave” cries Hodge, with wondering, staring eyes, - And voice not much unlike an Indian yell-- - “What were they made for, then, you knave?” he cries. - “Made,” quoth the fellow, with a smile, “_to sell_.” - -The names of no inconsiderable number of barbers are inscribed on -the roll of Fame. In the very foremost rank we may place that of the -poor barber, Arkwright, who lived to accomplish such great things -for the trade of this country. His was an instance of that material -success which the dullest can comprehend, and the vulgarest worshipper -of Mammon will stand agape at. To be knighted by the Sovereign, and -to realize half a million of money, would be fame enough for most -ambitious minds--but this is but dust in the balance, compared with -the value of the vast enterprise to which the barber’s talents gave -the first impulse. Wealth, beyond the dreams of avarice, has accrued -from that giant industry; and yet rival manufacturers would have -crushed him if they could, so blind is grasping selfishness to its -own true interests. Till the age of twenty-eight, Arkwright worked at -the barber’s trade, then turned dealer in hair, which he travelled -about to collect and dispose of to the trade. A hair-dye he happened -to get hold of was a source of considerable profit to him. But his -good genius was at hand to rescue him from obscurity, and although his -subsequent career appeals but little to the imagination, his fame will -long endure to attest the energy and the capability of the British -workman. Belzoni was another earnest spirit working out its freedom -in a different way. His adventurous career is well known; had it not -been for the promptings of an active mind, he might have lived and died -shaving beards at Padua. Burchiello, the Florentine, gave up the razor, -and courted the Muse, as he says in one of his sonnets; - - “La Poesia combatti col rasio.” - -Jasmin, the French poet of Agen, rose from extreme poverty to comfort -and independence as a barber, and acquired a well-earned reputation -by his pleasant verses “Les Papillotes,” and the Poem “L’Aveugle de -Castel Cuillé.” Allan Ramsey must be numbered with the barber poets; -and literature is indebted to Winstanley, a barber of the time of -Charles II., for his “Lives of the English Poets.” These, however, have -earned other titles than those conferred by their original calling; -there are others, whose sole claim to notice is their professional -reputation. Among the most noted barbers of their day we may mention -“the gentleman barber” to the Earl of Pembroke, who built a large -house with tennis-courts and bowling-green, nick-named Shaver’s -Hall, the resort of the gayest of the nobility, where many a fortune -was lost and won; and Farr who opened the well-known coffee-house, -“The Rainbow,” in Fleet Street, hard by Temple Bar. Lillie who had a -shop at the corner of Beaufort Buildings, in the Strand, whose fame -is preserved in the pages of the Tatler and Spectator. Honest Bat -Pigeon, of whom Steele and Addison make honourable mention. Gregory, -the famous peruke-maker, from whom the wig called a “Gregorian” took -its name, and who lies buried in the church of St. Clement Danes, with -an epitaph in rhyme, writ, says Aubrey, by a Baron of the Exchequer. -Shammeree, the fashionable wig-maker of the reign of William III.; and -Stewart, the author of the “The Noble Art of Hair-dressing.” Amid minor -celebrities, Don Saltero occupies a conspicuous place--he opened his -museum-coffee-house, in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in 1695. Sir Hans Sloane -supplied him with many curiosities for his museum. His own name was -James Salters. He claimed to have some skill on the fiddle, could draw -a tooth, made most excellent punch, and was esteemed a virtuoso and a -wit. He includes himself among the oddities at the Chelsea Knackatory, -with much complacency, in the following verses: - - Through various employs I’ve past-- - A scraper, virtuos’ projector, - Tooth-drawer, trimmer, and at last - I’m now a gim-crack-whim collector; - Monsters of all sorts here are seen, - Strange things in nature as they grew so: - Some relics of the Sheba Queen, - And fragments of the fam’d Bob Crusoe; - Knick-knacks, too, dangle round the wall, - Some in glass cases, some on shelf; - But, what’s the rarest sight of all, - Your humble servant shows himself-- - On this my chiefest hope depends. - Now, if you will my cause espouse, - In Journals pray direct your friends - To my Museum-Coffee-house; - And in requital for the timely favour, - I’ll gratis bleed, draw teeth, and be your shaver. - -Steele, alluding to Don Saltero, asks, “why must a barber be for ever a -politician, a musician, an anatomist, a poet, and a physician?” He was -evidently puzzled to account for the varied talents of the brotherhood. - -The sons of barbers have, likewise, achieved great distinction: we -may instance Jeremy Taylor, secretary Craggs, the friend of Addison; -Tonson, the publisher; Turner, the painter; and Lord Tenterden. We are -told by one whose testimony we cannot doubt, that when Lord Tenterden -visited Canterbury in company with his son, he took him to the very -spot where his own father had carried on his humble trade, and said, -“Charles, you see this little shop; I have brought you here on purpose -to show it you. In that shop your grandfather used to shave for a -penny! That is the proudest reflection of my life! While you live -never forget that, my dear Charles.” Lord St. Leonards, we believe, -rose from a sphere equally humble, and his father followed the same -trade. Lord Campbell has rescued the name of “Dick Danby” from oblivion -by a kindly notice in one of his volumes, “One of the most intimate -friends I have ever had:” says his lordship, “was Dick Danby, who kept -a hair-dresser’s shop under the Cloisters in the Inner Temple. He could -tell who were getting on and who were without a brief, who succeeded -by their talents and who hugged the attorneys, who were desirous -of becoming puisne judges, and who meant to try their fortune in -parliament, which of the chiefs was in a failing state of health, and -who was next to be promoted to the collar of S.S. Poor fellow! he died -suddenly, and his death threw a universal gloom over Westminster Hall, -unrelieved by the thought that the survivors who mourned him might -pick up some of his business--a consolation which wonderfully softens -the grief felt for the loss of a favourite Nisi Prius leader.” We may -conclude by quoting the words of the same learned author:--“Although -there be something exciting to ridicule in the manipulations of -barbers, according both to works of fiction and the experience of life, -there is no trade which furnishes such striking examples of ready wit, -of entertaining information, and of agreeable manners.” - - - - - STRUCTURE, GROWTH, - - AND - - COLOUR OF THE HAIR. - - CHAPTER VI. - - -In olden time, the hair was said to be produced by “a vapour or -excrement of the brain.” In the more exact language of science it is -described as a horny appendage of the skin. The skin is shown to be -composed of two layers--the outer termed the cuticle, the inner the -cutis. The cuticle is an insensible transparent membrane covering the -whole surface of the body; the portion exposed to the air consists -of flattened cells or scales which are continually being renewed; -while on the inner surface, in contact with the cutis, is a soft -mucous substance, in which are situate the pigment cells giving the -characteristic colour peculiar to race and climate. The cutis is -composed of the layer of minute papillæ, the principal seat of the -sense of touch, covering an intricate arrangement of fibrous tissue, -which receives the delicate ramifications of the nerves and arteries. -The sheath from which the hair protrudes above the skin is formed by -a tubular depression of the cuticle which reaches below the cutis to -the subjacent fat and cellular tissue; the lower end of the sheath -is shaped like a pouch, and contains the pulp from which the bulb -and shaft of the hair are formed in successive portions--the most -recent pushing forward that previously formed. The bulbs are larger -in young than in old hairs, and are implanted obliquely in respect to -the cuticle. The shaft of the hair being formed by an aggregation of -parts, has been likened to a pile of thimbles one resting within the -other; this overlapping of the outer coating of scales gives rise to -that roughness which we feel on passing the fingers along a hair from -the point to the bulb, though apparently perfectly smooth when held -in the opposite direction. The colouring matter of the hair is seen in -the pulp, and is distributed between the cells composing the shaft. In -form the hair may be described as a flattened cylinder, not, however, -hollow or filled with a kind of pith as is usually supposed; but solid -throughout and formed of a homogeneous mass of a cellular texture. From -the extreme minuteness of its structure, and the mystery which shrouds -all vital processes, it is still a question as to whether the shaft -of the hair is permeable by fluids derived from the blood. The old -notion of a circulation within the hair like the sap in vegetables is -disregarded; but it is contended that absorption does take place, and -that fluids are transmitted to the extreme point of the hair. In proof -of this we are referred to the sudden change of colour which the hair -undergoes in extraordinary cases of mental emotion, as instanced in the -sufferings of Marie Antoinette, whose hair was found to have turned -grey with grief. It is assumed that the altered condition of the blood -acting chemically upon the fluids of the hair destroys the colour. If -this be granted, we must look for minor changes in the colour of the -hair with every ordinary change in the normal condition of the blood. -And we are told this does actually take place; that in health the hair -is glossy, brilliant, and rich in hue; in ill health dry, faded, blank, -and withered. But if this be so, and the connection between the blood -and fluids of the hair be thus intimate, how comes it that partial -changes of colour--this paleness of hue, and loss of brilliancy; and -on the other hand, increased depth of colour consequent on renewed -health--are not common phenomena and familiar to every one? Doubtless, -we have still much to learn of the secrets of Nature, and there is yet -something wanting to complete the revelations of the microscope, and -the teachings of physiologists respecting the hair. - -The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are the only portions -of the skin unfurnished with hairs. Their length and thickness varies -considerably, from the softest down which is scarcely visible, to the -long hair of the scalp and beard. The estimated thickness of a hair -of the head is one-tenth of a line. Observations seem to show that -flaxen is the finest, and black the coarsest hair. In females the hair -of the head ordinarily measures from twenty to thirty inches, but in -some instances it attains a much greater length; and mention is made -of ladies whose hair has been two yards long and reached to the ground -when they stood erect. The beard has been known to grow to the enormous -length of nine feet: the portrait of a carpenter with a beard of this -length, is preserved at Eidam; when at work he was obliged to pack it -up in a bag. We are told the Burgomeister Hans Steiningen was thrown -down and killed by treading on his long beard on the staircase leading -to the council-chamber of Brunn. The long beard of John Mayo, a painter -in Germany, is matter of history; he used to untie it in the presence -of Charles V., who laughed heartily on seeing it blown about in the -faces of the courtiers. Busbequius saw at Constantinople a janissary -with such a quantity of hair on his head that a musket-ball would not -penetrate it: we suspect there was some legerdemain in this case, and -that the celebrated wizard was anticipated in his gun trick by some two -hundred years or more. Some commentators have endeavoured to determine -the weight of Absalom’s long and beautiful hair, but they differ widely -in their computation; we are told that when its inconvenient length -compelled him at times to cut it off it was found to weigh 200 shekels, -which Geddes estimates at 112 ounces, and Clarke at 7-1/2 ounces--a -conclusion in which nothing is concluded. Seven to eight ounces is held -to be about the average weight of a lady’s tresses. With those who -shave the beard its growth is said to be at the rate of six and a half -inches per annum, so that in forty years a man must have cut off rather -more than twenty feet of beard. - -In the natural course, when the hair has attained a certain growth, -it is thrown off, and its place supplied by a new growth formed from -the pulp within the hair follicle. This process is continually going -on, and is analogous to the shedding of the coat in quadrupeds, or the -moulting of birds at certain seasons. The German physiologists, whose -arduous and persevering labours in scientific research have never been -excelled, have investigated with rare industry the minutest details -respecting the growth of the hair; and one of them has accomplished -the task of counting the number of hairs in heads of four different -colours. In a blond one he found 140,000 hairs; in a brown, 109,440; in -a black, 102,962; and in a red one, 88,740. Erasmus Wilson states that -the superficial surface of the scalp may be taken at 120 inches, he -averages the number of hairs per inch at 1000, which gives 120,000 for -the entire head. It will be seen from the greater fineness of the blond -hairs that the number is greater than those of red or black hair, and -that red is the coarsest. The silken fineness of some shades of light -hair is very remarkable, even the poets are evidently put to their -wits end adequately to express its extreme fineness and beauty,--it -is likened to the golden beams of day--and who has not seen the light -playing upon it, and streaming rays and sparkles of lustrous beauty -given out, as it were, from a diffused wave of sunshine-- - - “And on her hair a glory, like a saint.” - -It is not clearly shown to what we must attribute the disposition to -curl, which some hair naturally possesses. Some have thought that it -was owing in a great measure to the presence of a considerable amount -of oily matter in the shaft of the hair, which hinders the animal -matter from attracting moisture which would have a tendency, it is -said, to straighten the hair. But the more probable and more general -opinion is that it mainly arises from the flatness of the hair. Now -this flattening is sometimes very considerable, and the diameter of the -hair two-thirds broader in one direction than in the other. The hair -of the beard and whiskers exhibits the peculiarity most distinctly. -In proportion to its size, the strength of a hair is very remarkable; -one from a boy supported a weight of 7,812 grains; another from a man, -14,285 grains. The elasticity of the hair is very apparent, a hair -10 inches long has been stretched to 13 inches; and a hair stretched -one-fifth of its entire length returns, with but trifling excess, to -its first dimensions. - -The chemical analysis of human hair, as given by Liebig, shows that -its constituents are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulphur. -Fair hair contains most sulphur and oxygen, and the least carbon and -hydrogen; black hair the most carbon and hydrogen, and the least -sulphur and oxygen. The hair of the beard contains more carbon and less -sulphur than the hair of the head. The presence of sulphur occasions -the peculiar odour of burnt hair, but we question the fact, as stated -by some authors, that red hair is perceptibly redolent of brimstone. By -experiments, Vauquelin obtained from black hair a whitish and a greyish -oil; the whitish oil was also present in red hair, but the place of -the greyish green oil was supplied by an oil; the colour of blood. -Hair is one of the most indestructible of animal substances, even less -perishable than the bones; this arises from the small quantity of water -it contains, its chief bulk being made up of various salts of lime, -iron, and manganese. In mummies more than two thousand years old the -hair has been found unaltered, as may be seen in our own and other -public museums. In the Abbey Church of Romsey, the hair of a female -apparently of the time of the Normans was found perfectly entire on -opening a coffin in 1839. It is in plaits 18-inches long, and preserved -in a glass case, lying upon the same block of oak which has been its -pillow for centuries. And somewhat recently, when the tombs of Gustavus -Vasa and his Queen Gunilla, in the Cathedral at Upsal, were explored to -gratify the longings of some worthy antiquaries; the hair of the Queen, -which according to the popular annals was of extraordinary beauty, -still remained--when ought else of earthly beauty had perished in the -grave. - -Hair is a non-conductor of electricity, and every one is familiar with -the experiment illustrating electrical repulsion, which causes - - “The knotted and combined locks to part, - And each particular hair to stand on end - Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.” - -Some persons possess the power of giving considerable motion to the -scalp, and in moments of excitement do so involuntarily with some -curious results--as was witnessed by Haydon at one of the readings -given by Mrs. Siddons. The artist sat behind an old gentleman with -his hair tied in a queue, which suddenly rose like a knocker, and -continued the most lively movements during an interval of intense and -breathless attention on the part of the audience. A good ghost-story -will sometimes electrify a youngster, and convert the curled darling -into a regular Brutus. In the “May of life,” e’er he had “supped full -with horrors,” Macbeth himself had felt such innocent fears: - - “The time has been, my senses would have cool’d - To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair - Would at a dismal treatise rouse, and stir - As life were in’t.” - -But does the hair grow after death? Most persons who have not reflected -a little on the question, answer readily in the affirmative. The -contraction of the cuticle after death, which causes an apparent -lengthening of the beard, has by many been mistaken for a new growth of -hair. But there are strange instances on record, where, on entering the -charnel house, a coffin has been found to be completely covered with an -extraordinary growth of hair-like filaments issuing from chinks in the -wood or metal, and trailing in every direction to a distance of some -feet. Such a phenomenon is truly wonderful, account for it what way -you will. The common solution of the difficulty supposes the hair to -have grown to this enormous length, and to have been nourished in some -way by organic elements resulting from decomposition. We need not stop -to refute this. The opinion which inclines to its being of vegetable -growth is likely enough to find favour with those who have seen the -remarkable and beautiful parasites which clothe with their fantastic -draperies the recesses of mines and caverns. But this we will leave to -learned professors to settle among themselves. - -The colouring principle in the hair and skin is held to be of a like -nature. Light hair usually accompanies a fair complexion, and black -hair a dark one; and every gradation from fair to dark is generally -marked by a corresponding alteration in the tint of the hair. The -colour of the skin and hair being one of the physical characters which -serve to distinguish the several races of mankind, we may divide them -into two great groups: the fair-haired and the dark-haired races. The -dark-haired race occupies by far the greater portion of the globe; the -light-haired race being restricted comparatively to a few settlements, -chiefly in Europe, and more especially its northern region. These -fair-haired races of the North, in their bold descents upon the -British coasts and subsequent immigrations, drove the dark-haired -Celts and Cymri from the plains back upon their mountain strongholds, -and completely dispossessed the indigenous tribes of their territory. -From the intermixture of race we derive that obvious variety in the -different shades of hair which characterizes the mixed population -of this country--a diversity which contributes not a little to the -remarkable beauty of the women of Great Britain--while the intermixture -of race has doubtless stamped that daring and energy upon the people -which have made these isles the Palladium of Liberty and the envy of -the world. We notice some marked peculiarities among certain tribes -in respect to the colour and character of the hair. The Mongols and -Northern Asiatics, for instance, are scantily furnished with hair and -beard; the Kurilians, on the contrary, are said to be the most hairy -race of people in the world. Their beards hang upon their breasts, and -arms, neck and back are covered with hair. Some of the Esquimaux have -so much beard upon the face that it is difficult to make out their -features. The Incas of South America, with long thick hair, very soft -and straight, have only a few scanty hairs for a beard. The North -American Indians have straight lank hair. The African Negroes, woolly -hair, which, it is needless to say, is very different from wool, being -merely hair in a peculiar state of crispness. The colouring matter -in the hair of the Negro is in much greater quantity than in the -European. Sometimes this woolly hair is met with of great length; a -tribe of Negroes on the Gold Coast have woolly hair fully half a yard -long, which is usually black, but red hair is not uncommon. The Papuas -of New Guinea have long black frizzled hair growing in tufts in the -most strange but admired disorder, which makes their heads appear of -enormous size. The Cafusos in the Brazils, known to have sprung from -the native Americans and the Negroes from Africa, have their hair -excessively long, half woolly and curly at the ends, rising eighteen -inches or more perpendicularly from the scalp, forming a very ugly and -ridiculous kind of wig: the wearers are obliged to stoop as they go in -and out of their huts, and the mass of hair is so entangled that it is -impossible to comb it. The Chinese have very little beard, although -extremely anxious to make the most of it. Some tribes are at great -pains to eradicate the beard, and a tribe of Indians on the Coppermine -River not only pluck out the beard, but pull out the hairs from the -head, thus realizing the condition of the Myconians, who, says Pliny, -have naturally no hair at all. Generally speaking, the coloured races -are most wanting in beard, and the white races most liberally furnished -therewith. In the Albino, the hair is of the palest flaxen or a dull -whitish hue, and the colouring matter altogether wanting; the skin -partakes of the same deadly paleness, and the pupils of the eyes are -of a pink colour. Albinoes cannot endure a strong light; when exposed -to the light, the eyelids are half closed and continually blinking. In -disposition, the Albinoes are gentle and not deficient in intellect. -This peculiar variety was first noticed among the blacks, and obtained -the name of _white negroes_. But Albinoes, it is known, are not -confined to any particular race or country. In some Africans, patches -of white hair are seen covering portions of the head, and in those -parts the skin is invariably white. - -That the colour of the hair in certain races has undergone a -considerable change in the course of time is apparent from what -is known to have taken place in Britain. The ancient Germans were -universally characterized by red hair and blue eyes, and what is termed -a strongly marked zanthous constitution; but, Niebuhr says, the Germans -are now far from being a light-haired race; and Chevalier Bunsen -remarks that he has often looked in vain for the golden or auburn locks -and light cærulean eyes of the old Germans among their descendants, -but in Scandinavia he found the colour of the hair and eyes precisely -those described by Tacitus. From this it is inferred that the altered -conditions of life, brought about by civilization, have produced a -change in the physical character of the people. Such change, however, -is confined within very narrow limits; in the hair it is but a mere -shade of colour or variation in its crispness. Under the microscope, -the definite form of the human hair is most exact and uniform; so -much so, that Mr. Queckett was enabled by this test to confirm the -conjectures of the Archæological Society, in a very scientific manner, -respecting some portions of skin taken from church doors in Essex, and -from Worcester Cathedral. Tradition said, pirates and persons guilty -of sacrilege in old time were flayed, and their skins nailed to the -church door. Mr. Queckett was to determine if the relics confided to -his charge, and which looked exactly like scraps of old parchment, were -really portions of the human body. A few hairs were discovered adhering -to the skin and this decided the point--it was unmistakeably human hair -and human skin--and the Archæologists were made happy by the discovery. -Would that we could send the smallest fragment of one of those skins -with but a solitary hair upon it--which Hanno hung up in the Temple -of Juno--to Mr. Q., with the publishers’ compliments, that he might -ascertain the true character of the hairy people the old Carthaginian -fell in with on his route. - -The colour of the hair is also an indication of temperament: black -hair is usually accompanied by a bilious temperament; fair and auburn, -with the sanguine and sanguine-nervous; and very light hair, with a -temperament mild and lymphatic. - -Will any one undertake to say what was the precise colour of the golden -hair so vaunted of by the great poets of antiquity? One of our living -poets, the author of “The Bride of Rimini,” has brought the light of -genius and his fine taste and scholarship to the task, and the matter -is yet doubtful. Some have not hesitated to decide that it was red, -fiery red, and nothing short of red; and sneered at the ancients for -affecting to be connoisseurs in these things. Some have contended -that it was auburn, which is a glorious colour, and seems naturally -associated with smiles and the rich imagery of poets. In the well-known -ode of Anacreon, where he speaks of the beauty of his mistress as a fit -subject for the painter’s art, it is difficult to say what colour we -must choose. Some prefer to think dark jetty locks were intended, such, -possibly, as Byron has given to one of his beauties: - - “The glossy darkness of that clustering hair, - Which shades, yet shows a forehead more than fair.” - -Ben Jonson--no mean authority--blends with the jetty locks threads of -fine gold: - - “Gold upon a ground of black.” - -If a mere stripling might handle the bow of Ulysses, we would venture -to select the colour which Tennyson has bestowed upon a pretty little -portrait: - - “Her eyes a bashful azure, and her hair - In gloss and hue the chesnut, when the shell - Divides threefold to show the fruit within.” - -But why be beholden to poets, who, after all, are but the interpreters -of nature? Does not Scotland to this day own many a fair complexion, -and tresses which Venice cannot match for sunny splendour; and are not -the dark, flowing locks of the Lancashire witches working as secret -charms as ever enthralled the courteous knights of old? It is certain -that, in regard to the hair, the ancients had no monopoly of beauty. - -Concerning grey hair, we may remark that the term is a misnomer applied -to single hairs; for the greyness merely arises from the commingling -of white and dark hairs. When the secretion of the colouring matter in -the pulp ceases, all succeeding growth from the bulb is colourless. -Every one feels some little anxiety about grey hairs. To the moralist -they are Death’s blossoms--the solemn warning to adjust the mantle e’er -we fall. With some, grey hairs will even intrude upon the pleasures -of youth; with others, they are but as the ripening of the corn--when -wisdom gathers her full harvest against the time of declining strength; -again, in others, they wait upon old age, like a wreath of snow on the -brow of winter; and some enjoy life to its fullest span, and there is -no sign of “the sere and yellow leaf:” so various are the conditions -of life which produce the change of constitution which accompanies -grey hairs. It is amusing to notice the special theory which each one -contrives to account for the presence of these tell-tales. “Ah!” said -Louis XII., as he looked in the mirror, somewhat astonished at the -number of grey hairs, “these are owing to the long speeches I have -listened to, those especially of M. le----, have ruined my hair.” It -was mere folly for the Teian bard to tell the girls how prettily the -white hairs of age contrast with the rich tresses of youth, like roses -and lilies in a chaplet, or milk upon roses; for at his time of life, -the old Sybarite ought to have known better. We remember to have felt -deeply for the unfortunate bridegroom, when we first read the tragical -story, in the Encyclopædia Metropolitana, of the gentleman, “who, at -his marriage, when about forty years old, had a dark head of hair; -but, on his return from his wedding trip, had become so completely -snow white, even to his eyebrows, that his friends almost doubted his -identity.” Even the curled Anthony must needs make excuses to the fair -Egyptian for his grey hairs: - - “What, girl? though grey - Do something mingle with our younger brown; - Yet ha’ we a brain that nourishes our nerves, - And can get goal for goal of youth.” - -How sudden grief and consuming care will blanch the hair is known to -all. Memory recalls the lone prisoner in the castle of Chillon, and the -lofty queen who passed from a throne to a prison and the scaffold, -to teach heroes how to face death. And by these truthful signs, these -silver hairs, may oftentimes be traced the story of a broken heart--of -hope too long deferred--of fallen ambition--of blighted affection, -or of man’s ingratitude. What more sacred than these secret sorrows; -who would seek to pry into them with idle questionings? The leaf is -withered, for the worm is at the heart of the tree: - - “This white top writeth mine oldé years; - Mine heart is also mouldered as mine hairs.” - -But hope and sunshine gather about the grey hairs ripe for immortality: - - “Thy silver locks, once auburn bright, - Are still more lovely in my sight - Than golden beams of orient light, - MY MARY.” - -We have hitherto regarded the hair as a thing of beauty and the -crowning ornament of man’s structure. We have now to consider the -diseases to which it is subject; and first we will speak of Baldness. -Where partial baldness arises from debility of the system, the growth -of hair usually follows on restoration to health, and accidental -baldness may generally be removed by the ordinary applications. But -the baldness of a more permanent character, which results from the -obliteration of the hair-follicles, seldom admits of a perfect remedy. -In such cases the skin is smooth and glossy, as is duly noted by -Chaucer, in his portrait of the monk: - - “His head was bald, and shone as any glass.” - -This is the alopecia of pathologists, so called because it was said -foxes were especially subject to baldness; or, as some think to -express, by way of irony, that cunning and duplicity may be looked for -in bald men. The ridicule and contempt which the ancients heaped upon -these unfortunate individuals is very obvious. Among the Hebrews the -term bald-pate was an insult and a reproach. The origin of this appears -to have been that baldness was held to be the sign of a corrupt youth -and a dissolute life. And when physiologists are asked to certify to -the falsehood of such calumnies, they answer in riddles like the Sphinx. - - “Turpe pecus mutilum, turpis sine gramine campus - Et sine fronde frutex, et sine crine caput.” - -The ancients were so proud of their curls and flowing locks, the -physical beauty of manhood, and the charms of their female deities, -earthly and celestial, that, for the sake of antithesis it may be, -they hurled their sarcasms and their sneers with a savage vengeance -or ignoble pity upon their bald-pated victims in a style which modern -politeness declines to imitate. It is surprising that Cæsar should -have shown such sensitiveness about his baldness as to have sought -permission of the Senate to wear his laurel crown at pleasure. -The privilege was granted, and the laurels shaded the bald pate. -Fortunately women are so very rarely bald that we may consider them -exempt from this infliction. Apuleius, in his Melesiacs, says, that -Venus herself, if she were bald, though surrounded by the Graces -and the Loves, could not be pleasing even to her husband, Vulcan. -Herodotus remarked that few Egyptians were bald; and eunuchs, who -have much subcutaneous fat about the scalp, are free from baldness. -It may be some consolation to bachelors to know, that according to -Pliny man in a state of single blessedness is never bald. Caligula and -Nero are numbered among the bald, and kings have been honored with -the title. Baldness has even found panegyrists. Synesius, bishop of -Syrene, in the fifteenth century, wrote in praise of it; and Hucbald, -a Benedictine monk, made it the subject of a curious poem, which he -very appropriately dedicated to Charles the Bald. But these perverse -eulogists were ecclesiastics who reckoned the beauty of the hair and -its enticements part of the vanities of this wicked world it would be -well to get rid of. Happily the hair escaped their treacherous shears. -It is possible, however, to have too much of a good thing; and the -excessive growth of hair where least wanted is numbered among the ills -which flesh is heir to. No one in these days would think the King of -Persia’s porter, seen by Tavernier, deserved a double pension because -he could tie his moustaches behind his neck; for something very like -this may be seen any afternoon in Hyde Park; there is a fashion in such -things, and Nature is by no means niggardly in her gifts to man. But -what is meant by an extraneous growth of hair is very different from -this, and by no means ornamental. We allude to cases where the whole -body has been covered by a growth of long hair. Some miserable Fakirs, -in India, have been seen clothed with hair several inches long. About -1650, a hairy child was shown as a sight, and the strange phenomenon is -thus accounted for in an old play: - - “’Tis thought the hairy child that’s shewn about, - Came by the mother’s thinking on the picture - Of St. John Baptist in his camel’s coat.” - -But the most frightful instances are those of bearded women. “I -like not when a ’oman has a great peard,” says Sir Hugh; and the -old naturalists are at some pains to assure us that woman is not -barbigerous, for which a very sufficient reason has been given: - - “Nature, regardful of the babbling race, - Planted no beard upon a woman’s