CONCERNING THEIR CUTTING OF THEIR HAIR, THEIR CARE OF THEIR TEETH, AND
SHAVING OF THEIR BEARD
THE men and women cut their hair close round to the ears and eyes. The
women, after the manner of the Parthians, cover their heads with a large
white veil, folded together in the form of a crown.
Both sexes exceed any other nation in attention to their teeth, which
they render like ivory, by constantly rubbing them with green hazel and
wiping with a woollen cloth. For their better preservation, they abstain
from hot meats, and eat only such as are cold, warm, or temperate. The
men shave all their beard except the moustaches (_gernoboda_). This
custom is not recent, but was observed in ancient and remote ages, as we
find in the works of Julius Cæsar, who says, {171} “The Britons shave
every part of their body except their head and upper lip;” and to render
themselves more active, and avoid the fate of Absalon in their excursions
through the woods, they are accustomed to cut even the hair from their
heads; so that this nation more than any other shaves off all pilosity.
Julius also adds, that the Britons, previous to an engagement, anointed
their faces with a nitrous ointment, which gave them so ghastly and
shining an appearance, that the enemy could scarcely bear to look at
them, particularly if the rays of the sun were reflected on them.