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[Illustration: The House of Commons in the time of Sir Robert Walpole.
Wigs in Parliament.]
AT THE SIGN
OF THE BARBER'S POLE
STUDIES IN HIRSUTE HISTORY
BY
WILLIAM ANDREWS
AUTHOR OF "BYGONE ENGLAND"
ETC.
COTTINGHAM, YORKSHIRE
J.R. TUTIN
1904
PREFACE
Connected with the barber and his calling are many curiosities of
history. In the following pages, an attempt has been made, and I trust
not without success, to bring together notices of the more interesting
matters that gather round the man and his trade.
In the compilation of this little book many works have been consulted,
and among those which have yielded me the most information must be
mentioned the following:--
"Annals of the Barber-Surgeons of London," by Sidney Young, London,
1890.
"An Apology for the Beard," by Artium Magister, London, 1862.
"Barbers' Company," by G. Lambert, F.S.A., London, 1881.
"Barber-Surgeons and Chandlers," by D. Embleton, M.D.,
Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1891.
"Barber's Shop," by R.W. Proctor, edited by W.E.A. Axon,
Manchester, 1883.
"Philosophy of Beards," by T.S. Cowing, Ipswich.
"Some Account of the Beard and the Moustachio," by John Adey
Repton, F.S.A., London, 1839.
"Why Shave?" by H.M., London.
_Notes and Queries_, and other periodicals, as well as encyclopædias,
books on costume, and old plays, have been drawn upon, and numerous
friends have supplied me with information. I must specially mention with
gratitude Mr Everard Home Coleman, the well-known contributor to _Notes
and Queries_.
Some of my chapters have been previously published in the magazines, but
all have been carefully revised and additions have been made to them.
In conclusion, I hope this work will prove a welcome contribution to the
byways of history.
WILLIAM ANDREWS.
ROYAL INSTITUTION, HULL,
_August 11th_, 1904.
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE BARBER'S POLE 1
THE BARBER'S SHOP 8
SUNDAY SHAVING 21
FROM BARBER TO SURGEON 26
BYGONE BEARDS 33
TAXING THE BEARD 56
POWDERING THE HAIR 59
THE AGE OF WIGS 71
STEALING WIGS 93
THE WIG-MAKERS' RIOT 95
THE MOUSTACHE MOVEMENT 96
INDEX 117
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The House of Commons in the time of Sir Robert Walpole.
Wigs in Parliament _Frontispiece_
The Barber's Shop, from "Orbis Pictus" 3
A Barber's Shop in the time of Queen Elizabeth 10
William Shakespeare (the Stratford Portrait) 15
Henry VIII. receiving the Barber-Surgeons 29
Bayeux Tapestry 34
John Knox, born 1505, died 1572 37
John Taylor, the Water Poet, born 1580, died 1654 38
The Lord Mayor of York escorting Princess Margaret
through York in 1503. Shows the Beard of the Lord
Mayor 39
Beards in the Olden Time 42
The Gunpowder Conspirators, from a print published
immediately after the discovery. Shows the Beards in
Fashion in 1605 45
Geoffrey Chaucer, born about 1340, died 1400 52
Russian Beard Token, A.D. 1705 58
Egyptian Wig (probably for female), from the British
Museum 72
The Earl of Albemarle 78
Man with Wig and Muff, 1693 (_from a print of the period_) 80
Campaign Wig 81
Periwig with Tail 82
Ramillie Wig 83
Pig-tail Wig 84
Bag-Wig 84
Heart-Breakers 89
With and Without a Wig 90
Lord Mansfield 93
Stealing a Wig 94
George Frederick Muntz, M.P. 100
Charles Dickens, born 1812, died 1870 106
THE BARBER'S POLE
In most instances the old signs which indicated the callings of
shopkeepers have been swept away. Indeed, the three brass balls of the
pawn-broker and the pole of the barber are all that are left of signs of
the olden time. Round the barber's pole gather much curious fact and
fiction. So many suggestions have been put forth as to its origin and
meaning that the student of history is puzzled to give a correct
solution. One circumstance is clear: its origin goes back to far distant
times. An attempt is made in "The Athenian Oracle" (i. 334), to trace
the remote origin of the pole. "The barber's art," says the book, "was
so beneficial to the publick, that he who first brought it up in Rome
had, as authors relate, a statue erected to his memory. In England they
were in some sort the surgeons of old times, into whose art those
beautiful leeches, [Footnote: This is the old word for doctors or
surgeons.] our fair virgins, were also accustomed to be initiated. In
cities and corporate towns they still retain their name
Barber-Chirurgeons. They therefore used to hang their basons out upon
poles to make known at a distance to the weary and wounded traveller
where all might have recourse. They used poles, as some inns still
gibbet their signs, across a town." It is a doubtful solution of the
origin of the barber's sign.
[Illustration: The Barber's Shop, from "Orbis Pictus."]
A more satisfactory explanation is given in the "Antiquarian Repertory."