face; - Not MAPPIN’S razors, though the very best, - Could shave a chin which never is at rest.” - -One of the best known examples of this repulsive class, (Trifaldi, -the afflicted Duenna not excepted), is that of Barbara Urselin, born -at Augsburg, and shown in Ratcliffe Highway, in 1668; her portrait -may be seen in Granger’s Biography, and Evelyn takes note of her in -his Journal. Her face and hands were all over hairy, the hair on her -forehead and eyebrows combed upwards, she had a long spreading beard, -the hair of which hung loose and flowing like the hair of the head. A -fellow of the name of Van Beck married the frightful creature to carry -about as a show. Charles XII. had in his army a female grenadier, who -had both the beard and the courage of a man. She was taken prisoner at -the battle of Pultowa, and carried to St. Petersburg, where she was -presented to the Czar; her beard measured a yard and a half. In 1852, -a young woman, a native of Switzerland, with beard and whiskers four -inches long, could find no clergyman to marry her to the object of -her affections, until provided with a certificate from Charing Cross -Hospital. Many other authentic cases are on record, but the subject is -not inviting. - -In rare instances, the colour of the hair undergoes a strange -metamorphosis from red to black, or it may be from brown to blue or -green, and sometimes it has been seen spotted like the leopard’s skin. -Instances are known in which it became so sensitive that the slightest -touch caused exquisite pain. Sometimes the hair splits at the point, -and becomes forked. There is also, the very rare disease--plica -Polonica--originating, no doubt, in filth and neglect, in which the -hair becomes inextricably tangled and matted together by a glutinous -fluid from the roots, and the hairs when cut are said to bleed. In -the Museum of the College of Surgeons, the hair of a cat may be -seen exhibiting all the peculiarities of this singular disease. The -elf-locks of the old chieftains which Scott describes:-- - - “His plaited hair in elf locks spread - Around his bare and matted head--” - -and the locks which Queen Mab and the Fairies are accused of weaving -“in foul sluttish hairs,” are no doubt symptoms of the same diseased -and monstrous plaiting. - -That the hair is any standard of physical strength is one of those -popular notions which rest on no sufficient data. Samson’s strength -was the direct gift of God-- - - “God when he gave me strength, to show withal - How slight the gift was, hung it in my hair.” - -Nisus’ life was held by the singular tenure of one golden or purple -hair, which grew on the top of his head; this was plucked by the hand -of his unnatural daughter and his life fell a sacrifice to her craft: -so runs the tale. We cannot say if hearts are still held in fief by the -gift of a lock of hair, or if lovers in this stern iron-age recognize -the old traditions in their love affairs; but broad lands were conveyed -in other days by as slight a bond. The Earl of Warren, in the reign of -Henry III., confirmed to the church of S. Pancras, at Lewes, certain -land, rent, and tithe, of which he gave seisin _per Capillos capitis -sui et fratis sui Radulfi_; and the hair of the parties was cut off by -the Bishop of Winchester before the high altar. - -The hair, from its imperishable nature, constitutes a material link -between the living and the dead; it survives in form and beauty as when -it graced the brows of the living; unchanged in death, it shares in -the lasting homage which we gladly pay to the memory of the brave and -the good. Who can regard with indifference the sacred relics preserved -at Penshurst--the locks of hair of Sir Philip and Algernon Sidney? -Leigh Hunt has other like-treasured memorials, of which an account has -been given to the public by an American author. The locks are those of -Milton, Keats, Shelley, Charles Lamb, Dr. Johnson, Swift; and the poet -may well feel proud to own them. - -From what has been said respecting the growth of the hair, it will be -perceived that there are some special points to be attended to, if we -would keep it in perfect order. As the hair rises from the bulb above -the cuticle, it carries with it a thin pellicle, which adheres for a -time to the shaft, and afterwards falls off in minute scales, and forms -a kind of scurf in the hair. Now, this is simply a natural process, -and not to be mistaken for a diseased state of the skin; the scales of -detached film merely require to be removed with the brush and comb. -Very different, however, are the scales on the skin of the head, which, -at times, form a loose dandriff, filling the hair with a most unsightly -scurf. This is a serious evil, and requires patient and careful -treatment to get rid of thoroughly; and nothing can be less likely to -effect a remedy than the use of very hard brushes, which, by irritating -the scalp, tend to aggravate the symptoms. Anything which unnaturally -irritates the skin of the head will originate dandriff; when the -functions of the excretory pores and sebaceous glands are interrupted, -the skin becomes dry, and the cuticle may be said partially to perish; -the dead particles are then thrown off by cuticular exfoliation. Above -all, extreme cleanliness, constant and habitual attention to the purity -of the skin, are the best curatives, and the only safeguard against the -occurence of this very simple, but troublesome and obstinate disease of -the cuticle. The most disagreeable circumstance to be noted in this -complaint is, that those who should enjoy perfect immunity from the -annoyance,--those - - “Who have but fed on the roses, and lain in the lilies of life”-- - -by the use of stimulant pomatums, improper hair-brushes, and badly made -combs, but chiefly the use of abominable nostrums--not unfrequently -entail upon themselves the very evils which are commonly produced by -the opposite means, neglect and inattention to the state of the hair. -The hair requires but a moderate supply of pommade; but this, to be of -any real benefit, must be compounded _secundem artem_, and adapted to -the purpose. Oils and pomatums which merely collect dust are not to -be tolerated, and are frequently had recourse to merely to disguise -the neglect which suffers the hair to become rough from being in -ill-condition. Whenever proper attention is given to the hair, the most -satisfactory results are usually obtained; and without bestowing such -an amount of care, it is impossible to realize the beautiful softness -and lustre which any lady’s tresses may be made to assume. It cost the -poet little to bring together - - “Love-darting eyes, and tresses like the morn;” - -but we promise none but very ordinary tresses to such as will not, both -night and morn, with brush and comb, and suitable preparation, detach -every particle of dust from the hair. And to those who can appreciate -the beautiful, and would gratify a more refined feeling than mere -personal vanity, the disposition of the hair affords an admirable -opportunity of setting off, by the graces of art, “the beauty of a -woman’s face”-- - - “Angels are painted fair, to look like you.” - -All the canons of criticism are summed up in the perfections of female -beauty. What greater ornament to perfect beauty that luxuriant hair? We -will conclude our advice to the fair with some old verses of Richard -Lovelace, which express, with the freedom of a poet, a truth that might -take the form of an aphorism, that the beauty of the hair consists in -its flowing outline, its flexibility, and varying tints--the effect of -light reflected from its glossy surface: - - “Amarantha, sweet and fair, - Oh, braid no more that shining hair! - Let it fly, as unconfin’d - As its calm ravisher, the wind; - Who hath left his darling, th’ east, - To wanton o’er that spicy nest. - Every tress must be confest, - But neatly tangled, at the best; - Like a clue of golden thread - Most excellently ravelled. - Do not, then, wind up the light - In ribands, and o’ercloud in night, - Like the sun’s in early ray; - But shake your head, and scatter day!” - - - THE END. - - Read & Co., Printers, Johnson’s-court, Fleet-street. - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been - corrected silently. - -2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words - have been retained as in the original. - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES HISTORICAL, ÆSTHETICAL, -ETHNOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL, ANECDOTAL AND TONSORIAL, ON THE HAIR & -BEARD *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/68781-0.zip b/old/68781-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c5d1de4..0000000 --- a/old/68781-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68781-h.zip b/old/68781-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1444192..0000000 --- a/old/68781-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68781-h/68781-h.htm b/old/68781-h/68781-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 4db5af9..0000000 --- a/old/68781-h/68781-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5209 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - Trichocosmos—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; - font-weight: normal; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; - text-indent: 1.2em;} - -.p-left {text-indent: 0em; } - -.p-min {margin-top: -.5em;} - -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} -.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } - -hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} -hr.r25 {width: 25%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 37.5%; margin-right: 37.5%;} - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} - -div.parent { text-align: center; } -ul.left { display: inline-block; text-align: left; - list-style-type: none; font-size: 90%; } - -.hangingindent { - padding-left: 2em ; - text-indent: -2em ;} - -.spacing { - letter-spacing: 3em; - margin-left: 3em;} - -table { -margin: auto; -width:auto; -border: 0; -border-spacing: 0; -border-collapse: collapse; } - -td { -padding: .05em .2em .2em 2.5em; -border: .1em none white; -text-align: left; -text-indent: -2em; } - -th.chap { -font-weight: normal; -font-size: x-small; -text-align: left; -padding-left: 1em; } - -th.pag { -font-weight: normal; -font-size: x-small; -text-align: right; -padding-left: 6em; } - -td.chn { -text-align: right; -vertical-align: top; -padding-right: 1em; } - -td.cht { -text-align: left; -vertical-align: top; -padding-left: 1em; -text-indent: -1em;} - -td.pag { -text-align: right; -vertical-align: bottom; -padding-left: 2em;} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} /* page numbers */ - - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; - font-size: 90%; -} - -.xs { font-size: x-small;} - -.sm { font-size: small;} - -.lg { font-size: large;} - -.xxl { font-size: xx-large;} - -.center {text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.smaller { font-size: 90%;} - -.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} - - -.gesperrt -{ - letter-spacing: 0.2em; - margin-right: -0.2em; -} - -em.gesperrt -{ - font-style: normal; -} - - -/* Images */ - -img { - max-width: 100%; - height: auto; -} - -.poetry-container -{ -text-align: center; -font-size: 90%; -} - -.poetry -{ -display: inline-block; -text-align: left; -margin-left: 2.5em; -line-height: 100%; -} - -.poetry .stanza -{ -margin: 1em 0em 1em 1em; -} - -.poetry .ileft {margin-left: -.4em;} -.poetry .i1 {margin-left: 1em;} -.poetry .i2 {margin-left: 2em;} -.poetry .i3h {margin-left: 3.5em;} -.poetry .i4 {margin-left: 4em;} -.poetry .i5 {margin-left: 5em;} -.poetry .i5h {margin-left: 5.5em;} -.poetry .i7h {margin-left: 7.5em;} -.poetry .i8h {margin-left: 8.5em;} -.poetry .i10 {margin-left: 10em;} - -@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Notes historical, æsthetical, ethnological, physiological, anecdotal and tonsorial, on the hair & beard, by Trichocosmos (pseud)</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Notes historical, æsthetical, ethnological, physiological, anecdotal and tonsorial, on the hair & beard</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Trichocosmos (pseud)</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 22, 2022 [eBook #68781]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: deaurider, Karin Spence and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES HISTORICAL, ÆSTHETICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL, ANECDOTAL AND TONSORIAL, ON THE HAIR & BEARD ***</div> - -<h1>TRICHOCOSMOS.</h1> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="center lg"><b>NOTES</b></p> - -<p class="center p2">HISTORICAL, ÆSTHETICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL,</p> - -<p class="center p2">PHYSIOLOGICAL, ANECDOTAL,</p> - -<p class="center p2 xs">AND</p> - -<p class="center p2">TONSORIAL,</p> - -<p class="center p2 xs">ON</p> - -<p class="center xxl">THE HAIR & BEARD.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container p4"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Fair tresses man’s imperial race ensnare,</div> - <div>And beauty draws us with a single hair.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<hr class="r25" /> - -<p class="center">LONDON:</p> - -<p class="center">READ & Co., 10, JOHNSON’S COURT, FLEET ST.</p> - -<p class="center xs"><i>Entered at Stationers’ Hall.</i></p> - -<p class="center xs">(THE RIGHT OF TRANSLATION IS RESERVED.)</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<table summary="contents" class="smaller"> - <tr> - <th class="chap">CHAP.</th> - <th></th> - <th class="pag">PAGE.</th> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="chn">I.</td> - <td class="cht">The Beauty of the Hair</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="chn">II.</td> - <td class="cht">The Fashion of Antiquity</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="chn">III.</td> - <td class="cht">Freaks of Fashion</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="chn">IV.</td> - <td class="cht">Wigs</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="chn">V.</td> - <td class="cht">Barbers</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="chn">VI.</td> - <td class="cht">Structure, Growth, and Colour of the Hair</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span></p> -<h2 class="gesperrt">BEAUTY OF THE HAIR.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="center sm">CHAPTER I.</p> - - -<p>Although much time and attention are usually bestowed in dressing and -ornamenting the hair, in compliance with the dictates of fashion, but -little regard is paid to the natural beauty of the hair itself, as -contributing to the expression and comeliness of the features. The -absurdities and caprices of fashion have been constant themes for -ridicule and declamation with the wits of all ages. The sharp epigrams -of Martial, the satires of Juvenal, the anathemas of the Romish -ecclesiastics, the invectives of sour Puritans, the coarse raillery of -Swift, and the good humour of Addison, have all in turn been levelled -against some prevailing folly of the day. It is not our intention, -however, to act the part of censor, but, as humble chroniclers, to note -the change from one fashion to another.</p> - -<p>Before entering on the task we will say a few words about the hair, -in relation to art, a subject of some interest, and which we believe -has not been sufficiently insisted on. The hair is, undoubtedly, the -chief ornament of the head; we naturally associate the idea of vigour, -fertility, and gracefulness, with its growth. Its flowing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span> outline -gives grace and freedom to the symmetry of the features, and by a -little license of the artist’s hand, its form may be made to correct -whatever harshness of character the countenance may chance to have -acquired. In the colour, too, and texture of the hair, what facilities -are afforded for heightening the charm of the most delicate complexion, -or the dignity of the manly brow. The poets have universally recognised -the truth of these principles, and in their descriptions of ideal -beauty we invariably find some allusion to the hair.</p> - -<p>Milton delights to adorn the human countenance with long hair, flowing -in rich profusion. Of Eve he sings:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“She, as a veil, down to the slender waist</div> - <div>Her unadorned golden tresses wore</div> - <div>Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved</div> - <div>As the vine curls her tendrils,——”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">and to Adam he gives</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i5">“Hyacinthine locks</div> - <div>Round from his parted forelock manly hung.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Even his angels are conspicuous for their beautiful hair—for instance</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Of charming sunny rays a golden tiar</div> - <div>Circled his head, nor less his locks behind</div> - <div>Illustrious on his shoulders, fledge with wings,</div> - <div>Lay waving round”——</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The vivid descriptions of Homer, full of local colouring, afford -many instances of the picturesque effect produced by duly noting so -apparently a trivial matter, as the colour or crispness of the hair. -Shakspere makes frequent allusions to its beauty: at the touch of his -master hand a gleam of light seems to play about the silken tresses:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span></p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i8h">“Here in her hairs</div> - <div>The painter plays the spider, and hath woven</div> - <div>A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men!”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The Italian poets also show the same love of the beautiful, and -fondness for</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Le crespe chiome d’or puro lucente.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>How much the form and variety of the hair help to distinguish the style -and character of a composition was well understood by the ancient -sculptors and painters. “The hair of the Phidian Jove, in the Vatican, -rises in spouts, as it were, from the forehead, and then falls in -waving curls, like the mane of the lion, most majestic and imperial in -appearance. The crisp curls of Hercules again remind us of the short -locks between the horns of the indomitable bull; whilst the hair of -Neptune falls down wet and dank, like his own sea-weed. The beautiful -flowing locks of Apollo, full and free, represent perpetual youth; and -the gentle, vagrant, bewitching tresses of Venus, denote most clearly -her peculiar characters and claims as a divinity of Olympus.” We remark -the same peculiarity in the portraits by Sir Peter Lely of the court -beauties of the time of Charles II.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Loves walks the pleasant mazes of the hair.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Hair is to the human aspect what foliage is to the landscape; and, -whenever pen or pencil is guided by poetic feeling or good taste, -it lingers with admiration and delight amid the shadows and glossy -silken sheen—the ever-varying tints, and waving, wanton loveliness of -sunny, luxuriant hair. Indeed, so beautiful is the hair<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> itself, when -arranged with taste, and kept in good order, (that is in a growing, -healthful state,) that the addition of any further ornament, by way of -head-dress, is all but superfluous. Not that all ornament should be -dispensed with, but that great judgment is necessary in selecting such -as correct taste may approve. Addison, with his usual good sense, thus -counsels his fair readers: “I would desire the fair sex to consider -how impossible it is for them to add anything that can be ornamental -to what is already the masterpiece of nature. The head has the most -beautiful appearance, as well as the highest station, in the human -figure. Nature has laid out all her art in beautifying the face; she -has touched it with vermilion, planted in it a double row of ivory, -made it the seat of smiles and blushes, lightened it up and enlivened -it with the eyes, hung it on each side with curious organs of sense, -given it airs and graces which cannot be described, and surrounded it -with such a flowing shade of hair as sets its beauties in the most -agreeable light. In short, she seems to have designed the head as a -cupola to the most glorious of her works; and when we load it with such -a pile of supernumerary ornaments, we destroy the symmetry of the human -figure, and foolishly contrive to call off the eye from great and real -beauties to childish gew-gaws, ribbons, and bone lace.”</p> - -<p>And beautiful exceedingly are those beloved memorials—the silken locks -of childhood, the treasured tresses of riper years, or the silver gray -of reverend old age—which, in the eyes of sorrowing friends, are the -dearest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span> relics of the loved ones whose angel spirits beyond the tomb -have passed through death into eternity.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“There seems a love in hair, though it be dead:</div> - <div>It is the gentlest, yet the strongest thread</div> - <div class="i1">Of our frail plant—a blossom from the tree</div> - <div>Surviving the proud trunk; as if it said,</div> - <div class="i1">Patience and Gentleness in Power. In me</div> - <div class="i1">Behold affectionate eternity.”</div> - <div class="right"><i>Leigh Hunt.</i></div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="gesperrt">THE FASHION OF ANTIQUITY.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="center sm">CHAPTER II.</p> - - -<p>The fashion of ornamenting the hair is an universal vanity, probably as -old as the creation; for the earliest records and antiquities introduce -us to the mysteries of wigs and beard cases, and such evident and -lavish displays of tonsorial art, as remind one more of the skilful -artist than the first rude essays of the craft. It has been suggested -by a writer in the <i>Quarterly Review</i> that we are indebted to Eve -herself for the first principles of the art, and that probably by the -reflection in some tranquil stream she made her earliest studies.</p> - -<p>In the sculptures from Nineveh we have an exact representation of the -fashion of the hair among the Assyrians—thousands of years before -Britain had a place in history. The office of <i>coiffeur</i> in those -days must evidently have been one of no little importance. From<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> the -king on the throne—the mighty hunter, lion slayer, and destroyer -of men—his counsellors, and great captains, to the poor slave, the -mere hewer of wood and drawer of water, all seem to have passed under -the discipline of the curling-irons. The curling and plaiting of the -beard and hair, as shown in the sculptures, is doubtless intended -as a distinguishing mark of a superior and conquering race. Their -colossal-winged bulls and monstrous deities are adorned with the same -venerable badge of power and authority. Since nearly all that is known -on this subject is directly derived from the researches of Mr. Layard, -we cannot do better than refer to the volumes of one to whom not only -this nation, but the civilised world, are indebted for his arduous and -most successful explorations.</p> - -<p>“The Assyrians paid particular attention to the adorning of their -persons. Besides wearing numerous ornaments, they most carefully and -elaborately platted their hair and beards. The hair was parted over the -forehead, and fell from behind the ears on the shoulders in a large -bunch of ringlets. The beard was allowed to grow to its full length, -and, descending low on the breast, was divided into two or three rows -of curls. The moustache was also carefully trimmed and curled at the -ends. The hair, as well as the beard, appears to have been dyed, as is -still the custom in Persia; but it has been doubted whether the hair, -represented in the sculptures, was natural or artificial.</p> - -<p>“According to Herodotus (Lib. 1, c. 195) the Babylonians<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> wore their -hair long. The great regularity of the curls in the sculptures would -certainly lead to the impression that part of the hair, at least, -was false; but we can scarcely suppose that the warriors, as well as -the king and the principal officers of state, wore false beards, for -all the sculptured beards are equally elaborate and studied in the -arrangement. The mode of representing hair in the bas-reliefs is most -probably conventional. Most Eastern people have been celebrated for -the length and beauty of their hair, and if the Assyrians were as well -provided with it as the inhabitants of Persia were in the days of -Darius, or as they now are, they would have had little occasion for a -wig.”</p> - -<p>The hair of females, in the sculptures, is usually represented in long -ringlets, sometimes plaited and braided, and at other times confined -in a net. The modern fashion of wearing the hair in a net is therefore -a revival of a very ancient one. Isaiah alludes to “the caps of -net-work,” (chap. III., v. 8).</p> - -<p>It is to ancient Egypt we must look for the earliest instance of a -people investing themselves with that symbol of wisdom and gravity—the -wig. It was reserved for the courtiers of Louis XIII. to re-introduce -and remodel the ancient perruque, but its origin certainly dates from -a very remote antiquity. The Egyptians as a nation were “all shaven -and shorn:” they shaved even the heads of young children, leaving only -certain locks as an emblem of youth. All classes among the people, the -slaves imported from foreign countries not excepted,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span> were compelled -to submit to the tonsure. The universal custom of shaving the head -led to the use of wigs. “It may appear singular,” says Wilkinson, -“that so warm a covering to the head should have been adopted in the -climate of Egypt; but we must recollect the reticulated texture of the -ground-work, on which the hair was fastened, allowed the heat of the -head to escape, while the hair effectually protected it from the sun: -it is evident that no better covering could have been devised, and that -it far surpassed, in comfort and coolness, the modern turban.” Wigs -were worn both within the house and out of doors, like the turban of -the present day. A wig in the British Museum, from the temple of Isis, -and one in the Berlin Museum, still attest the skill of the Egyptian -artist. For the use of those who could not afford the more expensive -wigs of real hair, an imitation appears to have been made of wool and -other stuffs. A most singular custom of the Egyptians was that of -tying a false beard upon the chin, which was made of plaited hair, and -of a peculiar form, according to the rank of the person by whom it -was worn. Private individuals had a small beard, scarcely two inches -long; that of a king was of considerable length, square at the bottom; -and the figure of gods were distinguished by its turning up at the -ends. The women always wore their hair long and plaited. The back part -was made to consist of a number of strings of hair, reaching to the -shoulder-blades, and on each side other strings of the same descended -over the breast. The hair was plaited in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> triple plait, the ends -being left loose, or, more usually, two or three plaits were fastened -together at the extremity by woollen strings of corresponding colour. -Many of the mummies of women have been found with the hair perfectly -preserved, plaited in the manner described, the only alteration in its -appearance being the change of its black hue, which became reddened by -exposure to great heat, during the process of embalming.</p> - -<p>The Hebrews wore their hair generally short, and checked its growth by -the application of scissors only. They seem at an early period to have -availed themselves of the assistance of art, not only for beautifying -the hair, but increasing its thickness; while the heads of the priests -were anointed with an unguent of a peculiar kind. The custom of -anointing the head became a general mark of gentility, and an essential -part of the daily toilet. The Lawgiver of the Jews did not think it -beneath the dignity of his code to introduce into it an especial -ordinance concerning the fashion of the beard—“Thou shalt not mar the -corners of the beard”—(Leviticus XIX., v. 27). By the “corners” the -commentators understand the extremities; and this precept, no doubt, -like others in the same chapter, arose from the leading policy of the -theocracy, which sought to create a people in everything distinct from, -and unmixed with, the idolators by whom they were surrounded.</p> - -<p>It was the noble destiny of the Greeks to add beauty and refinement -to the creations and speculations of a previous age. The love of the -beautiful was a passion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> with the Greeks; it was stamped, so to speak, -on the meanest objects of every-day life, and found its loftiest -expression in their poetry and the magnificent works of art, which -every civilized people regard as models for imitation. Even in the -mere matter of a head-dress, we are struck with the beauty of the -classic forms in Greek sculpture, which show a rare perception of the -beautiful, in wonderful contrast to the barbarism of earlier, and, we -may add, succeeding ages. In Homer the Greeks are repeatedly spoken -of as the “long-haired Greeks,” and to almost every character in the -Iliad and Odyssey some epithet is applied in allusion to the beauty of -the hair. It is enough to allude to the fair-haired Helen, the nymph -Calypso, Circe, and Ariadne; the flowing locks of Achilles, the curls -of Paris, and the auburn hair of Ulysses. It will be remembered that -Achilles made sacrifice of his yellow hair at the funeral pyre of -Patroclus, in honour of the friend he loved.</p> - -<p>The ancient practice of wearing the hair long was adhered to for many -centuries by the Spartans. The Spartan boys always had their hair cut -quite short; but, as soon as they reached the age of puberty, they let -it grow long. They prided themselves upon their hair, and called it -the cheapest of ornaments. Before engaging in battle, they combed and -dressed their hair with much care, as did Leonidas and his followers at -Thermopylae.</p> - -<p>The custom of the Athenians was different. They wore their hair long -in childhood; but the youths cut<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> off their flowing locks at a certain -age, and, as a religious ceremony, consecrated them to some god: -on attaining the age of manhood, they again let the hair grow. In -ancient times at Athens the hair was rolled up in a kind of knot on -the crown of the head, and fastened with golden clasps in the shape of -grasshoppers. The Athenian females, also, wore the hair much in the -same fashion. It was usually confined in a net-work of silk or gold -thread, or a cap or turban of close material, and, at times, by broad -bands of cloth of different colours wound round the head.</p> - -<p>The Greek philosophers were distinguished by their majestic beards, -and Socrates, it would seem, pre-eminently so. Homer’s description of -the venerable beards of Nestor and Priam is doubtless familiar to most -readers. The Greeks wore their beards till the time of Alexander; and -Plutarch mentions that the beards of the Macedonian soldiers were cut -off to prevent the enemy from seizing hold of them in battle.</p> - -<p>Pliny says that the Romans wore their hair long till the year 454 -A.U.C., when P. Ticinius Mena first introduced a number of barbers from -Sicily. Those bearded ancestors of the Romans, with their long hair, -came, in after times, to be regarded with no little reverence, as the -true type of manly virtue and integrity, “the fine old <i>Roman</i> -gentleman.” At the time of the invasion of the Gauls, Livy tells us, as -the soldiers entered Rome, they were struck with awe and astonishment -at the noble beards and venerable aspect of the old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> magnates seated at -their thresholds; and, that a soldier venturing, out of mere curiosity, -but to touch the beard of one of them, the affront was resented by -a blow with his ivory sceptre, which was the signal for a general -slaughter.</p> - -<p>The hair was usually worn short and crisp till the time of Commodus, -who was particularly luxurious in the dressing and ornamenting of his -hair, which was powdered with gold. Having, however, a somewhat uneasy -conscience, he resorted to the singular practice of burning off the -beard, “timore tonsoris,” says Lampridius.</p> - -<p>Scipio Africanus first set the example of shaving. Persons of quality -had their children shaved for the first time by a person of the same or -greater quality, who, by this means, became godfather or adopted father -of the children. The day was observed as one of rejoicing, and the hair -of the beard made an offering to some god. The beard of Nero, we are -told, was put into a golden box adorned with pearls, and consecrated -in this way to Jupiter Capitolinus. Hadrian was the first emperor -who wore a beard; Plutarch says he wore it to hide the scars in his -face. Constantine was distinguished by the title of “Pogoniatos;” and -we should do injustice to Julian’s beard to omit mention of it here. -Gibbon says, “the Emperor had been insulted by satires and libels; and, -in his turn, composed, under the title of the ‘Enemy of the Beard,’ -an ironical confession of his own faults, and a severe satire on the -licentious and effeminate manners of Antioch.” He descants with seeming -complacency<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span> on his own “shaggy and <i>populous beard</i>”—a phrase -which we may interpret literally or not, as we please. The historian -adds, “This imperial reply was publicly exposed before the gates of -the palace, and the MISOPOGON remains a singular monument of the -resentment, the wit, the humanity, and the indiscretion of Julian.” -Probably no nation ever patronized the tonsor with more assiduity than -Rome in the decadence of the Empire. The young patrician exquisites -of those days devoted hours daily to the barber and the bath; and no -lady’s train of slaves was complete without the <i>ornatrix</i>, whose -duty it was to attend the toilet of her mistress, for the special -purpose of dressing her hair.</p> - -<p>An elegant simplicity at one time characterized the head-dress of the -Roman ladies, who generally adopted the fashion of the Greeks, which -usually, however, soon degenerated into extravagance and coarseness. -They piled upon their heads imitations of castles and crowns, cumbrous -wreaths, and other absurdities, and knotted the hair with tiresome -minuteness.