The Art of Needle-work, from the Earliest Ages Part 17

Besides the rigid enactments of the law, and the anathemas of divines, other and gentler means were from time to time resorted to as warnings from that sin of dress which seems inherent in our nature, or as inducements to a more becoming one. We quote a specimen of both:--

"There was a lady whiche had her lodgynge by the chirche. And she was alweye accustomed for to be longe to araye her, and to make her freshe and gay, insomuch that it annoyed and greued moche the parson of the chirche, and the parysshens. And it happed on a Sonday that she was so longe, that she sent to the preeste that he shod tarye for her, lyke as she had been accustomed. And it was thenne ferforthe on the day.

And it annoyed the peple. And there were somme that said, How is. .h.i.t?

shall not this lady this day be pynned ne wel besene in a Myrroure?

And somme said softely, G.o.d sende to her an evyll syght in her myrroure that causeth us this day and so oftymes to muse and to abyde for her. And thene as it plesyd G.o.d for an ensample, as she loked in the myrroure she sawe therein the Fende, whiche shewed hymselfe to her so fowle and horryble, that the lady wente oute of her wytte, and was al demonyak a long tyme. And after G.o.d sente to her helthe. And after she was not so longe in arayeng but thanked G.o.d that had so suffered her to be chastysed."[99]

The 'Garment of Gude Ladyis' is a lecture of a most beguiling kind, and an exquisite picture.

"Wald my gud lady lufe me best, And wirk after my will, I suld ane garment gudliest Gar mak hir body till.

"Of he honour suld be her hud, Upoun hir heid to weir, Garneist with governance so gud, Na demyng[100] suld hir deir.[101]

"Hir kirtill suld be of clene constance, Lasit with lesum lufe, The mailyeis[102] of continwance For nevir to remufe.

"Her gown suld be of gudliness, Weill ribband with renowne, Purfillit[103] with plesour in ilk place, Furrit with fyne fa.s.soun.[104]

"Her belt suld be of benignitie, About hir middill meit; Hir mantill of humilitie, To tholl[105] bayth wind and weit.

"Hir hat suld be of fair having[106], And her tepat of trewth, Hir patelet[107] of gude pansing, Hir hals-ribbane of rewth.

"Hir slevis suld be of esperance, To keip hir fra dispair; Hir gluvis of the gud govirnance, To hyd hir fingearis fair.

"Hir schone suld be of sickernes[108]

In syne that scho nocht slyd; Hir hois of honestie, I ges, I suld for hir provyd.

"Wald scho put on this garmond gay, I duret sweir by my seill, That scho woir nevir grene nor gray That set hir half so weill."

FOOTNOTES:

[95] Lady's Magazine.

[96] Bugg--buge, lamb's furr.--Dr. Jamieson.

[97] Anca.s.sin and Nicolette.

[98] The first instance in which the name of this stone is found.--Miss Lawrence.

[99] The Knyght of the Toure.

[100] _Demyng_--censure.

[101] _Deir_--dismay.

[102] _Mailyeis_--network.

[103] _Purfillit_--furbelowed.

[104] _Fa.s.soun_--address, politeness.

[105] _Tholl_--endure.

[106] _Having_--behaviour.

[107] _Patelet_--run.

[108] _Sickernes_--steadfastness.

CHAPTER XIV.

NEEDLEWORK IN COSTUME.--PART II.

"And the short French breeches make such a comelie vesture that, except it were a dog in a doublet, you shall not see anie so disguised as are my countriemen of England."

Holinshed.

"Out from the Gadis to the eastern morne, Not one but holds his native state forlorne.

When comelie striplings wish it were their chance For Cenis' distaffe to exchange their lance; And weare curl'd periwigs, and chalk their face, And still are poring on their pocket gla.s.se; Tyr'd with pinn'd ruffs, and fans, and partlet strips, And buskes and verdingales about their hips: And tread on corked stilts a prisoner's pace."

Bp. Joseph Hall.

"They brought in fashions strange and new, With golden garments bright; The farthingale and mighty ruff, With gowns of rich delight."

A Warning-Piece to England.

The queen (Anne Neville) of Richard III. seems to have been somewhat more regally accoutred than those of her royal predecessors to whom we referred in the last chapter. Among "the stuff delivered to the queen at her coronation are twenty-seven yards of white cloth of gold for a kirtle and train, and a mantle of the same, richly furred with ermine. This was the dress in which she rode in her litter from the Tower to the palace of Westminster. This was an age of long trains, and the length was regulated by the rank of the wearer; Anne, for her whole purple velvet suit, had fifty-six yards. From the entries of scarlet cloth given to the n.o.bility for mantles on this occasion, we find that d.u.c.h.esses had thirteen yards, countesses ten, and baronesses eight."