"The barber's pole," it is there stated, "has been the subject of many
conjectures, some conceiving it to have originated from the word poll or
head, with several other conceits far-fetched and as unmeaning; but the
true intention of the party coloured staff was to show that the master
of the shop practised surgery and could breathe a vein as well as mow a
beard: such a staff being to this day by every village practitioner put
in the hand of the patient undergoing the operation of phlebotomy. The
white band, which encompasses the staff, was meant to represent the
fillet thus elegantly twined about it." We reproduce a page from
"Comenii Orbis Pictus," perhaps better known under its English title of
the "Visible World." It is said to have been the first illustrated
school-book printed, and was published in 1658. Comenius was born in
1592, was a Moravian bishop, a famous educational reformer, and the
writer of many works, including the "Visible World: or a Nomenclature,
and Pictures of all the chief things that are in the World, and of Men's
Employments therein; in above an 150 Copper Cuts." Under each picture
are explanatory sentences in two columns, one in Latin, and the other in
English, and by this means the pupil in addition to learning Latin, was
able to gain much useful knowledge respecting industries and other
"chief things that are in the World." For a century this was the most
popular text-book in Europe, and was translated into not fewer than
fourteen languages. It has been described as a crude effort to interest
the young, and it was more like an illustrated dictionary than a child's
reading-book. In the picture of the interior of a barber's shop, a
patient is undergoing the operation of phlebotomy (figure 11). He holds
in his hand a pole or staff having a bandage twisted round it. It is
stated in Brand's "Popular Antiquities" that an illustration in a missal
of the time of Edward the First represents this ancient practice.
In a speech made in the House of Peers by Lord Thurlow, in support of
postponing the further reading of the Surgeons' Incorporation Bill, from
July 17th, 1797, to that day three months, the noble lord said that by a
statute still 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 surgeon's pole, 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.
A question is put in the _British Apollo_ (London, 1708):--
"... Why a barber at port-hole
Puts forth a party-coloured pole?"
This is the answer given:--
"In ancient Rome, when men lov'd fighting,
And wounds and scars took much delight in,
Man-menders then had noble pay,
Which we call surgeons to this day.
'Twas order'd that a hughe long pole,
With bason deck'd should grace the hole,
To guide the wounded, who unlopt
Could walk, on stumps the others hopt;
But, when they ended all their wars,
And men grew out of love with scars,
Their trade decaying; to keep swimming
They joyn'd the other trade of trimming,
And on their poles to publish either,
Thus twisted both their trades together."
During his residence at his living in the county of Meath, before he was
advanced to the deanery of St Patrick's, Dean Swift was daily shaved by
the village barber, who gained his esteem. The barber one morning, when
busy lathering Swift, said he had a great favour to ask his reverence,
adding that at the suggestion of his neighbours he had taken a small
public-house at the corner of the churchyard. He hoped that with the two
businesses he might make a better living for his family.
"Indeed," said the future Dean, "and what can I do to promote the happy
union?"
"And please you," said the barber, "some of our customers have heard
much about your reverence's poetry; so that, if you would but condescend
to give me a smart little touch in that way to clap under my sign, it
might be the making of me and mine for ever."
"But what do you intend for your sign?" inquired the cleric.
"The 'Jolly Barber,' if it please your reverence, with a razor in one
hand and a full pot in the other."
"Well," rejoined Swift, "in that case there can be no great difficulty
in supplying you with a suitable inscription." Taking up a pen he
instantly wrote the following couplet, which was duly painted on the
sign and remained there for many years:--
"Rove not from pole to pole, but step in here,
Where nought excels the shaving but--the beer."
Another barber headed his advertisement with a parody on a couplet from
Goldsmith as follows:--
"Man wants but little beard below,
Nor wants that little long."
A witty Parisian hairdresser on one of the Boulevards put up a sign
having on it a portrait of Absalom dangling by his hair from a tree, and
Joab piercing his body with a spear. Under the painting was the
following terse epigram:--
"Passans, contemplez le malheur
D'Absalom pendu par la nuque;
Il aurait évité ce malheur,
S'il eut porté une perruque."
The lines lose some of their piquancy when rendered into English as
follows:--
"The wretched Absalom behold,
Suspended by his flowing hair:
He might have 'scaped this hapless fate
Had he chosen a wig to wear."
THE BARBER'S SHOP
The old-fashioned barber has passed away. In years agone he was a
notable tradesman, and was a many-sided man of business, for he shaved,
cut hair, made wigs, bled, dressed wounds, and performed other offices.
When the daily papers were not in the hands of the people he retailed
the current news, and usually managed to scent the latest scandal, which
he was not slow to make known--in confidence, and in an undertone, of
course. He was an intelligent fellow, with wit as keen as his razor;
urbane, and having the best of tempers. It has been truthfully said of
this old-time tradesman that one might travel from pole to pole and
never encounter an ill-natured or stupid barber.
Long days are usually worked in the barber's shop, and many attempts
have been made to reduce the hours of labour. We must not forget that
compulsory early closing is by no means a new cry, as witness the
following edict, issued in the reign of Henry VI., by the Reading
Corporation: "Ordered that no barber open his shop to shave any man
after 10 o'clock at night from Easter to Michaelmas, or 9 o'clock from
Michaelmas to Easter, except it be any stranger or any worthy man of the
town that hath need: whoever doeth to the contrary to pay one thousand
tiles to the Guildhall."
[Illustration: A Barber's Shop in the Time of Queen Elizabeth.]
