common; the first that was seen in the country was in 780, when Charlemagne sent Offa, King of Mercia, a belt and two vests of that beautiful material; but from the particular record made of silk mantles worn by two ladies at a ball at Kenilworth in 1286, we may fairly infer that till this period silk was not often used but as a robe pontifical, Ne'er seen but wonder'd at.” Occasionally indeed it was used, but only by persons of the highest rank and wealth. But the woollens were of beautiful texture, and Britain was early famous in the art of producing the richest dyes. The Welsh are still remarkable for extracting beautiful tints from the commonest plants, such most probably as were used by the Britons anciently; and it is worthy of note that the South Sea cloths, manufactured from the inner bark of trees, have the same stripes and chequers, and indeed the identical patterns of the Welsh, and, as supposed, of the ancient Britions. Linen was fine and beautiful; and if it had not been so, the rich and varied embroidery with which it was decorated would have set off a coarser material. Furs of all sorts were in great request, and a mantle of regal hue, lined throughout with vair or sable, and decorated with bands of gold lace and flowers of the richest embroidery, interspersed with pearls, clasped on the shoulder with the most precious gems, and looped, if requisite, with golden tassels, was a garment at which a nobleman, even of these days, need not look askance. Robert Bloet, second bishop of Lincoln, made a present to Henry I. of a cloak of exquisitely fine cloth, lined with black sables with white spots, which cost a sum equivalent to £1500 of our money. The robes of females of rank were always bordered with a belt of rich needlework; their embroidered girdles were inlaid, or rather inwrought, with gold, pearls, and precious stones, and from them was usually suspended a large purse or pouch, on which the skill of the most accomplished needlewomen was usually expended. This rich and becoming mode of dress was gradually innovated upon until caprice reigned paramount over the national wardrobe. For fashion is essentially caprice; and fashion in dress the caprice of milliners and tailors, with whom recherche and exaggeration supply the place of education and principle." That this modern definition applied as accurately to former times as these, an instance may suffice to show. Richard I. had a cloak made, at enormous cost, with precious and shining metals inlaid in imitation of the heavenly bodies; and Henry V. wore, on a very memorable occasion, when Prince of Wales, a mantle or gown of rich blue satin, full of small eylet-holes, as thickly as they could be put, and a needle hanging by a silk thread from every hole. The following incident, quoted from Miss Strickland's Life of Berengaria, will show the esteem in which a rich, and especially a furred garment was held. Richard I. quarrelled with the virtuous St. Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, on the old ground of exacting a simoniacal tribute on the installation of the prelate into his see. Willing to evade the direct charge of selling the see, King Richard intimated that a present of a fur mantle worth a thousand marks might be a composition. St. Hugh said he was no judge of such gauds, and therefore sent the king a thousand marks, declaring, if he would devour the revenue devoted to the poor, he must have his wilful way. But as soon as Richard had pocketed the money he sent for the fur mantle. St. Hugh set out for Normandy to remonstrate with the king on this double extortion. His friends anticipated that he would be killed; but St. Hugh said, "I fear him not," and boldly entered the chapel where Richard was at mass, when the following scene took place "Give me the embrace of peace, my son," said St. Hugh. "That you have not deserved," replied the king. "Indeed I have," said St. Hugh, "for I have made a long journey on purpose to see my son." So saying, he took hold of the king's sleeve and drew him on one side. Richard smiled and embraced the old man. They withdrew to the recess behind the altar and sate down. "In what state is your conscience?" asked the bishop. Very easy," said the king. "How can that be, my son," said the bishop, "when you live apart from your virtuous queen, and are faithless to her; when you devour the provision of the poor, and load your people with heavy exactions? Are those light transgressions, my son?" The king owned his faults, and promised amendment; and when he related this conversation to his courtiers he added, « Were all our prelates like Hugh of Lincoln, both king and barons must submit to their righteous rebukes." Furs were much used now as coverings for beds; and they were considered a necessary part of dress for a very considerable period. In Sir John Cullum's Hawsted, mention is made. that in 1281 Cecilia, widow of William Talmache, died, and, amongst other bequests, left "to Thomas Battesford, for black coats for poor people, xxxs. in part." "To John Camp, of Bury St. Edmunds, furrier, for furs for the black coats, viijs. xjd." On which the reverend and learned author remarks, "We should now indeed think that a black coat bestowed on a poor person wanted not the addition of fur: such, however, was the fashion of the time; and a sumptuary law of Edward III. allows handicraft and yeomen to wear no manner of furre, nor of bugg, but only lambe, coney, catte, and foxe." * The distinction in rank was expressly shown by the kind of fur displayed on the dress, and these distinctions were regulated by law and rigidly enforced. By a statute passed in 1455, for regulating the dress of the Scottish lords of parliament, the gowns of the earls are appointed to be furred with ermine, while those of the other lords are to be lined with "criestay, gray, griece, or purray." The more precious furs, as ermine and sable, were reserved exclusively for the principal nobility of Persons of an inferior rank wore the vair or gris (probably the Hungarian squirrel); the both sexes. * Bugg-buge, lamb's furr.-Dr. Jamieson. citizens and burgesses, the common squirrel and lamb skins; and the peasants, cat and badger skins. The mantles of our kings and peers, and the furred robes of the several classes of our municipal officers, are the remains of this once universal fashion. Furs often formed an important part of the ransom of a prisoner of rank: "Sir," quoth Count Bongars, "war's disastrous hour Certain German nobles who had slain a bishop were enjoined, amongst other acts of penance, “ut varium, griseum, ermelinum, et pannos coloratos, non portent." The skin of the wild cat was much used by the clergy. Bishop Wolfstan preferred lambskin; saying in excuse, "Crede mihi, nunquam audivi, in ecclesia, cantari catus Dei, sed agnus Dei; ideo calefieri agno volo." The monk of Chaucer had his sleeves purfiled, at the hond, With gris, and that the finest of the lond." It is not till about the year 1204 that there is any specific enumeration of the royal apparel for festival occasions. The proper officers are appointed to bring for the king on this occasion "a golden crown, a red satin mantle adorned with sapphires and pearls, a robe of the same, a tunic of white damask ; and slippers of red satin edged with goldsmith's * Ancassin and Nicolette. |