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“With curls on curls they build their head before,</div> - <div>And mount it with a formidable tower:</div> - <div>A giantess she seems, but look behind;</div> - <div>And then she dwindles to the pigmy kind.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The <i>calamistrum</i> or curling irons, had a busy time of it, for the -craving after novelty was intense, and any artificial arrangement of -the hair welcomed as a change.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“More leaves the forest yields not from the trees,</div> - <div class="i1">Than there be fashions of attire in view,</div> - <div class="i1">For each succeeding day brings something new.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span></p> - -<p>Poppea, Nero’s wife, was so conspicuous for the beauty of her hair, -that he composed a poem in honour of it.</p> - -<p>It was the custom of the Romans to let their beard and hair grow during -the period of mourning; as we are informed by Suetonius, Augustus did -his, after the terrible Varian catastrophe. The slaves had the hair -cut close as a mark of servitude. Wigs and false hair were worn by the -Romans, more especially by the females; thus Martial——</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“The golden hair which Galla wears</div> - <div class="i1">Is her’s—who would have thought it?</div> - <div>She swears ’tis hers; and true she swears,</div> - <div class="i1">For I know where she bought it!”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Juvenal describes Messalina putting on a wig of flaxen hair to conceal -her own black locks when she left the palace in disguise:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Et nigrum flavo crinem abscondente galero.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Among the Gauls (Gallia comata) long and flowing hair was greatly -esteemed. Cæsar says that he always ordered the long hair of the -conquered races to be shaved off, in submission to the Roman arms; and, -during the decline of the empire, whenever a province revolted, the -patriot leaders urged the adoption of the opposite fashion of wearing -long hair, as a mark of freedom and independence. Thus the fashion of -the hair, as in later times, had a political significance, and took -part in revolutions and the great struggles for social freedom.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span></p> - -<h2 class="gesperrt" id="FREAKS_OF_FASHION">FREAKS OF FASHION.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="center sm">CHAPTER III.</p> - - -<p>We will now conduct the reader, who has condescended to accompany -us thus far, through the succeeding centuries and complete our -illustrations of the fashion of bygone times.</p> - -<p>Cæsar describes the Britons as having long flowing hair, and a beard on -the upper lip only. A bust in the British Museum, one of the Townley -marbles, supposed by some to represent Caractacus, may be taken as a -good example of the fashion of hair worn by the British chieftains. -The hair is parted along the crown of the head, and disposed on each -side of the face and down in the neck in thick bold masses. Immense -tangled moustaches, reaching sometimes to the breast, completed the -hirsute ornaments of the tattooed Briton. Strabo says, in his time the -inhabitants of the Scilly Islands had long beards, like goats. Dion -Cassius alludes to the long yellow hair of Boadicea flowing over her -shoulders, which sufficiently indicates the <i>coiffure</i> of that -undaunted heroine.</p> - -<p>The Anglo Saxons considered fine hair as the most becoming of personal -ornaments, and took every pains to dress it to the greatest advantage. -Aneurin, the Welch bard, says, the warriors wore a profusion of hair, -and were as proud of it as the women, decking it with beads and -ornaments. It was worn long, and parted on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span> the forehead, falling -naturally on the shoulders; the beard of ample growth, and forked. To -have the hair cut entirely off was considered a great disgrace—a mode -of punishment inflicted upon criminals. Adhelm, bishop of Sherbone, -who wrote in the eighth century, describes a maiden as having her -locks delicately curled by the iron of those adorning her. The clergy -were obliged to shave the crowns of their heads, and to keep their -hair short to distinguish them from the laity. Again and again the -denunciations of the clergy were directed against the practice of -wearing long hair, but with partial results; the old Teutonic love of -flowing locks was too strong to be extinguished by the threatenings of -the Church.</p> - -<p>When the Gauls were ruled by native sovereigns, none but nobles and -priests were allowed to wear long beards. A close shaven chin was a -mark of servitude. In the days of Charlemagne, kings rivalled each -other in the length and majesty of their beards. Eginhard, secretary to -Charlemagne, describes the old race of kings as coming to the Field of -Mars in a carriage drawn by oxen, and sitting on the throne with their -flowing beards and dishevelled locks. So sacred a thing was a king’s -beard, that three of the hairs enclosed in the seal of a letter or -charter were considered the most solemn pledge a king could offer.</p> - -<p>The Danes, like the Anglo Saxons, took great pride in their hair; and -the English women, we are told, were not a little captivated with some -Danish officers, who especially delighted in combing and tending their -hair:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> and we read of one Harold with the fair locks, whose thick -ringlets reached to his girdle.</p> - -<p>The Normans, at the time of the Conquest, not only shaved the upper lip -and the entire face, but also cropped close or shaved the back of the -head. Harold’s spies, unacquainted with so singular a custom, on the -approach of the Conqueror’s forces, reported that his army was composed -of priests, and not soldiers. Holinshed states that after the Conquest -the English were ordered to shave their beards and round their hair, -after the Norman fashion. When William returned to Normandy, he took -with him some young Englishmen, as hostages: the French greatly admired -their long beautiful curls. The Normans and Flemings, who accompanied -the Conqueror, were too solicitous about their good looks to be long -restricted to the stunted growth prescribed by military rule. All -classes soon indulged in the forbidden luxury, and, as is usually the -case, the reaction was extreme; so much so, that William of Malmesbury -who makes complaint of the cropping of his countrymen in the previous -reign, reprobates the immoderate length of the hair in the time of -Rufus.</p> - -<p>The prevailing sin of unshorn locks and curled moustaches had long been -a grievous scandal in the eyes of the clergy. Councils were held at -Limoges, in 1031; by Gregory VII. in 1073, and again at Rouen in 1095; -on this much discussed grievance. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury -refused his benediction to those who would not cut their hair. And -Serlo, bishop of Seez, when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> Henry was in Normandy, seems to have taken -the matter literally into his own hands. Observing that the king and -courtiers were moved by his zeal and eloquence, when preaching against -this extravagant profusion of hair, he pulled out a pair of scissors, -and docked the whole congregation, king and all, on the spot. A royal -edict to the like effect was immediately issued. St. Wulstan, bishop of -Worcester, took a somewhat singular method of enforcing his commands. -When anyone knelt to receive his blessing, he would snip off a lock of -their hair, throwing it in their face, and bidding them to cut off the -rest, or perish in perdition.</p> - -<p>The effigies of Henry and his Queen Matilda, at Rochester Cathedral, -show the style of hair worn in those days. The king is represented with -the beard trimmed round, and hair flowing in carefully-twisted ringlets -upon his shoulders and down his back. The queen’s hair descends in two -long plaits to the hips, and terminates in small curls. These plaits -were sometimes encased in silk, and bound round with ribbon.</p> - -<p>Whatever changes were effected by the zeal of the clergy, it is certain -that the fops in Stephen’s reign had not conformed to their teachings. -Historians describe their effeminate ringlets: and when these were not -sufficiently ample, recourse was had to false hair.</p> - -<p>In France, the denunciations of the clergy were as little heeded as -in England. Louis VII., however, sacrificed his hair to save his -conscience; he shaved himself as close as a monk, and disgusted his -pleasure-loving queen,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> Eleanor of Guienne, by his denuded aspect and -asceticism. Eleanor bestowed her favors upon another, was divorced, and -subsequently gave her hand and dower—the fair provinces of Guienne and -Poitou—to Henry, duke of Normandy, afterwards king of England—the -first of the Plantaganets. In Henry’s reign the old Norman custom, of -shaving the beard closely, was revived.</p> - -<p>During the absence of Richard Cœur de Lion, closely trimmed hair and -shaven faces were the fashion; but, towards the close of this reign, -short beards and moustaches reappeared.</p> - -<p>In king John’s reign curled hair was so much the fashion, that the -beaux seldom appeared with any covering on their head, that their -flowing locks might be everywhere admired. The king himself, and the -nobles of his party, wore beard and moustaches, out of contempt, it is -said, for the discontented barons. His effigy in Worcester Cathedral -has the beard closely trimmed, and moustaches.</p> - -<p>Curls and a shaven face, denote the gentlemen in the days of Henry -III.; the ladies wear the hair turned up and confined in a caul.</p> - -<p>Crispness of the hair and beard (which was curled with the nicest -care) was the favourite fashion at the court of Edward Longshanks. His -successor, as we may judge from the effigy at Gloucester, wore the -beard carefully curled, and the hair cut square on the forehead, which -hung in wavy ringlets below the ears. Can it be true that the beard of -this wretched king suffered the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> indignity we read of in history? Did -Maltravers order the king to be shaven with cold water from a dirty -puddle, while on a journey near Carnarvon; and the poor king,</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen,</div> - <div>Fallen from his high estate,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>bursting into tears exclaim, “Here at least is warm water on my cheeks, -whether you will or not.” Beards at that time were seldom worn but by -aged persons, officers of state, and knights templars.</p> - -<p>Edward III. on his tomb at Westminster, is figured with a noble beard, -which would not have disgraced the chin of some old Greek in the heroic -ages.</p> - -<p>In Richard the Second’s reign, we notice the hair of the ladies caught -up prettily in a gold fret or caul, the hair usually surmounted by some -ornament in jewelry, in the form of a chaplet, as described by Chaucer:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“And everich on her head</div> - <div>A rich fret of golde, which withouden drede</div> - <div>Was full of stately net stones set,</div> - <div>And every lady had a chapelet.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">The king, as appears from his effigy, wore flowing curls, confined -by a narrow fillet round the temple; his beard and moustache short, -from which two small tufts depended on each side of the chin. The -“Canterbury Tales” furnish admirable sketches by a master-hand -in illustration of our subject. The squire, “a lover and a lusty -bachelor,” is pictured “with lockés curl’d as they were laid in press;” -the franklin had a beard</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“White was his beard as is the dayesy;”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span></p> - -<p class="p-left">the merchant—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“A merchant was there with a forked beard;”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">and the sumpnour,</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“With sealled browes, black and pilled beard.’</div> - <div>The <i>Pardoner</i> had hair as yellow as wax,</div> - <div>But smooth it hung, as doth a strike of flax;</div> - <div>By ounces hung his lockés that he had,</div> - <div>And therewith he his shoulders overspread,</div> - <div>Full thin it lay by culpons, on and on.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="spacing">*****</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>No beard had he, no ever none should have,</div> - <div>As smooth it was as it were newe shave.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The “shipman,” we know not if he had “the long gray beard, and -glittering eye,” of The Ancient Mariner, but</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“With many a tempest had his beard been shaken;”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">the miller’s beard,</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i5h">“As any sow or fox, was red,</div> - <div>And thereto broad, as though it were a spade;”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">and the Reve—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“The Revé was a choleric man,</div> - <div>His head was shav’d as nigh as ever he can;</div> - <div>His hair was by his earés round yshorn;</div> - <div>His top was decked like a priest beforn.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>But here we must part company with the pilgrims, and proceed on our way.</p> - -<p>During the reign of Henry IV., there occurred a marked change of -fashion; the hair was now closely cropped round the head. The king -retained the beard and moustaches; but, his successor, Henry V., -discarded them, and, in his reign, even military men seldom wore -moustaches, and none but old men had beards. A kind<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> of horned -head-dress was in favour with females, which Lydgate, the monk of Bury, -ridicules:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Horns were given to beasts for defence;</div> - <div>A thing contrary to feminity—</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">but “feminity” heeded not.</p> - -<p>Men’s faces were all closely shaven in the time of Henry VII.; and -certain turban-like and heart-shaped head-dresses, worn by females, -were now of such unusual width, that we are told the doors of the -palace at Vincennes had to be altered to admit the Queen of Charles -VII., Isabella of Bavaria, when in full dress. At Paris, the horned -head-dresses were doomed to perish in the flames. In 1429, a famous -cordelier, one Thomas Conecte, preached in the church of St. Genevieve, -for nine days in succession, to some thousands of auditors, against the -pomps and vanities of this wicked world; and, in a fit of enthusiasm, -fires were lighted, the men flung their dice and cards into the -flames, and the women their monstrous head-dresses, tails, and other -articles of finery. A somewhat similar head-dress, however, survives to -this day among the peasantry about Rouen, Caen, &c.; and the steeple -head-dress of the fifteenth century is exactly represented by the -<i>Cauchoise</i>, still worn in Normandy.</p> - -<p>Again in the reign of Edward IV., another change occurs, and the hair -is suffered to hang in profusion over the ears in large thick masses, -called “side locks,” covering the forehead, and drooping over the eyes -in a very awkward manner—a fashion which scarcely varied during the -remaining years of the Plantaganets.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span></p> - -<p>Leland, in his description of the pageants at the marriage of Elizabeth -to Henry VII., relates how the Queen was royally apparelled, “her -fair yellow hair hanging down plain behind her back, with a caul (or -net-work) of pipes over it, and a circlet of gold, richly garnished -with precious stones, upon her head.” To wear the hair at full length -on the shoulders was the approved fashion for a bride—Anne Boleyn -was so attired at her nuptials—and the fashion was very generally -followed by unmarried females. The men vied with the fair sex in the -length of their flowing curls, and the dandies, especially, loaded -their shoulders with a rich profusion. Louis XII. of France had a very -magnificent <i>chevelure</i>, till disease compelled him to take refuge -in a wig.</p> - -<p>It is almost as needless to say ought of “bluff king Hal,” as to -describe the current coin of the realm. He is a sort of Blue Beard, -and the tragical story of his wives is known to everybody. He it was, -who, in his royal will and pleasure, issued a peremptory order that the -heads of his attendants and courtiers should be polled. We may be sure -that short crops were soon in fashion. The Venetian ambassador at the -English court writes, that when Henry heard that the king of France -wore a beard, he allowed his, also, to grow, which, being somewhat red, -had the appearance of golden hair. Henry was then about twenty-nine -years of age.</p> - -<p>Francis the First, who was wounded in a tournament, had to submit to -the loss of his locks; so the pliant courtiers parted with theirs, -which set the fashion of cropping the hair very close.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span></p> - -<p>We have seen how bishops, in olden time, laid violent hands on their -flocks, and imposed penalties on the laity, for too successfully -cultivating their curls. But the sight of a bishop in danger of being -shaved by his colleagues is a curiosity. We give the story as we find -it in Southey’s “Omniana:” “Guillaume Duprat, bishop of Clermont, -who assisted at the council of Trent, and built the college of the -Jesuits at Paris, had the finest beard that ever was seen. It was -too fine a beard for a bishop; and the canons of his cathedral, in -full chapter assembled, came to the barbarous resolution of shaving -him. Accordingly, when next he came to the choir, the dean, the -<i>prevot</i>, and the <i>chantre</i> approached with scissors and -razors, soap, basin, and warm water. He took to his heels at the -sight, and escaped to his castle of Beauregard, about two leagues from -Clermont, where he fell sick, from vexation, and died.”</p> - -<p>Hastening onward, we come to the days of good Queen Bess—and foremost -is the figure of the queen herself—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“The cynosure of neighbouring eyes.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">This was an age ever memorable for the choicest wits, -and, we need not scruple to add, BEARDS. These were of every variety -of cut, size, and colour; and certain professions were distinguished -by particular beards. The cathedral beard, long and square-trimmed, -which fell upon the breast, was worn by divines of the English church; -the broad spade-beards and steeletto beards by soldiers: the former in -favour with the Earl of Essex, the latter with Lord Southampton. There -were, likewise,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span> hammer-shaped beards, like the Roman T, similar to -the formidable beard of the present Emperor of France; the <i>pique -devant</i>, forked, needle, and tile-shaped beard; and round, trimmed -beards, “like a glover’s paring-knife.”</p> - -<p>Taylor, the Water-Poet, who had a curious cork-screw beard of his own, -in his “Whip for Pride,” thus flagellates the whole race:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Now a few lines to paper I will put,</div> - <div>Of men’s beards strange and variable cut;</div> - <div>In which there’s some do take as vain a pride</div> - <div>As almost in all other things beside.</div> - <div>Some are reaped most substantial as a brush,</div> - <div>Which make a natural wit known by the bush.</div> - <div>Some seem as they were starched stiff and fine,</div> - <div>Like to the bristles of some hungry swine;</div> - <div>And some (to set their love’s desire on edge)</div> - <div>Are cut and pruned like a quick-set hedge.</div> - <div>Some like a spade, some like a fork, some square,</div> - <div>Some round, some mowed like stubble, some stark bare;</div> - <div>Some sharp stiletto-fashion, dagger-like,</div> - <div>That may, with whispering, a man’s eye out pike;</div> - <div>Some with the hammer cut, or Roman T,</div> - <div>Their beards extravagant reformed must be;</div> - <div>Some with the quadrate, some triangle fashion,</div> - <div>Some circular, some oval in translation,</div> - <div>Some perpendicular in longitude,</div> - <div>Some like a thicket for their crassitude;</div> - <div>That heights, depths, breadths, triform, square, round,</div> - <div>And rules geometrical, in beards are found;</div> - <div>Besides the upper lip’s strange variation,</div> - <div>Corrected from mutation to mutation;</div> - <div>As ’twere from tithing unto tithing sent,</div> - <div>Pride gives Pride continual punishment.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span></div> - <div class="hangingindent">Some (spite their teeth) like thatch’d eaves downward grows,</div> - <div>And some grow upwards in despite their nose.</div> - <div>Some their mustachios of such length do keep,</div> - <div>That very well they may a manger sweep!</div> - <div>Which in beer, ale, or wine, they drinking plunge,</div> - <div>And suck the liquor up as ’twere a sponge;</div> - <div>But ’tis a sloven’s beastly Pride, I think,</div> - <div>To wash his beard when other men may drink.</div> - <div>And some (because they will not rob the cup)</div> - <div>Their upper chaps like pot-hooks are turned up.</div> - <div>The Barbers, thus, (like Tailors) still must be</div> - <div>Acquainted with each cuts variety.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The word beard, in former times, was understood to comprehend what -we now distinguish as beard, whiskers and moustaches. The colour of -the beard was considered of much importance, and dyed, when needful, -of the desired hue. Bottom, who was to act the part of Pyramus, “a -most gentleman-like man,” says, “I will discharge it in either your -straw-coloured beard, your orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain -beard, or your French-crown-colour beard, your perfect yellow,” nor -must we omit the most venerable of all, “a sable silvered.” There was, -also, the yellow, or Cain-coloured beard; and the red, or Judas-beard, -formerly supposed to indicate a treacherous nature.</p> - -<p>Beards of very noble proportions were worn at the era of the -Reformation. We may instance Calvin, Beza, Peter Martyr, Fox, Cranmer, -and John Knox, whose beard reached to his girdle. Possibly this length -of beard was encouraged as much out of opposition to the Romish church, -as from any real reverence for so patriarchal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span> a fashion. Sully’s -or Lord Burleigh’s beard may be taken as the finest growth to which -statesmen have attained. The poets Spencer, Shakspere, and Beaumont, -present fine patterns for their tuneful brethren; and scholars, if -they despair of acquiring the erudition of a Scaliger, a Buchanan, -or a Buxtorf, may resemble these old worthies in their plenitude of -beard. Every painter is familiar with glorious old Titian’s beard, with -Reuben’s and Vandyke’s.</p> - -<p>And looking back through the vistas of past ages, the monarchs of -the intellectual world are, for the most part, distinguishable by -their handsome beards. Henry the Fourth, of France, could boast of a -splendid beard; but his successor, Louis XIII., was without, and the -pliant courtiers, in deference to the smooth face of royalty, gave up -wearing beards. Sully, however, retained his, much to the amusement -of some jesting spirits about the court. The old man, indignant at -such treatment, observed to the king, “Sire, your father, of glorious -memory, when he wished to consult me on state affairs, bade the fools -and jesters leave his presence.”</p> - -<p>Sir Thomas More’s beard but narrowly escaped the stroke of the axe -which ended the career of that illustrious man. The story is told thus: -Sir Thomas More at his execution, having laid his head upon the block, -and perceiving that his beard was extended in such a manner that it -would be cut through by the stroke of the executioner, asked him to -adjust it properly upon the block; and when the executioner told him he -need not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> trouble himself about his beard, when his head was about to -be cut off, “It is of little consequence to me,” said Sir Thomas, “but -it is a matter of some importance to you that you should understand -your profession, and not cut through my beard, when you had orders only -to cut off my head.”</p> - -<p>Ulmus of Padua wrote a folio volume on the Beard, as he well might, if -the length of his discourse were proportioned to the noble beards it -was his privilege to illustrate, and the dignity and gravity of the -subject he had to discuss. Hotoman wrote a “Treatise,” and Pierius -Valerianus an “Eulogium” on beards. Those of Italy and Spain alone -are worthy of a separate treatise. Many an Arab would rather lose his -head than part with his beard—it is part of his religion to honour -it; he swears by his beard: and Mahommed, we are told, never cut his. -In Spain, in old times, it was held in like reverence: an insult to -the beard could only be wiped out with blood. The seated corpse of the -Cid—so runs the story—knocked down a Jew who dared to offend against -its majesty by touching but a hair of the beard. It was reserved for -the pencil of Velasquez to give immortality to the martial beards of -Spain, which flourished proudly, and grew fiercely, amid the strife -and smoke of battles. The decline and fall of the Spanish beard is -attributed to Philip V. and his courtiers, in whose reign it was -abolished. Many a brave Spaniard felt the privation keenly; and it -became a common saying, “Since we have lost our beards, we seem to have -lost our souls.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span></p> - -<p>The Longobardi, or Lombards, have made themselves a place in history; -and stubborn enough they proved at times, as Frederic I., the renowned -old Barbarossa, found to his cost. And was there not the terrible -Blue Beard—that incarnation of villainy and bloodthirstiness of -our childhood. Who has forgotten the beards of the Persian kings, -interwoven with gold; or the long white beard of the old Laconian -mentioned by Plutarch, who being asked why he let it grow so long, -replied, “It is that seeing continually my white beard, I may do -nothing unworthy of its whiteness?” Fuller, however, says, “Beard was -never the true standard of brains;” nor of valour either, if we may -trust Bassanio:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false</div> - <div>As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins</div> - <div>The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars;</div> - <div>Who inward search’d, have livers white as milk;</div> - <div>And these assume but valour’s excrement,</div> - <div>To render them redoubted.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>There seems, at all times to have been a sinister protest, in some -quarter or other, against the presumed arrogance of the beard—a -lurking spirit of revolt, engendered possibly of envy, against the -supremacy of its reign. Even the would-be-philosopher of old did not -go unchallenged, as we may guess from the sharp rebuke administered -in the memorable words, “Video barbam et palliam; philosophum nondum -video.” And, indeed, if the truth must be spoken, there are faces to -which it lends no dignity. A mean and contemptible nature, hid behind a -potent beard, is a miserable disguise. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> affectations of a gentleman -are but trifles. Raleigh wore stays, and was a great dandy; but he -was something more—an elegant poet, an accomplished gentleman, and a -gallant soldier. But the abuse of a good thing is no argument for its -disuse. We grieve to think of the degradation of this manly ornament, -and put no faith in</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i4">“those ambiguous things that ape</div> - <div>Goats in their visage, women in their shape;”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">and would fain hope that a return to the “flat faces,”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“such as would disgrace a screen,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">is next to impossible.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Now, a beard is a thing which commands in a king,</div> - <div class="i1">Be his sceptre ne’er so fair;</div> - <div>When the beard wears the sway, the people obey,</div> - <div class="i1">And are subject to a hair.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“’Tis a princely sight and a grave delight</div> - <div class="i1">That adorns both young and old;</div> - <div>A well thatch’d face is a comely grace,</div> - <div class="i1">And a shelter from the cold.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Even our playing cards look the better for the beards; how richly are -the kings furnished—what a winning aspect it gives them.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Behold four kings, in majesty revered,</div> - <div>With hoary whiskers and a forked beard.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>When the lively Beatrice exclaims, “I could not endure a husband with -a beard on his face,” and is reminded she may light on one without, -the alternative seems by no means pleasing; for she replies, “What -shall I do with him? dress him with my apparel, and make him my -waiting gentleman? He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he -that hath none is less than a man.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span> And we take it, though the lady -tells us she was born to speak “all mirth, no matter” she has given -expression to the opinion of her own sex very naively. It was one of -those consistent contradictions so in character with the delightful -absurdities of lovers, for some sighing swains to part with “the old -ornament of their cheeks;” some say, to give a more youthful appearance -to those who stood in need of it; and adopted by others from the -merciful consideration which swayed the heart of Bottom, when he -resolved “to roar like a sucking dove,” not to “fright the ladies.” -When the repentant Benedick turned lover, his beard was fated to stuff -tennis-balls. To pluck a hair from the beard of the great Cham, at the -bidding of some fair inamorata, was obviously an easy and agreeable -duty to the knights of old romance. But what shall we say to those -giants’ coats</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Made from the beards of kings.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Once upon a time, by the exigencies of war, John de Castro was -compelled to leave one of his whiskers in pledge with the inhabitants -of Goa, as security for a thousand pistoles, which he needed to -carry on the siege. A general’s whiskers valued at 2,000 pistoles! -Everything, in short, has its use,</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>A barbe de fol apprend-on à raire.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>In Elizabeth’s reign periwigs made their appearance, and were worn very -generally by ladies of rank. Paul Hentzner, writing of the queen, then -in her sixty-seventh year, says she wore false hair, and that red, with -a small crown on her head. False hair of different colours was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> worn on -different occasions by the same person: sometimes the queen appeared in -black hair.</p> - -<p>Mary Queen of Scots had black hair; but in some of her portraits she is -represented with light hair, and, in accordance with the fashion of her -day, she frequently wore borrowed locks of different colours. Knollys, -in a letter to Cecil, makes mention of one “Mistress Mary Seaton, -greatly praised by the queen, and one of the finest <i>buskers</i> -to be seen in any country. Among other pretty devices, she did set a -curled hair upon the queen that was said to be a <i>perewyke</i>, that -showed very delicately; and every other day she hath a new device of -head-dressing without any cost, and yet setteth forth a woman gayly -well.” Hair-powder first came into fashion in 1590.</p> - -<p>Puttenham, in his “Art of Poesie,” says, “Now again at this time the -young gentlemen of the court <i>have taken up</i> the long haire -trayling on their shoulders, and think this more decent, for what -respect I should be glad to know.” Curling the points of their beards -and moustaches was a favourite style with the young men of fashion. The -ladies wore the hair curled, frizzled, and crisped, and underpropped -with pins and wires, and so tortured into the most fantastic shapes: we -read, also, of cauls of hair set with seed-pearls and gold buttons.</p> - -<p>In the days of our British Solomon there were first-rate coxcombs and -exquisites; and some so solicitous about the beauty of the outward -man, that, when they walked abroad, they carried a looking-glass “in a -tobacco<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> box or dial set.” Towards the close of this reign, the hair -of females was combed back in a roll over the forehead, and on this a -small hood.</p> - -<p>In France, when Louis XIII. came to the throne, he was too young to -have a beard. For a time the beard was unfashionable; but whiskers were -much in favour with gallants, and thought to be greatly admired by -their lady-loves.</p> - -<p>The peaked beard of Charles I., so well known from the portraits by -Vandyke, introduces us to the troubled times of the Cavaliers and -Roundheads. The aversion of the latter to the flowing curls of the -Royalists was extreme, and led to the adoption of the Puritanical crop, -which, as a mere negation and opposed to every principle of beauty, -was doomed in turn to be discarded with ineffable contempt. One would -wish to speak with all respect of the stout ironsides who fought at -Marston Moor and Naseby; but the silly crusade, encouraged by some -of the meaner sort against the beautiful creations of art, has done -more to estrange men’s minds from the noble principles they upheld -with their swords, than the united acclaim of their preachers could -effect in their behalf. The “<i>love-locks</i>” of the court gallants -were especially hateful to the Puritans. Sometimes a single lock of -hair, tied at the end with silk ribbon in bows, was allowed to fall -on the chest; others wore two such love-locks, one on each side of -the head, which, at times, reached to the waist. Prynne wrote a book -expressly against them, on “The Unloveliness of Love-locks;” and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> in -1643 appeared Dr. Hall’s tract “On the Loathsomeness of Long Hair,” -wherein he complained that “some have long lockes at their eares, as if -they had four eares, or were prick-eared; some have a little long locke -onely before, hanging down to their noses, like the taile of a weasall; -every man being made a foole at the barber’s pleasure, or making a -foole of the barber for having to make him such a foole.” And in Lyly’s -play of Midas, it is asked, “Will you have a low curl on your head, -like a ball, or dangling locks, like a spaniel? Your moustachioes sharp -at the ends, like a shoemaker’s awl, or hanging down to your mouth, -like goats’ flakes? Your love-locks wreathed with a silken twist, or -shaggy to fall on your shoulders?”