dismissed for not being clean shaven. Contractors, as a rule, we should
regard as being the least particular of any class of employers about
the personal appearance of their servants. Yet we have it on reliable
authority that a trusted superintendent of one of the great contractors
served the firm in Russia, and there cultivated the beard and moustache.
On his return to England he displayed no disposition to resume the use
of the razor. The head contractor grew alarmed at the terrible example
he was setting those engaged in the office, and insisted that the
adornment should be cut off, which was done. The poor fellow caught
cold, and in a few days died.
[Illustration: Charles Dickens, born 1812, died 1870.]
An important firm of timber merchants in Hull made it a condition that
any clerks employed by them should be clean shaven. This rule was
strictly enforced until the firm closed its career a few years ago.
Mr Serjeant Robinson, in his interesting and informing volume, "Bench
and Bar Reminiscences" (London, 1889), deals with the legal aspect of
our theme. He says for many years anterior to 1860 scarcely a beard, and
certainly not even a downy symptom of a moustache, was to be seen on the
face of a practising barrister. Towards the close of the first half of
the nineteenth century a quiet, gentlemanly, well-informed barrister,
named Brierley, used to attend the Central Criminal Court, wearing a
long flowing beard and a thick moustache. These hirsute adornments gave
offence to the leaders who regularly attended the sessions. No other
exception could be taken to him. A meeting of the senior Bar was held,
and he was summoned to attend. He was called upon to defend his action.
Instead of denying the jurisdiction of the tribunal that was to judge
him, he recognised the enormity of his crime, and excused himself on the
ground of a serious affection of the throat, and stated that it was
under urgent medical advice that he was induced to transgress the
unwritten ordinances of the Bar. Despite the reasonableness of the plea,
a small majority passed upon him a vote of censure for subjecting the
Bar to general ridicule by his extravagant physiognomy. "This was," says
Mr Serjeant Robinson, "the worst that could befall him, for of course he
could not be prevented from coming within the sacred precincts of the
court, nor from taking his seat at the Bar table. The only means of
carrying out the resolution was by sending him to Coventry. But he did
not give them the opportunity of executing it, for he seldom appeared
afterwards. It is not known what became of this barrister after he had
been driven from practising his profession in the courts."
Several old laws regulated wearing the beard in the bygone times. In the
reign of Queen Elizabeth a decree went forth that no barrister should
appear in court with a beard of more than a fortnight's growth.
Barristers with beards and moustaches are not much less common at the
present time than those without them. This is no doubt the result of the
martial order which passed over the country at the introduction of the
Volunteer movement. The moustache was regarded as indispensable to the
military appearance of the citizen soldier.
Old illustrated books relating to the worthies of the Church often
contain portraits of divines with flowing beards and moustaches. In
modern times the cultivation of these adornments of the face has given
rise to not a little discussion in Church circles. Early in 1861 the
newspapers criticised the charge of the Bishop of Rochester, which
included a denunciation of the development of beards and moustaches
among the clergymen of his diocese. The writing in the press for and
against the facial adornment had little point, but it gave rise to more
than one book dealing with the subject. An author issued "An Apology
for the Beard; addressed to men in general, and to the clergy in
particular" (London, 1862). The Bible and other books are quoted against
shaving. James Ward, R.A., the celebrated animal painter, produced in
book form a "Defence of the Beard." He dealt with his subject on
scriptural grounds, and gave eighteen reasons why man was bound to grow
a beard unless he was indifferent as to offending his Creator and good
taste. Mr. Ward asked, "What would a Jupiter be without a beard? Who
would countenance the idea of a shaved Christ?" The artist set an
example to others by adopting the beard when it was not popular. On the
title-page of another work was declared: "A Breach of the Sabbath, and a
Hindrance to the Spread of the Gospel." The writer designated himself
"Theologos." If his views were carried out, it would lead to the
practice which prevailed among the Essenes, who never did on the Sabbath
anything that was customary for them to do on other days. The High
Church clergymen use the razor, and as a rule the moustache is
discarded. For some time not a few of the clergy in the lower ranks
joined the moustache movement, but it was not until 1889 that a bishop
was included. The late Bishop Ryle, of Liverpool, was the first to give
up in modern times the use of the razor. Quite a sensation was caused
towards the close of 1892 when it became known that the Archbishop of
York did not approve of the moustache among his clergy. In several
quarters the barber was visited, and the cherished moustache and beard
swept away, it is said, to please the head of the Church in the Northern
Province. Not so with a moustached candidate for Orders from Hull. He
had been spending two or three days at Bishopthorpe before ordination,
but gentle hints failed to induce him to make a clean shave. As a final
effort the chaplain of the Archbishop asked him if he thought it was not
time he cut off his moustache. He replied that he did not think of doing
so, and asked why he should. "Well," said the chaplain, "you see the
saints in the stained glass windows have not any moustaches." "That may
be so," said the candidate, "but as I am not intended to be a saint and
stuck in a window, I mean my moustache to remain."
