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Towards the latter end of Henry's reign the king wore a round flat scarlet or black velvet cap, with a broach or jewel and feather. The courtiers and others followed the fashions; this induced the younger citizens to imitate their superiors, and they also appeared in flat black caps, knit with woollen yarn; bat they were so light, that they were obliged to tie them under their chins, lest the wind should blow them off. The use of these flat round caps increased, and superseded the French bonnets or square caps; the junior aldermen began to use them, and ultimately Sir John White, lord mayor in 1563 wore the flat caps in his mayoralty, which served as a precedent for his successors. These however gave way to the Spanish felts, which were commonly worn by the clergy and laity.

The dress of the ladies of these times consisted of silk or velvet, richly laced and embroidered with gold. The bosom was open, with a broad bodice, edged with gold lace, pearl necklaces round the neck from one of which hung a rich jewel. The sleeves at the wrists, at which was a small ruffle, were slashed, above which they were composed of cloth of gold, over which was a handsome covering of crimson veļ

vet.

The head-dress was composed of a hood, behind which hung a veil of black; the hood was cloth of gold and crimson velvet, the front of which over the face was of a triangular form, whence it descended to the neck, and was richly adorned with jewellery. The above is taken from the portrait of queen Catharine Par in Lambeth Palace; a fine fac-simile of which is inserted in BRAYLEY and HERBERT'S Historical Description of that building.

EDWARD VI. The dress of this monarch, according to his portrait in the Court Room at Christ's Hospital, by HoLBEIN, consists of a flat hat, with a white feather falling on the left side; his coat, with half sleeves, is crimson, glazed over a lighter colour, on a border of deep red, embroidered with gold tracery, down each breast are double rows of gold wire or basket buttons, the lining ermine; the waistcoat is of white cloth or silk, richly embroidered in gold squares; the legs covered in the same way. A small frill round the neck. There was very little variety in dress during the short reign of this amiable monarch. The habiliment of that period is however transmitted to us, in the graceful dress of the scholars in Christ's Hospital.

MARY I. This was the era of ruffs and farthingales, which were brought hither from Spain, in consequence of her marriage with Philip II. * A blooming

❤ Howel tells us in his "Letters" that the Spanish word for a far

thingale

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The vardingales or fardingales, superseded the dresses worn by the ladies in the close of the reign of Henry VIII. and that of Edward VI. Those dresses had been distinguished by an extension of the hips with fox-tails and bumrolls, as they were called. These fardingales obtained the superiority over the closer habits, on account of being adapted to display the jewels of the ladies to greater advantage.

A blooming virgin in this age seems to have been solicitous to hide her skin. The very neck was generally concealed, the arms were covered quite to the wrists; the petticoats were worn long, and the head dress was close, to which was sometimes fastened a light veil, which fell down behind.

If the authority of engraved portraits may be depended on, the beard extended and expanded itself more during the short reigns of Edward VI. and Mary, than from the Conquest to that period. Bishop Gardiner has a beard long and streaming like a comet. The beard of Cardinal Pole is thick and bushy; this might possibly be Italian. The patriarchal beard in the tapestries of those times, is both long and large; but this seems to have been the invention of the artists who drew the cartoons*.

It is remarkable that the cloak, the most conspicuous and distinguished part of a cardinal's habit, which has been banished from England ever since the death of Cardinal Pole, is also now worn by the lowest order of females, and called a cardinal.

In this reign shoes were so enormously broad at the toes, that an order was made restraining the breadth to six inches!

ELIZABETH. In Hentzner's Itinerary is given the following account of this queen's person and court at Greenwich:

thingale is literally translated cover-infant; as if it was intended to conceal pregnancy. It is perhaps of more honourable extraction, and might ngnify cover-infanta, infanta being the title of the king of Spain's eldest daughter.

This venerable appendage to the face was formerly greatly regarded. Though learned authors have written for and against almost every thing, I never saw any thing written against the beard. The pamphlets" on the mischief of long hair," made much noise in the kingdom in the reign of Charles I.

The growth of the beard, as far as could be traced from portraits, and other remains of antiquity, never flourished more in England, than in the century preceding the Norman conquest. That of Edward the Confessor was remarkably large, as appears from his seal. After William took possession of the kingdom, beards became unfashionable, and were probably looked upon as badges of disloyalty, the Normans wearing only whiskers. It is said that the English spies took those invaders for an army of priests, on account of their appearing without beards. Granger. VOL. IV. No. 100.

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"We were admitted by an order Mr. Rogers had procured from the lord chamberlain, into the presence chamber, hung with rich tapestry, and the floor after the English fashion, strewed with hay (probably rushes) through which the queen commonly passes in her way to chapel: At the door stood a gentleman dressed in velvet, with a golden chain, whose office was to introduce to the queen any person of distinction, that came to wait on her: it was Sunday, when there is usually the greatest attendance of nobility. In the same hall were the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of London, a great number of counsellors of state, officers of the crown, and gentlemen, who waited the queen's coming out; which she did from her own apartment, when it was time to go to prayers, attended in the following manner:

"First went gentlemen, barons, earls, knights of the garter, all richly dressed and bare-headed; next came the chancellor, bearing the seals in a red silk purse, between two, one of which carried the royal scepter, the other the sword of state, in a red scabbard, studded with golden fleurs de lis, the point upwards: next came the queen, in the sixty-fifth year of her age, as we were told, very majestic; her face oblong, fair, but wrinkled; her eyes small, yet black and pleasant; her nose a little hooked; her lip, narrow, and her teeth black; (a defect the English seem subject to, from their too great use of sugar.) She had in her ears two pearls, with very rich drops, she wore false hair, and that red; upon her head she had a small crown, reported to be made of some of the gold of the celebrated Lunenbourg table: (at this distance of time, it is dificult to say what this was.) Her bosom was uncovered, as all the English ladies have it, till they marry; and she had on a necklace of exceeding fine jewels; her hands were small, her fingers long, and her stature neither tall nor low; her air was stately, her manner of speaking mild and obliging. That day she was dressed in white silk, bordered with pearls of the size of beans, and over it a mantle of black silk, shot with silver threads; her train was very long, the end of it borne by a marchioness; instead of a chain, she had an oblong collar of gold and jewels.

"As she went along in all this state and magnificence, she spoke very graciously, first to one, then to another, whether foreign mi. nisters or those who attended for different reasons, in English, French and Italian; for, besides being well skilled in Greek, Latin and the languages I have mentioned, she is mistress of Spanish, Scotch, and Dutch. Whoever speaks to her it is kneeling; now and then she raises some with her hand. While we were there, W. Slawata, a Bohemian baron, had letters to present to her; and she, after pulling off her glove, gave him her right hand to kiss, sparkling with rings and jewels, a mark of part cular favour. Wherever she turned her face, as she was going along, every body fell down on their knees.*

"The

• Her father had been treated with the same deference. It is men

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