</p> - -<p>The reader cannot have failed to remark how these love-locks and -periwigs facilitated the disguise of one sex for the other, so often -assumed by characters in old plays, and on which the chief interest -or plot of a piece frequently turned. Thus, when Julia, in “The Two -Gentlemen of Verona,” desires her maid, Lucetta, to provide her with -“such weeds as may beseem some well-reputed page.” Lucetta answers, -“Why, then, your ladyship must cut your hair.”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div><span class="smcap">Julia.</span>—No, girl; I’ll knit it up in silken strings,</div> - <div class="i3h">With twenty odd conceited true-love knots:</div> - <div class="i3h">To be fantastic, may become a youth</div> - <div class="i3h">Of greater time than I shall show to be.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">A periwig favored the escape of the Duke of York, -afterwards James II., from St. James’s Palace in 1648, who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> luckily -“shifted into gentlewoman’s clothes,” got on board a Dutch vessel below -Gravesend, and landed safely in Holland. The hostess at Middleburgh, -where the prince slept by the way, wondered much that “the young -gentlewoman would not let the maids help her to bed.”</p> - -<p>As a companion picture to the love locks of the gentlemen, the ladies -adorned themselves with artificial ringlets, cunningly inserted amid -the true; and <i>heart-breakers</i> (accroche-cœur), arranged with -studied and most killing aim. The female coiffure of the Stuart period -has always been much admired, with its soft clustering curls and -semi-transparence, the effect of a peculiar friz. Some of the portraits -of that era, the hair arranged with true feminine taste, gracefully -shadowing a complexion of the utmost delicacy, are studies of female -loveliness, which, once seen, are not easily forgotten.</p> - -<p>Some years ago, the body of Charles the first was discovered at -Windsor, and it is said the late Sir Henry Halford and George IV. were -the only persons to whom it was shown. Sir Henry cut off a lock of the -king’s hair, and made Sir Walter Scott a present of a part, which he -had set in virgin gold, the word “Remember” surrounding it in highly -relieved letters.</p> - -<p>Whiskers were still in fashion at the French court. The king, Turenne, -Corneille, Moliere, and the chief men of note were proud to wear them. -“It was then,” says a grave encyclopedist, “no uncommon thing for a -favourite lover to have his whiskers turned up, combed, and dressed -by his mistress; and hence a man of fashion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span> took care always to be -provided with every little requisite, especially whisker-wax. It was -highly flattering to a lady to have it in her power to praise the -beauty of the lover’s whiskers, which, far from being disgusting, -gave his person an air of vivacity, and several even thought them an -incitement to love.” What would our gallant Drake have thought of -this effeminacy, who, after he had burned Philip’s fleet at Cadiz, in -sailor’s phrase called it “singeing the king of Spain’s whiskers.”</p> - -<p>The Roundheads were mercilessly ridiculed in ballads, and pelted -with poetry in every style of doggerel, till finally gibetted for -the amusement of posterity by the author of Hudibras. The nick-name -of Roundheads, we are told, arose from their putting a round bowl or -wooden dish upon their heads, and cutting their hair by the edges or -brim of the bowl. The bowl may, or may not, have been in use for this -purpose, but nothing could exceed the ugliness of the Puritan crop.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“What creature’s this, with his short hairs,</div> - <div>His little band, and huge long ears,</div> - <div class="i1">That a new faith has founded?”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Even such brave and noble-minded adherents as Colonel Hutchinson could -not escape the censure of their own party for not conforming in all -respects to the vulgar notions of orthodoxy. His long and beautiful -hair was looked upon with suspicion as betraying a certain lukewarmness -in their cause. The Puritans even forbade the women to wear braided -hair. And some of them, more zealous than the rest, made a vow not to -trim their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span> beards till the parliament had subdued the king, as did Sir -Hudibras.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i5">’Twas to stand fast</div> - <div>As long as monarchy should last;</div> - <div>But when the state should hap to reel</div> - <div>’Twas to submit to fatal steel.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>These vow-beards were also worn by some staunch old Jacobites, to mark -their love for the house of Stuart, who hoped to see the king recalled -to the throne. The beard of Sir Hudibras has acquired a sort of -historical importance, and, to do it justice, must be pictured at full -length:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“His tawny beard was th’ equal grace</div> - <div>Both of his wisdom and his face;</div> - <div>In cut and die so like a tile,</div> - <div>A sudden view it would beguile;</div> - <div>The upper part whereof was whey,</div> - <div>The nether orange mix’d with grey.</div> - <div>This hairy meteor did denounce</div> - <div>The fall of sceptres and of crowns;</div> - <div>With grisly type did represent</div> - <div>Declining age of government,</div> - <div>And tell, with hieroglyphic spade,</div> - <div>Its own grave and the state’s were made.</div> - <div>Like Samson’s heart-breakers it grew,</div> - <div>In time to make a nation rue;</div> - <div>Though it contributed its own fall</div> - <div>To wait upon the public downfall.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">What befel this tawny beard we learn from the same -faithful narrative of the knight’s adventures:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i7h">“At that an egg let fly,</div> - <div>Hit him directly o’er the eye,</div> - <div>And, running down his cheek, besmear’d</div> - <div>With orange tawny slime his beard;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span></div> - <div>But beard and slime being of one hue,</div> - <div>The wound the less appear’d to view.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">In this terrible plight he is visited by the widow, one -of Job’s comforters, who begins her discourse with a commentary on -beards, which must be our apology for inserting it here:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“If he that is in battle conquer’d</div> - <div>Have any title to his own beard,</div> - <div>Though yours be sorely lugg’d and torn,</div> - <div>It does your visage more adorn</div> - <div>Than if ’twere prun’d, and starch’d, and lander’d,</div> - <div>And cut square by the Russian standard.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Butler has left us a portrait of Philip Nye’s Thanksgiving Beard, which -must not be passed by unnoticed:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“This rev’rend brother, like a goat,</div> - <div>Did wear a tail upon his throat,</div> - <div>The fringe and tassel of a face,</div> - <div>That gives it a becoming grace;</div> - <div>But set in such a curious frame,</div> - <div>As if ’twere wrought in filograin,</div> - <div>And cut so e’en, as if’t had been</div> - <div>Drawn with a pen upon his chin:</div> - <div>No topiary hedge of quickset,</div> - <div>Was e’er so neatly cut, or thick-set.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>It has been seriously asserted that paste-board cases were invented to -put over these beards at night, lest their owners should turn upon and -rumple them in their sleep. The Puritans carried their hatred of long -hair with them to their new homes across the Atlantic. In a code of -laws which they published, among other curious regulations it is set -forth, “that it is a shameful practice for any man who has the least -care for his soul<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span> to wear long hair. As this abomination excites the -indignation of all pious persons, we, the magistrates, in our zeal -for the purity of the faith, do expressly and authentically declare, -that we condemn the impious custom of letting the hair grow—a custom -which we look upon to be very indecent and dishonest, which terribly -disguises men, and is offensive to modest and sober persons, inasmuch -as it corrupts good manners,” with much more to the like effect, in a -strain of dreary verbiage and exhortation. Long hair, according to a -Puritan poet, was nothing else than the banner of Satan displayed in -triumph from a man’s head.</p> - -<p>Milton’s beautiful hair, falling upon his shoulders in broad masses of -clustering curls, and setting off features of rare beauty, is deserving -of special honour. It is a question whether those sacred hairs were -sacrilegiously handled by certain ruffianly overseers in 1790, during -some repairs to the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. If the body then -exhumed, and presumed to be Milton’s, were in reality the earthly -remains of our great poet, these “sapient, trouble-tombs,” after a -carouse, (how wonderfully a parish feast smooths the way to some dirty -job, so easily reconciled to the parochial mind), “cutting open the -leaden coffin, found a body in its shroud, and, believing it to be that -of the poet, they extracted the teeth, cut off the hair, which was six -inches long, and combed and tied together, and then left the scattered -remains to the grave diggers, who were permitted to exhibit them for -money to the public. Mr. Philip Neve,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span> of Furnival’s Inn, who published -an account of the transaction, was strongly convinced that the body was -that of Milton, although the hair and other circumstances favoured the -opinion that it was the body of a woman.” Was anything more disgusting -ever perpetrated in the days</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“When Bradshaw bullied in a broad-brimmed hat,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">or since?</p> - -<p>The Restoration of Charles II. ushered in <span class="smcap">The Age of Great -Wigs</span>—a subject of too much importance to be summarily disposed -of, and which we purposely reserve for the next chapter.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="gesperrt" id="WIGS">WIGS.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center sm">CHAPTER IV</p> - - -<p>The introduction of the ample perriwig has always been regarded as -the most ambitious effort of tonsorial art. And as it rarely happens -that any one mind is capable of perfecting a discovery by a single -effort; so the honour of conceiving the beau ideal of a fully-developed -wig can scarcely, with justice, be claimed by any particular artist. -Like the Absolutism, of which it may be regarded as the symbol, it -was the growth of time, and expanded to its fullest dimensions under -the favouring rule of the Grand Monarque. During that long reign, -extending<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> over the greater part of a century, the Wig sat supreme upon -the brows of one of the great Princes of the Earth, at whose nod the -nations trembled; whose wrath was fire and desolation, as the ruined -towns of the Palatinate may still bear witness (Rex dixit, et factum -est); whose ambition was fed with war and conquest; but whose heart -was all as false as the smooth curls which counterfeited the graces of -perpetual youth.</p> - -<p>The true morphological development of the wig appears to have been -after this fashion. First of all a small portion of artificial hair -was cunningly inserted among the natural curls, to eke out the economy -of Nature; this suggested the idea of two supplementary bunches; -then a third was added; these in turn were connected by a coif, and -the result was the <i>perruque à calotte</i>. It is recorded of the -Cardinal de Richelieu that he was the first to introduce this form of -peruke at court. It formed part of the attire of the Duke of Bedford, -so whimsically described by De Grammont to Charles II. “Sir,” said he, -“I had the honour to see him embark in his coach, with his asthma, and -country equipage, his <i>perruque à calotte</i> neatly tied with a -yellow riband, and his old-fashioned hat covered with oil-skin, which -became him uncommonly well.” The first appearance of Louis Quatorze in -his grand peruke is not duly set forth with historic accuracy; but the -important part it played in the daily routine of court etiquette is -well known. The chief valet slept in the king’s apartment and called -him at the appointed hour. Then it was announced in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> ante-chamber -that the king was awake. In came the members of the royal family -to wish him “good morning;” after them, the first gentleman of the -chamber, the grand master of the wardrobe and other officers bringing -the king’s dresses. From a silver gilt vessel the valet pours spirits -of wine on the royal hands, and a duke presents the holy water. After -a very short religious service, the king’s perruques are laid before -him, and choice is made of one most pleasing to his majesty, which -is subsequently elevated to the head by the king’s own hand. Other -ceremonies disposed of, the king must be shaved: one holds the basin, -another adjusts the shaving-cloth and applies the razor; a soft sponge -dipped in spirit of wine is passed over the royal face, and afterwards -pure water in the same manner, which completes the operation, the chief -valet all the time holding the looking-glass. At all the mysteries of -<i>la première entrée</i>, the <i>grand entrée</i>, and the dressing -of the king by the courtiers, the ceremony of the breakfast, and the -state receptions, the peruke is present. But before proceeding to the -council, the chief valet furnishes another wig for the king’s pate: it -goes to mass with him, attends him at dinner, accompanies him to the -abode of Madame de Maintenon and elsewhere; comes home in good time, -and is present at the supper <i>au grand couvert</i>: then bows to the -ladies and courtiers in the grand saloon, and returns with the king for -a while to his own apartments to witness the felicities of a king in -private life. About midnight again all is bustle and preparation; the -chief<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> barber arranges the dressing table in the king’s chamber; a cold -collation is put by the bedside, ready to the king’s lips, should he -wake with an appetite in the night; the courtiers are assembled, and -the king enters. He hands his hat and gloves to some favoured nobleman -who is present to receive them, the sword by knightly hands is carried -to the dressing-table, the almoner holds the wax lights and repeats -the prayer, the watch and reliquary are given in charge to a valet de -chambre, blue ribbon, cravat and waistcoat are dispensed with, two -lacqueys remove the garters, two more are required to draw off the -stockings, two pages present slippers, and the Dauphin the <i>chemise -de nuit</i>; the king bows, the courtiers retire, and the <i>grand -coucher</i> is finished. Now the hair has to be combed and arranged; -one valet holds the looking-glass and the other a light; the bed is -aired, and the Wig goes to bed with the king; the chief valet draws -the curtains, and, within the secret recesses of that impenetrable -shade, the perriwig is exchanged for a nightcap, and the royal hand of -Louis presenting it outside the curtains, it is consigned to the care -of its trusty guardian, the chief valet, who then locks the doors, and -lays down on a bed prepared for him in the same chamber. Good night, -Monsieur Bontemps.—What if some of these wonderful wigs could publish -their “Secret Memoirs,” what a treasury of scandal it would disclose -for the gratification of the pickers-up of “unconsidered trifles!”</p> - -<p>Binette was the great perruquier of that Augustan age. Without his aid -neither king nor courtiers could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span> go forth in becoming fashion. His -carriage and running footmen were constantly to be seen passing to -and fro the streets of Paris, in attendance on the nobility. In 1656, -Louis le Grand appointed forty wig-makers to wait upon the Court, and -in 1673 a corporation of <i>Barbiers-perruquiers</i>, consisting of -200 members, was established to supply the commonalty of Paris. At -one time the minister Colbert, judging from the large sum of money -remitted from France to foreign countries for hair, that the balance -of trade was against his own country, was desirous of introducing some -kind of cap to take the place of the wig, and spoke to the king on the -subject; but the wig-makers took the alarm, memorialized the king, and -showed from statistics that the profit on wigs exported from Paris more -than equalled the sum paid to foreigners for the material; so that -Colbert’s project was laid aside, and wigs and wig-makers flourished -more than ever. The number of licenses was now increased to 850, and -the members known under the title of <i>barbiers-perruquiers</i>, -<i>baigneurs-etuvistes</i>. The corporation had its provost, wardens, -and syndics, which were appointed by letters patent, and the offices -were hereditary. The king bestowed on this corporation the sole right -of dealing in hair, either by wholesale or retail; of making and -selling powder or pomatum; preparations to remove the hair; drops -for the cure of toothache, &c. The use of powder was not at first -sanctioned by the monarch, but at last he yielded to the wishes of his -courtiers, and permitted a trifling quantity to be sprinkled on his -own<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> perukes. Not only was the wig a thing of magnitude, it possessed -also considerable weight; a stylish wig weighed rather more than a -couple of pounds, and was worth, according to the best authorities, a -thousand crowns. Light hair was most esteemed, and fetched at times -as much as eighty francs the ounce. To prevent imposition, it was -ordered that no second-hand wigs should be sold, except by certain -dealers on the <i>Quai de l’Horloge</i>. When these costly wigs were -first introduced the wearers appeared in the streets, in all sorts of -weather, with their hats in their hands, so anxious were they not to -disarrange their well-ordered curls. Menage has preserved a poem of -that period which ridicules the custom, and concludes thus:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Critics, how narrow are your views,</div> - <div>Who thus the prudent youth abuse!</div> - <div>By a just value he is led</div> - <div>Both of his wig and of his head;</div> - <div>The one he knows was dearly bought,</div> - <div>The other would not fetch a groat.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Bernini, the sculptor, once ventured to arrange the monarch’s curls in -accordance with his own notions of classic dignity. He had been sent -for, from Rome, at great expense, to superintend some additions to the -Louvre, and was engaged on a bust of Louis, when perceiving that the -king’s forehead was too much over-shadowed with curls, he thrust them -back, saying to the king, “Your Majesty’s face should be seen by every -one.” This originated the <i>frisure à la Bernin</i>.</p> - -<p>Combing these elaborate curls was the envied occupation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> of the -beaux. In that inimitable dramatic sketch by Molière, “Les Précieuses -Ridicules,” which resembles a clever etching by a master-hand, it will -be remembered that Mascarille, the pretended marquis, combs his curls -in the presence of the ladies with the usual blandishments. The scented -powder with which these wigs were besprinkled was selected with the -nicest judgment and at great cost. In this respect also, Mascarille, -who had made free with his master’s clothes, the better to make love in -the court fashion to the fair <i>precieuse</i>, was as well furnished -as any of the court gallants.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="center"><i>Mascarille.</i></p> - -<p>Et celle-la? (Il donne à sentir les cheveux poudrés de sa -perruque.)</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Madelon.</i></p> - -<p>Elle est tout à fait de qualité; le sublime en est touché -délicieusement.</p> -</div> - -<p>Well might Gorgibus, in choleric mood exclaim:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Ces pendardes-là, avec leur pommade, ont, je pense, envie de me -ruiner. Je ne vois partout que blancs d’œufs, lait virginal, et -mille autres brimborions que je ne connais point. Elles ont usé, -depuis que nous sommes ici, le lard d’une douzaine de couchons, -pour le moins; et quatre valets vivraient tous les jours des -pieds de moutons qu’elles emploient.</p> -</div> - -<p>We are not well enough informed in such manners to know if these family -recipes be worthy to be compared with the “capons greaz” which good -Queen Bess carried with her, as we learn from Nichol’s “Progresses,” -to make the hair to shine like a mallard’s wing. We own to a natural -dread of such domestic manufactures, and always greatly admired that -fine piece of strategy on the part of Dr. Primrose, when observing his -daughters busily concocting some compound over the fire—and informed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> -by little Dick of its true nature—he grases the poker and capsizes the -ingredients.</p> - -<p>The nomenclature of wigs is very ample, a complete system of -classification might be adopted, and genus and species discriminated -with the greatest nicety; there were Wigs Military, Legal, -Ecclesiastical, and Infantile; we can only find room for a few -varieties:</p> - -<div class="parent"> -<ul class="left"> - <li>Perruque à bonnet.</li> - <li> —— à nœuds.</li> - <li> —— ronde.</li> - <li> —— pointue.</li> - <li> —— naissante.</li> - <li> —— à deux queues.</li> - <li> —— à tonsure.</li> - <li> —— à la brigadière.</li> - <li> —— de l’Abbé.</li> - <li> —— à boudin.</li> - <li> —— à papillons.</li> - <li> —— à deux marteaux.</li> - <li> —— à trois marteaux.</li> - <li> —— à bourse.</li> -</ul> -</div> - -<p>We shall only be following the usual course of Fashion if we pass from -the French Court to Whitehall. In England the ladies are said to have -been beforehand with the gentlemen in the great Wig movement. Pepys -writes (1662), “By and bye came La Belle Pierce to see my wife, and -to bring her a pair of perruques of hair as the fashion now is for -ladies to wear, which are pretty, and one of my wife’s own hair, or -else I should not endure them.” The year following Pepys made a similar -investment on his own account—“November 3, Home, and by and bye comes -Chapman, the perriwig maker, and upon my liking it (the wig), without -more ado, I went up, and then he cut off my haire, which went a little -to my heart at present to part with it; but it being over, and my -perriwig on, I paid him £3, and away went he with my own haire to make -up another of; and I by and bye went abroad, after I had caused all my -maids<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span> to look upon it, and they concluded it do become me, though Jane -was mightily troubled for my parting with my own hair, and so was Besse.</p> - -<p>“November 8, Lord’s Day.—To church, where I found that my coming in -a perriwig did not prove so strange as I was afraid it would, for I -thought that all the church would presently have cast their eyes on me, -but I found no such things.”</p> - -<p>The same minute chronicler informs us that the Duke of York put on a -perriwig in February, 1663, and that he saw the king in one for the -first time the following April.</p> - -<p>By command of Charles II., members of the University of Cambridge were -forbidden to wear perriwigs; and, on another occasion, when a chaplain -was preaching before him in a wig, he bid the Duke of Monmouth, then -chancellor of the university, to cause the statutes concerning decency -of apparel to be more strictly enforced. To be deprived of their -wigs was a clerical grievance. In France, a turbulent priest at the -cathedral of Beauvais insisted on his right to wear one at mass, but -was hindered from doing so, when he solemnly placed the objectionable -wig in the hands of a notary at the church doors, and protested against -the indignity which had been put upon him.</p> - -<p>The year of the Great Plague was one of the most terrible in our -annals—Death smote his victims by thousands—the voice of lamentation -and mourning stilled for a time the gaieties of a dissolute court. The -men of fashion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> became alarmed lest the poison of the plague might lurk -insidiously in the curls of their wigs. Pepys entertained the same -fear:—“September 3, (1664).—Up, and put on my coloured silk suit, -very fine, and my new perriwig, bought a good while since, but durst -not wear, because the plague was in Westminster when I bought it; and -it is a wonder what will be the fashion after the plague is done as to -perriwigs, for nobody will buy any hair for fear of infection, that it -had been cut off the heads of people dead of the plague.”</p> - -<p>Wigs were first worn by barristers about 1670. The judges were at -first somewhat opposed to the innovation, as suited only to fops, -and unbecoming so learned a profession; and some of the more zealous -leaders of the fashion were not suffered to plead in their new attire. -Time has long since reconciled us to the forensic head-dress; and if -the public be at all sceptical as to the merits of horse-hair, the -rare talents it has fostered would alone command respect. Custom and -precedent have now securely enthroned the wig in the Halls of Justice, -and authority looks with suspicion on any attempt to interfere with -its prerogative. Lord Campbell tells us that when he argued the great -Privilege Case, and had to speak for sixteen hours, “he obtained leave -to speak without a wig; but under the condition that it was not to be -drawn into a precedent.”</p> - -<p>As early as 1654, Evelyn had been shocked at the discovery that -ladies of fashion painted their cheeks; and Pepys records that in the -galleries at Whitehall he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> beheld the ladies of honour “just for all -the world like men with doublets buttoned up to the breast, and with -perriwigs and hats.” How closely French fashions were imitated at -Whitehall we may judge from an entry in Evelyn’s diary:—“Following -his majesty this morning through the gallery, I went with the few who -attended him into the Duchess of Portsmouth’s dressing-room, where she -was in her morning loose garment, her maids combing her, newly out of -her bed, his majesty and the gallants standing about her.” Although -modesty, which ever accompanies good taste, had fled the court of -Charles, some fine examples might be selected from the Court Beauties, -as illustrating the special beauty of a natural and becoming coiffure. -De Grammont has not failed to notice the hair of La Belle Hamilton, -which was well set, and fell with ease into that natural order which is -so difficult to imitate. Miss Jenning’s hair was of a most beauteous -flaxen, adorning the brightest complexion that ever was seen. And the -portraits of Nell Gwynn show that sprightly damsel with short ringlets -about the temples, massed like bunches of grapes, in most tempting -clusters.</p> - -<p>Among the smaller works of art which the perruquier produced for the -fair sex, we may mention a description of false hair set on wires, so -as to stand out like wings from each side of the head; and the merkin, -so called, which was arranged in a group of curls at each side of the -face, small over the forehead and thence increasing like the lower part -of a pyramid.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span></p> - -<p>During the brief reign of James II. wigs grew larger still, and false -hair put the natural ornament of a man’s head completely in the shade. -Holme, writing in 1688, assures his readers that the custom of wearing -wigs, then so much used by the generality of men, “was quite contrary -to the custom of their forefathers, who got estates, loved their wives, -and wore their own hair,” and adds pathetically, “in these days there -be no such things.” The love-lock was soon engrafted on the wig, to -which allusion is made in Beaumont and Fletcher’s “Cupid’s Revenge:”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“He lay in gloves all night, and this morning I</div> - <div>Brought him a new perriwig with a lock at it.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>There was, also, a long perriwig in vogue with a pole-lock or -<i>suffloplin</i>, as the perruquiers termed it, the prototype of the -giant pig-tails, once so dear to the army and navy, who never turn tail -on the enemy. We read, likewise, of the travelling or campaign-wig, -with long knots or twisted tails tied with ribbon, depending from the -bottom of the wig laterally—technically styled “knots or bobs, or a -dildo on each side with a curled forehead.”</p> - -<p>In the next reign wigs still went on increasing in size. Combing the -curls in public, or when flirting with the ladies, was esteemed <i>haut -ton</i>. Ivory or tortoiseshell combs of large size were carried in -the gentlemen’s pockets, with which they imitated Mascarille, we make -no doubt, very abominably. They certainly manage these things much -better in France: in fashion we are content to be servile imitators of -the French, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> copy is usually very inferior to the original. -Madame Sevigné, in one of her charming letters, gossiping about the -Duchess de Bourbon, writes:—“Rien n’est plus plaisant que d’assister -à sa toilette, et de la voir se coiffer; j’y fus l’autre jour: elle -s’éveilla à midi et demi, prit sa robe de chambre, vint se coiffer, -et manger un pain au pot; elle se frise et se poudre elle-même, elle -mange en même tems; les mêmes doigts tiennent alternativement la houppe -et le pain au pot; elle mange sa poudre et graisse ses cheveux; le -tout ensemble fait un fort bon déjeuné et une charmante coiffure.” -To this age belongs the extraordinary head-dress usually called a -commode: the hair was combed upwards from off the forehead, and upon -this was built a huge pile of ribbons and lace, arranged in tiers, -and over all a scarf or veil drooping on the neck and shoulders. It -rivalled the fabled turrets which crown the head of Cybele, and was -worn by Queen Mary herself as part of the court costume. In England -these were Halcyon days for wig-makers. In later years wigs were more -generally worn by all classes; but, for the most part, they were wigs -for the million, more moderate in their pretensions, till at last they -dwindled down to a mere apology for a wig. The quantity of hair alone -in a wig for a nobleman or gentleman in those high and palmy days of -wig-making was more than ten natural crops could furnish. The material -was most costly. In 1700, a young country girl received £60 for her -head of hair; and the grey locks of an old woman, after death, sold -for fifty pounds:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> the ordinary price of a wig was about forty pounds. -Full-bottomed wigs, invented by one Duviller, to conceal, it is said, a -want of symmetry in the shoulders of the Dauphin, were appropriated by -the learned professions and those who studied to look uncommonly grave -and sagacious.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Physic of old her entry made</div> - <div>Beneath the immense full-bottom’s shade,</div> - <div>While the gilt cane, with solemn pride,</div> - <div>To each sagacious nose applied,</div> - <div>Seemed but a necessary prop</div> - <div>To bear the weight of wig at top.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Children, too, wore wigs; and, if unprovided with so necessary an -article of dress, the hair was combed and curled, so as to look as much -like a wig as possible.</p> - -<p>Archbishop Tillotson was the first of our prelates who wore a wig. In -one of his sermons he writes: “I can remember when ministers generally, -whatever their text was, did either find or make occasion to reprove -the sin of long hair; and if they saw any one in the congregation -guilty in that kind, they would point him out particularly, and let fly -at him with great zeal.”</p> - -<p>The reign of Queen Anne saw the magnitude of the wig somewhat -diminished, but the variety of wigs in fashion was increased. Steele’s -wig at one time formed a heavy item in his expenditure. His large black -perriwig cost him (we are supposing it was paid for) as much as forty -guineas. Swift had a fine state wig for grand occasions waiting his -coming to St. James’s, as did poor Vanessa. Colley Cibber’s wig, in -which he played a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> favourite character, was of such noble proportions, -that it was brought upon the stage in a sedan by two chairmen. How it -was that Colonel Brett desired to possess this formidable wig, at any -price, must be told in Cibber’s own words: “Possibly, the charms of our -theatrical nymphs might have had some share in drawing him thither; -yet, in my observation, the most visible cause of his first coming -was a more sincere passion he had conceived for a fair full-bottom’d -perriwig, which I then wore in my first play of the <i>Fool in -Fashion</i>. * * * -Now, whatever contempt philosophers may have for a fine -perriwig, my friend, who was not to despise the world, but to live in -it, knew very well that so material an article of dress upon the head -of a man of sense, if it became him, could never fail of drawing to him -a more partial regard and benevolence than could possibly be hoped for -in an ill-made one,—terms were offered—and it ended in an agreement -to finish our bargain that night over a bottle.” “That single bottle -was the sire of many a jolly dozen,” at their subsequent meetings, as -he explains further on.