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the rich families from the country
thought it no disgrace in that simple age to lodge in Fleet Street, or
take rooms above some barber's shop. At this period, indeed, the
barber-surgeon was a man of considerable importance. His shop was the
gathering-place of idle gallants, who came to have their sword-wounds
dressed after street frays. The gittern, or guitar, lay on the counter,
and this was played by a customer to pass away the time until his turn
came to have his hair trimmed, his beard starched, his mustachios
curled, and his love-locks tied up. We give a picture of a barber's shop
at this period; the place appears more like a museum than an
establishment for conducting business. We get a word picture of a
barber's shop in Greene's "Quip for an Upstart Courtier," published in
1592. It is related that the courtier sat down in the throne of a chair,
and the barber, after saluting him with a low bow, would thus address
him: "Sir, will you have your worship's hair cut after the Italian
manner, short and round, and then frounst with the curling irons to make
it look like a half-moon in a mist; or like a Spaniard, long at the ears
and curled like to the two ends of an old cast periwig; or will you be
Frenchified with a love-lock down to your shoulders, whereon you may
wear your mistress's favour? The English cut is base, and gentlemen
scorn it; novelty is dainty. Speak the word, sir, my scissors are ready
to execute your worship's will." A couple of hours were spent in combing
and dressing the ambrosial locks of the young Apollo; then the barber's
basin was washed with camphor soap. At last the beard is reached, and
with another congee the barber asks if his worship would wish it to be
shaven; "whether he would have his peak cut short and sharp, and amiable
like an inamorato, or broad pendent like a spade, to be amorous as a
lover or terrible as a warrior and soldado; whether he will have his
crates cut low like a juniper bush, or his subercles taken away with a
razor; if it be his pleasure to have his appendices primed, or his
moustachios fostered to turn about his ears like vine tendrils, fierce
and curling, or cut down to the lip with the Italian lash?--and with
every question a snip of the scissors and a bow." If a poor man entered
the shop he was polled for twopence, and was soon trimmed around like a
cheese, and dismissed with scarce a "God speed you."
The Puritans looked askance at the fashions introduced by the barbers.
No wonder when the talk in the shop was about the French cut, the
Spanish cut, the Dutch and the Italian mode; the bravado fashion, and
the mean style. In addition to these were the gentleman's cut, the
common cut, the Court cut, and county cut. "And," wrote Stubbes with
indignation, "they have other kinds of cuts innumerable, and, therefore,
when you come to be trimmed they will ask you whether you will be cut to
look terrible to your enemy, or amiable to your friend; grim and stern
in countenance, or pleasant and demure; for they have diverse kinds of
cuts for all these purposes, or else they lie! Then when they have done
all their feats, it is a world to consider how their mowchatows must be
preserved and laid out from one cheek to another; yea, almost from one
ear to another, and turned up like two horns towards the forehead.
Besides that, when they come to the cutting of the hair, 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 foam
that riseth of the balls (for they have their sweet balls wherewith they
use to wash), your eyes closed must be anointed therewith also. Then
snap go the fingers full bravely, God wot. Thus this tragedy ended,
comes the warm clothes to wipe and dry him withall; next the ears must
be picked, and closed together again, artificially, forsooth! The hair
of the nostrils cut away, and everything done in order, comely to
behold. The last action in the tragedy is the payment of money; and lest
these cunning barbers might seem unconscionable in asking much for their
pains, they are of such a shameful modesty as they will ask nothing at
all, but, standing to the courtesy and liberality of the giver, they
will receive all that comes, how much soever it be, not giving any
again, I warrant you; for take a barber with that fault, and strike off
his head. No, no; such fellows are rarae aves in terris, nigrisque
simillimæ cygnis--rare birds on the earth, and as scarce as black swans.
You shall have also your fragrant waters for your face, wherewith you
shall be all besprinkled; your musick again, and pleasant harmony shall
sound in your ears, and all to tickle the same with rare delight, and in
the end your cloak shall be brushed, and 'God be with you, gentlemen!'"
John Gay issued in 1727 the first series of his "Fables," and in the one
entitled "The Goat Without a Beard" we get a description of the barber's
shop of the period:--
"His pole, with pewter basins hung,
Black, rotten teeth in order strung,
Rang'd cups that in the window stood,
Lin'd with red rags, to look like blood,
Did well his threefold trade explain,
Who shav'd, drew teeth, and breath'd a vein."
The wooden chair is next referred to, and then it is stated:--
"Mouth, nose, and cheeks, the lather hides:
Light, smooth, and swift, the razor glides."
Old barbers' shops had their regulations in poetry and prose. Forfeits
used to be enforced for breaches of conduct as laid down in laws which
were exhibited in a conspicuous manner, and might be read while the
customer was awaiting his turn for attention at the hands of the knight
of the razor. Forfeits had to be paid for such offences as the
following:--
For handling the razors,
For talking of cutting throats,
For calling hair-powder flour,
For meddling with anything on the shop-board.
Shakespeare alludes to this custom in "Measure for Measure," Act v. sc.
1, as follows:--
"The strong statutes
Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop,
As much in mock as mark."
[Illustration: William Shakespeare (the Stratford Portrait).]
