At the Sign of the Barber's Pole Part 4

Beards, in some instances, were taxed in bygone England, but not to the same extent as in Russia, which had numerous singular laws in force for nearly sixty years. In nearly all parts of Europe, by the commencement of the eighteenth century, the custom of wearing beards had been given up. Peter the Great was wishful that his subjects should conform to the prevailing fashion. In 1705 he imposed a tax upon all those who wore either a beard or a moustache, varying from thirty to one hundred roubles per annum. It was fixed according to the rank of the taxpayer. A peasant, for instance, was only required to pay two dengops, equal to one copeck, whenever he pa.s.sed through the gate of a town. This tax gave rise to much discontent, and in enforcing it the utmost vigilance had to be exercised to prevent an outbreak in the country. Notwithstanding this, the law was, in 1714, put into operation in St Petersburg, which had previously been exempt. In 1722 it was ordered that all who retained their beards should wear a particular dress and pay fifty roubles annually. If a man would not shave, and was unable to pay, he was sentenced to hard labour. This law was extended to the provinces, but in 1723 peasants bringing produce into towns were wholly relieved from this tax. Peter pa.s.sed away in 1725, and Catherine I. confirmed all the edicts relating to the beard in the ukase dated 4th August 1726.

A decree was issued by Peter II. in 1728 permitting peasants employed in agriculture to wear their beards. Fifty roubles had to be paid by all other persons, and the tax was rigidly enforced. The Empress Anne took a firm att.i.tude against the beard. In 1731 she promulgated a ukase by which all persons not engaged in husbandry retaining their beards were entered in the cla.s.s of Raskolnicks, in addition to paying the beard tax of fifty roubles, double the amount of all other taxes.

In 1743 the Empress Elizabeth confirmed the existing decrees in all their force. Peter III., on his accession to the throne in 1762, intended to strengthen the laws of his predecessors, and prepared some stringent measures; but his sudden death prevented them from being put into force. His widow, Catherine II. (1762), did not share his feelings in this matter, and immediately on obtaining sovereign power she removed every restriction relating to the beard. She invited the Raskolnicks, who had fled from the country to avoid the objectionable edicts, to return, and a.s.signed land to them for their settlement.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Russian Beard Token, A.D. 1705.]

During thirty-eight years in Russia, the beard-token or Borodoraia (the bearded), as it was called, was in use. As we write we have one of these tokens before us, and on one side are represented a nose, mouth, moustaches, and a large flowing beard, with the inscription "dinge vsatia," which means "money received"; the reverse bears the year in Russian characters (equivalent to "1705 year"), and the black eagle of the empire.

Our facts are mainly drawn from a paper by Mr Walter Hawkins in the "Numismatic Chronicle," volume vii., 1845. He says that beard-tokens are rare, and he thinks that the national aversion to their origin probably caused their destruction or dispersion after they had served their purpose for the year.

POWDERING THE HAIR

In the olden days hair-powder was largely used in this country, and many circ.u.mstances connected with its history are curious and interesting. We learn from Josephus that the Jews used hair-powder, and from the East it was no doubt imported into Rome. The history of the luxurious days of the later Roman Empire supplies some strange stories. At this period gold-dust was employed by several of the emperors. "The hair of Commodus," it is stated on the authority of Herodian, "glittered from its natural whiteness, and from the quant.i.ty of essences and gold-dust with which it was loaded, so that when the sun was shining it might have been thought that his head was on fire."

It is supposed, and not without a good show of reason, that the Saxons used coloured hair-powder, or perhaps they dyed their hair. In Saxon pictures the beard and hair are often painted blue. Strutt supplies interesting notes on the subject. "In some instances," he says, "which, indeed, are not so common, the hair is represented of a bright red colour, and in others it is of a green and orange hue. I have no doubt existing in my own mind, that arts of some kind were practised at this period to colour the hair; but whether it was done by tingeing or dyeing it with liquids prepared for that purpose according to the ancient Eastern custom, or by powders of different hues cast into it, agreeably to the modern practice, I shall not presume to determine."

It was customary among the Gauls to wash the hair with a lixivium made of chalk in order to increase its redness. The same custom was maintained in England for a long period, and was not given up until after the reign of Elizabeth. The sandy-coloured hair of the queen greatly increased the popularity of the practice.