Speaking at a reunion of the Leeds Clergy School held on June 6th, 1899,
Dr Eden, the Bishop of Wakefield, said he recently noticed a paragraph
in the newspapers which said that the Bishop of Wakefield had given it
out that he was very much against the clergy wearing moustaches. "After
a little while this legend increased in definiteness, and the next
paragraph I saw was that the Bishop of Wakefield had 'commanded' the
curates of his diocese to shave clean. A little while after that I took
up a London paper, and I saw it stated: 'The Bishop of Wakefield has
joined the anti-moustache brigade, and we believe he has the sympathy of
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.' I waited a little longer, for I
felt sure something more would come, and then I took up another paper
and found that an exceedingly respected Prebendary of St Paul's in
London had been uttering remarks, either in public or to the
reporters--I don't know which--in which he held up the Bishop of
Wakefield as being one of those foolish people who had largely exceeded
their episcopal powers. I was given a very round lecture upon the
contrast of my conduct with that of my predecessor, who would never have
thought of issuing such a foolish order to the curates to shave their
moustaches. The curates were recommended to do nothing of the kind, but
a fear was expressed that a large number of them would probably comply
with the demand. Still that was not quite the end of the legend; I had
of course a great deal of private correspondence arising out of this
newspaper paragraph, but only the other day I heard--I have not seen
it--that a cartoon has appeared in a London paper in which the Bishop of
Wakefield is represented with a drawn razor in his hand in full cry
after a Wakefield curate with a moustache. That is a very good example
of finding the truth about yourselves in the newspapers, for I have the
most astounding fact of all to tell you, and that is that I have never
said a single word about moustaches from first to last. I knew you would
forgive me making this little personal reference because it is not
personal to myself and to many of those in this tent."
A former Bishop of Wakefield, Dr Walsham How, related a good story. "The
vicar of an East London parish," said the bishop, "was one of the first
London clergymen to grow his beard. The then Bishop of London wished to
stop the practice, and, as he was going to confirm in that church, sent
his chaplain to the vicar to ask him to shave it off, saying he should
otherwise select another church for the Confirmation. The vicar replied
that he was quite willing to take his candidates to another church, and
would give out next Sunday the reason for the change. Of course the
bishop retracted."
We are told in the "Life of R.W. Dale" (London, 1898) that this famous
Birmingham preacher, about 1860, was clean shaven, but with "long black
hair that hung over his cheeks and ears like a mane." In a year or two
it was cut short. He then let his beard grow, and, after some
hesitation, his moustache. Many of the older people, we are told, were
scandalised, but remained silent; some wrote to the newspapers in
protest. The moustache was declared to invest ministers "with an air of
levity and worldliness." A letter of approval purported to come from
the shade of a Wesleyan minister, the Rev. H.D. Lowe, who, in 1828, had
his beard cut off by order of the Wesleyan Conference. It ran as
follows:--
"REVEREND AND BEARDED SIR,--It rejoiced my shade to see
you not only addressing Methodists, but sitting among many of the
identical men who required that cruel sacrifice of me, and that
unrebuked when you even spoke of dreaming of belonging to the
'Legal Hundred,' bearded though you are."