Half a century ago there was hanging a code of laws in a barber's shop
in Stratford-on-Avon, which the possessor mounted when he was an
apprentice some fifty years previously. His master was in business as a
barber at the time of the Garrick Jubilee in 1769, and he asserted that
the list of forfeits was generally acknowledged by all the fraternity to
have been in use for centuries. The following lines have found their
way into several works, including Ingledew's "Ballads and Songs of
Yorkshire" (1860). In some collections the lines are headed "Rules for
Seemly Behaviour," and in others "The Barber of Thirsk's Forfeits." We
draw upon Dr Ingledew for the following version, which is the best we
have seen:--
"First come, first served--then come not late,
And when arrived keep your sate;
For he who from these rules shall swerve
Shall pay his forfeit--so observe.
"Who enters here with boots and spurs
Must keep his nook, for if he stirs
And gives with arm'd heel a kick,
A pint he pays for every prick.
"Who rudely takes another's turn
By forfeit glass--may manners learn;
Who reverentless shall swear or curse
Must beg seven ha'pence from his purse.
"Who checks the barber in his tale,
Shall pay for that a gill of yale;
Who will or cannot miss his hat
Whilst trimming pays a pint for that.
"And he who can but will not pay
Shall hence be sent half-trimmed away;
For will he--nill he--if in fault,
He forfeit must in meal or malt.
"But mark, the man who is in drink
Must the cannikin, oh, never, never clink."
The foregoing table of forfeits was published by Dr Kenrick in his
review of Dr Johnson's edition of Shakespeare in 1765, and it was stated
that he had read them many years before in a Yorkshire town. This matter
has been discussed at some length in _Notes and Queries_, and it is
asserted that the foregoing is a forgery. Some interesting comments on
the controversy appeared in the issue of March 20th, 1869.
Women barbers in the olden time were by no means uncommon in this
country, and numerous accounts are given of the skilful manner they
handled the razor. When railways were unknown and travellers went by
stage-coach it took a considerable time to get from one important town
to another, and shaving operations were often performed during the
journey, and were usually done by women. In the byways of history we
meet with allusions to "the five women barbers who lived in Drury-lane,"
who are said to have shamefully maltreated a woman in the days of
Charles II. According to Aubrey, the Duchess of Albemarle was one of
them.
At the commencement of the nineteenth century a street near the Strand
was the haunt of black women who shaved with ease and dexterity. In St
Giles'-in-the-Fields was another female shaver, and yet another woman
wielder of the razor is mentioned in the "Topography of London," by J.T.
Smith. "On one occasion," writes Smith, "that I might indulge the humour
of being shaved by a woman, I repaired to the Seven Dials, where in
Great St Andrew's Street a female performed the operations, whilst her
husband, a strapping soldier in the Horse Guards, sat smoking his pipe."
He mentions another woman barber in Swallow Street.
Two men from Hull some time ago went by an early morning trip to
Scarborough, and getting up rather late the use of the razor was
postponed until they arrived at the watering-place. Shortly after
leaving the station they entered a barber's shop. A woman lathered their
faces, which operation, although skilfully performed, caused surprise
and gave rise to laughter. They fully expected a man would soon appear
to complete the work, but they were mistaken. The female took a piece of
brown paper from a shelf, and with this she held with her left hand the
customer's nose, and in an artistic manner shaved him with her right
hand. Some amusement was experienced, but the operation was finished
without an accident. The gentlemen often told the story of their shave
at Scarborough by a woman barber.
At Barnard Castle a wife frequently shaved the customers at the shop
kept by her husband, who was often drunk and incapable of doing his
work. Louth (Lincolnshire) boasted a female barber, who is said to have
shaved lightly and neatly, and much better than most men.
Many stories, which are more or less true, are related respecting
barbers. The following is said to be authentic, and we give it as
related to us. The Duke of C---- upon one occasion entered a small
barber's shop in Barnard Castle, and upon inquiring for the master was
answered by an apprentice of fourteen that he was not at home. "Can you
shave, then?" asked the duke. "Yes, sir, I always do," was the reply.
"But can you shave without cutting?" "Yes, sir, I'll try," answered the
youth. "Very well," said the duke, while seating himself, and loading
his pistol; "but look here, if you let any blood, as true as I sit here
I'll blow your brains out! Now consider well before you begin." After a
moment's reflection, the boy began to make ready, and said, "I'm not
afraid of cutting you, sir," and in a short time had completed the feat
without a scratch, to the complete satisfaction of the duke. In gentle
tones his grace asked, "Were you not afraid of having your brains blown
out, when you might have cut me so easily?"
"No, sir, not at all; because I thought that as soon as I should happen
to let any blood, before you could have time to fire I would cut your
throat."
The smart reply won from the duke a handsome reward. It need scarcely to
be added he never resumed his dangerous threats in a barber's shop. A
lesson was taught him for life.
The barber of an English king boasted, says a story, that he must be the
most loyal man in the realm, as he had every day the regal throat at his
mercy. The king was startled at the observation, and concluded that the
barbarous idea could never have entered an honest head, and for the
future he resolved to grow a beard as a precautionary measure against
summary execution.
With a barber's shop in Lichfield is associated an amusing story, in
which the chief figure was Farquhar, a dramatist, who attained a measure
of success in the eighteenth century. His manner was somewhat pompous,
and he resented with a great show of indignation the dalliance of the
master of the shop. Whilst he was fuming, a little deformed man came up
to him and performed the operation satisfactorily. The same day Farquhar
was dining at the table of Sir Theophilus Biddulph, when he noticed the
dwarf there. Taking the opportunity of following his host out of the
room, he asked for an explanation of his conduct, and said that he
deemed it an insult to be seated in such inferior company. Amazed at the
charge, Sir Theophilus assured the dramatist that every one of the
guests was a gentleman, and that they were his particular friends.