The costume of Henry VII.'s day differed little from that of Edward IV., except in the use of shirts bordered with lace and richly trimmed with ornamental needlework, which continued a long time in vogue amongst the n.o.bility and gentry.

A slight inspection of the inventories of Henry VIII.'s apparel will convince us of a truth which we should otherwise, readily have guessed, viz., that no expense and no splendour were spared in the "swashing costume" of his day. Its general aspect is too familiar to us to require much comment. We may remark, however, that four several acts were pa.s.sed in his reign for the reformation of apparel, and that all but the royal family were prohibited from wearing "any cloth of gold of purpure colour, or silk of the same colour," upon pain of forfeiture of the same and 20 for every offence. Shirt bands and ruffles of gold were worn by the privileged, but none under the degree of knight were permitted to decorate their shirts with silk, gold, or silver. Henry VIII.'s "knitte gloves of silk" are particularly referred to, and also his "handkerchers" edged with gold, silver, or fine needlework. These handkerchiefs, wrought with gold and silver, were not uncommon in the after-times. In the ballad of George Barnwell, it is said of Milwood--

"A handkerchief she had, All wrought with silk and gold, Which she, to stay her trickling tears, Before her eyes did hold."

In the east these handkerchiefs are common, and it is still a favourite occupation of the Egyptian ladies to embroider them.

We are surprised now to find to what minute particulars legal enactments descended. "No husbandman, shepherd, or common labourer to any artificer, out of cities or boroughs (having no goods of their own above the value of 10), shall use or wear any cloth the broad yard whereof pa.s.seth 2_s._ 4_d._, or any hose above the price of 12_d._ the yard, upon pain of imprisonment in the stocks for three days."

It was in a subsequent reign, that of Mary, that a proclamation was issued that no man should "weare his shoes above sixe inches _square_ at the toes." We have before seen that the attention of the grave and learned members of the Senate, the "Conscript Fathers" of England, was devoted to the due regulation of this interesting part of apparel, when the shoe-toes were worn so long that they were obliged to be tied up to the waist ere the happy and privileged wearer could set his foot on the ground. Now, however, "a change came o'er the spirit of the day," and it became the duty of those who exercised a paternal surveillance over the welfare of the community at large to legislate regarding the _breadth_ of the shoe-toes, that they should not be above "sixe inches square."

"Great," was anciently the cry--"Great is Diana of the Ephesians;"

but how immeasurably greater and mightier has been, through that and all succeeding ages, the supreme potentate who with a mesh of flimsy gauze or fragile silk has constrained nations as by a shackle of iron, that shadowy, unsubstantial, ever-fleeting, yet ever-exacting deity--FASHION! At her shrine worship all the nations of the earth.

The savage who bores his nose or tattooes his tawny skin is impelled by the same power which robes the courtly Eastern in flowing garments; and the dark-hued beauty who smears herself with blubber is influenced by the selfsame motive which causes the fair-haired daughter of England to tint her delicate cheek with the mimic rose.

And it is not merely in the shape and form of garments that this deity exercises her tyrannic sway, transforming "men into monsters," and women likewise--if it were possible: her vagaries are infinite and unaccountable; yet, how unaccountable soever, have ever numberless and willing votaries. It was once the _fashion_ for people who either were or fancied themselves to be in love to prove the sincerity of their pa.s.sion by the fort.i.tude with which they could bear those extremes of heat and cold from which unsophisticated _nature_ would shrink. These "penitents of love," for so the fraternity--and a pretty numerous one it was--was called, would clothe themselves in the dog-days in the thickest mantles lined throughout with the warmest fur: when the winds howled, the hail beat, and snow invested the earth with a freezing mantle, they wore the thinnest and most fragile garments. It was forbidden to wear fur on a day of the most piercing cold, or to appear with a hood, cloak, gloves, or m.u.f.f. They supposed or pretended that the deity whom they thus propitiated was LOVE: we aver that the autocrat under whose irreversible decrees they thus succ.u.mbed--was FASHION.

And, after all, who is this all-powerful genius? What is her appearance? Whence does she arise? Did she alight from the skies, while rejoicing stars sang Paeans at her birth? Was she born of the Sunbeams while a glittering Rainbow cast a halo of glory around her?