Professor Hodgson used to tell a good story of a shaky village knight of
the razor who gashed the minister's cheek. "John, John!" cried the
reverend sufferer, "it's a dreadful thing that drink!" "'Deed it is,
sir," mildly assented John, "it makes the skin unco tender."
The electors of Hull, who returned to Parliament Sir Henry Vane the
younger, Andrew Marvell, the patriot, and in later times, William
Wilberforce, the emancipator of the slave, have never, as might be
readily believed, been backward in adopting reasonable measures of
reform. On December 1st, 1859, at the Hull Watch Sub-Committee, it was
moved by Mr Moss, seconded by Mr Clarke, and carried unanimously: "That
it be a recommendation to the Watch Committee to permit the police to
wear a beard and moustache if they think fit." A week later, namely, on
December 7th, at the Watch Committee, it was moved by Mr Mayfield, and
seconded by Mr Fountain: "That a resolution of the Sub-Committee of
December 1st, granting permission to police to wear the beard and
moustache, if they think fit, be confirmed by this Committee." It was
pointed out by one of the members of the Council, who was advocating the
passing of the resolution, that it would give a "fierce appearance to
the police."
In course of time the leading gentlemen of the land adopted the
moustache, and those in the lower walks of life were not slow to follow
their example, the result being that it is worn now by all sorts and
conditions of men.
The moustache figures in recent wills. In 1862, one made by Henry Budd
came into force, and declared as follows against the wearing of
moustaches by his sons in the following terms: "In case my son Edward
shall wear moustaches, the devise herein before contained in favour of
him, his appointees, heirs, and assigns of my said estate, called Pepper
Park, shall be void; and I devise the same estate to my son William, his
appointees, heirs, and assigns. And in case my said son William shall
wear moustaches, then the devise hereinbefore contained in favour of
him, his appointees, heirs, and assigns of my said estate, called
Twickenham Park, shall be void; and I devise the said estate to my said
son Edward, his appointees, heirs, and assigns."
Mr Fleming, an upholsterer, of Pimlico, by his will, proved in 1869,
left £10 each to the men in his employ who did not wear moustaches, and
to those who persisted in wearing them, £5 only.
In the daily newspapers of July 11th, 1901, it was stated: "French
motor-car owners having shown a disposition to make their chauffeurs
shave, the latter combined in defence of their moustaches, which they
declare to be a sanitary protection."
INDEX
Absalom, 7, 8
Age of wigs, 71-93
Agrarian law repealed, 48
Albemarle, Earl of, 78
---- Duchess of, 17
Alexander III., Pope, forbids clergy to act as surgeons, 27
Alfreton, 102
Anne, Queen, 82
Assyrian sculptures, 72
"_Antiquarian Repertory_," quoted, 2
"_Athenian Oracle_," quoted, 1
Aubrey, quoted, 17, 54
Bag-wig, 84
Bakewell, Derbyshire, epitaph from, 32
Ballad of the Beard, 41-44
Banks, Mrs G. Linnæus, quoted, 67
Banks and the moustache, 105
Bar and the moustache, 107
Barber-surgeon, antiquity of, 26
Barber's pole, 1-8
Barber's shop, 8-24