</p> - -<p>The tie-wig, an abridgment of the long curled perriwig, was worn by -many, but was not considered court dress. Lord Bolingbroke, having to -wait upon the queen in haste, once went to court in a tie-wig, which so -offended Queen Anne, that she said to those about her, “I suppose his -lordship will come to court the next time in a nightcap.” Swift writes, -(1712): “As prince Eugene was going with Mr. Secretary to court, Mr. -Hoffman,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> the Emperor’s resident, said to his highness that it was not -proper to go to court without a long wig, and his was a tied up one. -“Now,” says the prince, “I know not what to do, for I never had a long -perriwig in my life; and I have sent to all my valets and footmen, to -see whether any of them had one, that I might borrow it; but none of -them had any.” But the secretary said “was a thing of no consequence, -and only observed by gentlemen ushers.” After the battle of Ramillies, -the name of the Ramillie-wig was given to a wig with a long tapering -tail, plaited and tied, with a great bow at the top, and a smaller one -at the bottom.”</p> - -<p>The little incident of Lord Petre depriving Mrs. Fermor of a ringlet -gave rise to Pope’s poem “The Rape of the Lock.” Belinda’s head-dress -is thus described:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“This nymph, to the destruction of mankind,</div> - <div>Nourished two locks, which graceful hung behind</div> - <div>In equal curls, and well conspired to deck</div> - <div>With shining ringlets the smooth ivory neck.</div> - <div>Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains,</div> - <div>And mighty hearts are held in slender chains.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">The poet explains how these “mazy ringlets,” owed much of their beauty -to a rigorous discipline:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Was it for this you took such constant care</div> - <div>The bodkin, comb, and essence to prepare?</div> - <div>For this your locks in paper durance bound,</div> - <div>For this with torturing irons wreathed around?</div> - <div>For this with fillets strained your tender head,</div> - <div>And bravely bore the double loads of lead?”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Belinda’s lock, in imitation of the lost tresses of Berenice, is -translated to the heavenly regions:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span></p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“A sudden star, it shot through liquid air,</div> - <div>And drew behind a radiant trail of hair.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">A compliment to Belinda appropriately concludes the poem:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“When these fair suns shall set, as set they must,</div> - <div>And all those tresses shall be laid in dust,</div> - <div>This lock the Muse shall consecrate to fame,</div> - <div>And ’midst the stars inscribe Belinda’s name.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>In Swift’s verses called “Death and Daphne,” we have a metaphorical -description of a beau’s wig:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“From her own head Megara takes</div> - <div>A perriwig of twisted snakes,</div> - <div>Which in the nicest fashion curl’d,</div> - <div>(Like toupées of this upper world),</div> - <div>With flour of sulphur powder’d well,</div> - <div>That graceful on his shoulders fell.</div> - <div>An adder of the sable kind</div> - <div>In line direct hung down behind.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Both old and young fops carried the follies of the wig mania to a -most ridiculous extent. The author of the “London Spy” introduces us -to a smart young fellow “with a wheelbarrow full of perriwig on;” and -that impudent fellow, Tom Brown, in his “Letters from the Dead to the -Living,” writing of a certain beau, styled Beau Whittaker, says, “His -perriwig was large enough to have loaded a camel, and he had bestowed -upon it at least a bushel of powder;” and speaking elsewhere of -another fop, with a perriwig of the same dimensions, he observes, “If -Nature had indulged our primitive parents with such an extraordinary -production, they would have had little reason to have blushed at, -or been ashamed of their nakedness.” To speak seriously, if the wig -did<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span> not quite clothe the body like a tunic, it more than concealed -the head. The malicious spy we have quoted above comes across another -fopling in a fine wig, and moralizes after this manner: “His head is a -fool’s egg hid in a nest of hair.” If we accompany him to Man’s Coffee -House, we shall see, “a gaudy crowd of <i>Tom Essences</i> walking -backwards and forwards with their hats in their hands, not daring to -convert them to their intended use, lest it should put the foretops of -their wigs into some disorder; their whole exercise being to charge and -discharge their nostrils, and keep their perriwigs in proper order.” -The fortune of a life not unfrequently turned upon the imposing—we -should have said the captivating appearance of a wig: unluckily -in every lottery there are many blanks; and Addison tells of one -inveterate fortune-hunter, who “had combed and powdered at the ladies -for thirty years.”</p> - -<p>There were some inconveniences attending the use of wigs. There was no -such thing as walking forth to enjoy fresh air and exercise except in -the finest weather, if attired as became a gentleman; to be carried -about by chairmen, and jolted in a sort of trunk or band-box was a most -unenviable distinction. If a dark cloud hung over the Park or the Mall, -away hurried the magnificent perriwigs—away flew the pretty women -in their hoods and ribbons. Gay, in his “Trivia,” sounds the note of -warning:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“When suffocating mists obscure the morn,</div> - <div>Let the worst wig, long used to storms be worn;</div> - <div>This knows the powdered footman, and with care</div> - <div>Beneath his flapping hat secures his hair.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span></div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div> * * * in vain you scow’r</div> - <div>Thy wig alas! uncurl’d, admits the show’r.</div> - <div>So fierce Alecto’s snaky tresses fell,</div> - <div>When Orpheus charm’d the vig’rous powers of hell</div> - <div>Or thus hung Glaucus beard, with briny dew</div> - <div>Clotted and straight, when first his am’rous view</div> - <div>Surprised the bathing fair.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Swift, in the “City Shower,” laughs at the distressed wigs:</p> - -<p> -“Here various kinds, by various fortunes led -Commence acquaintance underneath a shed. -Triumphant Tories and desponding Whigs -Forget their feuds, and join to save their wigs.” -</p> - -<p class="p-left">To be caught in the rain was a terrible ordeal for the -curls; but accidents by fire were still more calamitous. At a display -of fireworks, an old writer says, the spectators screwed themselves up -in the balconies to avoid the fireworks, “which instantly assaulted -the perukes of the gallants and the merkins of the madams.” Wigs, too, -being of considerable value, were frequently stolen from the head. Gay -gives an instance of a very artful dodge:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Where the mob gathers swiftly shoot along,</div> - <div>Nor idly mingle in the noisy throng.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="spacing">*****</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Nor is thy flaxen wig with safety worn.</div> - <div>High on the shoulder, in the basket borne,</div> - <div>Lurks the sly boy, whose hand to rapine bred,</div> - <div>Plucks off the curling honours of the head.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>To be brought into actual contact with a powdered beau, was reckoned -one of the misadventures which a prudent man would wish to avoid.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“You’ll sometimes meet a fop of nicest tread,</div> - <div>Whose mantling peruke veils his empty head,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span></div> - <div>At every step he dreads the wall to lose,</div> - <div>And risks, to save a coach, his red-heeled shoes;</div> - <div>Him, like the miller, pass with caution by,</div> - <div>Lest from his shoulders clouds of powder fly.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>While the coarser sex revelled in all the luxury of full perriwigs, we -may be sure the fair sex bestowed as great attention on their hair. -If enterprises of great moment were undertaken by the wigs, there was -fearful slaughter of human hearts from the masked batteries of the -ladies’ smiles. In “Love’s Bill of Mortality,” given at length in the -<i>Spectator</i>, we read of one, “Jack Freelove, murdered by Melissa -in her hair.”</p> - -<p>“The toilet,” says Addison, “is their great scene of business, and the -right adjustment of their hair the principal employment of their lives.”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“At her toilet she puts on every toy</div> - <div>That ladies use when eager to destroy;</div> - <div>Three hours by the clock, (and some say four),</div> - <div>She sat in polishing her form all o’er,</div> - <div>And culling arrows from her fatal store.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">The resources of a lady’s toilet were too numerous to be -brought within the compass of Cowley’s verse. He declines</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i8h">“To relate</div> - <div>The strength and riches of their state—</div> - <div>The powder, patches, and the pins,</div> - <div>The ribbons, jewels, and the rings,</div> - <div>The lace, the paint, and warlike things,</div> - <div>That make up all their magazines.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">And, fortunately, what he despaired of accomplishing lies beyond the -limits of our present subject. But the time spent at the toilet was -not all dedicated to dress and the tire-woman. Addison’s skilful pen -will supply<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> an apt illustration; “Sempronia is at present the most -professed admirer of the French nation; but is so modest as to admit -her visitants no farther than her toilet. It is a very odd sight -that beautiful creature makes when she is talking politics, with her -tresses flowing about her shoulders, and examining that face in the -glass, which does such execution upon the standers-by. How prettily -does she divide her discourse between her woman and her visitants! -What sprightly transitions does she make from an opera or a sermon to -an ivory comb or a pin-cushion! How have I been pleased to see her -interrupted in an account of her travels by a message to her footman, -and holding her tongue in the midst of a moral reflection by applying -the tip of it to a patch!”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Vanessa held Montaigne and read,</div> - <div>Whilst Mrs. Susan combed her head,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The Duchess of Sunderland, daughter of the celebrated Duchess of -Marlborough, and like her mother, says Horace Walpole, conspicuous for -her long and beautiful hair; was a great politician, and used, when -combing it, to receive the visits of those whose vote and interest -she sought to influence. While Queen Anne dressed, prayers used to be -read in an outer room, and once ordering the door to be shut while she -shifted, the chaplain stopped. The queen sent to ask why he did not -proceed. He replied, “He would not whistle the word of God through the -key-hole.” The author of the “Reminiscences” adds, that Queen Caroline -was wont to dispatch her toilet and hear prayers in the same fashion. -The Duchess of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span> Marlborough on one occasion was somewhat prodigal of -her fine fair hair, of which she had the greatest abundance; for being -engaged at her toilet, in a fit of anger towards the Duke, she cut off -those commanding tresses and flung them in his face.</p> - -<p>The beauties of those days made politics, the card table, and the -toilet, their chief study, and</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Thought the life of ev’ry lady</div> - <div>Should be one continued play-day—</div> - <div>Balls, and masquerades, and shows,</div> - <div>Visits, plays, and powdered beaus.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">The wits and poets of that brilliant era, have hit off the manners -of the times, and all the paraphernalia of patches, fans, hoops, and -head-dresses, by a few touches of the pen, with such airy grace and -lightness in the true spirit of comic revelry, and with keenest irony, -that more modern efforts in the same style appear, by comparison, -coarse and clumsy. In our own day one would think the artists all -copied from the same model,</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Small waist, wide flounces, and a face divine,</div> - <div>Wretchedly foolish, and extremely fine.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The ladies’ head-dresses, which, in the time of William III., had shot -up to a height which would have astonished even De Grammont’s Princess -of Babylon, had now fallen many degrees. Addison remarks, “some ten -years ago, the female part of our species were much taller than the -men. The women were of such an enormous stature, “that we appeared as -grasshoppers before them.” At present the whole sex is in a manner -dwarfed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> and shrunk into a race of beauties that seems almost another -species. I remember several ladies who were very near seven feet high -that at present want some inches of five. How they came to be thus -curtailed I could never learn:”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Instead of home-spun coifs were seen</div> - <div>Good pinners edged with Colberteen.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Old ladies continued for some time longer to adhere to -the huge head-dresses, which supplied Lady Wortley Montague with a bit -of raillery for her “Town Eclogues:”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>At chapel shall I wear the morn away?</div> - <div>Who there appears at these unmodish hours</div> - <div>But ancient matrons with their frizzled towers.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Queen Anne in the latter years of her reign wore her hair -in a simple, graceful style, well suited to her quiet nature, with -clusters of curls at the back of the neck; nor was any hair-powder -permitted to sully the brightness of her chesnut ringlets. Her sweet -voice seems still to plead for her with posterity, and to be remembered -with something like affection, when the splendid victories of the great -Marlborough are losing somewhat of their lustre on the page of history. -The fruits of industry and the blessings of peace are too precious -to be weighed against the glories of war. But, who can look at the -portraits of Marlborough, with the long curls of the wig resting on the -cuirass, without feeling there was truth in the saying of a foreigner, -“That his looks were full as conquering as his sword.”</p> - -<p>How to wear a wig was part of the education of a man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span> of the world, not -to be learned from books. Those who know what witchcraft there is in -the handling of a fan, what dexterity in the “nice conduct of a clouded -cane,” will imagine the wits and gentlemen of old did not suffer the -wig to overshadow their temples with perpetual gloom, like the wreath -of smoke which overhangs our Modern Babylon. And many a country squire -must have tried in vain to catch the right toss of the head; to sport a -playful humour in those crisp curls; or to acquire the lofty carriage -of the foretop, or the significant trifling with some obtrusive lock; -and felt as awkward in his new wig as a tailor on horseback, or a -fat alderman with a dress sword dangling between his legs. There -must have been something truly ridiculous in the prostrations of the -perriwig-pated fop, who</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Returns the diving bow he did adore,</div> - <div>Which with a shag casts all the hair before,</div> - <div>Till he with full decorum brings it back,</div> - <div>And rises with a water-spaniel shake.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>For many years wigs were worn of the natural colour of the hair, but -about 1714 it became customary to have them bleached; this, however, -was not found to answer, as they soon turned of a disagreeable shade, -so that recourse was had to hair-powder, the use of which soon became -general. At the accession of George 1st, it is mentioned that only two -ladies wore hair-powder. White perukes were characteristic of the early -Georgian era. About the same period we notice that one side only of -the wig was frequently tied together into a sort of club<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span> which hung -down upon the chest in a very lop-sided fashion. A few years later -bag-wigs were in vogue; when first introduced in France they were only -worn <i>en déshabille</i>; in a short time, however, they came to be -regarded as the most essential part of the full-dress costume of a -beau. The French bag-wig, as it was styled, when it first made its -appearance among us, was called in ridicule a fan-tail, and said to -resemble the winged cap of Mercury; the women likened the bag-wigs to -asses’ ears, and the men retorted by allusion to the horns which were -visible in a lady’s head-gear. The <i>tu quoque</i> has ever been the -ready argument with both sexes.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Follies they have so numberless the store,</div> - <div>That only we who love them can have more.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>In some satirical verses, published 1753, the contour of the wig, set -off from the face, is clearly shown:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Let a well-frizzled wig be set off from his face;</div> - <div>With a bag quite in taste, from Paris just come,</div> - <div>That was made and tied up by Monsieur Frisson;</div> - <div>With powder quite grey—then his head is complete;—”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">The tie-wig, which Lord Bolingbroke helped to bring into -fashion, was a very stiff and solid affair, as compared with the long -curled perriwigs which preceded them. The curls appear as if hardened -into rollers; and the pendant lumps of hair, looped and tied at the -ends, as if modelled after the fashion of the proud horse-tails, -turned up and bound with straw, at a fair. It would be as difficult -to determine why such cumbrous wigs were tolerated without any beauty -to recommend them, as to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> say why George I. chose such ugly German -mistresses. Was it because, like certain kinds of old china, deformity -was pleasing? The king’s favourites might possibly resemble the china, -but the wigs were certainly not as frail. Horace Walpole has left us a -lively description of Lord Sandwich’s tie-wig, in a letter to Sir H. -Mann, 1745: “I would speak to our new ally, and your old acquaintance, -Lord Sandwich, to assist in it; but I could have no hope of getting at -his ear, for he has put on such a first-rate tie-wig, on his admission -to the admiralty-board, that nothing without the lungs of a boatswain -can ever think to penetrate the thickness of the curls. I think, -however, it does honour to the dignity of ministers: when he was but -a patriot, his wig was not of half its present gravity.” We have yet -to notice the wig with the long <i>queue</i>, “small by degrees and -beautifully less”—the drollest and most awkward of all additions to -the human form since the long tails in Kent were inflicted on the men -by a miracle, as a punishment for sticking fish tails to some monks’ -garments.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i10">“As I live!</div> - <div>The hair of one is tied behind,</div> - <div>And plaited like a womankind,</div> - <div>While t’other carries on his back,</div> - <div>In silken bag, a monstrous pack:</div> - <div>But pray, what’s that much like a whip,</div> - <div>Which with the air does waving skip</div> - <div>From side to side, and hip to hip?</div> - <div>It is a modish pig-tail wig.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">When the Czar Peter was in Holland he made free with -a burgomaster’s wig in a very characteristic manner.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span> He was at -church: the service was somewhat dull, and his head getting cold, -when, observing a good warm wig on the head of a fat functionary near -him, he clapped it on his own pate, and did not restore it until the -service was over. Churchill, the poet, used to declare that his career -at Oxford was cut short by a large bushy wig, which added such a sage -solemnity to the grave aspect of the examiner’s face, that he could not -control his laughter. Churchill had his jest, and was rejected at the -examination. Garrick himself was once driven from the stage by a fit -of laughter, brought on at the sight of a powdered wig. A Whitechapel -butcher in a church-warden’s wig, accompanied by his dog, occupied -seats in front of the stage. Garrick was playing Lear, and preparing -for a triumph at the end of the fifth act. The butcher, overcome with -heat and mental excitement, was in a melting mood; to relieve which, he -took off his wig, and placed it on the dog’s head, who advanced to the -orchestra, holding himself up by the fore-paws. At the critical moment, -when inspiration seemed to animate every tone and gesture of the great -actor, it chanced that his eye, “in a fine frenzy rolling,” lighted -on his four legged critic, who was as intent as any biped present on -the scene before him, and quite indifferent to his large well-powdered -Sunday peruke. At the moment the effect was irresistible; the dog -outdid Garrick, who fairly ran off the stage amid roars of laughter -from the whole house.</p> - -<p>Of old, the doctor who set up in business without a wig<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> in the best -style of art was as little likely to succeed in his profession as a -modern physician without his carriage.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Each son of Sol, to make him look more big,</div> - <div>Had on a large, grave, decent, three tailed wig.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Of course, we don’t suppose that Dr. Brocklesby’s barber -or the learned doctor intended it as an advertisement; but it was the -constant practice of his barber to carry the said doctor’s wig in its -box through the crowd at the Exchange, calling out, “Make way for Dr. -Brocklesby’s wig!” Our allusion is to the dignity and importance of -the wig, which were fully recognized by the honourable and illustrious -professors of the healing art, who will please to excuse our indulging -in a pleasant stave of an old song:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“If you would see a noble wig,</div> - <div>And in that wig a man look big,</div> - <div>To Ludgate-hill repair, my joy,</div> - <div>And gaze on Doctor Delmayhoy.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">The parson was as well found in wigs as the doctor. -Mandeville says of a wealthy parson, “His wigs are as fashionable as -that form he is forced to comply with will admit of; but, as he is only -stinted in their shape, so he takes care that for goodness of hair and -colour few noblemen shall be able to match ’em.” It is encouraging to -know that the clergy look so closely to the goodness of the article -they put before us. Warton wrote an “Ode to a Grizzle Wig,” which is -not the worst ingredient in that pleasant miscellany of his, “The -Oxford Sausage:”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span></p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“All hail, ye <i>Curls</i>, that rang’d in rev’rend row,</div> - <div class="i1">With snowy pomp my conscious shoulders hide!</div> - <div>That fall beneath in venerable flow,</div> - <div class="i1">And crown my brows above with feathery pride!</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>High on your summit, wisdom’s mimick’d air</div> - <div class="i1">Sits thron’d with pedantry, her solemn sire,</div> - <div>And in her net of awe-diffusing hair,</div> - <div class="i1">Entangles fools, and bids the crowd admire.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>O’er every lock, that floats in full display,</div> - <div class="i1">Sage ignorance her gloom scholastic throws;</div> - <div>And stamps o’er all my visage, once so gay,</div> - <div class="i1">Unmeaning gravity’s serene repose.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="spacing">*****</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>But thou, farewell, my <i>Bob</i>! whose thin wove thatch</div> - <div class="i1">Was stor’d with quips and cranks, and wanton wiles,</div> - <div>That love to live within the <i>one-curled scratch</i>,</div> - <div class="i1">With fun and all the family of smiles.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="spacing">*****</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>No more the wherry feels my stroke so true;</div> - <div class="i1">At skittles in a <i>grizzle</i>, can I play?</div> - <div>Woodstock, farewell! and Wallingford adieu!</div> - <div class="i1">Where many a scheme relieved the lingering day.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Such were the joys that once HILARIO crown’d,</div> - <div class="i1">Ere grave preferment came my peace to rob;</div> - <div>Such are the less ambitious pleasures found</div> - <div class="i1">Beneath the <i>liceat</i> of an humble <i>Bob</i>.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">But at Bath the clergy thought of other things beside -divinity lectures and professorships. Anstey tells of a young spark of -a clergyman sporting about in a more fashionable, but less canonical, -coiffure than the grizzle-wig:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“What a cropt head of hair the young parson has on</div> - <div>Emerged from his grizzle, the unfortunate sprig</div> - <div>Seems as if he were hunting all night for his wig.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span></p> - -<p>Lely and Kneller could best illustrate the heroic age of wigs; but -Hogarth’s ready pencil furnishes abundant details of their social -state. The comic element seems to abound in all his sketches of wigs. -In his print of “The Bench,” they slumber in the softest repose, in -undisturbed gravity, and nod with the profoundest humour. The eminent -lawyers were not all senior wranglers in those days. Look at the print -of “The Country Dance,” and say if ever wigs hung more unbecomingly on -the shoulders of the most awkward frights; but for an enormous pig-tail -wig where could we select a finer specimen than in the print of “Taste -in High Life.” These choice Exotics, as he has labelled them, are -evidently great favourites with this humourous artist. But the print we -are most concerned with is “<span class="smcap">The Five Orders of Periwigs</span>, <i>as -they were worn at the late Coronation, measured Architectonically</i>.” -At the foot of the print the following advertisement is added:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>In about 17 years will be completed, in 6 vols. folio, price 15 -guineas. The exact measurements of the Periwigs of the Ancients, -taken from the Statues, Bustos, and Basso-Relievos of Athens, -Palmyra, Balbec, and Rome, by Modesto, Periwig-maker, from -Lagado.</p> -</div> - -<p class="p-left">Five rows of perriwigs, faithful portraits we dare be -sworn every one, illustrate the Five Orders of Perriwigs. First in -order we have the <span class="smcap">Episcopal, or Parsonic Wigs</span>, followed -by the <span class="smcap">Old Peerian or Aldermanic</span>; the <span class="smcap">Lexonic</span>; -<span class="smcap">Composite</span>, <i>or Half Natural</i>; and, last of all, -the <span class="smcap">Queerinthian</span>. The reader will understand from the -advertisement given above that the engraving was a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> notable quiz on -Athenian Stuart, as he was called, whose laborious and accurate work -on the Antiquities of Athens has been of such service to architects. -It is said that the portrait of Stuart, outlined as a wig-block in the -original was so unmistakably like the author of the Antiquities that -Hogarth struck off the nose on purpose to disguise the joke a little. -One of the <span class="smcap">Old Peerian</span> order of wigs was at once recognized as -a hit at the notorious Bubb Doddington, “the last grave fop of the last -age:”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Who, quite a man of gingerbread,</div> - <div>Savour’d in talk, in dress, and phiz,</div> - <div>More of another world than this.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Bubb Doddington’s wig is again figured by Hogarth in one -of the prints of “The Election,” where it shares in the perils and -triumphs of the chairing of the member. Cumberland says that when -Doddington was made Lord Melcomb, he actually strutted before the -looking-glass, coronet in hand, to study deportment. Warburton’s wig -was another of the portrait-wigs, of the Parsonic order. From Hogarth’s -most popular works alone one might select a gallery of wigs—tie-wigs, -bag-wigs, pig-tails, and bob-wigs, in every variety—well worthy of -earnest criticism. Matthews used to say he wondered what the beggars -did with their left off clothes till he went to Ireland, when he -discovered some of those old relics curiously clinging to the nakedness -of their brethren of the Emerald Isle. What became of the old wigs we -had ourselves never sufficiently considered till we scanned one of -these said prints, and found, to our delight, what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span> had evidently once -been a wig comically seated on the head of a young vagrant beside a -gutter.</p> - -<p>Voltaire’s wig, in the eyes of his contemporaries, was as fatally -charged with the electricity of criticism, as Dr. Johnson’s proved -to be, to the terror of his obsequious followers. This Rhadamanthus -of literature, speaking of Geneva, says, “Je secoue ma perruque, la -republique est bien poudrée.” There was one, André, a perriwig maker, -who wrote a play in 1760, and ventured to solicit Voltaire’s friendly -criticism. His reply is well known; it filled four sides of a sheet of -letter-paper with merely a repetition of “<i>Monsieur André, faites -des perruques</i>,” and ending, “<i>toujours des perruques et jamais -que des perruques</i>.” Descartes had a great passion for perukes; and -at the taking of Dresden, Frederick the Great found in the wardrobe of -Count Brühl some hundreds of wigs—one authority says fifteen hundred.</p> - -<p>Some time before bag-wigs went out of fashion a practical joke was -played off in Pall Mall, with the intention of bringing bags into -contempt, which had like to have ended somewhat seriously. The -particulars are given in the Annual Register of 1761. Some wags dressed -up a porter in a bag-wig and lace ruffles, and made him as Frenchified -as possible, and drove him into the midst of the fashionable throng -in the Mall. His superb dress immediately won the admiration of the -votaries of pleasure, who seemed anxious to make his acquaintance; but -his absurd conduct soon convinced them of the trick which had been -played upon them, and the fellow was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> thrust out from among them—we -sincerely hope with the addition of a good cudgelling.</p> - -<p>The time came when perriwig makers had fallen upon evil days. The -fashion was evidently on the decline—something must be done for the -common good; when, Curtius like, they took a bold leap. Accordingly, -on the 11th February, 1765, they presented a petition to his majesty -George III., the prayer of which was, that a law should be passed -to enforce the wearing of wigs, and that his majesty should help to -keep up the fashion. Alas! for the mutability of human affairs, it -is questionable if the good king had the power to revive, even for -an hour, an expiring fashion: it is certain in this instance, as in -others of graver moment, he obstinately adhered to his own choice, -and clung to his pig-tail in spite of remonstrance. The London mob, -however, proceeded to legislate after their own fashion; and, observing -that the wig makers, who wished to make others wear wigs, wore no -wigs themselves, they seized hold of the petitioners by force, and -cut off all their hair. “Should one wonder,” says Horace Walpole, “if -carpenters were to remonstrate that since the peace there has been -no call for wooden legs.” George III. might well be content with his -modest pig-tail, which queen Charlotte, like a home-loving wife, as she -was, often powdered and bound with ribbon, and curled his majesty’s -hair in the style he preferred, well knowing in such matters none could -please him so well as herself; and thus adorned, we are told,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> he read -the speech from the throne at the meeting of parliament.</p> - -<p>At the marriage of the Princess Royal to the Prince of Orange, in the -reign of George II., the bridegroom wore a long curled perriwig to hide -the terrible hump which disfigured his princely shoulders. As soon as -the awkward ceremony was over, the queen gave vent to her feelings in a -flood of tears.</p> - -<p>The Maccaroni Club, 1772, set the fashion of wearing the hair in a -most preposterous style. It was combed upwards into a conical-shaped -toupée of monstrous size; and, behind the head, the hair was plaited -and tied together into a solid bundle, which of itself must have been -an inconvenient load for a gentleman’s shoulders. The ladies wore a -head-dress of similar altitude, piling Peleon upon Ossa, in the shape -of a cushion of horse hair and wool, over which the hair, pomatumed -and powdered, was spread out and carried upwards towards the clouds, -bedecked with lace and ribbon; the sides of this delectable mountain -were ornamented with rows of curls: but words can convey but a very -poor idea of this diverting monstrosity. “An you come to sea in a -high wind,” says Ben to Mrs. Frail, in Congreve’s “Love for Love,” -“you mayn’t carry so much sail o’ you head—top and top-gallant.” And -the Macarronies in their day ran the same risk of being capsized by a -squall. At the opera these head-dresses so completely intercepted all -view of the stage to those in the rear, that, in 1778, a regulation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -was put in force which excluded them altogether from the amphitheatre.</p> - -<p>The amiable Cowper, shocked at the vulgar assurance of the once coy -shepherdess, beheld</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Her head, adorned with lappets pinned aloft,</div> - <div>And ribands streaming gay, superbly raised,</div> - <div>And magnified beyond all human size,</div> - <div>Indebted to some smart wig-weaver’s hand</div> - <div>For more than half the tresses it sustains.