The satirists have many allusions to this subject, more especially those of the reigns of James and Charles I. In a series of epigrams ent.i.tled "Wit's Recreations," 1640, the following appears under the heading of _Our Monsieur Powder-wig_:--

"Oh, doe but marke yon crisped sir, you meet!

How like a pageant he doth walk the street!

See how his perfumed head is powdered ore; 'Twou'd stink else, for it wanted salt before."

In "Musarum Deliciae," 1655, we read:--

"At the devill's shopps you buy A dresse of powdered hayre, On which your feathers flaunt and fly; But i'de wish you have a care, Lest Lucifer's selfe, who is not prouder, Do one day dresse up your haire with a powder."

From the pen of R. Younge, in 1656, appeared "The Impartial Monitor."

The author closes with a tirade against female follies in these words: "It were a good deed to tell men also of mealing their heads and shoulders, of wearing fardingales about their legs, etc.; for these likewise deserve the rod, since all that are discreet do but hate and scorn them for it." A _Loyal Litany_ against the Oliverians runs thus:--

"From a king-killing saint, Patch, powder, and paint, Libera nos, Domine."

Ma.s.singer, in the "City Madam," printed in 1679, describing the dress of a rich merchant's wife, mentions powder thus:--

"Since your husband was knighted, as I said, The reverend hood cast off, your borrowed hair Powdered and curled, was by your dresser's art, Formed like a coronet, hanged with diamonds And richest orient pearls."

John Gay, in his poem, "Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London," published in 1716, advises in pa.s.sing a c.o.xcomb--

"Him like the Miller, pa.s.s with caution by, Lest from his shoulder clouds of powder fly."

We learn from the "Annals of the Barber-Surgeons" some particulars respecting the taxing of powder. On 8th August 1751, "Mr John Brooks,"

it is stated, "attended and produced a deed to which he requested the subscription of the Court; this deed recited that by an Act of Parliament pa.s.sed in the tenth year of Queen Anne, it was enacted that a duty of twopence per pound should be laid upon all starch imported, and of a penny per pound upon all starch made in Great Britain, that no perfumer, barber, or seller of hair-powder should mix any powder of alabaster, plaster of Paris, whiting, lime, etc. (sweet scents excepted), with any starch to be made use of for making hair-powder, under a pain of forfeiting the hair-powder and 50, and that any person who should expose the same for sale should forfeit it and 20." Other details were given in the deed, and the Barber-Surgeons gave it their support, and promised twenty guineas towards the cost of pa.s.sing the Bill through Parliament.

A few years prior to the above proceeding we gather from the _Gentleman's Magazine_ particulars of some convictions for using powder not made in accordance with the laws of the land. "On the 20th October, 1745," it is recorded, "fifty-one barbers were convicted before the commissioners of excise, and fined in the penalty of 20, for having in their custody hair-powder not made of starch, contrary to Act of Parliament: and on the 27th of the same month, forty-nine other barbers were convicted of the same offence, and fined in the like penalty."

Before powder was used, the hair was generally greased with pomade, and powdering operations were attended with some trouble. In houses of any pretension was a small room set apart for the purpose, and it was known as the powdering-room. Here were fixed two curtains, and the person went behind, exposing the head only, which received its proper supply of powder without any going on the clothes of the individual dressed. In the _Rambler_, No. 109, under date 1751, a young gentleman writes that his mother would rather follow him to his grave than see him sneak about with dirty shoes and blotted fingers, hair unpowdered, and a hat unc.o.c.ked.

We have seen that hair-powder was taxed, and on the 5th of May, 1795, an Act of Parliament was pa.s.sed taxing persons using it. Pitt was in power, and being sorely in need of money, hit upon the plan of a tax of a guinea per head on those who used hair powder. He was prepared to meet much ridicule by this movement, but he saw that it would yield a considerable revenue, estimating it at as much as 200,000 a year. Fox, with force, said that a fiscal arrangement dependent on a capricious fashion must be regarded as an absurdity, but the Opposition were unable to defeat the proposal, and the Act was pa.s.sed. Pitt's powerful rival, Charles James Fox, in his early manhood, was one of the most fashionable men in London. Here are a few particulars of his "get up"