Farquhar was not satisfied. "I am certain," he said, "that the little
humpbacked man who sat opposite me is a barber who shaved me this
morning." The host returned to the room and related the story which he
had just heard. "Ay, yes," replied the guest, who was a well-born
gentleman, "I can make the matter clear. It was I who was in the
barber's shop this morning, and as Farquhar seemed in such a hurry, and
the barber was out, I shaved him."
The works of the old dramatists and other publications contain allusions
to barbers' music. It was the practice, as we have said, when a
customer was waiting for his turn in a barber's shop to pass his time
playing on the gittern. Dekker mentions a "barber's cittern for every
serving-man to play upon." Writing in 1583, Stubbes alludes to music at
the barber's shop. In the "Diary of Samuel Pepys" we read: "After supper
my Lord called for the lieutenant's cittern, and with two candlesticks
with money in them for symballs, we made barber's music, with which my
lord was well pleased." "My Lord was easily satisfied," says a
well-known contributor to _Punch_, "and in our day would probably have
enjoyed 'the horgans.'" We may rest assured that barber's music was of
questionable melody.
SUNDAY SHAVING
In bygone England, the churchyard was a common place for holding fairs
and the vending of merchandise, and it was also customary for barbers to
shave their customers there. In 1422, by a particular prohibition of
Richard Flemmyng, Bishop of Lincoln, the observance of the custom was
restrained.
The regulations of the Gild of Barber-Surgeons of York deal with Lord's
Day observance. In 1592 a rule was made, ordering, under a fine of ten
shillings, "that none of the barbers shall work or keep open their shop
on Sunday, except two Sundays next or before the assize weeks." Another
law on the question was made in 1676 as follows:--"This court, taking
notice of several irregular and unreasonable practices committed by the
Company of Barber-Surgeons within this city in shaving, trimming, and
cutting of several strangers' as well as citizens' hair and faces on the
Lord's Day, which ought to be kept sacred, it is ordered by the whole
consent of this court, and if any brother of the said Company shall at
any time hereafter either by himself, servant, or substitute, tonse,
barb, or trim any person on the Lord's Day, in any Inn or other public
or private house or place, or shall go in or out of any such house or
place on the said day with instruments used for that purpose, albeit the
same cannot be positively proved, or made appear, but in case the Lord
Mayor for the time being shall upon good circumstances consider and
adjudge any such brother to have trimmed or barbed as is aforesaid, that
then any such offender shall forfeit and pay for every such offence
10s., one half to the Lord Mayor, and the other to the use of the said
Company, unless such brother shall voluntarily purge himself by oath to
the contrary; and the searchers of the said Company for the time being
are to make diligent search in all such as aforesaid public or private
places for discovery of such offenders."
The following abstract of an order of the Barber-Surgeons of Chester
shows that the members of the Company were strict Sabbatarians:--
"1680, seconde of July, ordered that no member of the Company or his
servant or apprentice shall trim any person on the Lord's Day commonly
called Sunday."
In the Corporation records of Pontefract under the year 1700 it is
stated: "Whereas divers complaints have been made that the barbers of
the said borough do frequently and openly use and exercise their
respective trades upon the Lord's Day in profanation thereof, and to the
high displeasure of Almighty God. To prevent such evil practices for the
future it is therefore ordered that no barber shall ... use or exercise
the trade of a barber within the borough of Pontefract upon the Lord's
Day, commonly called Sunday, nor shall trim or shave any person upon
that day, either publicly or privately." We have in the last clause an
indication of public shaving performed in the churchyard or the market
place.
The churchwardens of Worksop parish, Nottinghamshire, in 1729 paid
half-a-crown for a bond in which the barbers bound themselves "not to
shave on Sundays in the morning."
At a meeting of the barber-surgeons of Newcastle-on-Tyne held in 1742 it
was ordered that no one should shave on a Sunday, and that "no brother
should shave John Robinson till he pays what he owes to Robert Shafto."
The operation was in bygone Scotland pronounced sinful if performed on a
Sunday. Members of congregations are entitled to object to the
settlement of ministers, says the Rev. Dr Charles Rogers, provided they
can substantiate any charge affecting their life or doctrine. Mr
Davidson, presentee to Stenton in 1767, and Mr Edward Johnstone,
presentee to Moffat in 1743, were objected to for desecrating the
Sabbath by shaving on that day. The settlement of Mr Johnstone was
delayed four years, so persistent were the objectors in maintaining what
they regarded as the proper observance of the Sabbath.
The Rev. Patrick Brontë, father of the famous novelists, was Perpetual
Curate of Thornton in Bradford Dale, from 1815 to 1820. Although a sense
of decency was sadly deficient among the majority of the inhabitants of
the district, they kept watch on the clergy, and were ever ready to make
known to the world their presumed as well as their real offences and
failings. The mistakes of some of them are well illustrated in an
anecdote related by Mr Abraham Holroyd, a well-known collector of local
lore. When Mr Brontë resided at Thornton it was rumoured in the village
that he had been seen by a Dissenter, through a chamber window, shaving
himself on a Sunday morning, which was considered to be a very serious
disregard of the obligation of Sabbath observance on the part of a
clergyman. Mrs Ackroyd, a lady residing in the parish, had an interview
with Mr Brontë on the subject. On his hearing what she had to say, he
observed: "I should like you to keep what I say in your family; but I
never shaved myself in all my life, or was ever shaved by any one else.