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Cowper, like Shakspere appears to have entertained a -great antipathy to wigs. The author of the Diverting History of John -Gilpin assailed them in their dotage: Shakspere would have nipped -them in the bud. Cowper, writing to a friend, says, “I give you joy -of your own hair. No doubt you are a considerable gainer by being -disperriwigged....* * * I have little doubt if an arm or a leg could -have been taken off with as little pain as attends the amputation of a -curl or a lock of hair, the natural limb would have been thought less -becoming than a wooden one.”</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i10">“Look on beauty,</div> - <div>And you shall see ’tis purchased by the weight;</div> - <div>Which therein works a miracle in nature,</div> - <div>Making them lightest that wear most of it.</div> - <div>So are the crispéd, snaky, golden locks,</div> - <div>Which make such wanton gambols with the wind,</div> - <div>Upon supposed fairness, often known</div> - <div>To be the dowry of a second head;</div> - <div>The skull that bred them in the sepulchre.”</div> - <div class="right"><span class="smcap">Merchant of Venice.</span></div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span></p> - -<p class="p-left">The Water-poet was more explicit than elegant when he -inveighed against the dames</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Whose borrowed hair (perhaps not long before)</div> - <div>Some wicked trull in other fashion wore;</div> - <div>Or one that at the gallows made her will,</div> - <div>Late chokéd with the hangman’s pickadill;</div> - <div>In which respect a sow, a cat, a mare,</div> - <div>More modest than these foolish females are;</div> - <div>For the brute beasts, (continual night and day,)</div> - <div>Do wear their own still, (and so do not they.)”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Pennant had a strange aversion to wigs, and, when he was -half seas over, used to snatch them off the wearers’ heads. Once, at -Chester, dining with an officer and a personal friend, (who, knowing -his particular weakness, purposely sat next him, to prevent mischief,) -being somewhat elated with wine, he made a sudden dart at the officer’s -wig and threw it into the fire. The officer, enraged at the insult, -drew his sword, and Pennant took to his heels. The son of Mars was -close upon him when Pennant’s better knowledge of the bye-ways of -Chester stood him in good stead, and he contrived to give the enemy -the slip. His friend, who remembered all the particulars of this -hair-breadth escape, used to call it Pennant’s Tour in Chester.</p> - -<p>When Fag, in Sheridan’s play of “The Rivals,” meets Sir Anthony’s -coachman at Bath, he tells him he must polish a little, and that “none -of the London whips of any degree of ton wear wigs now.” But the -bucolic mind is eminently conservative, and Thomas makes answer, “Odd’s -life! when I heard how the lawyers and doctors<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> had took to their own -hair, I thought how ’twould go next. Why, bless you, the gentlemen of -the professions ben’t all of a mind; for in our village now, thoff Jack -Gauge, the exciseman, has ta’en to his carrots; there’s little Dick, -the farrier, swears he’ll never forsake his bob, though all the college -should appear with their own heads.”</p> - -<p>It was during the first shock of the French Revolution, when the laws, -religion, and social institutions of France were overturned, as by an -earthquake, that wigs were discarded with other insignia of the old -régime. The heroes of pagan Rome, and the fabled deities of Greece, -supplied the French Republicans with models for their newest fashions. -The men with rough cropped hair sported a <i>Brutus</i>, and the ladies -in scanty draperies assumed the coiffure <i>à la Greque</i>. While the -heroic citizens rejoiced in their newly acquired liberty and freedom -from wigs, the chaste matrons went in search of false hair, to imitate -the classic beauties of antiquity. In England, however sudden the -transformations in high life, the change, agreeably to the genius of -the people, was rather the growth of a new system than the uprooting -of the old. The old wig decayed slowly beside the growth of a new -crop, and lingered long in many a humble circle, became the oracle of -the club, and enjoyed the dignity of the arm-chair and the repose of -the chimney-corner; and some would be laid up in ordinary with family -relics in the old lumber-room, like Uncle Toby’s white Ramillies wig -in the old campaign trunk, which the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> corporal put into pipes and -furbished up for the grand <i>coup de main</i> with widow Wadman, but -which resisted all Trim’s efforts, and the repeated application of -candle-ends, to bring into better curl.</p> - -<p>It chanced that Queen Charlotte’s auburn locks fell off during her -accouchment. At this fatal omen the extravagant head-dresses then -in fashion were suddenly sacrificed. Her majesty and the princesses -in 1793 were pleased to discard hair-powder, which speedily rid the -<i>beau monde</i> of that encumbrance. In 1795 the hair-powder tax of -one guinea per head, imposed by Pitt’s act, came into operation. The -tax at one time realized as much as £20,000 per annum. This lessened -considerably the number of powdered heads; and hair-powder, once so -necessary to the finish of the finest gentleman, fell into disuse, -except with a few gentlemen’s gentlemen—the Fitz-Jeames in livery.</p> - -<p>For state and ceremony except among the lawyers and the bench of -bishops, at last nothing worthy the name of a perriwig was left -to admire. George the Third’s bag-wig was as unpretending as the -king himself. His statue beyond Charing Cross will happily remind -posterity of that most respectable monarch—and his wig. Dr. Johnson’s -scratch-wig, of which Boswell has left us a most authentic account, is -familiar to most readers. That famous old scratch, too small for his -head, always uncombed, and the fore part burnt away by contact with the -candle, must be carefully distinguished from the smart wig which Mrs. -Thrale’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span> butler kept for him at Streatham and placed on his head as he -passed through the hall to dinner.</p> - -<p>During the decadence of the wig, the army and navy wore pig-tails, -which were nourished with regulation charges of powder and pomatum. How -gallantly they defended them, the history of many a well-fought battle -can tell—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Not once or twice in our rough island story,</div> - <div>The path of duty was the way to glory.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">In 1804, the soldier’s allowance of pig-tail was reduced -to seven inches, and in 1808 the order was promulgated to cut them -off, but countermanded the very next day. However, revocation was -impossible; for the barbers, with their usual alacrity, had performed -their stern duties successfully, and not a pig-tail remained to the -British army.</p> - -<p class="p-left">Is the reader curious to know something about -Sergeants of the coif, and the mysteries of the bar-wig with its rows -of curls and twin tails? Let him make his studies from nature, and -“the stiff-wigged living figures,” as Elia calls them. The sages of -the law were among the last to forego the use of wigs in private life; -and it is said that Mr. Justice Park acquired the cognomen of <i>Bushy -Park</i>, from the peculiar fashion of his wig, which he retained -long after his brethren of the long robe had forsaken theirs. In the -Table-talk of Samuel Rogers there is an anecdote of Lord Ellenborough’s -wig. The judge was setting out for the circuit, and as Lady -Ellenborough wished to accompany him, it was agreed between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span> husband -and wife that no band-boxes of any kind would be tolerated; for, when -travelling, his lordship had a great aversion to band-boxes. On the -journey, however, as the judge was stretching his legs in the carriage, -they came in contact with the thing he so cordially detested—a -band-box. In an instant his lordship seized hold of it, and threw it -out of the window. The carriage stopped, and the footman was about to -pick it up, when his lordship called out, “<i>Drive on!</i>” Arrived at -the county town, when the judge was putting on his robes before going -into court, enquiry was made for the wig, which, at the last moment, -was nowhere to be found. After much delay, the footman was interrogated -by his lordship, “Where <i>is</i> my wig?” “Why, my lord,” replied the -servant, “you threw it out of the window.” It seems that her ladyship’s -maid, envious that a judge’s wig should travel so comfortably in its -proper case, while some pieces of millinery were in danger of being -terribly crushed for want of a larger box, at their last resting place -had made an exchange, and put the fright of a wig in a band-box, and -the millinery in the wig-box. The most villainous of the wig tribe was -certainly the peruke of George the Fourth’s reign, which, pretending -to imitate the natural hair, was, on that very account, the more -detestable, in as much as an ape’s features are more ridiculous from -bearing some resemblance to a man.</p> - -<p>Even the bishops have gradually forsaken the episcopal wig. The Irish -bishops do not appear to have worn<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span> them. The Honorable Richard -Bagot, bishop of Bath and Wells, was the first of our modern bishops -who dispensed with the wig. Many years previous to his obtaining the -bishopric, the Prince Regent had said to him in a joke, “You are much -too handsome a man to wear a wig; remember, whenever I make you a -bishop you may dispense with wearing one.” However, when the bishop -reminded his sovereign that his promise when Regent exempted him from -wearing a wig, it was only after much hesitation that the favour was -granted. Bishop Bloomfield officiated in an orthodox-peruke at the -coronation of William IV.; and more recently in the House of Lords, at -times, a solitary wig came forth like a decrepid fly in mid-winter, -drowsily contemplating the change and bustle going on around it. For a -brief space it walked the earth like a troubled spirit—the reverend -fathers have exorcised it, and it is no more seen of men.</p> - -<p>When George IV. was king, his were the model whiskers (though false -ones) which constituted the standard of perfection. Our continental -neighbours, in derision, frequently likened the English whiskers to -mutton chops or a string of sausages; but John Bull who is always -tolerant of abuse, and goes about matters after his own sturdy fashion, -maintained his whiskers with imperturbable gravity. Moore, in one of -his humorous poems, thus takes off the vanities of royalty, and it says -much for the good sense of the king that he could enjoy the wit of the -poet when directed against himself:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span></p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“He looks in the glass—but perfection is there,</div> - <div>Wig, whiskers, and chin-tufts all right to a hair;</div> - <div>Not a single <i>ex</i>-curl on his forehead he traces—</div> - <div>For curls are like Ministers, strange as the case is,</div> - <div>The <i>falser</i> they are, the more firm in their places.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Some brief notes yet remain to complete the present imperfect sketch, -but of too recent date to warrant their insertion here. It is -gratifying to know that, under the present glorious and auspicious -rule, improvement is taking place in all matters of taste, and that -even in the changeful fashions of the day we are much indebted to the -refined judgment of our most gracious Queen, VICTORIA, whom may God -long preserve to reign over a free and enlightened people.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="gesperrt">BARBERS.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center sm">CHAPTER V.</p> - - -<p>Barbers, by common consent, enjoy a most enviable reputation. Both in -fact and fiction they are the representatives of shrewdness and good -nature; and in some of the choicest literature extant, the sayings and -doings of the brethren of the craft are among the best of their kind. -It would be a dull world without Figaro.</p> - -<p>The barber’s shop was for centuries the emporium of gossip, the -idler’s club; and when the young Roman wished to meet with a rake as -pleasure-loving as himself,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> he sought him at the barber’s, possibly to -contrive how to steal away some old man’s daughter or his money-bags. -And thither came the old miser to get his finger-nails clipped, -taking care, however, to take the parings away with him. All classes -frequented the barber’s shop; and we may suppose the lively satirists -of old visited the spot, as Molière did the barber of -Pezenas, to find material for some of their best sketches of character.</p> - -<p>The Roman barbers, it must be confessed, were somewhat garrulous, and -their tongues went as nimbly as their shears. Like the moderns, they -put a rough cloth round the patient, as we are half inclined to call -the customer who submitted to the operation, for we fear their razors -were none of the best, for some preferred to have their beards plucked -out by means of plasters applied to the face, and then those terrible -tweezers completed the work, pulling out the stray hairs the razors -or plasters had left behind. Some wealthy men had the duties of the -barber performed by their own slaves, but the shops were thronged -with customers, and the tonsor was at all times the most obedient and -obliging servant of the public. One of the peculiarities of their art -was the clicking of the shears, to which Juvenal makes allusion:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“He whose officious scizzors went snip, snip,</div> - <div>As he my troublesome young beard did clip.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Several of these worthies attained to great distinction, -and rose from the shop to the senate.</p> - -<p>The furniture of a barber’s shop, to those who are curious in matters -of antiquity, might serve to explain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> the customs of a very remote -period. The basin is mentioned in Ezekiel: it is the <i>cantherus</i> -of the middle ages, which was of bright copper. From a peculiar soap, -<i>lascivium</i>, used by the fraternity, we derive the word lather. -Washing-balls were used for washing and softening the beard before -shaving, and the pomatum in use was known as <i>capillare</i>. Various -modes of frizzing and plaiting the hair, distinguished by appropriate -terms, are alluded to by archæologists; but we turn a deaf ear to such -traditions—our lode-star glistens near the barber’s pole, Mambrino’s -helmet, bright with sunny memories of golden romance and the adventures -of the knight of La Mancha. There has been some diversity of opinion as -to the origin of the well-known barber’s pole. The prevalent opinion -is probably the true one, that it represents the staff held in the -hand by the patient phlebotomized by the barber-surgeon; and that the -red ribbon coiled round it represents the tape by which the arm was -compressed during the operation. And here, at the threshold, we observe -the mystical union between Barbery and Surgery; and hence the dignity -and professional honours to which the barbers justly lay claim. Lord -Thurlow, in the House of Peers (1797) decorated the barber’s pole with -somewhat different colours when he stated “that, by a statute then in -force, the Barbers and Surgeons were each to use a pole. The barbers -were to have theirs blue and white, striped, with no other appendage; -but the surgeons’, which was the same in other respects, was likewise -to have a galley-pot and a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> red rag, to denote the particular nature -of their vocation.” Our business is not with the galley-pot, although -we love the golden beard of Æsculapius well. We incline to the belief -that there were no jealousies between the happy couple at an early -period of their union. The fees of both professions were, doubtless, -small, and seldom any but minor operations attempted; while, probably, -the ignorance of both parties was so nearly balanced as to produce the -desired equality so necessary to the concord of the married state. For -many long years we know they jogged on together without complaint of -any kind; that subsequently, if not very loving, they tolerated each -other with due decorum; and that, when at last they got to wrangling -and high words, they luckily obtained a divorce.</p> - -<p>The barber’s basin certainly ranks next in importance to the pole. The -basin of the proper form had the usual semi-circle cut out of the brim, -that it might fit into the neck; and, in another part, a hollow place, -like a little dish, to hold the soap: its office was two-fold, and was -in requisition both for bleeding and shaving. To the disturbed vision -of Don Quixote the brass basin glittered like burnished gold. His -adventure with the village barber, mounted on his dappled grey ass, the -renowned helmet, and the part it played in the astounding feats of that -flower of chivalry, are known the world over, and are among the most -pleasant associations connected with the barber’s trade. At a public -festival in Holland, in honour of the Earl of Leicester, Holinshed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> -says a barber set up some three score of bright copper basins on a -wall, with a wax candle burning in each, and a painting of a rose and -crown, and an inscription in Latin, “this made a faire shew, and was -a pretie deuise.” If the fellow were an honest patriot, he deserved a -pyramid of brass basins for a monument.</p> - -<p>Punning inscriptions and quaint devices outside of the shop were -frequently adopted as alluring bait for the lovers of odd whims and -fancies, who thought none the worse of the man for having some spice of -humour in his composition. Over a barber’s shop Hogarth has set up this -inscription, “Shaving, bleeding, and teeth drawn with a touch, <span class="smcap">Ecce -Signum</span>.” Bat Pigeon, of whom honourable mention is made by both -Steele and Addison, had a curious device of a bat and a pigeon, which, -in its day, attracted much attention. The wig-maker’s sign of Absalom -hanging from the oak by his hair, and the darts of Joab fixed in his -side, is probably of French origin. The story is told of a barber at -Troyes, and the inscription runs thus:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Passans, contemplez la douleur</div> - <div>D’Absalon pendu par la nuque:</div> - <div>Il eût évité ce malheur</div> - <div>S’il avait porté la <i>perruque</i>.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">The English version is more concise:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“O Absalom, unhappy sprig,</div> - <div>Thou shouldst have worn a perriwig.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The barber’s chair may be regarded as the centre of the system. The -proverb “As common as a barber’s chair” is well known, and Shakspere’s -clown adds “it fits<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span> all buttocks”—the word is not ours—the seat -of honour, if you please, reader, furnished with twin cushions to -protect the sacred Luz, out of which the Rabbins say the renewed -mammal is to sprout forth at the resurrection, as you are probably -aware. In old prints, the chattels of a barber’s shop are usually -few and mean enough; but the chair—the descendant of the <i>sella -tonsoria</i>—bears some rude flourishes of art, is broad and massive -and well-cushioned, as became the throne of so many grave potentates. -One is as much astonished at the size of the combs, scissors, and -razors of the ancient barbers as at the giant arms and armour worn -by the knights of old. What ponderous blades these artists wielded -it is fearful to contemplate. There is an old joke that some barber -advertised shaving by the acre, and cutting blocks with a razor one -would think not impossible with such weapons. Actius’ razor, which -was of the keenest, must have been after this fashion. As razors are -of very old date, it may interest some one to know that, long before -Sheffield or Sheffield blades were thought of, Palermo did business in -their commodity. The presiding deity was not unfrequently the greatest -curiosity about the place. A certain knack of snapping the fingers -was a common practice among them; tradition says, it recalled to mind -the clicking of the shears used by their great ancestors. Morose, in -Ben Jonson’s “Silent Woman,” so detested this sound, as indeed he did -noises of all kind, that meeting with a barber who was without this -trick of his profession, he thought it so eminent a virtue, that he -made him chief<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span> of his counsel, which reminds one of Adrian’s rebuke to -his gossip of a barber, who, in reply to the man’s query how he should -like to be shaved, said—silently! But barber’s were better employed -than in curing the ill-humours of the Morose family. In Stubbes’ -Anatomie of Abuses (1583) is a dialogue about old barbers, which we -will in part transcribe:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“There are no finer fellowes under the sunne, nor experter in -their noble science of barbing than they be; and therefore, -in the fulness of their overflowing knowledge, (oh! ingenious -heads, and worthy to be dignified with the diademe of folly and -vain curiositie!) they have invented such strange fashions and -monstrous manners of cutting, trimmings, shavings, and washings, -that you would wonder to see.... Besides that, when they come -to the cutting of the haire, what snipping and snapping of the -cycers is there, what tricking and trimming, what rubbing, -what scratching, what combing and clawing, what trickling and -toying, and all to tawe out money, you may be sure. And when -they come to washing, oh! how gingerly they behave themselves -therein; for then shall your mouth be bossed with the lather -or fome that riseth of the balles (for they have their sweete -balles wherewithall they use to washe); your eyes closed must -be anointed therewith also. Then snap go the fingers; ful -bravely, God wot. Thus, this tragedy ended, comes me warme -clothes to wipe and dry him withall; next the eares must be -picked and closed togither againe artificially forsooth; the -hair of nostrils cut away, and every thing done in order comely -to behold. The last action in this tragedie is the paiment of -monie. And least these cunning barbers might seem unconscionable -in asking much for their paines, they are of such a shamefast -modestie, as they will aske nothing at all, but, standing to -the curtesie and liberalitie of the giver, they will receive -all that comes, how much soever it be, not giving anie again, I -warrant you; for take a barber with that fault, and strike off -his head. No, no, such fellows are <i>Raræ in terris, nigrisque -simillimi cygnis</i>,—“Rare birds upon the earth, and as geason -as black swans.” You shall have also your Orient perfumes for -your nose, your fragrant waters for your face,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> wherewith you -shall bee all to besprinkled: your musicke againe, and pleasant -harmonie shall sound in your eares, and all to tickle the -same with vaine delight. And in the end your cloke shall be -brushed, and, God be with you, gentleman!...* * * * * * But yet -I must needs say (these nisities set apart) barbers are verie -necesarie, for otherwise men should grow verie ougglisom and -deformed, and their haire would in processe of time overgrowe -their face, rather like monsters, than comlie sober Christians.” -</p> -</div> - -<p>Stubbes, himself, was an inveterate trifler—one of an army of pigmies -warring against cranes; but we acquit him of all malice; he belonged -to that numerous class who originate nothing, but find fault with -everything—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft hangingindent">“The long-neck’d geese of the world for ever hissing dispraise</div> - <div>Because their natures are little,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">as Tennyson calls them. An apt turn for flattery was very -requisite in an accomplished barber—one of the most difficult things, -by the way, for humanity to attain to; for if satire should wound, like -a keen razor, “with a touch that’s scarcely felt or seen,” flattery, -like rouge, should be applied with a very delicate hand, indeed. -Suckling’s verses allude to this hazardous feat:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“When I’m at work, I’m bound to find discourse</div> - <div>To no great purpose, of great Sweden’s force,</div> - <div>Of Witel, and the Burse, and what ’twill cost</div> - <div>To get that back which was this summer lost.</div> - <div>So fall to praising of his lordship’s hair,</div> - <div>Ne’er so deformed, I swear ’tis <i>sans</i> compare:</div> - <div>I tell him that the King’s does sit no fuller,</div> - <div>And yet his is not half so good a colour:</div> - <div>Then reach a pleasing glass, that’s made to lye</div> - <div>Like to its master most notoriously:</div> - <div>And if he must his mistress see that day,</div> - <div>I with a powder send him strait away.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span></p> - -<p class="p-left">But other duties such as bleeding, cupping, and drawing -teeth had to be attended to in turn. Those who have seen the</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Black rotten teeth in order strung,</div> - <div>Rang’d cups, that in the window stood,</div> - <div>Lin’d with red rags to look like blood,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">will acknowledge that this was once a very important -branch of industry. We have ourselves seen the tooth of some -unknown animal in a collection of the kind, which, for size, would -have astonished Professor Owen; the sight of it, we were told, had -frightened away many a toothache. The reader has probably met with the -anecdote of Queen Elizabeth, who hesitated about having a tooth drawn; -when Bishop Aylmer sat down in the chair, and said to the operator, -“Come, though I am an old man, and have but few teeth to spare, draw -me this!” which was done; and the queen, seeing him make so slight a -matter of it, sat down and had hers drawn, also.</p> - -<p>When it was part of the popular belief that the human subject required -to be bled at regular intervals to ensure good health and make the -ladies fair, and when every barber-surgeon was ready “to breathe a -vein,” we may be sure the lancet was in constant request. Cupping -was recommended to remove a catarrh or cold in the head; and one who -made trial of its virtues says, he was startled by being asked by the -operator if he wished to be <i>sacrificed</i>; but declined being -scarified on that occasion. We take it for granted there must have -been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> uncommon stamina in the British constitution, or it would long -since have broken down hopelessly under the rough handling it has -undergone.</p> - -<p>Benjamin Suddlechop, in Scott’s “Fortunes of Nigel,” has become the -model barber of our popular literature; the sketch is confessedly a -slight one, and, indeed, after Cervantes, Fielding, Smollett, and Le -Sage—not to mention others—have given their delineations of the -character, the barbers stand in need of no further help to fame. -Even Suddlechop had some music in his soul; his shop in Fleet-street -resounded with the tinklings of the guitar, where the lover, if so -inclined, might warble “a woeful ballad to his mistress’ eyebrows,” or -flay some spell-bound Marsyas with sounds by no means</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i7h">“As sweet and musical</div> - <div>As bright Apollo’s lute, strung with his hair.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">But what shall we say to Suddlechop’s little back shop, -from which he supplied his customers with strong waters. We consider -this a sad blot upon his fame. Many of the barbers sold cordials and -compounded English <i>aqua-vitæ</i>, and to them we are indebted for -some of the earliest recipes for British brandy—an abominable mixture, -which, like the filthy poison known as gin, has destroyed more victims -than ever groaned under the lancet of the barber-surgeon. Could these -worthies have foreseen what scandalous things would come of this -gin drinking, how</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i2 hangingindent">“The vitriol madness flashes up in the ruffian’s head,</div> - <div class="hangingindent">Till the filthy by-lane rings to the yell of the trampled wife,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span></p> - -<p class="p-left">what disease, and want, and wretchedness, and crime, are -engendered of this poison to men’s souls—all to build up the fortunes -of a few wealthy capitalists—we are sure even the strong nerves of -the dashing barber would have failed him, and he would have turned -with loathing from the hateful traffic. Rabelais makes Pope Calixtus -a woman’s barber in the other world, which might be a very salutary -discipline for a proud pontiff; and we put it to the prince of jovial -drinkers himself to suggest any more fitting purgatorial chastisement -for the gin-fire aristocracy, than that of compelling them to drink -their own vile compounds: Prometheus, bound to the rock, with the -vulture preying on his liver, would be but a faint type of their misery.</p> - -<p>Before we dismiss Suddlechop, we have to remark that though dame -Ursula, his wife, carried on the sale of cosmetics and perfumes, and -dealt in other mysteries in her own room at hand, the business of a -perfumer, as the term is now understood, had nothing to do with the -ancient craft of barbery; such matters concerned St. Veronica and the -milliners—the barbers and their patron saint, St. Louis, were engaged -on higher mysteries. To preserve order, or, more probably, to promote -merriment, a list of forfeits was hung up in the shop; those who chose -to pay them did, and those who did not might laugh at them—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i4">“like the forfeits in a barbers shop,</div> - <div>As much in mock as mark.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Some old-fashioned “rules for seemly behaviour” have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span> been handed to -certain learned antiquaries as genuine regulations of the craft; but -old birds are not to be caught with chaff, and the archæologist knows -better. The forfeits are said to have been incurred by meddling with -the razors, talking about cutting throats, swearing, pricking another -with the spurs, taking another’s turn, interrupting the barber, and -such like venial offences. It was formerly the custom to apply the soap -with the hand when lathering the beard; the practice of using a brush -was a French innovation, not known in England till the year 1756. Nor -must we omit to mention that contrivance of the dark ages, the barber’s -candlestick, which consisted of an upright wooden stem, pointed at the -lower end, which was fixed in the apron string, and a projecting branch -moveable round the stem to hold the candle.</p> - -<p>Down even to the time of Queen Anne the barber’s shop was frequented -by the better sort of people, and the hand that trimmed the tradesman -curled the courtier. In Green’s “Quip for an Upstart Courtier,” (1592), -we read, “With quaint terms you greet Master Velvet-breeches withal, -and at every word a snap with your scissors, and a cringe with your -knee; whereas, when you come to poor Cloth-breeches, you either cut his -beard at your own pleasure, or else in disdain ask him if he will be -trimmed with Christ’s cut, round like the half of a Holland cheese?”</p> - -<p>Some of the old histories afford curious glimpses of the varied -fortunes of the trade. In the time of Henry VI.,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span> the king’s palace was -surrounded by little barbers’ shops, under the direction of the barber -of the household. There being then no carriages, and the streets being -dirty, it is probable that those who went to court were first shaved -and dressed in these shops. A considerable fee was given to this barber -for shaving every Knight of the Bath, on his creation; forty shillings -from every baron; one hundred shillings from every earl; and ten pounds -from every duke. The barbers of London were first incorporated by -King Edward IV., in 1461, and at that time were the only persons who -practised surgery. In France the Company of Barbers dates from 1096. -An association called the Company of Surgeons was then formed prior to -the act of Henry VIII., regulating the trade of barbers and surgeons. -This act incorporated the company of surgeons with the barbers, under -the name of the Barbers and Surgeons of London, and defined the duties -of both professions: the barbers were not to practice surgery further -than drawing of teeth, and the surgeons were strictly prohibited from -exercising the craft of shaving. It is needless to add, that to a much -later period, any act of parliament to the contrary notwithstanding, -the barber did as much of the surgeon’s work as he could get. In -certain articles devised by Henry VIII. for the establishment of good -order in his household and chambers, there is an order by which the -king’s barber is “expressly enjoined to be cleanly, and by no means to -frequent the company of idle persons and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> misguided women, for fear of -danger to the king’s most royal person.”</p> - -<p>Montaigne complains (1581) that throughout Italy he had not been able -to get hold of a single barber that could either shave him, or cut, or -arrange his hair properly. The barber of King Charles II. seems to have -acquired somewhat of the levity of his master, (evil communications -corrupt good manners); for one day, while shaving him, with his usual -familiarity he hazarded the remark, that none of his majesty’s officers -had a greater trust than himself. “How so, friend?” quoth the king. -“Why,” said the barber, “I could cut your majesty’s throat whenever -I liked.” Charles started up at the idea, and, using his favourite -oath, exclaimed, “Odds fish, the very thought is treason!” Nor could -King Charles have forgotten the occasion when William Penderel first -performed the office of barber, and shaved and trimmed him in a very -sorry fashion, that he might elude his enemies. Royalty must at all -times have been a very awkward customer for the barber to meddle with. -Midas’ barber who appears to have had the <i>cacoethes loquendi</i> -which is said to be endemic with the craft, suffered dreadfully in -consequence. Fortunately for a few crowned heads, the tonsor, taught -discretion by the story of Midas, has become the most prudent of men, -and not a whisper is uttered on earth of any peculiar developement -about the ears which the Phrygian cap effectually conceals from the -vulgar.