about 1770, drawn from the _Monthly Magazine_: "He had his chapeau-bas, his red-heeled shoes, and his blue hair-powder." Later, when Pitt's tax was gathered, like other Whigs, he refused to use hair-powder. For more than a quarter of a century it had been customary for men to wear their hair long, tied in a pig-tail and powdered. Pitt's measure gave rise to a number of Crop Clubs. The _Times_ for April 14th, 1795, contains particulars of one. "A numerous club," says the paragraph, "has been formed in Lambeth, called the Crop Club, every member of which, on his entrance, is obliged to have his head docked as close as the Duke of Bridgewater's old bay coach-horses. This a.s.semblage is inst.i.tuted for the purpose of opposing, or rather evading, the tax on powdered heads."

Hair cropping was by no means confined to the humbler ranks of society.

The _Times_ of April 25th, 1795, reports that: "The following n.o.blemen and gentlemen were at the party with the Duke of Bedford, at Woburn Abbey, when a general cropping and combing out of hair-powder took place: Lord W. Russell, Lord Villiers, Lord Paget, etc., etc. They entered into an engagement to forfeit a sum of money if any of them wore their hair tied, or powdered, within a certain period. Many n.o.blemen and gentlemen in the county of Bedford have since followed the example: it has become general with the gentry in Hampshire, and the ladies have left off wearing powder." Hair powder did not long continue in use in the army, for in 1799 it was abolished on account of the high price of flour, caused through the bad harvests. Using flour for the hair instead of for food was an old grievance among the poor. In the "Art of Dressing the Hair," 1770, the author complains:--

"Their h.o.a.rded grain contractors spare, And starve the poor to beautify the hair."

Pitt's estimates proved correct, for in the first year the tax produced 210,136. The tax was increased from a guinea to one pound three shillings and sixpence. Pitt's Tory friends gave him loyal support. The Whigs might taunt them by calling them "guinea-pigs," it mattered little, for they were not merely ready to pay the tax for themselves, but to pay patriotic guineas for their servants. A number of persons were exempt from paying the tax, including "the royal family and their servants, the clergy with an income of under 100 per annum, subalterns, non-commissioned officers and privates of the yeomanry and volunteers enrolled during the past year. A father having more than two unmarried daughters might obtain on payment for two, a licence for the remainder."

A gentleman took out a licence for his butler, coachman, and footman, etc., and if he changed during the year it stood good for the newly engaged servants.

Powder was not wholly set aside by ladies until 1793, when with consideration Queen Charlotte abandoned its use, swayed no doubt by her desire to cheapen, in that time of dearth, the flour of which it was made. It has been said its disuse was attributable to Sir Joshua Reynolds, Angelica Kauffmann, and other painters of their day, but it is much more likely that the artists painted the hair "full and flowing"

because they found it so, not that they as a cla.s.s dictated to their patronesses in despite of fashion. The French Revolution had somewhat to do with the change; a powdered head or wig was a token of aristocracy, and as the fashion might lead to the guillotine, sensible people discarded it long before the English legislature put a tax upon its use.

With reference to this Sir Walter Scott says, in the fifth chapter of "The Antiquary:" "Regular were the Antiquary's inquiries at an old-fashioned barber, who dressed the only three wigs in the parish, which, in defiance of taxes and times, were still subjected to the operation of powdering and frizzling, and who for that purpose divided his time among the three employers whom fashion had yet left him.

"'Fly with this letter, Caxon,' said the senior ('The Antiquary'), holding out his missive, 'fly to Knockwinnock, and bring me back an answer. Go as fast as if the town council were met and waiting for the provost, and the provost was waiting for his new powdered wig.' 'Ah, sir,' answered the messenger, with a deep sigh, 'thae days hae lang gane by. Deil a wig has a provost of Fairport worn sin' auld Provost Jervie's time--and he had a quean of a servant la.s.s that dressed it hersel', wi'

the doup o' a candle and a dredging box. But I hae seen the day, Monkbarns, when the town council of Fairport wad hae as soon wanted their town-clerk, or their gill of brandy owerhead after the haddies, as they wad hae wanted ilk ane a weel-favoured, sonsy, decent periwig on his pow. Hegh, sirs! nae wonder the commons will be discontent, and rise against the law, when they see magistrates, and bailies, and deacons, and the provost himsel', wi' heads as bald an' as bare as one o' my blocks.'" It was not in Scotland alone that the barber was peripatetic.