I have so little beard that a little clipping every three months is all
that is necessary."
Occasionally, at the present day, barbers are brought before the
magistrates for working on Sunday. They are summoned under an old Act of
Charles II., for shaving on the Lord's Day. The maximum fine is five
shillings, and the costs of a case cannot be recovered from the
defendant. Generally the local hairdressers' association institutes the
action.
FROM BARBER TO SURGEON
From the ancient but humble position of the barber is evolved the
surgeon of modern times. Perhaps some members of the medical profession
would like to ignore the connection, but it is too true to be omitted
from the pages of history. The calling of a barber is of great
antiquity. We find in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (v. 1) allusions
to the Jewish custom of the barber shaving the head as a sign of
mourning. In the remote past the art of surgery and the trade of barber
were combined. It is clear that in all parts of the civilised world, in
bygone times, the barber acted as a kind of surgeon, or, to state his
position more precisely, he practised phlebotomy, the dressing of
wounds, etc. Their shops were general in Greece about 420 B.C.,
and then, as now, were celebrated as places where the gossips met.
Barbers settled in Rome from Sicily in B.C. 299.
The clergy up to about the twelfth century had the care of men's bodies
as well as their souls, and practised surgery and medicine. Barbers
gained much experience from the monks, whom they assisted in surgical
operations. The practice of surgery involved the shedding of blood, and
it was felt that this was incompatible with the functions of the
clergy. After much consideration and discussion, in 1163, the Council of
Tours, under Pope Alexander III., forbade the clergy to act as surgeons,
but they were permitted to dispense medicine.
The Edict of Tours must have given satisfaction to the barbers, and they
were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunities the change
afforded them. In London, and it is to be feared in other places, the
barbers advertised their blood-letting in a most objectionable manner.
It was customary to put blood in their windows to attract the attention
of the public. An ordinance was passed in 1307 directing the barbers in
London to have the blood "privately carried into the Thames under the
pain of paying two shillings to the use of the Sheriffs."
At an early period in London the barbers were banded together, and a
gild was formed. In the first instance it seems that the chief object
was the bringing together of the members at religious observances. They
attended the funerals and obits of deceased members and their wives.
Eventually it was transformed into a semi-social and religious gild, and
subsequently became a trade gild. In 1308 Richard le Barber, the first
master of the Barbers' Company, was sworn at the Guildhall, London. As
time progressed the London Company of Barbers increased in importance.
In the first year of the reign of Edward IV. (1462) the barbers were
incorporated by a Royal Charter, and it was confirmed by succeeding
monarchs.
A change of title occurred in 1540, and it was then named the Company of
Barber-Surgeons. Holbein painted a picture of Henry VIII. and the
Barber-Surgeons. The painting is still preserved, and may be seen at the
Barber-Surgeons' Hall, Monkwell Street, London. Pepys pronounces this
"not a pleasant though a good picture." It is the largest and last work
of Holbein.
The date assigned for its commencement was 1541, and it was completed
after the death of the artist in 1543. It is painted on vertical oak
boards, 5 ft. 11 in. high, and 10 ft. 2 in. long. It has been slightly
altered since it was delivered to the Barber-Surgeons. The figures
represent notable men belonging to the company and leaders of the
healing art of the period at which it was painted.
[Illustration: Henry VIII. receiving the Barber-Surgeons.]
In the reign of Henry VIII., not a few disputes occurred between the
barbers and the surgeons. The following enactment was in force: "No
person using any shaving or barbery in London shall occupy any surgery,
letting of blood, or other matter, except of drawing teeth." Laws were
made, but they could not, or at all events were not, enforced. The
barbers acted often as surgeons, and the surgeons increased their
income by the use of the razor and shears. At this period, however,
vigorous attempts were made to confine each to his legitimate work.
The Rev. J.L. Saywell has a note on bleeding in his "History and Annals
of Northallerton" (1885). "Towards the early part of the nineteenth
century," observes Mr Saywell, "a singular custom prevailed in the town
and neighbourhood of Northallerton (Yorkshire). In the spring of the
year nearly all the robust male adults, and occasionally females,
repaired to a surgeon to be bled--a process which they considered
essentially conduced to vigorous health." The charge for this operation
was one shilling.
Parliament was petitioned, in 1542, praying that surgeons might be
exempt from bearing arms and serving on juries, and thus be enabled
without hindrance to attend to their professional duties. The request
was granted, and to the present time medical men enjoy the privileges
granted so long ago.
In 1745, the surgeons and the barbers were separated by Act of
Parliament. The barber-surgeons lingered for a long time, the last in
London, named Middleditch, of Great Suffolk Street, Southwark, only
dying in 1821. Mr John Timbs, the popular writer, left on record that he
had a vivid recollection of Middleditch's dentistry.
Over the last resting-places of some barber-surgeons are curious
epitaphs. At Tewkesbury Abbey one in form of an acrostic is as
follows:--
"Here lyeth the body of Thomas Merrett, of Tewkesbury,
Barber-chirurgeon, who departed this life the 22nd day of October
1699.