</p> - -<p>Female barbers were not unknown to our forefathers,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span> and, till within a -few years, were to be met with in the provinces: possibly some “weird -sisters” still survive in odd localities. We remember a sturdy little -Welsh woman who wielded the razor very successfully in her native town, -and was patronized extensively by the sailors and quarrymen. The five -barberesses of Drury Lane, who dreadfully maltreated a woman in the -reign of Charles II., are remembered for their infamy. Local histories -tell of a noted barberess in Seven Dials, and of a black woman who -did duty at Butcher Row, near the Temple. The delicate manipulation -of female artists is proverbial; but one shudders at the thought of -encountering the armed hand of the female barber; for who has forgotten -the trick which the barber-damsel put upon Don Quixote, when she raised -a lather a span high, covering up his face and beard with a white -foam, and then left him for awhile with his neck outstretched, and his -eyes half shut, “the strangest and most ridiculous figure imaginable;” -and how poor Sancho was threatened with still worse consequences, and -protested loudly against the beard-scouring by the scullions, adding, -with his usual shrewdness, that there was no such difference between -him and his master, that one should be washed with angel water and -the other with devil’s-ley. Southey informs us that female shavers -were not uncommon in Spain in his day. The more feminine occupation of -hair-dressing was long carried on by the other sex, in a becoming and -artistic manner: witness the announcement of one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> them, copied by -Strutt from the original in the British Museum:—</p> - - -<p class="center">A <img src="images/i_098.jpg" alt="" -style="height:2.5em; padding:0 2em 0 2em;" /> R</p> - -<p class="center sm"><i>Next Door to the Golden Bell, St. Bride’s Lane, Fleet Street</i>,</p> - -<p class="center">LYVETH LYDIA BEERCRAFT,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Who cutteth and curleth ladies, gentlemen, and children’s -hair.—She sells a fine pomatum, which is mix’d with ingredients -of her own makeing, that if the hair be never so thin, it makes -it grow thick; and if short, it makes it grow long. If any -gentleman’s or children’s hair be never so lank, she makes it -curle in a little time, and to look like a perriwig.</p> -</div> - -<p>It will be observed in Queen Anne’s reign no other style but that of -the perriwig was thought worthy of imitation. In former times, the -university barber was a person of some consequence. The vice-chancellor -and proctors invited the fraternity to an annual supper, and no barber -or hair-dresser could exercise his vocation in the university unless -he matriculated,—took the usual oath, and had his name entered on -the books of the university. It was usual for the college barber to -wait upon the “freshmen,” and dress and powder them in the prevailing -fashion—a custom which Southey was among the first to resist—an -innovation he would scarcely have ventured on in after life.</p> - -<p>The home of the first Company of Barber-Surgeons in London was probably -where the hall of their successors, the barbers, is at this day, in -Monkwell Street. The present building was erected by subscription -some years after the Fire of London, which all but consumed its -predecessor:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span> a portion of the hall, of a semicircular shape, is -actually within one of the bastions, still entirely perfect, of the old -Roman wall—the ancient boundary of the metropolis. The court-room, -designed by Inigo Jones, though small, is of fine proportions, and -contains what must now be considered the chief riches of the company—a -noble painting by Holbein, “Henry VIII. granting the charter to the -Barber-Surgeons”—one of the finest pictures by Holbein in this -country. There is also a portrait of Inigo Jones, by Vandyke; a picture -by Sir Peter Lely, and other valuable paintings. The Company possesses -a silver-gilt cup, presented by Henry VIII.; another the gift of -Charles II.; and a large bowl given by Queen Anne. Such are some of -the relics the barbers may still feel proud of, which we trust are -not fated to decay; but, as this is eminently an age of revival and -restoration, it is to be hoped the old hall may yet see better days; -that, whatever was garnered up of old by the wisdom and prudence of our -forefathers, may be wisely and liberally enjoyed by this generation, -and the good work carried on and extended for a later age. The arms of -the barbers are:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Quarterly first and fourth, <i>sa</i>, a chevron between -three fleams <i>ar</i>, second and third, per pale <i>ar</i>, -and vert, a spatula in pale <i>ar</i>, surmounted of a rose, -<i>gu</i>, charged with another of the first; the first rose -regally crowned <i>proper</i>. Between the four quarters a cross -of St. George, <i>gu</i>, charged with a lion passant gardant, -<i>or</i>. <i>Crest</i>—An opinicus, with wings indorsed, -<i>or</i>. <i>Supporters</i>—Two lynxes <i>proper</i>, -spotted of various colours, both ducally collared and chained, -<i>or</i>. <i>Motto</i>—“De præscientia Dei.”</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span></p> - -<p>If we were privileged to direct our thoughts to other lands, and to -record the pleasant life of that admirable humourist, the barber of -Southern Europe, we might hope to add a little sunshine to these pages. -Who enjoys life better than Figaro—who is as well entertained—who is -half as entertaining?</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i7h">Ah che bel vivere!</div> - <div>Che bel piacere per un barbiere di qualita,</div> - <div>Ah bravo Figaro, bravo bravissimo fortunatissimo.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>What a lively, sensuous, <i>al fresco</i> life he has of it at Naples; -content, without the semblance of property of any kind; in action, free -as the breeze; and in spirit, buoyant as a wave.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Ah che bel vivere!</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>But the shrine of Figaro must be sought in Seville. In the charming -fictions of Cervantes and Le Sage, we seem to live on most familiar -terms with the Spanish barber, as much so, as with Smollett’s Hugh -Strap, or Partridge in Fielding’s “Tom Jones.” So truthfully is the -invisible world peopled for us by the power of genius. Romance seems in -some way associated with the character of a barber—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“In Venice, Tasso’s echoes are no more,</div> - <div>And songless rows the silent gondolier;”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">but the barber still contrives an occasional serenade, accompanying -his amorous tinklings with vocal strains which would rouse the Seven -Sleepers. What a contrast to his European brethren is the grave barber -of the East, who is usually physician, astrologer, and barber, and -better known to most of us by the amusing story in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> the Arabian Nights -than from any other source. Much might be said of Yankee wit and humour -in the person of the American barber; something too, of the crude state -of the art in Africa, where, to complete her modest coiffure, the sable -beauty is seated in the sun with a lump of fat on her head, which -trickles down in resplendent unctuous streams with a profusion enough -to make a railway engine jealous. Nor can we stop to notice the Chinese -“one piccie Barber-man,” whose speculations on heads and tails must be -highly amusing; for the Fates are inexorable, and our canvass too small -to complete the picture.</p> - -<p>We must not, however, omit all mention of the trade in human hair, on -which the wig-maker is dependent for his supplies. Ovid alludes to this -traffic—light and auburn hair was most sought for by the Roman ladies -which was brought from Germany and the North of Europe—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Hair is good merchandise, and grown a trade,</div> - <div>Markets and public traffic thereof made;</div> - <div>Nor do they blush to cheapen it among</div> - <div>The thickest number, and the rudest throng.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>In the reign of Elizabeth, the wearing of false hair was something of a -novelty; Italian ladies of no reputation are said to have first revived -the fashion. Stubbes took up the cudgels in earnest; he says:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“They are not simply content with their own hair, but buy other -hair, either of horses, mares, or any other strange beasts, -dyeing of what colour they list themselves. And if there be any -poor woman (as now and then we see—God doth bless them with -beauty as well as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span> the rich) that have fair hair, these nice -dames will not rest till they have bought it. Or if any children -have fair hair, then will entice them into a secret place, and -for a penny or two they will cut off their hair; as I heard that -one did in the city of Londinium of late who, meeting a little -child with very fair hair, inveigled her into a house, promised -her a penny and so cut off her hair.”</p> -</div> - -<p>In more modern times the demand has created a distinct branch of trade, -and various agencies are at work to procure the needful supply. Black -hair comes principally from Brittany and the South of France, where -it is collected by dealers who visit the principal fairs, and barter -ribbons, kerchiefs, and such matters, for the tresses of the Breton -lasses. From a superstitious feeling, most of them are averse to take -money for their hair, and consider it unlucky to do so. As it is an -invariable custom for the females to wear a close cap from childhood, -the loss of their magnificent <i>chignons</i> is thereby concealed. -Germany supplies the market, as of old, with light and flaxen hair, -and this branch of trade is chiefly carried on by a Dutch company. -The London hair-dressers alone, purchase some five tons annually. The -annual consumption in Great Britain of foreign human hair is assumed -to be about six tons. Hair which curls naturally, and is of good -colour and very fine, commands the highest price; and certain shades, -which are comparatively rare, are much sought for. Such choice lots -are packed up in skins, to exclude the air, and exported to the best -markets. Fashion, however, has much to do in regulating the price. -Bryant, the American poet, whose Pegasus seems to have taken<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> fright at -the gaudeous dresses of the beauties in the Broadway, thus discourses -of hair with a poet’s license:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“And thick about those lovely temples lie</div> - <div class="i1">Locks that the lucky Vignardonne has curled.</div> - <div>Thrice happy man! whose trade it is to buy,</div> - <div class="i1">And bake, and braid those love-knots of the world;</div> - <div>Who curls of every glossy colour keepest,</div> - <div>And sellest, it is said, the blackest cheapest.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>And well thou mayst—for Italy’s brown maids</div> - <div class="i1">Send the dark locks with which their brows are dressed,</div> - <div>And Gascon lasses, from their jetty braids,</div> - <div class="i1">Crop half, to buy a riband for the rest;</div> - <div>And the fresh Norman girls their tresses spare,</div> - <div>And the Dutch damsel keeps her flaxen hair.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Then, henceforth, let no maid nor matron grieve,</div> - <div class="i1">To see her locks of an unlovely hue,</div> - <div>Grizzled or thin, for liberal art shall give</div> - <div class="i1">Such piles of curls as nature never knew.</div> - <div>Eve, with her veil of tresses, at the sight</div> - <div>Had blushed, outdone, and owned herself a fright.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>When long-curled perriwigs were in fashion, some fine heads of hair -fetched extraordinary prices; and as it was impossible to find human -hair in sufficient quantity for the purposes of trade, recourse was -had to horse-hair. One of the companies projected just before the -bursting of the South Sea bubble, was a company for dealing in human -hair which promised unheard of profits. In “A Description of Trades,” -published 1747, we are told, “that the business of hair-curlers and -sellers is properly a part of perriwig making, but of late years they -have prevailed so much as to become quite a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span> separate trade, and really -not an inconsiderable one neither, some of them being even styled -<i>merchants</i>, who have the makers-up of hair in all shapes for -their customers. There are also abundance of hawkers and pedlars who -go up and down the country to buy up this commodity, who generally -dispose of it to these hair-sellers.” The material for a perriwig being -somewhat costly, and trickery not uncommon, the character of the barber -was the best guarantee for the quality of the wig. The reader has -probably heard how Tom Brown, meeting a parson at Nando’s Coffee-house, -recommended him to the honestest perriwig-maker in Christendom—the -barber at Chelmsford, with his nineteen daughters, all bred up to his -own trade, and being kept unmarried, their hair grew so prodigiously -fast that it gave them full employment throughout the year; the barber -cropped them every four years, and never lacked a plentiful harvest—so -that Chelmsford was as famous for its wigs, as Romford for calves. The -girls were all virtuous, which made the hair the stronger, and there -was not finer hair to be had in the kingdom. On this, the parson who -was in want of a new wig, and had been cheated in his last purchase, -set out for Chelmsford, and returned thoroughly satisfied—that he had -been sent on a fool’s errand.</p> - -<p>The value of long fair hair, when wigs were in fashion, is amusingly -shown in Walpole’s anecdote of the Countess of Suffolk, married to Mr. -Howard. “Such was their poverty, that having invited some friends to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> -dinner, and being disappointed of a small remittance, she was forced -to sell her hair to furnish the entertainment, and for which she -obtained twenty pounds.” Middle Row, Holborn, was chiefly inhabited by -perriwig-makers, and the French barbers congregated in Soho.</p> - -<p>One of the mysteries of the craft was the art of dyeing hair, and every -barber was supposed to be fully initiated in this occult science. -Greeks and Romans performed similar feats in their day, but blonde -hair being most esteemed, the compositions they used were of a very -different nature to those employed by the moderns; strictly speaking -they could hardly be called dyes, they partook more of the nature of -caustic pomades and pigments: such were the <i>pilæ Mattiacæ</i>, the -<i>caustica spuma</i>, <i>spuma Battava</i>, &c., of their authors, -imported for the most part from Germany. Making old folks young again, -at least in appearance, was not beyond the power of Roman art, for -the locks of age, white as the plumage of the swan, could be suddenly -changed to that of a crow. Sir Thomas Brown suggests that Medea might -have possessed some famous dye:—“That Medea, the famous sorceress, -could renew youth, and make old men young again, was nothing else but -that, from the knowledge of simples, she had a receipt to make white -hair black, and reduce old heads into the tincture of youth again.” -Mohammed forbade the dyeing of the hair; and a story is told of Herod, -that in order to conceal his advanced age, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> used secretly to dye his -grey locks with a dark pigment In the greater number of Anglo-Saxon -M.S.S. the hair and beard are painted blue, and sometimes green and -orange. Strutt concluded from this, that the Saxons dyed or tinged -their hair in some way; but the point is doubtful. In the fourteenth -century, yellow was the favourite colour, and saffron was used as a -dye. Again, in Elizabeth’s reign, fair hair became fashionable, and the -ladies used various compositions to obtain the desired shade. Stubbes -is indignant at the practice, and exclaims with his usual warmth:—“If -any have hair of their own natural growing which is not fair enough, -then will they dye it in divers colours, almost changing the substance -into accidents by their devilish, and worse than these, cursed -devices.” Foreign charlatans, quack doctors, and astrologers, were -formidable rivals of the barber, and succeeded in disposing of their -dyes and cosmetics in the most unblushing manner; some affected to be -so occupied in the sublime study of contriving cures for all the ills -which flesh is heir to, as to have no leisure for cosmetic practice, -and coolly announced that their wives attended to such matters. A high -German doctor and astrologer informed the public that he was blessed -with a wife “who could make red hair as white as a lily, shape the -eyebrows to a miracle, make low foreheads as high as you please, and -had a rich water which would make the hair curl.” The practice of -shaping the eyebrows, though now in disuse, was at one time considered -a very delicate and important operation.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span> Every one has remarked the -extreme fineness of the eyebrows in the pictures of the great Italian -masters. The St. Catherine of Rafaelle, and the Saints of Francia, in -the National Gallery, are instances of this; such was the fashion of -the Italian ladies of the fifteenth century, and was esteemed a great -beauty. The eyebrows were carefully reduced in substance to a mere -line, till scarcely visible. A lady, whose lover had an unconquerable -aversion to red hair, once made application to a noted quack, who, -politely answered:—“This is no business of mine, but my wife’s, who’ll -soon redress your grievances, and furnish you with a leaden comb and my -<i>Anti-Erythrœan Unguent</i>, which after two or three applications -will make you as fair or as brown as you desire.” We hope, for the -ladies sake, it turned out to be the true <i>Elisir d’amore</i>. A Mr. -Michon, a goldsmith, in 1710, advertised a clear fluid, which would -change red or grey hair to brown or black, under the name of “The -Tricosian Fluid.” The remarkable success which attended the use of the -<i>Cyananthropopoion</i>, patronized by Titmouse Tittlebat, is known to -all readers of “Ten Thousand a Year.” It would, however, say but little -for the progress of chemistry in our day, if we were unprovided with -some efficient means of dyeing the hair; in competent hands, no doubt, -the thing is easy enough. The old-fashioned dyes are now perfectly -useless, and may safely be consigned to the same limbo with Peter -Pindar’s razors:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span></p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Sir,” quoth the razor man, “I’m not a knave;</div> - <div class="i1">As for the razors you have bought,—</div> - <div class="i1">Upon my soul, I never thought</div> - <div>That they <i>would</i> shave.”</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Not shave” cries Hodge, with wondering, staring eyes,</div> - <div class="i1">And voice not much unlike an Indian yell—</div> - <div>“What were they made for, then, you knave?” he cries.</div> - <div class="i1">“Made,” quoth the fellow, with a smile, “<i>to sell</i>.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>The names of no inconsiderable number of barbers are inscribed on -the roll of Fame. In the very foremost rank we may place that of the -poor barber, Arkwright, who lived to accomplish such great things -for the trade of this country. His was an instance of that material -success which the dullest can comprehend, and the vulgarest worshipper -of Mammon will stand agape at. To be knighted by the Sovereign, and -to realize half a million of money, would be fame enough for most -ambitious minds—but this is but dust in the balance, compared with -the value of the vast enterprise to which the barber’s talents gave -the first impulse. Wealth, beyond the dreams of avarice, has accrued -from that giant industry; and yet rival manufacturers would have -crushed him if they could, so blind is grasping selfishness to its -own true interests. Till the age of twenty-eight, Arkwright worked at -the barber’s trade, then turned dealer in hair, which he travelled -about to collect and dispose of to the trade. A hair-dye he happened -to get hold of was a source of considerable profit to him. But his -good genius was at hand to rescue him from obscurity, and although his -subsequent career appeals but little to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> the imagination, his fame will -long endure to attest the energy and the capability of the British -workman. Belzoni was another earnest spirit working out its freedom -in a different way. His adventurous career is well known; had it not -been for the promptings of an active mind, he might have lived and died -shaving beards at Padua. Burchiello, the Florentine, gave up the razor, -and courted the Muse, as he says in one of his sonnets;</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“La Poesia combatti col rasio.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Jasmin, the French poet of Agen, rose from extreme poverty to comfort -and independence as a barber, and acquired a well-earned reputation -by his pleasant verses “Les Papillotes,” and the Poem “L’Aveugle de -Castel Cuillé.” Allan Ramsey must be numbered with the barber poets; -and literature is indebted to Winstanley, a barber of the time of -Charles II., for his “Lives of the English Poets.” These, however, have -earned other titles than those conferred by their original calling; -there are others, whose sole claim to notice is their professional -reputation. Among the most noted barbers of their day we may mention -“the gentleman barber” to the Earl of Pembroke, who built a large -house with tennis-courts and bowling-green, nick-named Shaver’s -Hall, the resort of the gayest of the nobility, where many a fortune -was lost and won; and Farr who opened the well-known coffee-house, -“The Rainbow,” in Fleet Street, hard by Temple Bar. Lillie who had a -shop at the corner of Beaufort Buildings, in the Strand, whose fame -is preserved in the pages of the Tatler and Spectator.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span> Honest Bat -Pigeon, of whom Steele and Addison make honourable mention. Gregory, -the famous peruke-maker, from whom the wig called a “Gregorian” took -its name, and who lies buried in the church of St. Clement Danes, with -an epitaph in rhyme, writ, says Aubrey, by a Baron of the Exchequer. -Shammeree, the fashionable wig-maker of the reign of William III.; and -Stewart, the author of the “The Noble Art of Hair-dressing.” Amid minor -celebrities, Don Saltero occupies a conspicuous place—he opened his -museum-coffee-house, in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in 1695. Sir Hans Sloane -supplied him with many curiosities for his museum. His own name was -James Salters. He claimed to have some skill on the fiddle, could draw -a tooth, made most excellent punch, and was esteemed a virtuoso and a -wit. He includes himself among the oddities at the Chelsea Knackatory, -with much complacency, in the following verses:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>Through various employs I’ve past—</div> - <div class="i1">A scraper, virtuos’ projector,</div> - <div>Tooth-drawer, trimmer, and at last</div> - <div class="i1">I’m now a gim-crack-whim collector;</div> - <div>Monsters of all sorts here are seen,</div> - <div class="i1">Strange things in nature as they grew so:</div> - <div>Some relics of the Sheba Queen,</div> - <div class="i1">And fragments of the fam’d Bob Crusoe;</div> - <div>Knick-knacks, too, dangle round the wall,</div> - <div class="i1">Some in glass cases, some on shelf;</div> - <div>But, what’s the rarest sight of all,</div> - <div class="i1">Your humble servant shows himself—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span></div> - <div>On this my chiefest hope depends.</div> - <div class="i1">Now, if you will my cause espouse,</div> - <div>In Journals pray direct your friends</div> - <div class="i1">To my Museum-Coffee-house;</div> - <div>And in requital for the timely favour,</div> - <div class="i1">I’ll gratis bleed, draw teeth, and be your shaver.</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Steele, alluding to Don Saltero, asks, “why must a barber -be for ever a politician, a musician, an anatomist, a poet, and a -physician?” He was evidently puzzled to account for the varied talents -of the brotherhood.</p> - -<p>The sons of barbers have, likewise, achieved great distinction: we -may instance Jeremy Taylor, secretary Craggs, the friend of Addison; -Tonson, the publisher; Turner, the painter; and Lord Tenterden. We are -told by one whose testimony we cannot doubt, that when Lord Tenterden -visited Canterbury in company with his son, he took him to the very -spot where his own father had carried on his humble trade, and said, -“Charles, you see this little shop; I have brought you here on purpose -to show it you. In that shop your grandfather used to shave for a -penny! That is the proudest reflection of my life! While you live -never forget that, my dear Charles.” Lord St. Leonards, we believe, -rose from a sphere equally humble, and his father followed the same -trade. Lord Campbell has rescued the name of “Dick Danby” from oblivion -by a kindly notice in one of his volumes, “One of the most intimate -friends I have ever had:” says his lordship, “was Dick Danby, who kept -a hair-dresser’s shop under the Cloisters in the Inner Temple. He could -tell who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span> were getting on and who were without a brief, who succeeded -by their talents and who hugged the attorneys, who were desirous -of becoming puisne judges, and who meant to try their fortune in -parliament, which of the chiefs was in a failing state of health, and -who was next to be promoted to the collar of S.S. Poor fellow! he died -suddenly, and his death threw a universal gloom over Westminster Hall, -unrelieved by the thought that the survivors who mourned him might -pick up some of his business—a consolation which wonderfully softens -the grief felt for the loss of a favourite Nisi Prius leader.” We may -conclude by quoting the words of the same learned author:—“Although -there be something exciting to ridicule in the manipulations of -barbers, according both to works of fiction and the experience of life, -there is no trade which furnishes such striking examples of ready wit, -of entertaining information, and of agreeable manners.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="lg">STRUCTURE, GROWTH,</span><br /> - -<span class="xs">AND</span><br /> - -<span class="gesperrt">COLOUR OF THE HAIR.</span></h2></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="center sm">CHAPTER VI.</p> - - -<p>In olden time, the hair was said to be produced by “a vapour or -excrement of the brain.” In the more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> exact language of science it is -described as a horny appendage of the skin. The skin is shown to be -composed of two layers—the outer termed the cuticle, the inner the -cutis. The cuticle is an insensible transparent membrane covering the -whole surface of the body; the portion exposed to the air consists -of flattened cells or scales which are continually being renewed; -while on the inner surface, in contact with the cutis, is a soft -mucous substance, in which are situate the pigment cells giving the -characteristic colour peculiar to race and climate. The cutis is -composed of the layer of minute papillæ, the principal seat of the -sense of touch, covering an intricate arrangement of fibrous tissue, -which receives the delicate ramifications of the nerves and arteries. -The sheath from which the hair protrudes above the skin is formed by -a tubular depression of the cuticle which reaches below the cutis to -the subjacent fat and cellular tissue; the lower end of the sheath -is shaped like a pouch, and contains the pulp from which the bulb -and shaft of the hair are formed in successive portions—the most -recent pushing forward that previously formed. The bulbs are larger -in young than in old hairs, and are implanted obliquely in respect to -the cuticle. The shaft of the hair being formed by an aggregation of -parts, has been likened to a pile of thimbles one resting within the -other; this overlapping of the outer coating of scales gives rise to -that roughness which we feel on passing the fingers along a hair from -the point to the bulb, though apparently perfectly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span> smooth when held -in the opposite direction. The colouring matter of the hair is seen in -the pulp, and is distributed between the cells composing the shaft. In -form the hair may be described as a flattened cylinder, not, however, -hollow or filled with a kind of pith as is usually supposed; but solid -throughout and formed of a homogeneous mass of a cellular texture. From -the extreme minuteness of its structure, and the mystery which shrouds -all vital processes, it is still a question as to whether the shaft -of the hair is permeable by fluids derived from the blood. The old -notion of a circulation within the hair like the sap in vegetables is -disregarded; but it is contended that absorption does take place, and -that fluids are transmitted to the extreme point of the hair. In proof -of this we are referred to the sudden change of colour which the hair -undergoes in extraordinary cases of mental emotion, as instanced in the -sufferings of Marie Antoinette, whose hair was found to have turned -grey with grief. It is assumed that the altered condition of the blood -acting chemically upon the fluids of the hair destroys the colour. If -this be granted, we must look for minor changes in the colour of the -hair with every ordinary change in the normal condition of the blood. -And we are told this does actually take place; that in health the hair -is glossy, brilliant, and rich in hue; in ill health dry, faded, blank, -and withered. But if this be so, and the connection between the blood -and fluids of the hair be thus intimate, how comes it that partial -changes of colour—this paleness of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span> hue, and loss of brilliancy; and -on the other hand, increased depth of colour consequent on renewed -health—are not common phenomena and familiar to every one? Doubtless, -we have still much to learn of the secrets of Nature, and there is yet -something wanting to complete the revelations of the microscope, and -the teachings of physiologists respecting the hair.</p> - -<p>The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are the only portions -of the skin unfurnished with hairs. Their length and thickness varies -considerably, from the softest down which is scarcely visible, to the -long hair of the scalp and beard. The estimated thickness of a hair -of the head is one-tenth of a line. Observations seem to show that -flaxen is the finest, and black the coarsest hair. In females the hair -of the head ordinarily measures from twenty to thirty inches, but in -some instances it attains a much greater length; and mention is made -of ladies whose hair has been two yards long and reached to the ground -when they stood erect. The beard has been known to grow to the enormous -length of nine feet: the portrait of a carpenter with a beard of this -length, is preserved at Eidam; when at work he was obliged to pack it -up in a bag. We are told the Burgomeister Hans Steiningen was thrown -down and killed by treading on his long beard on the staircase leading -to the council-chamber of Brunn. The long beard of John Mayo, a painter -in Germany, is matter of history; he used to untie it in the presence -of Charles V., who laughed heartily on seeing it blown about in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span> -faces of the courtiers. Busbequius saw at Constantinople a janissary -with such a quantity of hair on his head that a musket-ball would not -penetrate it: we suspect there was some legerdemain in this case, and -that the celebrated wizard was anticipated in his gun trick by some two -hundred years or more. Some commentators have endeavoured to determine -the weight of Absalom’s long and beautiful hair, but they differ widely -in their computation; we are told that when its inconvenient length -compelled him at times to cut it off it was found to weigh 200 shekels, -which Geddes estimates at 112 ounces, and Clarke at 7-1/2 ounces—a -conclusion in which nothing is concluded. Seven to eight ounces is held -to be about the average weight of a lady’s tresses. With those who -shave the beard its growth is said to be at the rate of six and a half -inches per annum, so that in forty years a man must have cut off rather -more than twenty feet of beard.</p> - -<p>In the natural course, when the hair has attained a certain growth, -it is thrown off, and its place supplied by a new growth formed from -the pulp within the hair follicle. This process is continually going -on, and is analogous to the shedding of the coat in quadrupeds, or the -moulting of birds at certain seasons. The German physiologists, whose -arduous and persevering labours in scientific research have never been -excelled, have investigated with rare industry the minutest details -respecting the growth of the hair; and one of them has accomplished -the task of counting the number of hairs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span> in heads of four different -colours. In a blond one he found 140,000 hairs; in a brown, 109,440; in -a black, 102,962; and in a red one, 88,740. Erasmus Wilson states that -the superficial surface of the scalp may be taken at 120 inches, he -averages the number of hairs per inch at 1000, which gives 120,000 for -the entire head. It will be seen from the greater fineness of the blond -hairs that the number is greater than those of red or black hair, and -that red is the coarsest. The silken fineness of some shades of light -hair is very remarkable, even the poets are evidently put to their -wits end adequately to express its extreme fineness and beauty,—it -is likened to the golden beams of day—and who has not seen the light -playing upon it, and streaming rays and sparkles of lustrous beauty -given out, as it were, from a diffused wave of sunshine—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“And on her hair a glory, like a saint.