"In the eighteenth century," says Mrs G. Linnaeus Banks, author of the "Manchester Man" and other popular novels, "he waited on his chief customers or patrons at their own homes, not merely to shave, but to powder the hair or the wig, and he had to start on his round betimes.

Where the patron was the owner of a spare periwig it might be dressed in advance, and sent home in a box or mounted on a stand, such as a barrister keeps handy at the present day. But when ladies had powdered top-knots, the hairdresser made his harvest, especially when a ball or a rout made the calls for his services many and imperative. When at least a couple of hours were required for the arrangement of a single toupee or tower, or commode, as the head-dress was called, it may be well understood that for two or three days prior to the ball the hairdresser was in demand, and as it was impossible to lie down without disarranging the structure he had raised on pads, or framework of wire, plastering with pomatum and disguising with powder, the belles so adorned or disfigured were compelled to sit up night and day, catching what sleep was possible in a chair. And when I add that a head so dressed was rarely disturbed for ten days or a fortnight, it needs no stretch of imagination to realise what a ma.s.s of loathsome nastiness the fine ladies of the last century carried about with them, or what strong stomachs the barbers must have had to deal with them."

When the eighteenth century was drawing to a close the cry for bread was heard in the land. In 1795 the price of grain rose very high on account of the small supplies coming into the market. Bakers in many instances sold bread deficient in weight, and to check the fraud many shopkeepers were fined sums from 64, 5s. to 106, 5s. The Privy Council gave the matter serious consideration, and strongly urged that families should refrain from having puddings, pies, and other articles made of flour.

King George III. gave orders in 1795 for the bread used in his household to be made of meal and rye mixed. He would not permit any other sort to be baked, and the Royal Family partook of the same quality of bread as was eaten by the servants.

A great deal of flour was used as hair powder, and an attempt was made to check its use. The following is a copy of a munic.i.p.al proclamation issued at Great Yarmouth, the original of which is preserved in the office of the Town Clerk:--

"DISUSE OF HAIR POWDER.

"Owing to the present enormous price of corn, and the alarming approach of a scarcity in that most necessary article, many towns throughout the kingdom have set the laudable example of leaving off for a time the custom of wearing powder for the hair; by which means a great quant.i.ty of wheat must infallibly be saved to the nation; and if the price be not reduced, it may at least be prevented from increasing. We, therefore, the Mayor, Justices, and princ.i.p.al inhabitants of Great Yarmouth, do recommend this example as worthy to be imitated; and we flatter ourselves the Military will not hesitate to adopt it, being fully convinced that appearances are at all times to be sacrificed to the public weal, and that in doing this they really do good.

"W. TAYLOR, Mayor.

"January 27th, 1795."

Lord Hawkesbury, on February 20th, 1800, presented a bill in the House of Commons prohibiting bakers from vending bread that had not been baked a certain number of hours. The bill was read a first and second time, and immediately went into Committee. It pa.s.sed this stage, and went to the House of Lords, where it was at once pa.s.sed. Subsequently it received the royal a.s.sent.

We find in a local paper, dated March 31st, 1800, that a baker in Hull was fined 10 for selling bread within twenty-four hours of its having been baked, agreeable to Act of Parliament for that purpose.

The Tories often regarded with mistrust any persons who did not use hair-powder. The Rev. J. Charles c.o.x, LL.D., F.S.A., the eminent antiquary, relates a good story respecting his grandfather. "So late as 1820," says Dr c.o.x, "Major c.o.x of Derby, an excellent Tory, declined for some time to allow his son Edward to become a pupil of a well-known clerical tutor, for the sole reason that the clergyman did not powder, and wore his hair short, arguing that he must therefore be a dangerous revolutionist." In 1869 the tax on hair-powder was repealed, when only some 800 persons paid it, producing about 1000 per year.

THE AGE OF WIGS

At the present time, when the wig is no longer worn by the leaders of fashion, we cannot fully realise the important place it held in bygone times. Professional as well as fashionable people did not dare to appear in public without their wigs, which vied with each other in size and style.