Barbers and surgeons, laws relating to their work, 28
---- separate, 31
Barbers' Company, first Master of the, 27
Barnard Castle, 18
Barristers without wigs, 88
Bathurst, Lord, cuts off his pig-tail, 84
Bayeux tapestry, 34
Beard protection against neuralgia, 99
Beardie Scott, 47
Beardless Britons, 33
Bible, quoted, 33
Bleeding at Northallerton, 31
Blomfield, Bishop, 86
Boxing the beard, 56
Brand's "Popular Antiquities," 5
_British Apollo_, quoted, 6
Britons, 33
Brontë, Rev. P., story about, 25, 26
Bygone beards, 33-56
Campaign wig, 81
Canterbury, Sheriff of, 36
Cavaliers, 44
Chair, barber's, 14
Charles I., 38, 44, 48
---- II., 25
Charlotte, Queen, 66
Chaucer, quoted, 52
Chester barber-surgeons, 23
Church denounces wigs, 73
---- denounces moustache, 108
Churchyards, barbers shave in, 21, 23
Clergy caring for men's bodies and souls, 26
Cloth of gold, 55
Cockburn, Judge, 87
Combing the wig, 79
Congreve, 79
"_Comenii Orbis Pictus_," quoted, 2
Comenius, Bishop, 2
Contractors and the moustache, 105
Cox, Rev. Dr J.C., quoted, 70
Crimean War, 99
Crop clubs, 64
Curing a joking duke, 18
Cyprus customs, 50
Dale, R.W., 112
Defence of the beard, 109
Delmahoy's wig, 86
Demanding the beard, 51
Desecrating the Sabbath by shaving, 24, 25
Disuse of hair powder, 69
Doran, Dr, quoted, 73
Drapers refuse to employ men with moustaches, 104
Drury Lane, five women barbers of, 17
Dryden, quoted, 79
Duke and barber's boy, 18
Dyeing the beard, 37
Earliest mention of the beard, 33
Early gild in London, 27
Eastern potentate, 35
Eden, Dr, and the moustache, 110
Egyptian wigs, 71
Eldon, Lord, 87
Elizabeth, Queen, 37, 38
Epigram on three colonels, 100
Epitaphs on barber-surgeons, 32
Fairholt, F.W., 41
False hair worn by women, 88
Farquhar, 20
Female follies, 61
Fined for wearing beards, 35, 36
First illustrated school book, 2
Forfeits, 14-16
Fox, C.J., 64
France, wig mania in, 75
Free advice to a young clergyman, 85
Frith, W.P., "Autobiography" quoted, 103
From barber to surgeon, 26-32
Frost fair, 81
Gallants, gathering of, 9
Galley-pot, 5
Garrick, 14
Gauls, 60
Gay, J., quoted, 13, 61, 95
_Gentleman's Magazine_, quoted, 62
George III. and wig-makers, 95
---- sets his subjects a good example, 69
---- IV. and Dr Randolph, 86
Gold-dust used as hair-powder, 59
Grain, high price of, 68
Great seal, 76
Guitar, 9
Hannibal, 75
Hastings, Battle of, 33
Hawkesbury, Lord, and new bread, 70
Hawkins, Sir J., quoted, 79
Heart-Breakers, 89
Hedderwick, Dr, quoted, 101
Henry VI., 48
Henry VIII., 35
Hentzner, quoted, 89
High Church clergymen, 109
Hodgson, Professor, 113
Holbein's picture, 28
Holme, R., quoted, 81
House of Peers, 5
How, Dr Walsham, 112
Hull baker fined, 70
---- candidate for Holy Orders and his moustache, 110
---- policemen and the moustache, 113
---- timber merchant and the moustache, 110
"Impartial Monitor," quoted, 61
Incorporation of Barbers, 28
Irish Shaving Statute, 47
Jewish custom, 26
Jews used hair-powder, 59
Johnson, Dr, 16
Johnstone, Rev. E., desecrating the Sabbath by shaving, 24
Julius II., 34
Juvenile wigs, 92
Kauffmann, A., 66
Kenealy, Dr, 88
Kenrick, Dr, 16
King's barber, 19
Knox, John, 36, 37
Last barber-surgeon in London, 31
Laud, Archbishop, 51
"Letters from the Dead to the Living," 79