=T=hough only Stone Salutes the reader's eye,
=H=ere (in deep silence) precious dust doth lye,
=O=bscurely Sleeping in Death's mighty store,
=M=ingled with common earth till time's no more.
=A=gainst Death's Stubborne laws, who dares repine,
=S=ince So much Merrett did his life resigne.
=M=urmurs and Tears are useless in the grave,
=E=lse hee whole Vollies at his Tomb might have.
=R=est in Peace; who like a faithful steward,
=R=epair'd the Church, the Poore and needy cur'd;
=E=ternall mansions do attend the Just,
=T=o clothe with Immortality their dust,
=T=ainted (whilst under ground) with wormes and rust."
Under the shadow of the ancient church of Bakewell, Derbyshire, is a
stone containing a long inscription to the memory of John Dale,
barber-surgeon, and his two wives, Elizabeth Foljambe and Sarah
Bloodworth. It ends thus:--
"Know posterity, that on the 8th of April, in the year of grace
1757, the rambling remains of the above John Dale were, in the 86th
yeare of his pilgrimage, laid upon his two wives.
This thing in life might raise some jealousy,
Here all three lie together lovingly,
But from embraces here no pleasure flows,
Alike are here all human joys and woes;
Here Sarah's chiding John no longer hears,
And old John's rambling Sarah no more fears;
A period's come to all their toylsome lives
The good man's quiet; still are both his wives."
BYGONE BEARDS
The history of the beard presents many items of interest connected with
our own and other countries. Its importance belongs more to the past
than to the present, but even to-day its lore is of a curious character.
We find in Leviticus xiii. 29, the earliest mention of our theme, where
Moses gives directions for the treatment of a plague in the beard, and a
little later he forbids the Israelites to "mar the corners" of it.
David, himself bearded, tells us that Aaron possessed one going down to
the skirts of his garments. In David's reign ambassadors were sent to
the King of Ammon, who, treating them as spies, cut off half of each of
their beards. We are told that they were greatly ashamed, and David sent
out to meet them, saying, "Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown,
and then return." To shave off the beard was considered by the Jews as a
mark of the deepest grief.
[Illustration: Bayeux Tapestry.
The above picture, showing two soldiers of William the Conqueror's army,
is taken from the celebrated Bayeux tapestry.]
To turn to the annals of our own land, we find that the ancient Britons
did not cultivate the beard. The Saxons wore the hair of the head long,
and upon the upper lip, but the chin was clean shaven. Harold, in his
progress towards the fateful field of Hastings, sent spies in advance to
obtain an idea as to the strength of the enemy. On their return they
stated among other things that "the host did almost seem to be priests,
because they had all their face and both their lips shaven," a statement
borne out by the representations of the Norman soldiers in the Bayeux
tapestry. It is recorded that when the haughty victors had divided the
broad lands of England among themselves, and when the Englishmen had
been made to feel that they were a subdued and broken nation, the
conquered people still kept up the old fashion of growing their hair
long, so that they might resemble as little as possible their cropped
and shaven masters.
Julius II., who ascended the Papal throne in 1503, was the first Pope to
allow his beard to grow, "in order," as he said, "to inspire the
greater respect among the faithful." A curious custom of the Middle Ages
was that of imbedding three hairs from the king's beard in the wax of
the seal, in order to give greater solemnity to the document. Another
instance of the value placed on this adornment of nature by some nations
comes to us in the story of the Eastern potentate to whom the King of
England had sent a man without a beard as his ambassador. The Eastern
monarch flew into a passion when the beardless visitor was presented.
"Had my master measured wisdom by the beard," was the ready retort, "he
would have sent a goat."
It is said that beards came into fashion in England in the thirteenth
century, but by the nineteenth century they seem to have been given up
by those holding leading positions in the land. Traces of beards do not
appear on monumental brasses. A revival of the practice of wearing the
beard occurred in the reign of Henry VIII., and in some quarters
attempts were made to repress it. The authorities at Lincoln's Inn
prohibited lawyers wearing beards from sitting at the great table,
unless they paid double commons; but it is highly probable that this was
before 1535, when the king ordered his courtiers to "poll their hair,"
and permit the crisp beard to grow. Taxing beards followed, and the
amount was graduated according to the condition of the person wearing
this hirsute adornment. An entry has often been reproduced from the
Burghmote Book of Canterbury, made in the second year of the reign of
Edward VI., to the effect that the Sheriff of Canterbury and another
paid their dues for wearing beards, 3s. 4d. and 1s. 8d. During the next
reign, Queen Mary does not appear to have meddled with the beard. She
sent four agents to Moscow, and all were bearded; one of the number,
George Killingworth, had an unusually long one, measureing 5ft. 2in. in
length, the sight of which caused a smile to light up the face of Ivan
the Terrible. It is described as a thick, broad, and yellow beard, and
we are told that Ivan played with it after dinner as if it were a new
toy. When Sir Thomas More laid his head on the block he carefully put
his beard aside, saying, "It hath done no treason." John Knox (born 1505
and died 1572), the famous Scottish reformer, whose name figures so
largely in the religious annals of his country, was remarkable for the
length of his beard. The Rev. John More was a native of Yorkshire, and
after being educated at Cambridge settled at Norwich. He was one of the
worthiest clergymen in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and gained the name
of "the Apostle of Norwich." His beard was the largest and longest of
any Englishman of his time. He used to give as his reason for wearing
his beard of unusual size "that no act of his life might be unworthy of
the gravity of his appearance." He died at Norwich in 1592.