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>It is not clearly shown to what we must attribute the disposition to -curl, which some hair naturally possesses. Some have thought that it -was owing in a great measure to the presence of a considerable amount -of oily matter in the shaft of the hair, which hinders the animal -matter from attracting moisture which would have a tendency, it is -said, to straighten the hair. But the more probable and more general -opinion is that it mainly arises from the flatness of the hair. Now -this flattening is sometimes very considerable, and the diameter of the -hair two-thirds broader in one direction than in the other. The hair -of the beard and whiskers exhibits the peculiarity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> most distinctly. -In proportion to its size, the strength of a hair is very remarkable; -one from a boy supported a weight of 7,812 grains; another from a man, -14,285 grains. The elasticity of the hair is very apparent, a hair -10 inches long has been stretched to 13 inches; and a hair stretched -one-fifth of its entire length returns, with but trifling excess, to -its first dimensions.</p> - -<p>The chemical analysis of human hair, as given by Liebig, shows that -its constituents are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulphur. -Fair hair contains most sulphur and oxygen, and the least carbon and -hydrogen; black hair the most carbon and hydrogen, and the least -sulphur and oxygen. The hair of the beard contains more carbon and less -sulphur than the hair of the head. The presence of sulphur occasions -the peculiar odour of burnt hair, but we question the fact, as stated -by some authors, that red hair is perceptibly redolent of brimstone. By -experiments, Vauquelin obtained from black hair a whitish and a greyish -oil; the whitish oil was also present in red hair, but the place of -the greyish green oil was supplied by an oil; the colour of blood. -Hair is one of the most indestructible of animal substances, even less -perishable than the bones; this arises from the small quantity of water -it contains, its chief bulk being made up of various salts of lime, -iron, and manganese. In mummies more than two thousand years old the -hair has been found unaltered, as may be seen in our own and other -public museums. In the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span> Abbey Church of Romsey, the hair of a female -apparently of the time of the Normans was found perfectly entire on -opening a coffin in 1839. It is in plaits 18-inches long, and preserved -in a glass case, lying upon the same block of oak which has been its -pillow for centuries. And somewhat recently, when the tombs of Gustavus -Vasa and his Queen Gunilla, in the Cathedral at Upsal, were explored to -gratify the longings of some worthy antiquaries; the hair of the Queen, -which according to the popular annals was of extraordinary beauty, -still remained—when ought else of earthly beauty had perished in the -grave.</p> - -<p>Hair is a non-conductor of electricity, and every one is familiar with -the experiment illustrating electrical repulsion, which causes</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“The knotted and combined locks to part,</div> - <div>And each particular hair to stand on end</div> - <div>Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Some persons possess the power of giving considerable -motion to the scalp, and in moments of excitement do so involuntarily -with some curious results—as was witnessed by Haydon at one of the -readings given by Mrs. Siddons. The artist sat behind an old gentleman -with his hair tied in a queue, which suddenly rose like a knocker, and -continued the most lively movements during an interval of intense and -breathless attention on the part of the audience. A good ghost-story -will sometimes electrify a youngster, and convert the curled darling -into a regular Brutus. In the “May of life,” e’er he had “supped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span> full -with horrors,” Macbeth himself had felt such innocent fears:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“The time has been, my senses would have cool’d</div> - <div>To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair</div> - <div>Would at a dismal treatise rouse, and stir</div> - <div>As life were in’t.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>But does the hair grow after death? Most persons who have not reflected -a little on the question, answer readily in the affirmative. The -contraction of the cuticle after death, which causes an apparent -lengthening of the beard, has by many been mistaken for a new growth of -hair. But there are strange instances on record, where, on entering the -charnel house, a coffin has been found to be completely covered with an -extraordinary growth of hair-like filaments issuing from chinks in the -wood or metal, and trailing in every direction to a distance of some -feet. Such a phenomenon is truly wonderful, account for it what way -you will. The common solution of the difficulty supposes the hair to -have grown to this enormous length, and to have been nourished in some -way by organic elements resulting from decomposition. We need not stop -to refute this. The opinion which inclines to its being of vegetable -growth is likely enough to find favour with those who have seen the -remarkable and beautiful parasites which clothe with their fantastic -draperies the recesses of mines and caverns. But this we will leave to -learned professors to settle among themselves.</p> - -<p>The colouring principle in the hair and skin is held to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> be of a like -nature. Light hair usually accompanies a fair complexion, and black -hair a dark one; and every gradation from fair to dark is generally -marked by a corresponding alteration in the tint of the hair. The -colour of the skin and hair being one of the physical characters which -serve to distinguish the several races of mankind, we may divide them -into two great groups: the fair-haired and the dark-haired races. The -dark-haired race occupies by far the greater portion of the globe; the -light-haired race being restricted comparatively to a few settlements, -chiefly in Europe, and more especially its northern region. These -fair-haired races of the North, in their bold descents upon the -British coasts and subsequent immigrations, drove the dark-haired -Celts and Cymri from the plains back upon their mountain strongholds, -and completely dispossessed the indigenous tribes of their territory. -From the intermixture of race we derive that obvious variety in the -different shades of hair which characterizes the mixed population -of this country—a diversity which contributes not a little to the -remarkable beauty of the women of Great Britain—while the intermixture -of race has doubtless stamped that daring and energy upon the people -which have made these isles the Palladium of Liberty and the envy of -the world. We notice some marked peculiarities among certain tribes -in respect to the colour and character of the hair. The Mongols and -Northern Asiatics, for instance, are scantily furnished with hair and -beard; the Kurilians, on the contrary, are said to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span> be the most hairy -race of people in the world. Their beards hang upon their breasts, and -arms, neck and back are covered with hair. Some of the Esquimaux have -so much beard upon the face that it is difficult to make out their -features. The Incas of South America, with long thick hair, very soft -and straight, have only a few scanty hairs for a beard. The North -American Indians have straight lank hair. The African Negroes, woolly -hair, which, it is needless to say, is very different from wool, being -merely hair in a peculiar state of crispness. The colouring matter -in the hair of the Negro is in much greater quantity than in the -European. Sometimes this woolly hair is met with of great length; a -tribe of Negroes on the Gold Coast have woolly hair fully half a yard -long, which is usually black, but red hair is not uncommon. The Papuas -of New Guinea have long black frizzled hair growing in tufts in the -most strange but admired disorder, which makes their heads appear of -enormous size. The Cafusos in the Brazils, known to have sprung from -the native Americans and the Negroes from Africa, have their hair -excessively long, half woolly and curly at the ends, rising eighteen -inches or more perpendicularly from the scalp, forming a very ugly and -ridiculous kind of wig: the wearers are obliged to stoop as they go in -and out of their huts, and the mass of hair is so entangled that it is -impossible to comb it. The Chinese have very little beard, although -extremely anxious to make the most of it. Some tribes are at great -pains to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span> eradicate the beard, and a tribe of Indians on the Coppermine -River not only pluck out the beard, but pull out the hairs from the -head, thus realizing the condition of the Myconians, who, says Pliny, -have naturally no hair at all. Generally speaking, the coloured races -are most wanting in beard, and the white races most liberally furnished -therewith. In the Albino, the hair is of the palest flaxen or a dull -whitish hue, and the colouring matter altogether wanting; the skin -partakes of the same deadly paleness, and the pupils of the eyes are -of a pink colour. Albinoes cannot endure a strong light; when exposed -to the light, the eyelids are half closed and continually blinking. In -disposition, the Albinoes are gentle and not deficient in intellect. -This peculiar variety was first noticed among the blacks, and obtained -the name of <i>white negroes</i>. But Albinoes, it is known, are not -confined to any particular race or country. In some Africans, patches -of white hair are seen covering portions of the head, and in those -parts the skin is invariably white.</p> - -<p>That the colour of the hair in certain races has undergone a -considerable change in the course of time is apparent from what -is known to have taken place in Britain. The ancient Germans were -universally characterized by red hair and blue eyes, and what is termed -a strongly marked zanthous constitution; but, Niebuhr says, the Germans -are now far from being a light-haired race; and Chevalier Bunsen -remarks that he has often looked in vain for the golden or auburn locks -and light<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> cærulean eyes of the old Germans among their descendants, -but in Scandinavia he found the colour of the hair and eyes precisely -those described by Tacitus. From this it is inferred that the altered -conditions of life, brought about by civilization, have produced a -change in the physical character of the people. Such change, however, -is confined within very narrow limits; in the hair it is but a mere -shade of colour or variation in its crispness. Under the microscope, -the definite form of the human hair is most exact and uniform; so -much so, that Mr. Queckett was enabled by this test to confirm the -conjectures of the Archæological Society, in a very scientific manner, -respecting some portions of skin taken from church doors in Essex, and -from Worcester Cathedral. Tradition said, pirates and persons guilty -of sacrilege in old time were flayed, and their skins nailed to the -church door. Mr. Queckett was to determine if the relics confided to -his charge, and which looked exactly like scraps of old parchment, were -really portions of the human body. A few hairs were discovered adhering -to the skin and this decided the point—it was unmistakeably human hair -and human skin—and the Archæologists were made happy by the discovery. -Would that we could send the smallest fragment of one of those skins -with but a solitary hair upon it—which Hanno hung up in the Temple -of Juno—to Mr. Q., with the publishers’ compliments, that he might -ascertain the true character of the hairy people the old Carthaginian -fell in with on his route.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span></p> - -<p>The colour of the hair is also an indication of temperament: black -hair is usually accompanied by a bilious temperament; fair and auburn, -with the sanguine and sanguine-nervous; and very light hair, with a -temperament mild and lymphatic.</p> - -<p>Will any one undertake to say what was the precise colour of the golden -hair so vaunted of by the great poets of antiquity? One of our living -poets, the author of “The Bride of Rimini,” has brought the light of -genius and his fine taste and scholarship to the task, and the matter -is yet doubtful. Some have not hesitated to decide that it was red, -fiery red, and nothing short of red; and sneered at the ancients for -affecting to be connoisseurs in these things. Some have contended -that it was auburn, which is a glorious colour, and seems naturally -associated with smiles and the rich imagery of poets. In the well-known -ode of Anacreon, where he speaks of the beauty of his mistress as a fit -subject for the painter’s art, it is difficult to say what colour we -must choose. Some prefer to think dark jetty locks were intended, such, -possibly, as Byron has given to one of his beauties:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“The glossy darkness of that clustering hair,</div> - <div>Which shades, yet shows a forehead more than fair.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Ben Jonson—no mean authority—blends with the jetty locks -threads of fine gold:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Gold upon a ground of black.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">If a mere stripling might handle the bow of Ulysses, we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span> -would venture to select the colour which Tennyson has bestowed upon a -pretty little portrait:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Her eyes a bashful azure, and her hair</div> - <div>In gloss and hue the chesnut, when the shell</div> - <div>Divides threefold to show the fruit within.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">But why be beholden to poets, who, after all, are but the -interpreters of nature? Does not Scotland to this day own many a fair -complexion, and tresses which Venice cannot match for sunny splendour; -and are not the dark, flowing locks of the Lancashire witches working -as secret charms as ever enthralled the courteous knights of old? It is -certain that, in regard to the hair, the ancients had no monopoly of -beauty.</p> - -<p>Concerning grey hair, we may remark that the term is a misnomer applied -to single hairs; for the greyness merely arises from the commingling -of white and dark hairs. When the secretion of the colouring matter in -the pulp ceases, all succeeding growth from the bulb is colourless. -Every one feels some little anxiety about grey hairs. To the moralist -they are Death’s blossoms—the solemn warning to adjust the mantle e’er -we fall. With some, grey hairs will even intrude upon the pleasures -of youth; with others, they are but as the ripening of the corn—when -wisdom gathers her full harvest against the time of declining strength; -again, in others, they wait upon old age, like a wreath of snow on the -brow of winter; and some enjoy life to its fullest span, and there is -no sign of “the sere and yellow leaf:” so various are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> the conditions -of life which produce the change of constitution which accompanies -grey hairs. It is amusing to notice the special theory which each one -contrives to account for the presence of these tell-tales. “Ah!” said -Louis XII., as he looked in the mirror, somewhat astonished at the -number of grey hairs, “these are owing to the long speeches I have -listened to, those especially of M. le——, have ruined my hair.” It -was mere folly for the Teian bard to tell the girls how prettily the -white hairs of age contrast with the rich tresses of youth, like roses -and lilies in a chaplet, or milk upon roses; for at his time of life, -the old Sybarite ought to have known better. We remember to have felt -deeply for the unfortunate bridegroom, when we first read the tragical -story, in the Encyclopædia Metropolitana, of the gentleman, “who, at -his marriage, when about forty years old, had a dark head of hair; -but, on his return from his wedding trip, had become so completely -snow white, even to his eyebrows, that his friends almost doubted his -identity.” Even the curled Anthony must needs make excuses to the fair -Egyptian for his grey hairs:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i4">“What, girl? though grey</div> - <div>Do something mingle with our younger brown;</div> - <div>Yet ha’ we a brain that nourishes our nerves,</div> - <div>And can get goal for goal of youth.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">How sudden grief and consuming care will blanch the hair -is known to all. Memory recalls the lone prisoner in the castle of -Chillon, and the lofty queen who passed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span> from a throne to a prison -and the scaffold, to teach heroes how to face death. And by these -truthful signs, these silver hairs, may oftentimes be traced the story -of a broken heart—of hope too long deferred—of fallen ambition—of -blighted affection, or of man’s ingratitude. What more sacred than -these secret sorrows; who would seek to pry into them with idle -questionings? The leaf is withered, for the worm is at the heart of the -tree:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“This white top writeth mine oldé years;</div> - <div>Mine heart is also mouldered as mine hairs.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">But hope and sunshine gather about the grey hairs ripe for -immortality:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Thy silver locks, once auburn bright,</div> - <div>Are still more lovely in my sight</div> - <div>Than golden beams of orient light,</div> - <div class="right smcap">My Mary.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>We have hitherto regarded the hair as a thing of beauty and the -crowning ornament of man’s structure. We have now to consider the -diseases to which it is subject; and first we will speak of Baldness. -Where partial baldness arises from debility of the system, the growth -of hair usually follows on restoration to health, and accidental -baldness may generally be removed by the ordinary applications. But -the baldness of a more permanent character, which results from the -obliteration of the hair-follicles, seldom admits of a perfect remedy. -In such cases the skin is smooth and glossy, as is duly noted by -Chaucer, in his portrait of the monk:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“His head was bald, and shone as any glass.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">This is the alopecia of pathologists, so called because -it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span> was said foxes were especially subject to baldness; or, as some -think to express, by way of irony, that cunning and duplicity may be -looked for in bald men. The ridicule and contempt which the ancients -heaped upon these unfortunate individuals is very obvious. Among the -Hebrews the term bald-pate was an insult and a reproach. The origin of -this appears to have been that baldness was held to be the sign of a -corrupt youth and a dissolute life. And when physiologists are asked to -certify to the falsehood of such calumnies, they answer in riddles like -the Sphinx.</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Turpe pecus mutilum, turpis sine gramine campus</div> - <div>Et sine fronde frutex, et sine crine caput.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">The ancients were so proud of their curls and flowing -locks, the physical beauty of manhood, and the charms of their female -deities, earthly and celestial, that, for the sake of antithesis it -may be, they hurled their sarcasms and their sneers with a savage -vengeance or ignoble pity upon their bald-pated victims in a style -which modern politeness declines to imitate. It is surprising that -Cæsar should have shown such sensitiveness about his baldness as to -have sought permission of the Senate to wear his laurel crown at -pleasure. The privilege was granted, and the laurels shaded the bald -pate. Fortunately women are so very rarely bald that we may consider -them exempt from this infliction. Apuleius, in his Melesiacs, says, -that Venus herself, if she were bald, though surrounded by the Graces -and the Loves, could not be pleasing even to her husband, Vulcan. -Herodotus<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span> remarked that few Egyptians were bald; and eunuchs, who -have much subcutaneous fat about the scalp, are free from baldness. -It may be some consolation to bachelors to know, that according to -Pliny man in a state of single blessedness is never bald. Caligula and -Nero are numbered among the bald, and kings have been honored with -the title. Baldness has even found panegyrists. Synesius, bishop of -Syrene, in the fifteenth century, wrote in praise of it; and Hucbald, -a Benedictine monk, made it the subject of a curious poem, which he -very appropriately dedicated to Charles the Bald. But these perverse -eulogists were ecclesiastics who reckoned the beauty of the hair and -its enticements part of the vanities of this wicked world it would be -well to get rid of. Happily the hair escaped their treacherous shears. -It is possible, however, to have too much of a good thing; and the -excessive growth of hair where least wanted is numbered among the ills -which flesh is heir to. No one in these days would think the King of -Persia’s porter, seen by Tavernier, deserved a double pension because -he could tie his moustaches behind his neck; for something very like -this may be seen any afternoon in Hyde Park; there is a fashion in such -things, and Nature is by no means niggardly in her gifts to man. But -what is meant by an extraneous growth of hair is very different from -this, and by no means ornamental. We allude to cases where the whole -body has been covered by a growth of long hair. Some miserable Fakirs, -in India, have been seen clothed with hair several inches long.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span> About -1650, a hairy child was shown as a sight, and the strange phenomenon is -thus accounted for in an old play:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“’Tis thought the hairy child that’s shewn about,</div> - <div>Came by the mother’s thinking on the picture</div> - <div>Of St. John Baptist in his camel’s coat.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">But the most frightful instances are those of bearded -women. “I like not when a ’oman has a great peard,” says Sir Hugh; and -the old naturalists are at some pains to assure us that woman is not -barbigerous, for which a very sufficient reason has been given:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Nature, regardful of the babbling race,</div> - <div>Planted no beard upon a woman’s face;</div> - <div>Not MAPPIN’S razors, though the very best,</div> - <div>Could shave a chin which never is at rest.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">One of the best known examples of this repulsive class, -(Trifaldi, the afflicted Duenna not excepted), is that of Barbara -Urselin, born at Augsburg, and shown in Ratcliffe Highway, in 1668; her -portrait may be seen in Granger’s Biography, and Evelyn takes note of -her in his Journal. Her face and hands were all over hairy, the hair -on her forehead and eyebrows combed upwards, she had a long spreading -beard, the hair of which hung loose and flowing like the hair of the -head. A fellow of the name of Van Beck married the frightful creature -to carry about as a show. Charles XII. had in his army a female -grenadier, who had both the beard and the courage of a man. She was -taken prisoner at the battle of Pultowa, and carried to St. Petersburg, -where she was presented to the Czar; her beard measured a yard<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span> and a -half. In 1852, a young woman, a native of Switzerland, with beard and -whiskers four inches long, could find no clergyman to marry her to -the object of her affections, until provided with a certificate from -Charing Cross Hospital. Many other authentic cases are on record, but -the subject is not inviting.</p> - -<p>In rare instances, the colour of the hair undergoes a strange -metamorphosis from red to black, or it may be from brown to blue or -green, and sometimes it has been seen spotted like the leopard’s skin. -Instances are known in which it became so sensitive that the slightest -touch caused exquisite pain. Sometimes the hair splits at the point, -and becomes forked. There is also, the very rare disease—plica -Polonica—originating, no doubt, in filth and neglect, in which the -hair becomes inextricably tangled and matted together by a glutinous -fluid from the roots, and the hairs when cut are said to bleed. In -the Museum of the College of Surgeons, the hair of a cat may be -seen exhibiting all the peculiarities of this singular disease. The -elf-locks of the old chieftains which Scott describes:—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“His plaited hair in elf locks spread</div> - <div>Around his bare and matted head—”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">and the locks which Queen Mab and the Fairies are accused -of weaving “in foul sluttish hairs,” are no doubt symptoms of the same -diseased and monstrous plaiting.</p> - -<p>That the hair is any standard of physical strength is one of those -popular notions which rest on no sufficient<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span> data. Samson’s strength -was the direct gift of God—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“God when he gave me strength, to show withal</div> - <div>How slight the gift was, hung it in my hair.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">Nisus’ life was held by the singular tenure of one golden -or purple hair, which grew on the top of his head; this was plucked by -the hand of his unnatural daughter and his life fell a sacrifice to -her craft: so runs the tale. We cannot say if hearts are still held in -fief by the gift of a lock of hair, or if lovers in this stern iron-age -recognize the old traditions in their love affairs; but broad lands -were conveyed in other days by as slight a bond. The Earl of Warren, -in the reign of Henry III., confirmed to the church of S. Pancras, at -Lewes, certain land, rent, and tithe, of which he gave seisin <i>per -Capillos capitis sui et fratis sui Radulfi</i>; and the hair of the -parties was cut off by the Bishop of Winchester before the high altar.</p> - -<p>The hair, from its imperishable nature, constitutes a material link -between the living and the dead; it survives in form and beauty as when -it graced the brows of the living; unchanged in death, it shares in -the lasting homage which we gladly pay to the memory of the brave and -the good. Who can regard with indifference the sacred relics preserved -at Penshurst—the locks of hair of Sir Philip and Algernon Sidney? -Leigh Hunt has other like-treasured memorials, of which an account has -been given to the public by an American author. The locks are those of -Milton, Keats, Shelley, Charles<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span> Lamb, Dr. Johnson, Swift; and the poet -may well feel proud to own them.</p> - -<p>From what has been said respecting the growth of the hair, it will be -perceived that there are some special points to be attended to, if we -would keep it in perfect order. As the hair rises from the bulb above -the cuticle, it carries with it a thin pellicle, which adheres for a -time to the shaft, and afterwards falls off in minute scales, and forms -a kind of scurf in the hair. Now, this is simply a natural process, -and not to be mistaken for a diseased state of the skin; the scales of -detached film merely require to be removed with the brush and comb. -Very different, however, are the scales on the skin of the head, which, -at times, form a loose dandriff, filling the hair with a most unsightly -scurf. This is a serious evil, and requires patient and careful -treatment to get rid of thoroughly; and nothing can be less likely to -effect a remedy than the use of very hard brushes, which, by irritating -the scalp, tend to aggravate the symptoms. Anything which unnaturally -irritates the skin of the head will originate dandriff; when the -functions of the excretory pores and sebaceous glands are interrupted, -the skin becomes dry, and the cuticle may be said partially to perish; -the dead particles are then thrown off by cuticular exfoliation. Above -all, extreme cleanliness, constant and habitual attention to the purity -of the skin, are the best curatives, and the only safeguard against the -occurence of this very simple, but troublesome and obstinate disease of -the cuticle. The most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span> disagreeable circumstance to be noted in this -complaint is, that those who should enjoy perfect immunity from the -annoyance,—those</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="hangingindent">“Who have but fed on the roses, and lain in the lilies of life”—</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">by the use of stimulant pomatums, improper hair-brushes, -and badly made combs, but chiefly the use of abominable nostrums—not -unfrequently entail upon themselves the very evils which are commonly -produced by the opposite means, neglect and inattention to the state of -the hair. The hair requires but a moderate supply of pommade; but this, -to be of any real benefit, must be compounded <i>secundem artem</i>, -and adapted to the purpose. Oils and pomatums which merely collect dust -are not to be tolerated, and are frequently had recourse to merely to -disguise the neglect which suffers the hair to become rough from being -in ill-condition. Whenever proper attention is given to the hair, the -most satisfactory results are usually obtained; and without bestowing -such an amount of care, it is impossible to realize the beautiful -softness and lustre which any lady’s tresses may be made to assume. It -cost the poet little to bring together</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Love-darting eyes, and tresses like the morn;”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">but we promise none but very ordinary tresses to such -as will not, both night and morn, with brush and comb, and suitable -preparation, detach every particle of dust from the hair. And to those -who can appreciate the beautiful, and would gratify a more refined -feeling than mere personal vanity, the disposition of the hair affords<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span> -an admirable opportunity of setting off, by the graces of art, “the -beauty of a woman’s face”—</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div>“Angels are painted fair, to look like you.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="p-left">All the canons of criticism are summed up in the -perfections of female beauty. What greater ornament to perfect beauty -that luxuriant hair? We will conclude our advice to the fair with some -old verses of Richard Lovelace, which express, with the freedom of a -poet, a truth that might take the form of an aphorism, that the beauty -of the hair consists in its flowing outline, its flexibility, and -varying tints—the effect of light reflected from its glossy surface:</p> - - <div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ileft">“Amarantha, sweet and fair,</div> - <div>Oh, braid no more that shining hair!</div> - <div>Let it fly, as unconfin’d</div> - <div>As its calm ravisher, the wind;</div> - <div>Who hath left his darling, th’ east,</div> - <div>To wanton o’er that spicy nest.</div> - <div>Every tress must be confest,</div> - <div>But neatly tangled, at the best;</div> - <div>Like a clue of golden thread</div> - <div>Most excellently ravelled.</div> - <div>Do not, then, wind up the light</div> - <div>In ribands, and o’ercloud in night,</div> - <div>Like the sun’s in early ray;</div> - <div>But shake your head, and scatter day!”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p class="center xs">THE END.</p> - -<p class="center xs">Read & Co., Printers, Johnson’s-court, Fleet-street.</p> - -<p class="transnote"> - -Transcriber’s Notes:<br /> - -1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been - corrected silently.<br /> - -2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words - have been retained as in the original.</p> - - - - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES HISTORICAL, ÆSTHETICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL, ANECDOTAL AND TONSORIAL, ON THE HAIR & BEARD ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. -</div> - -<div style='margin-top:1em; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE</div> -<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE</div> -<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person -or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the -Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when -you share it without charge with others. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work -on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the -phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: -</div> - -<blockquote> - <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most - other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions - whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms - of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online - at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you - are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws - of the country where you are located before using this eBook. - </div> -</blockquote> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg™ License. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format -other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain -Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -provided that: -</div> - -<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation.” - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ - works. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. - </div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right -of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread -public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state -visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. -</div> - -</div> -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/68781-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/68781-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 844ed8e..0000000 --- a/old/68781-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68781-h/images/i_098.jpg b/old/68781-h/images/i_098.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6e50b59..0000000 --- a/old/68781-h/images/i_098.jpg +++ /dev/null |