Lichfield, 20
Lincoln's Inn and the beard, 35
London women barbers, 17
Lord's Day observance, 21-25
Louis XIV., 83
Louth, 18
Lowe, Rev. H.D., 113
"Loyal Litany," quoted, 61
Lyttelton, Lord, 91
Macedonian soldiers, 48
Maclaren, C., editor of the _Scotsman_, 102
Magistrate and the moustache, 97
Malcolm, quoted, 82
Manner of using hair powder, 63, 68
Mansfield, Lord, 92
Marie Antoinette, 92
Marston, quoted, 54
Mary Queen of Scots, 89
Massinger, quoted, 61
Medical men and wigs, 86
Ministers shaving on Sunday, 24, 25
Missal, 5
Mock doctor, 86
More, Rev. J., 36
---- Sir Thomas, 36
Moustache and the motor-car, 115
---- movement, 96-115
Muffs, 80
Muntz, G.F., 99
Music, barber's, 9, 21
Newcastle-on-Tyne, barber-surgeons of, 24
_Notes and Queries_, quoted, 16, 47
Nottingham, story of moustache and marriage, 103
Objectionable mode of advertising blood-letting, 27
O'Connell, D., 90
One pig-tail only returned to the reformed Parliament, 84
Paris, massacre of, 75
Pepys, quoted, 31, 76
Percival, Col., 99
Periwig with tail, 81
Peter the Great, 91
Phlebotomy, 2-5
Pig-tail, 84
Pitt, 63
Plucking the beard, 48, 49
Poetical signs, 7, 8
Politics and the moustache, 101
Pontefract, 23
Powdering the hair, 59-71
Pulling the nose, 54
Puritans, 11
"Quip for an Upstart Courtier," 9
"Rambler," quoted, 63
Ramillies, Battle of, 82
---- wig, 83
Reading regulations, 9
Red rag, 5
Reform Bill, 84
Repton, J.A., 41
Retailer of scandal, 8
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 66
Robinson, Serjeant, quoted, 106
Rogers, Dr C., quoted, 24
Romans and hair-powder, 59
Russian laws, 56-59
Ryle, Bishop, 109
Sandy-coloured hair, 60
Saxons and hair-powder, 59
Sayings, old, 51-56
Saywell, Rev. J.L., quoted, 31
Scarborough, woman barber at, 17
Scott, Sir Walter, quoted, 66
Sealing custom, 35
Shakespeare, quoted, 14, 53
Shaving heads, 74
Sheppard, Mr, M.P., 84
Shirley, quoted, 53
Short-bob, 83
Sibthorp, Col., 99
Speaker's wig, 87
Starching the beard, 55
Stealing wigs, 93-95
Stephen, King, 75
Stow, quoted, 75
Stratford-on-Avon, 14
Street frays, 9
Strickland, Agnes, quoted, 92
Stripes on barber's pole, colour of, 5
Strutt, quoted, 60
Stuart, artist, story of, 114
Stubbes, 12
Stupid barbers unknown, 8
Sumner, Archbishop, 86
Sunday shaving, 21-25
Surgeons' Incorporation Bill, 5
Swift, quoted, 5-7, 94
Taxing hair-powder, 62, 63, 65
---- the beard, 37, 56-59
Taylor the Water Poet, 38, 41
Tewkesbury Abbey, epitaph from, 31
"Thirsk Forfeits," 15
Thurlow, Lord, 5
Tichborne trial, 88
Tiles, fine of, 9
Tillotson, Dr, 85
Timbs, John, quoted, 31
_Times_, quoted, 64, 88, 97
Token, beard, 58
Tours, Edict of, 27
Tragic story, 48
Verner, Col., 99
Vizetelly, quoted, 50
Wakefield, first man to wear a moustache at, 102
Walpole, Horace, quoted, 96
---- Sir Robert, 85
Ward, James, quoted, 109
Wesleyans and the beard, 113
_Whitehall Evening Post_, quoted, 90
Wig-makers' riot, 95, 96
Williams, noted barber, 92
Wills and the moustache, 114
With and without wigs, 90
"Wits' Recreations," quoted, 60
Women barbers, 16-18
Working hours, long, 9
Workshop and Sunday shaving, 23
Yarmouth, curious bill at, 69
York, Archbishop of, 110
---- Gild of Barber-Surgeons, 21
"Yorkshire, Ballads and Songs of," quoted, 15, 16