[Illustration: John Knox, born 1505, died 1572.]
[Illustration: John Taylor, the Water Poet, born 1580, died 1654.]
In the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth an attempt was made to
add to the revenue by taxing at the rate of 3s. 4d. every beard of above
a fortnight's growth. It was an abortive measure, and was not taken
seriously. It was never enforced, and people laughed at the Legislature
for attempting to raise money by means of the beard. In Elizabeth's
reign it was considered a mark of fashion to dye the beard and to cut
it into a variety of shapes. In the reigns of the first James and the
first Charles these forms attracted not a little attention from the
poets of the period. The rugged lines of Taylor, "the Water Poet," are
among the best known, and if not of great poetical merit, they show
considerable descriptive skill, and enable us to realise the fashions of
his day. In his "Superbiæ Flagellum," he describes a great variety of
beards in his time, but omitted his own, which is that of a screw:--
"Now a few lines to paper I will put,
Of men's beards strange, and variable cut,
In which there's some that take as vain a pride
As almost in all other things beside;
Some are reap'd most substantial like a brush,
Which makes a nat'rel wit known by the bush;
And in my time of some men I have heard,
Whose wisdom have been only wealth and Beard;
Many of these the proverb well doth fit,
Which says, bush natural, more hair than wit:
Some seem, as they were starched stiff and fine,
Like to the bristles of some angry swine;
And some to set their love's desire on edge,
Are cut and prun'd like a quickset hedge;
Some like a spade, some like a fork, some square,
Some round, some mow'd like stubble, some stark bare;
Some sharp, stiletto fashion, dagger-like,
That may with whisp'ring, a man's eyes outpike;
Some with the hammer cut, or roman T,
Their Beards extravagant, reform'd 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, oval, round,
And rules geometrical in Beards are found."
[Illustration: Lord Mayor of York escorting Princess Margaret through
York in 1503. Shows the Beard of the Lord Mayor.]
Some curious lines appear in "Satirical Songs and Poems on Costume,"
edited by Frederick W. Fairholt, F.S.A., printed for the Percy Society,
1849. The piece which is entitled "The Ballad of the Beard," is
reprinted from a collection of poems, entitled "Le Prince d'Amour,"
1660, but it is evidently a production of the time of Charles I., if not
earlier. "The varied form of the beard," says Fairholt, "which
characterised the profession of each wearer, is amusingly descanted on,
and is a curious fact in the chronicle of male fashions, during the
first half of the seventeenth century." Taylor, the Water Poet, has
alluded to the custom at some length; and other writers of the day have
so frequently mentioned the same thing, as to furnish materials for a
curious (privately-printed) pamphlet, by J.A. Repton, F.S.A., on the
various forms of the beard and mustachio. The beard, like "the Roman T,"
mentioned in the following ballad, is exhibited in our cut--Fig. 1--from
a portrait of G. Raigersperg, 1649, in Mr Repton's book.
[Illustration: Beards in the Olden Time]
The stiletto-beard, as worn by Sir Edward Coke, is seen in Fig. 2. The
needle-beard was narrower and more pointed. The soldier's, or
spade-beard, Fig. 3, is from a Dutch portrait, also in Mr Repton's book.
The stubble, or close-cropped beard of a judge, requires no pictorial
illustration. The bishop's-beard, Fig. 4, is given in Randle Holme's
"Heraldry." He calls it "the broad, or cathedral-beard, because bishops,
and grave men of the church, anciently did wear such beards." "The beard
of King Harry may be seen in any portrait of Henry VIII. and the amusing
accuracy of the description tested. The clown's beard, busy and not
subject to any fashionable trimming, is sufficiently described in the
words of the song." We quote nearly the whole of this old ballad, in
fact all that has a real bearing on the subject of the beard:--
"The beard, thick or thin, on the lip or chin,
Doth dwell so near the tongue,
That her silence on the beard's defence
May do her neighbour wrong.
Now a beard is a thing that commands in a king,
Be his sceptres ne'er so fair:
Where the beard bears 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 thatcht face is a comely grace,
And a shelter from the cold.
When the piercing north comes thundering forth,
Let barren face beware;
For a trick it will find, with a razor of wind,
To shave the face that's bare.
But there's many a nice and strange device,
That doth the beard disgrace;
But he that is in such a foolish sin,
Is a traitor to his face.
Now the beards there be of such a company,
And fashions such a throng,
That it is very hard to handle a beard,
Tho' it never be so long.
The Roman T, in its bravery,
Doth first itself disclose,
But so high it turns, that oft it burns
With the flames of a too red nose.
The stiletto-beard, oh! it makes me afeared,
It is so sharp beneath,
For he that doth place a dagger in 's face,
What wears he in his sheath?
But, methinks, I do itch to go thro' stich
The needle-beard to amend,
Which, without any wrong, I may call too long,
For man can see no end.
The soldier's-beard doth march in shear'd
In figure like a spade,
With which he'll make his enemies quake,
And think their graves are made.